(12 days until the 2012 WHPSC)
Getting ready to start the second half of the mold!
Starting to spray gel coat
Black is done
Side after peeling masking tape stripe
Spraying white gel coat in stripe
After covering white with more black
Dad applying high fiber to hard edges of canopy area
Rounding hard corner on flange with high fiber
Second half after first layup with 1-ounce mat.
Closeup of first layup with 1-ounce mat
Wetting out patches for second layup with 3-ounce mat
Second half after 2mm core mat and third layup with 2-ounce mat
Closeup of 2mm core mat and third layup with 2-ounce mat
Another nose shot
The bottoms of our shoes look like that too
Second half of mold with plywood support
Draping strips of fiberglass mat to better support mold
The mold was getting pretty hot, so it got a bath
Dad pounding a plastic wedge between flanges to begin separating the mold halves
Using gravity to help separate the mold halves
Dad smacking the flat sides to break the mold loose from the tooling plug
It's separated!
One half done...
... one half to go
A screwdriver wedged in the canopy area to create a small gap
After a little more water in the gap...
... the second half begins to separate
Lifting the tooling plug out of the second mold half
Head-on shot of tooling plug and mold halves
Angled shot of tooling plug and mold halves
Another angled shot of tooling plug and mold halves
Mold half fresh off the tooling plug
Closeup of sander...
... doing a lightweight sanding
Starting to polish with rubbing compound
Reflection from the polished surface
Another reflection
After rubbing compound and Finesse-it.
Another reflection
Looking back towards a 300W hot light