My mate "Sich" needed a few little bits for his bus so he came over and spent about ten minutes on my milling machine, and then we went over to his place and (he) spent about 4 hours doing fibreglass!!
Somehow I think I got the better deal (and dinner as well)!!
You may guess this is not my favourite material, until it has set anyway, and then I love it.
But he has made a mould for a shower base for his own and other buses - very "swish".
A bit of elbow grease with some wax and it looks like this.
Then there is a release agent painted on to help everything come apart later but it's clear so you can't see any difference.
We are being very "designer chic" so the bases are coloured BLACK!
Very practical too I might add.
So then it's paint on the "gel-coat" which is the smooth stuff with the colour in it. This is quite a thin layer as the strength is provided from the other layers. This is all done inside out ie the bit you see later goes on first with the colour in it and ends up with the same smooth finish as the mould.
This material stays "wet" until you add a catalyst agent which starts the chemical action causing it to go hard so it's best to make it in small amounts as needed.
It's very sensitive to the temperature while you are doing it and it generates quite a lot of it's own heat as well. It's been known to melt the odd plastic container if too much catalyst is added.
We had one small hiccup with not realising just how hot the day was and one batch went off a bit quicker than expected causing a few lumps and bumps but they wont be seen in the finished product so no harm done.
There is a small step in the mould shape (which can just be seen in the first photo of the gel-coat going on) which allows the wall sheeting to fit nicely and create a waterproof seal. The glass reinforcing material however is quite stiff and doesn't like going around sharp bends so some filler material is mixed and the step filled up level with the main surface so that the glass fibre will lay relatively flat.
Then - a layer of very fine "tissue" like matting is layed on and the resin is brushed on and worked into the tissue until all air bubbles have been removed and the material is thoroughly soaked through with resin.
Then a heavier layer is placed over it and the whole process is repeated and then again and again !!
All the while getting about equal amounts of the very sticky gooey stuff on the mould and yourself !!
However I have seen the result from previous efforts and it's worth it.
Can't wait 'til Monday to see the finished result and then I can finish off the framing in that area which will be made to fit.
Feels like progress!!
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