by alvinsager » Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:28 am
Hi Kevin,
I did the moldless way for the nosebowl on my last project. It was kind of a no brainer. I mounted a piece of plywood to the engine inside of the finished cowl position. I glued 3" Styrofoam insulation board to that and carved away to get my finished shape. At that point you can use some drywall compound to make it smooth if you want the inside to look nice. I glassed the outside with three layers of cloth (don't remember what weight) using epoxy resin, although polyester or vinylester will also work. Once cured, trim the aft edge to where you want it, remove from plane and dissolve out the foam being careful not to use a solvent that will attack the resin you used. The cooling openings were in the pattern before glassing but the intake was added later using a coffee can as a mold it. Finishing starts with sanding and then a filler (microbaloons+resin), primer and paint.
Good luck,
Al
Hi Kevin,
I did the moldless way for the nosebowl on my last project. It was kind of a no brainer. I mounted a piece of plywood to the engine inside of the finished cowl position. I glued 3" Styrofoam insulation board to that and carved away to get my finished shape. At that point you can use some drywall compound to make it smooth if you want the inside to look nice. I glassed the outside with three layers of cloth (don't remember what weight) using epoxy resin, although polyester or vinylester will also work. Once cured, trim the aft edge to where you want it, remove from plane and dissolve out the foam being careful not to use a solvent that will attack the resin you used. The cooling openings were in the pattern before glassing but the intake was added later using a coffee can as a mold it. Finishing starts with sanding and then a filler (microbaloons+resin), primer and paint.
Good luck,
Al