Hi All,
Well this mornings bump survey, went off rather well, only a few hollows here and there, I quickly mixed up some primer filler and hand painted these, then off to work. Lunch time a quick Water paper with 220 grit and with a good wash down it was out in the sun to dry off, today its stinking hot , car temp showing 35 deg at one point.
I decided to shoot the first coat of white with a brand new gun, a real cheapie, which was first washed with acetone as it was very oily, any way it sprays nice but a bit paint rich , I will have to fiddle a bit with its setup, but no runs and a nice smooth base coat, next its 360 grit another coat and we either polish or spray again.
At this point its real nice and putting in huge effort to fix any minor flaws you stand the chance of making it worse rather than better, there is a point you have to accept it for what it is .If I look at the plugs I made 5 years ago they are rubbish but they worked, this is the best by far compared to previous attempts, nothing quite like practice.

anywhoo pics below

Simon ops nearly forgot try about 25 to 30 cm but a good transition and bond to the spars is most important.

Wow Mike that's looking commercial quality now. Moulding in the wing joiner position will save hours for every future builder too.

Rog

Morning,
Some more details of progress over the weekend, with the weather being so hot epoxy curing times have shortened so my weekend work targets are met.
Anyway lots of pictures which I hope will be usefull to anybody keen to build their own composite projects.
The JS 1 build so far is still about making the tools/ molds so no actual usable parts yet but the effort will be worth it later.
Last friday the Plug was sprayed with its second coat of 2k I was going to go with a darker colour as its easier to spot faults in the finish, however I was affraid the heat build up if it was in the sun, might develop blisters, so sticking with white.
The final coat went on well , was sprayed with very little thinners , so a good coverage, only 1 tiny run but a bit of an orange peel hazy finish.
Saterday early it was time for first wet sand 600 grt on the drip/run, then 1000grt general to flat the surface , then hand finish with 1200grt, lots of water and clean sharp waterpaper soon has a smooth finish.
Then its onto the drill powered compound head , lots of water as it can burn the surface and a medium cutting paste , this was followed by P 600 white polishing cream .Lots of care that the plug is kept off the ground, I polish on two blocks of foam ,as a single sand/grit particle could destroy the surface.
The results are a super smooth gloss finish .

The whole polishing effort took about 3 hrs so I was done before lunch time
Saterday afternoon was more spraying , but thats in the next post.
regards
Mike

Awesome, just awesome.

Great work on the paint and polishing there, the time and effort is certainly paying off. Keep up the stellar work.

Cheers
T

Gee Thanks T , this one will need to maiden on a "Big" Mountain, I have somewhere new in mind, I will keep you posted.

Wow. Is pretty much all I have to say.

I can't work out whether this thread is (a) intensely inspirational, or (b) makes me feel like giving up composite work altogether! Looking back at my own mouldings is suddenly a depressing experience...

Rog

Originally Posted by mikegbogh

Gee Thanks T , this one will need to maiden on a "Big" Mountain, I have somewhere new in mind, I will keep you posted.

oooooh, i like the sound of that

cheers
T

Originally Posted by Sutton Bank

Wow. Is pretty much all I have to say.

I can't work out whether this thread is (a) intensely inspirational, or (b) makes me feel like giving up composite work altogether!

Rog

ALL of Mike's work does that to you!

Chris

Originally Posted by Sutton Bank

Wow. Is pretty much all I have to say.

I can't work out whether this thread is (a) intensely inspirational, or (b) makes me feel like giving up composite work altogether! Looking back at my own mouldings is suddenly a depressing experience...

Rog

Hi Rog,
I know how you feel , please dont give up, my first mold was a Ventus, that My friend says resembles a Club Astir, when you look down the fuselage it was like a banana , but you learn and progress, I have never been happy with any of my planes and have this bad habit when showing off to someone on the slope who asks, you see this spot here it's 1 mm out. And theres a small blister here, dont know why I do that.
Before starting the JS1 I took a small break and decided to clear the workshop and start with a new approach.
So far everything has gone right, and I hope it continues.The mind has to want it

Bottom line is practice, plan and have an end goal in sight, but most important if you do not derive joy and fulfillment put it aside and go have a beer
More pics next.

Hi all,
Nice to see your here Chris, hope you are well, anyway , saterday morning was polish time. Saterday afternoon I marked out and sprayed the canopy and will explain all about that later.
While the Canopy paint was drying I fiqured it was time to make some small molds and use PVA for the first time.
So I found a piece of nice hardwood, not sure what it was Cherry I think with a fine grain , shaped two pieces to make the rudder cable exit shrouds and also the control surface horn shrouds (I think they are shrouds or fairings)
Painted the wood with Zap finishing resin ready for molding sunday.
Ram Carnuba wax on and off two cycles then a smooth wipe of red PVA with a soft cotton cloth, just a thin film.
Painted on the Gel Coat which went tacky in about an hour, then layed up the epoxy glass using offcuts which I accumulate for this very reason.
Three hours later it was set and the first part released well, but a hang up, anyway lateral thinking and I solved the problem, so the first mold was done and it worked.
regards
Mike

Originally Posted by Sutton Bank

Wow. Is pretty much all I have to say.

I can't work out whether this thread is (a) intensely inspirational, or (b) makes me feel like giving up composite work altogether! Looking back at my own mouldings is suddenly a depressing experience...

Rog

It's the pace that Mike builds at that always boggles my mind...

Nice one Mike... And proudly South African too!

Cheers,
Izak

Hi Guys,
The first mold off the fuselage is a bit of a test.
The canopy shape needs to be sprayed onto the fuselage accurately , a mold taken so a plug can be made for
the manufacture of clear canopies later as well as a few Fibreglass canopies for the prototype.

The centre line was established, using that little marker hole (which BTW also marks the position of the canopy release)
A set of paper templates made and some carefull marking on the fuse, using a flat template to go around a curved shape
can lead to some in accuracies , so every mark is carefully checked for symmetry.

The fuselage is masked ,The actual canopy outline is made with a red vinyl tape that can be stretched in the curves.
Some paper to mask off overspray and a single coat of 2k black applied. After the black was dry (overnite) it was wet sanded 1200grt and polished, then the whole fuselage waxed again.
Then the area around the canopy is masked with low tack blue masking tape , and then the canopy area buffed to a shine and 1 thin wipe of PVA release.
Next comes the first coat of gel coat, followed by glass/epoxy cloth and out in the warm to cure, with the Carbon to add rigididy it also speeds cure rates and 3 hrs later I could pop the mold, succcess with a nice finish.

regards

Another update and yet again I am left with my mouth hanging open catching flies. Your attention to detail, patience and level of workmanship is nothing short of incredible.

Keep the updates rolling Mike. I love the shape of that fuse. Smooth, graceful and purposeful.

Cheers
T

Looking great Mike

Cheers Woo

Originally Posted by Sutton Bank

..(a) intensely inspirational, or (b) makes me feel like giving up composite work altogether!...
Rog

Ugh...this. Makes me want to cry onto my building board and never touch any of it again! Superb master class as usual.