hey guys I'm planning to make a mold out of a small panel in my car. So i'll be using the plastic panel as my plug.

I was wondering if any preparation is needed for the plug? Basically i've cleaned the piece with rubbing alcohol and there's no scratches or anything in it. Do I need to primer the piece or can i just apply the mold release and then the pva?

thanks

 

What are you making the mold out of? Usually just cleaning the part and using a release agent is suficient for plastics.

 

i'm going to be using black tooling gelcoat

 

PVA is a mold release agent. However, it is not compatible with epoxy.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civicshowracing65 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hey guys I'm planning to make a mold out of a small panel in my car. So i'll be using the plastic panel as my plug.

I was wondering if any preparation is needed for the plug? Basically i've cleaned the piece with rubbing alcohol and there's no scratches or anything in it. Do I need to primer the piece or can i just apply the mold release and then the pva?

thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

i am going to be making a mold of a panel. The plastic panel isn't smooth but has a little texture to it. Do I ruin the plastic and make the surface smooth or will it be ok the way it is and not show up in the mold?

 

any imperfections in the plug will show up in the mold and the finished parts.

 

alright thanks i'm going to try and make my first mold now. After 10 layers of release and made some flanges, it's time to do the tooling gelcoat. I'll probably have more questions in the next couple hours....

Also, can you resuse the tooling gelcoat once i open it? I'm planning to keep doing molds for a few weeks and was wondering if tooling gelcoat was a one time thing.


Modified by civicshowracing65 at 3:19 AM 10/9/2005