Question on Texture

[bigchevman]

Ok…so all the time I’ve been making fiberglass parts I’ve always wanted them to be smooth. Now some people want me to make an A-pillar guage for a car since no company makes one. The only problem is that the factory A-Pillar has this crazy texture on it. Up close it looks like millions of tiny little hexagons all over the surface. I’ve been trying to get a good picture of it since the description is a little wacky. Anyway…since i’m adding gauge pods to the pillar the part where they meet won’t have the texture and looks out of whack. How do you handle this? How can I copy the texture to the non-textured parts?

I heard something about flexible silicone, but i’m not sure how to go about it.

[system]

just shoot pretty thick primer on it and sand it smooth. That is all I do

[bigchevman]

just shoot pretty thick primer on it and sand it smooth. That is all I do

Ok…maybe my question was confusing, but what I’m trying to do is add gauge pods to a stock pillar. I need to recreate the texture of the pillar on the pods, no sanding will be involved because it will remove the texture. So…any advice?

[JRL]

Ok…maybe my question was confusing, but what I’m trying to do is add gauge pods to a stock pillar. I need to recreate the texture of the pillar on the pods, no sanding will be involved because it will remove the texture. So…any advice?

RTV Silicone is the way I would attempt it. Either that or liquid latex. Then use it as a stamp.

Use RTV with a low shore hardness. 60 or lower. To pull a small mold off of the A pillar just dam up the edges and pour it in. You can demold after 1 hour (although your not supposed to). As far as a release agent goes you normally dont need one. Any wax will work though.

If you do use RTV be REALLY carefull measuring it. And equally carefull to keep bubbles out of it. Vac degassing is the best way to avoid it. Some of our RTV molds at work border on $700 in material. The stuff is really finicky.

[bigchevman]

RTV Silicone is the way I would attempt it. Either that or liquid latex. Then use it as a stamp.

Use RTV with a low shore hardness. 60 or lower. To pull a small mold off of the A pillar just dam up the edges and pour it in. You can demold after 1 hour (although your not supposed to). As far as a release agent goes you normally dont need one. Any wax will work though.

If you do use RTV be REALLY carefull measuring it. And equally carefull to keep bubbles out of it. Vac degassing is the best way to avoid it. Some of our RTV molds at work border on $700 in material. The stuff is really finicky.

So then how to I transfer the stamp to the plug? A heavy coat of primer? Or how should I get it to show up on the plug?

[JRL]

So then how to I transfer the stamp to the plug? A heavy coat of primer? Or how should I get it to show up on the plug?

Your thinking exactly what I was thinking. Spray a high build primer on to the plug. Let it “B” stage (i.e. leaves a finger print but doesnt remove paint) and then try and texturize the plug with the silicone pad before the primer fully cures.

This is the way I would attempt it. I would do a test on a throw away part first.

[system]

Do the piece like JRL said and cover the back of the silicone with plaster before you pull it off. Remove everything, put the silicone piece back in the plaster piece (plaster is for support) and you can make a male plug from there.