Will Aldridge
Well-Known Member
Sorry this is somewhat abbreviated from the original as I lost my post by accidentally closing the browser.:mad2:
I started building a 1/4 scale model of the plane I'm designing by slicing the fuselage up into 2" thick sections. Overall it was one of the easier ways I've found to create such a complex shape fairly quickly and required very little sanding and finishing.
My mind started working backwards using that method to make a female mold. I know that molds have to withstand a pretty substantial amount of pressure and from what I've head solid blue foam can take those loads. So if you build yourself a long flat table and if you had a cnc hotwire cutter you could fairly easily make yourself a female mold that would require very little finishing and also be really easy to incorporate the joggles into. Might be somewhat expensive buying enough foam but then again you save money and time not having to build a male mold first.
It would seriously surprise me if no one ever thought of doing this so, has it been done? What are some potential problems that would need to be overcome?
I started building a 1/4 scale model of the plane I'm designing by slicing the fuselage up into 2" thick sections. Overall it was one of the easier ways I've found to create such a complex shape fairly quickly and required very little sanding and finishing.
My mind started working backwards using that method to make a female mold. I know that molds have to withstand a pretty substantial amount of pressure and from what I've head solid blue foam can take those loads. So if you build yourself a long flat table and if you had a cnc hotwire cutter you could fairly easily make yourself a female mold that would require very little finishing and also be really easy to incorporate the joggles into. Might be somewhat expensive buying enough foam but then again you save money and time not having to build a male mold first.
It would seriously surprise me if no one ever thought of doing this so, has it been done? What are some potential problems that would need to be overcome?