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Dave Camp's Simple Web site
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| A simple web to record progress on experiments with fuselage moulding. The basic technique is following the DVD 'Composite Molding
Made Easy' The basic technique is to carve a plug using blue foam, then use casting plaster to create the two halves of the mould. After drying the mould surfaces are sealed with epoxy, then a lay up can be made as normal. The resulting halves are joined outside the mould, basically the whole technique is for one off or short run work. The surface finish will probably not be as good as a with a conventional resin mould. The attraction of the technique to me was that it seems simpler than making out of epoxy or polyester, should be cheaper and gets around the problems I have in my mind (maybe not real) of sorting out alignment, mould joining fittings etc. As a lousy carver of wood the idea of using blue foam for shaping the plug seems good to me. My first attempt will be for an own design chuckie, I'm using the thin Drela airfoils as used on the Supergee-2 (follow this link), but with a completely different planform and fuselage layout. There's nothing scientific about this design, just trying to be a bit individual, but obviously there are sub conscious influences lurking that will be shaping the design. It will be a pod and boom design, the boom is a genuine Allegro DHLG boom sourced from Woolmer Forest Composites in the UK (see links page for suppliers used). This is the same boom as specified in the Supergee design; given the need to keep weight down but maintain strength I decided to follow this 'off the shelf' approach, but will give boom construction a go in the future. Following the oh so true adage that pictures speak a thousand words move to the page 'Blue Gee' to see progress with annotated images. Oh yes, Blue Gee - my initial name for the design, it could well change. Given the use of Blue foam, 'Blue Gee' brand epoxy and Supergee airfoils it might stick.
This page was last updated on 03-Dec-2004.
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