January 20, 2009 ...  I cleaned up the clay form for the NAV/strobe fairing, and touched up the clay form with some glazing/filler putty. I gave the form a final sanding, and waxing. I then added strips of scrap aluminum around the perimeter of the board to help contain the resin during the lay-up process.

January 21, 2009 ...  I needed a break from the fiberglass project, and pulled out a few of the kit parts for the fuselage; most of them gussets. I spent about 3 hours today, cleaning and deburring.

January 24, 2009 ...  With all of the materials on hand now, I started the fiberglass lay-up. First came the Gel-Coat (two layers). After that "tacked up"  I set-up a total of 6 layers (4 layers of .3 oz. , and 2 layers of 10 oz.). Now to let it cure for a few days. Notice that I added black dye to the Gell-Coat resin. That is so that I can see and remove any air bubbles that may develop during the process of layering and wetting the fiberglass cloth.

January 27, 2009 ... Today I decided it was time to open up the mold. That was a disappointment! The mold looks great from the top. But unfortunately, being the rookie I am with fiberglass, I apparently did not get enough releasing agent (wax) on the "plug" form and it did not release from the mold.  Not all was lost however. While I seem to have failed miserably at creating a mold for my Nav/strobe extension, I did get some experience laying up fiberglass cloth. That much of it actually turned out pretty nice. Oh well, "Nothing ventured is nothing gained."

Having abandoned the whole concept of making a fiberglass mold, I decided to make a new form and lay-up the fiberglass over that. So, I took some foam and shaped it exactly like I want my extension, making allowances for the fiberglass thickness which will probably be about 3/32nds of an inch thick. I then epoxied the form to a solid, flat board. I plan on using the technique described in the EAA website training video which you can view by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oday I decided it was time to open up the mold. That was a disappointment! The mold looks great from the top. But unfortunately, being the rookie I am with fiberglass, I apparently did not get enough releasing agent (wax) on the "plug" form and it did not release from the mold.  Not all was lost however. While I seem to have failed miserably at creating a mold for my Nav/strobe extension, I did get some experience laying up fiberglass cloth. That much of it did turn out pretty nice. Oh well, "Nothing ventured is nothing gained."