Now that building season is upon us I thought I would share how I will take my EPP Bugatti design to glass. This thread will cover the creation of the plug, mold(s), parts, build, paint, and finish. What should be most interesting will be the plug and mold process. Having worked as a professional concept artist, I will create the plug as if it were an automobile prototype. After making a rigid armature, I will sculpt the fuselage out of Chavant plasteline clay. This non-drying clay is hard enough to withstand the molding process and it will allow me to create fine details such as the exhaust ports, vents, and panel lines—all part of the original mold! This also has the great benefit of NO SANDING. The mold will be a top/bottom split due to the huge fillets on the model. So, let’s get building!!

First I will start with a reference model of the Bugatti and an accurate 3-view drawing.

Dude! that thing is awsome. did you scratch build the epp version? i would like to build one

later
tim

After scanning the 3-view I create an outline in Corel Draw. You can use any CAD program for this, I simply have grown accustom to Corel.

I then print out a top view and a side view at the chosen scale (1/7).

Cool! I'll be looking forward to seeing this build for sure.

I'm really intrigued with the plug made of clay concept. I would have never guessed that clay would work as material for a plug. It makes total sense that clay is ideal interms of detailing, but I wouldn't have thought it would be firm enough to not get damaged trying to mold off of it.

I suppose that the Chavant clay is pretty dense, and that the plug will have to be handled with extreme care when laying a mold up on it.

Using a band saw (or laser cutter) I cut the plan out of ¼ in. Masonite fiberboard.

I then mount the side view to ½ in. galvanized pipe. This will help support the plug as it goes through the sculpting process. After the top mold has been created around the plug, I will remove the support pipes and fill in the holes.

hey brian
i have worked with the chavant clay and it is very dense. you have to microwave it or heat it up to make it plyable. it is fun to carve shapes out with it.

later
tim

Then the top view is added. I now have a rigid boundary to support the pourable foam which will be added later. This will also prevent me from ending up with a “banana” fuse.

I cut a small section of wing, sheeted it with 1/64 ply, and added a balsa leading edge. I then located where the pipe will pass through the wing. The wing is then epoxied in after I am satisfied with the angle of attack and the wing is square with the fuse.

awesome thread! i'm tuned in...build away!

I then made a section of tail. This will be aligned at a zero degree incidence to the wing. When I finally get around to building my first model, I want most of the incidence work already done for me.

Finally I will create a basswood guide for the rear end of the fillets and mount those behind the wing. I have duct taped the gaps around the pipe so the pourable foam will stay where I put it.

I also put a guide for the front edge of the filets and intakes.

I am now ready for the pourable foam. I purchased this from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty. It is a two part, two pound density expanding polyurethane foam. It sets up lightning fast and is easily sandable. I will use this to shape the bulk of the fuse. It costs about $33 for a two quart kit.

...whoa...this is the fastest build thread i've ever seen...it took me a week to build my weasle pro...i hope i'm not slope building disabled

pretty cool approach artsloper; thanks for posting the thread!