Cowling building

[wypaul 448]

Cowlings can be hard to find for some projects but they are not hard to build with epoxy and glass.  I am in the process of building one for a friends Piet at this time and have also built one for my Q-2. I am attaching some photos of the Piet cowl mould that is in the process at this tme.  And no, I am not interested in builiding cowls for anyone but it really is a fun and easy process.

 

[EDMO 1078]

Paul,

     I layed up fiberglass on metal parts for years, and have done vacuum bagging, but never used a foam form - Is there something you need to do after getting the foam in the shape you want, before laying on the resin/cloth?  does it stick to the foam?

Thanks for posting.

EdMO

[wypaul 448]

Ed I use drywall mud for the final smoothing (the white color over the foam) and then just apply paste floor wax before the layup.  Also UVA mold release can be used or hair spray over the wax.  Meguirs makes a mold release wax called Mirror Glaze 88 that is available at most auto parts stores which is a paste wax.  The nice thing about the foam is that it is easy to carve.  I also use X-30 liquid foam to fill voids and the likes, a 1 qt kit is more than enough to do a cowl

[marksires 484]

Ed,

Use PVC foam (pink stuff at Home Depot/Lowes), and a little gas (or alcohol, or other things)will dissolve a lot of foam. Use that method when making small parts with fiberglass & a foam mold. Make the mold, layup the part, and if the foam won't come off easily, or the shape doesn't allow the foam to come out, dissolve the foam.

Mark

[Luked 71]

Thanks for sharing the pictures Paul. Looks good. I'm really looking forward to making my cowling. I like all the things you can do with fiberglass.

 

Good tips from everyone too. Some other things I didn't see mentioned yet, use some dacron for a peel ply layer (you can google how it's done). It really helps keep the weight down by eliminated too much excess resin. One really simple parts, I've used foam, cardboard, etc. covered in clear packing tape. The parts pop right off of the packing tape. I cut it in narrower strips for curved areas. Fun stuff!

 

Oh yeah, one more that I really like. Get one of these.

The small nylon one is my favorite because it's rounded, and the epoxy pops right off when it drys. Makes it easy to get the air bubbles out. You can get it and a lot of other stuff at http://www.fibreglast.com/

[wolves200 31]

I tried to make my own cowling now 3 times, and I´m never satisfied with the results, perhaps I sucks at it, I found easier to make it from blue foam, but I can´t get a accurate way of having a perfect flat or curved surface, I use like planks with sand paper glued on it, and all different tools, same results.

 

I guess I have to be more patient!!

 

any tips from the experienced member are highly appreciated...

 

Regards

Dimi3

[wypaul 448]

I like the drywall compound to finish with because it makes it easier to get the finish flat and etc.  Also with the plug method a fair amount of the finishing is done after you lay up the glass.  Take a look at "Finishing a Composite Airplane" sorry no link with IE on this site.  I will post some more pictures when I get to that stage.