help needed with plug prep

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#1

hi all
need a little help with my projec
my problem is ive decided to merge the tail unit and seat on my tls
and make it more like a one piece race tail



now my problem is how do i fill all the holes and gaps do i use foam
what type of foam would you recommend(the expanding foam i used in the airbox is a no no as its much to pourous)
is there another method of over laying some sort of cloth and epoxying it

im a beginner at this bodywork stuff so id be truly gratefull for any help
regards
matt

#2

with regards to the foam, you would just have to make the “mold” with the foam, and then coat it with something that will fill in the bubbles. Be it resin, or filler compound.

As for the other idea of covering holes…ppl here know better, but foil tape, card stock, and molding clay I think is the way to go. Basically filling in the holes with the tape/cardstock to create another surface.

#3

Are you molding off of your plug, or overlaying? If you are overlaying you can get away with a less rigorous approach. Aluminum tape can be helpful to cover holes and form shapes. If you are molding I suggest bonding the two pieces together from the back side, blocking the holes from the back and applying a filler to the front which will stick to both materials. Then it’s the thousand of hours of sanding/shaping.

What riff said.

#4

cheers for the reply guys
im using the seat and tail as the plug dont mind a bit of sanding

will be bonding the two together before i build up the plug

ive heard about using some sort of fleece cloth stretched over a plug then have it epoxied in place giving a solid base that can be sanded smooth has anyone used this process

also is there a preference to what type of foam

#5

Yes, i have done this, but don’t intend to sand through. it should be a base for filler. the benefit is that you can be smart about where you tack and pull the fabric so that it shapes how you (mostly) want. Then saturate it with resin. You can use many fabrics, choose something thick with some stretch. But again tape and cardboard will work just fine for a filler base. Just make sure the tail and seat section are well bonded so that your fill work doesn’t crack.

#6

cheers amac

knew that there was more to the process as i had the image of a very fuzzie plug if i’d just epoxied the fleece and sanded without using any filler

was thinking using a cloth like you might find in a pair of tights or some sort of speaker cloth,as you say it can be tacked and formed into certain shapes before its epoxied
so its more than likely i will go with this proceedure

will post updates as i go along