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[Neil]

checked the moulds this morning..........a little bit of damage was done prizing the moulds from the plug, to the gel coat on the moulds..........particularly on the very tight overhangs and undercuts.............but this can't be helped on such a tight and intricate mould with all the belting and combing moulds................so

this morning I have filled these little areas of damage with some gelcoat which will be later sanded down before preparation is made for taking some mouldings out of them.

Sadly the moulds for the cabins look as though they won't come off the cabin plugs, because of the nature in which they were made..............no problems about how they were made but Mike was going to use them as his working cabins on one of his boats, and so were made from thin mdf for lightness. Have spoken to mike and with his permission it might be the case where I have to remove the plugs from inside the moulds rather than the moulds being removed from  the plugs, in which case the plugs will be sadly damaged to a great extent.

but this process won't take part till the hull moulds have cured of the damaged areas.


to tell the truth, I am a little disappointed as to the way the mould has come out...................hope the mouldings come out better!

[Neil]

what a difference a day makes..................last night I was tired and peeed off because the hull moulds took and age to separate, and when checked this morning there was slight rippling in places in the gelcoat needing fixing...............

last night I couldn't separate the moulds from the plugs on the two cabins for love nor money.......... this lunch time with a bit of trimming of the edges and moulding lines they popped off with minimal damage to the plugs themselves...............a bit of gluing and filling will make them very serviceable............and only a little damage to the moulds.........

However....................I must be getting old or loosing my marbles................or perhaps both.................It would have aided separation of the moulds from the plugs, IF I HAD PAINTED ON  my  PVA release agent after the waxing but before applying the gelcoat....................duuurrrrrggggghhhhhh.............totally forgot to do it..................and boy oh boy does it aid separation...........what a numpty.

and on these moulds I have also filled any small blemishes and air pockets on the moulding line edge with gelcoat.......will now leave that to cure and harden till tomorrow morning when I will sand to level, then wash all the moulds and start waxing in preparation for making some mouldings...............not forgetting this time the PVA release agent.

[Neil]

well, I have never had a struggle with a mould as much as I have done with this one.............I don't know what happened as as much care was made with this as with any other mould I have made over the years...

and yet every time I found an air pocket under  the gelcoat and filled it, ....then sanded down I found another B****** hole and had to fill that one.............it has set me back 3 days..........but I have finally eliminated all imperfections ( I hope, and have now started to wax it up.........3 coats so far..........

off to the vets with pooch for flea and worm check up now and then back to waxing..........hopefully I will be able to get the release agent, gelcoat and a first mould laid up by late tonight.........but will be working late, lol.

Thinking of handing the moulds over to a friend once I have got the 4 mouldings out that are spoken for, as I NEVER  want to see it again, lol..........in fact I think this will be the last mould I make.............let someone else do the hard work in future, and settle for building kits............I have been so peeeed off with the way it went...............bit demoralised over it...............might make a difference if the  mouldings start popping out without problems.

[Neil]

Waxed up, without finding any more holes in the gel coat, and 5 coats of wax too............

applied the PA release agent, and just waiting for it to dry,( didn't forget it this time), and then I will bolt the hull and cabin halves together and start with the gelcoat before tea..........hope to get the hull and cabins laid up tonight with any luck.

If all goes well, might even get the deck mould laid up as well......who knows?

[Neil]

 

[Neil]

clamped together, PVA dry, now ready for the gelcoat............going on after tea.

I use 6mm dia roofing bolts and flat square nuts to bolt them together rather than hexagonal nuts as they give a slightly better surface area clamping.

[Neil]

got my gelcoat on, and realised then what a cavernous hull the 50 inch long boat is......acres of space to do most things in.............just hope once I have put the matting on tomorrow that the hull comes out clean,

[Neil]

first set of mouldings are now curing in the moulds, and hopefully will be removed from them this evening.


You might have  noted that I haven't moulded the "wells" in the deck mould with matting, nor have I moulded the back of the main cabin, as all three of these areas would be cut out eventually anyway, and so would be a waste of both matting, resin (albeit a very small amount) and labour..............and with this I am all in favour of saving labour, lol

[Neil]

And finally......................after all the trials and tribulations of the moulds needing work on them, they finally paid off........


and with a decent coat of PVA release agent, the first mouldings popped out like a dream.......absolutely no frustrations of the plugs from the moulds, no damage, no refilling......they are as sweet as can be, and hopefully good for a few mouldings in the future.

I was so frustrated the other day I offered them to a friend of mine in the business, but think I'll have a shot at producing a few sets myself................after all the fittings for her, mostly generic with the 44' Waveney "Scout" can be bought from Metcalf Mouldings to almost complete the Thames Class.........

I'm a happy little chappie again..........

what a difference a day and some release agent make, lol........

so in the immortal words of Mel Blanc....Tha tha that's all folks!!!

[gribeauval]

Greatly relieved that it all came good in the end!! 

I have been hopping from one foot to another like a demented frog all day waiting to see if they came out of the moulds OK.   


Mike

[Neil]

they came out sweetly Mike.................will start laying up the second one tomorrow............they'll be nicely cured by next weekend.

[Martin (Admin)]

Posts Merged!   

[Neil]

thanks Martin. 

[Tim B.]

WOW !

What a Great lot of work you are going to here, these conspicuous talents you have are Not going unnoticed over here on the Far Side ~

I will be following this with rather keen interest ...

Mate Tim in California ( the New World )

[Neil]

thanks Tim........but that's me done now apart from moulding a few sets for those who wanted them..............I don't plan on building a Thames anytime soon as have got too much on with my ferries for my daughter..and she wants them finished for next summer................

[Neil]

and here you go Mike.......your two sets of mouldings ready. 

[gribeauval]

Nice one mate!! See you next Saturday with the finished prototype version. 


Mike

[Neil]

 

I'll be able to get back to my CalMac ferry for the daughter now, lol

[spongie]

I can not wait for my 2 sets!!!

one for me and one for the real boat!
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