The Ship Model Forum

Hi Russ,Ron and Phil.
Thank all of you in your interest in this build .Yes the plug has to be perfect .Normaly a two part mold would work but because the prop shaft housings are smaller towards the hull than at the outter edge the third part of the mold is nessesary .It will be one piece and slide to the rear when seperating from the plug .That is the plan anyway,wish me luck .

Very impressive dedication to finish!



JIM B

Thanks Jim

Builders

Posts: 88
Sanford NC



Re: T3-S2-A1 Tanker Scratchbuild in 1/96
Reply #77 - Today at 5:20am

Hi All
I now have six laters of matt on the starboard side .Put a 1x1 '' board on with the last layer .The board has 1/4 '' holes in it spaced about every three inches .The holes were drilled on the milling machine so they are straight .When finished 1/4'' bolts will be used to fasten the two mold pieces together .

Hi All
My dogs decided my camera needed modifacations so now it dosn't work .Bob was here last week and took some pictures then e-mailed them to me .I have removed the dam .Now it's time to do the port side .

Merry Christmas to All
Old man winter forced me to move the T3 to another room that has heat .Fianaly got back to work at it .Sprayed PVA on the port side then three coats of tooling gel coat.Next the first layer of matt .This is what she looks like now .

Hey Richard!

Merry christmas to you too buddy...

Got the same problem with 'old man winter', it forced me to do all my sanding inside

How did you apply the matt so accurately? With a vacuum pump?

Gr.
Pim

Hi Pim
I use rollers .The one on the left is called a bubble buster and I use it the most .The next one is a radius roller and the last one I made to get inside the prop shaft housing when the make the hulls .

Thank you for taking the time to show this process form start to finish.
I scratch build a lot of hulls, but have never made a mold.
It is something I would like to attempt, but am still apprehensive about the steps.

Your thread helps a lot. Looking forward to seeing your first hull pulled.


Umi

Hi,

beautiful work on the mold! Please keep us updated!

Bye!

Hi Richard all the best to you . Your work with GRP is an education , I am following this very carefully
Dave Wooley

hi richard ,fiberglass cloth and resin is hard to work with,my experance with it is not good ,i get more fibers on my fingers then where it is suppossed to go.

Hi Umi,109,Dave and Russ
All the best to all of you and thank you for your comments .I would like to thank Art in N.Z .who inspired me into doing this work .I hope my post will help all those that want to try it .I learn't from others and one should always pass it on .Don at Loyalhanna was also a big help .
I put two more layers of matt on the port side so just three more to go before doing the stern . I let the first layer set for five days before putting on more then two days in between after that .

Happy New Year
I now have the sixth and final layer of matt on the port side .




The excess matt will be trimmed away after the mold is finished .I did a spot to see how it looked .



Now I will finish the dam around the shear line then the third part of the mold will be completed .



More to come !

hello richard.somtimes i have a tough time grasping things,is your mould a 1,2 or 3or more parts,and will the hull be one piece or a two part hull.i think what is confuseing me is when you refer to adding dams,somtimes my brain gets on one track and gets stuck .apart from that i can hardly wait to see the first hull poped out

Hi Russ
You will just have to wait and see . I am just kidding . The hull will be one piece but the mold will be three pieces .A simple hull with no torpedo blisters or tumble home you can get away with a one piece mold .Normally a two piece mold will do for the others,port and starboard .The T3 Tankers had inclosed prop shafts and I wanted to include the outer housings with the hull .Because the housings are not straight from the inside to the outside ,I needed to make a three piece mold .The stern section will slide off to the rear.Once the mold is done it will come apart to remove the plug .Then it gets bolted together and the hull is made to the inside of the mold .The dams are there to provide a way to bolt it together.The dam or ledge around the outside will give me a good sheer line .
When you read how to do this sometimes it is confusing but seeing it step by step is always better .I feel that this site should teach builders how to try new things.I have learn't tricks from your builds and from all the other builders .I even pick up things from first time builders .
Thank you for watching and keep up the excellent builds you do .
Richard

Hi Richard Great job I'm all eyes and keen to learn . Questions, questions . Mention has been made about release agents , what does it actually do and how is it applied?
Dave Wooley

Hi Dave
I use two types of release agents .PVA and mold release wax .The wax goes on first .I apply it by hand and buff it with a cotton diaper . A new plug needs at least four coats alowing a hour between coats .The better the finish is on the plug the less wax you need .I only needed four coats because I had a class A finish before waxing .This is achived using a buffer and two polishing compounds plus a glaze .



Then I spray on the PVA using a spray gun the same gun you would use to paint a car .This is done so the tooling gel coat won't stick to the plug .When all is done the mold will ( should ) seperate from the plug without damaging it .

Richard,

Beautiful work! I am curious - how many plugs/molds have you made?

Phil

Phil
You asked so here they are .I completed four plugs for a dealer
IJN Takao 1/96
IJN Mogami 1/96
IJN Tone 1/96
BB-3 oregon 1/96
I have in the works at different stages fo completion
Admiral Hipper 1/100
Blockade Runner Banshee 1/30
IJN Mutsu 1/96
CA-139 Salem 1/96
CL-144Worcester 1/96
HMAS Perth 1/96
HMS Hood 1/96
HMS Roberts 1/96
IJN Nisshin 1/72
1124 Tank Boat 1/35
BB-39 Arizona 1/96
PG-50 Erie 1/48
Coast Guard Cutter Taney 1/48













I have more photos but my hand is getting tired

Hi Richard Thanks for your answers. More questions., how many pulls would you get from a mould before you have to spend time renovating the mould and do you keep the plug once the mould is made?
Dave Wooley