civicshowracing65

hey guys this is my 5th mold that i've tried to make. Each time, there's a crack in the mold in different places. Can someone tell me why this is happening and what can i do to prevent it. I don't want to make another mold and have it crack again.

I'm brushing on black tooling gelcoat after 6 coats of mold release wax.

Nameless RB26

What is the mold for?

Here is my 2 cents. It looks like you're using the wrong method, and the wrong mixture or resin .. or whatever crap you're using to make the mold with. It is probably much too brittle at your temperature. If this is your 5th mold, I certainly hope you've expirimented with some other resins because that would be a time consuming hassle.

And the tooling gelcoat.. I don't know what that is or who told you to use it. I don't use anything except PVA mold release. Works great.

shortyz21

i think gelcoat is suposed to sprayed on evenly. not painted on with a brush.

MikeGRIS

it can be painted on, i have some in my garage. are you waiting till the gelcoat is tacky before laying your chop strand FG on? I am assuming you are using Polyester resin too for the mold. Depending on how many layers of FG and the amount of Polyester it creates a ton of hea., I would try your gelcoat and a thin layer of FG, let it all cure and add more layers of FG to build strength.

You could also try bags of Ice on the mold to keep the temperature down.

civicshowracing65

the gelcoat is the black stuff itself. You're thinking i'm talking about a release. I do have pva but never use it. I use the mold release wax.

Yes, I know you should spray on the tooling gel but i don't have access to a compressor at this time. You can also brush it on just make sure that it's at least 30 mils.

I was thinking maybe it had to do something with the heat when it catalyzes. The only thing was i used only 12 drops of MEKP per oz. Took 45 min to even get tacky and that's when i applied the FG. Idk wuts going on but it's getting frustrating

wantboost

iTrader: (2)

it looks like a headlight imo

civicshowracing65

that piece looks like a headlight? o yea maybe....

actually it's for my celica. I have the trd bodykit/wing and on the side are these little inserts. Making cf ones.

Doctor CorteZ

did you even wet the mat ? those strands hanging out of the mold are way too dry.

Are you using good resin ?

why are you using five coats of mold release ? and what kind of release are you using ?

post a pic of the buck , also.

MikeGRIS

If the tooling gel coat releases from the part fine then it is not a mold release issue.

Depending on your get coat mixture, mine is 1% catylist by volume. So if the mixture is not correct your get coat will not come out correct.

I stated earlier depending on how much Polyester Resin you are laying on the back side of the getcoat it could create a lot of heat and warp the part.