I have decided that I'm fed up with sandpapering, so bullocks if the mold's not perfect. That just means there'll be a better tack on that boat (when not flying of coarse). I'll do the other side differently (build male mold -> polyester female).
Just to log my experiences of this first battle against DIY:
- Difficult to carve nice concave surfaces, so avoid if possible. Nevertheless adapted tools are mandatory:
- Steps: build the near-plane surfaces with plywood, roughly carve the radius's out of plaster (don't use a GF board as I did for the front roof, as it isn't stiff enough and keeps cracking the junctions). Finish the carving with polyester putty (don't use too thick layers as it shrinks allot and deforms the wood ! Once nearly finished shaping, try a layer of can paint, as it lets you see the last bumps and holes better. I used a "filler" can paint in the end and alternated the paint colors to see how much and where to sandpaper.
- I used sandpaper up to 180 to make the shapes, used mainly 240 to remove the excess paint layers and finished by hand (no wedge) with 400 and finaly, just before the wax, 600.
Forming the foam is next, then I'll clean up the workshop as there's a cm thick layer of dust which wouldn't be appreciated in the carbon.
Thanks to daddy for the help and advice (his hands have seen kms of sandpaper). Cheers from snowy Lausanne.
