Making of the SNX Hull

[MCrider]

I guess i'm still confused on how the mold for the pole will work, i am excited to see it unfold!

 

[Vumad]

Someday, you are going to finish this build, and i am going to have nothing left to look forward to when i come here.

 

[SkiDiggity]

Seriously speechless. Only thing that comes to mind each time I review the thread is.. Mind Blown... POOF! haha Great job Nate!

 

[Nate_D]

Someday, you are going to finish this build, and i am going to have nothing left to look forward to when i come here.

Lol Thank!s! And don't worry, there's a long list of parts that I want to mold after this is done. Adjustable Reduction nozzles, coupler covers, pump shoe, adjustable pole, hood revision, bottom and top deck v2... This thread might not ever end.


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[Nate_D]

I guess i'm still confused on how the mold for the pole will work, i am excited to see it unfold!

It's a two part mold. The pole is flanged around its widest point and then a mold is laid up. Once cured, the flange is removed leaving the mold attached to the plug. A second mold is laid up on the other side and directly on top of the flange. Once the second mold cures, you pull them both off and you have a perfectly mating set of molds. Extra care has to be given to the plug on the plane where the part will be divided.


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[txsuperjetfreak96]

Lol Thank!s! And don't worry, there's a long list of parts that I want to mold after this is done. Adjustable Reduction nozzles, coupler covers, pump shoe, adjustable pole, hood revision, bottom and top deck v2... This thread might not ever end.


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Sweet

 

[Nate_D]

Orange peel central

I laid the Duratec on a little thicker this time (5 coats) because I always seem to sand through my normal 3 coat approach. Also the bottom layer is gray and the rest is black. This should help give me a visual of when I need to back off on the sanding. The first coat actually laid down amazing, with very little orange peel. What little was there kept growing with each coat. It's still much much better than before I was adding the high gloss.


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[Keg]

Have u tried longer drying times between coats to avoid orange peel?

 

[Nate_D]

I haven't. I will give that a try. I usually mix up enough to shoot one coat and then wait 5 -10 minutes for the next coat. Duratec usually tacks up by then, but isn't fully dry.

I really want to make friends with a professional painter/refinisher. My spraying skills are very much lacking. I don't know if it's my guns, the setup, my air, technique, or a combination of all of the above. I'm good enough to get by for composites, but if I was working at a body shop I would be out on the street.


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[txsuperjetfreak96]

Glad I'm not the only one. Years ago when I painted my rn. The local paint supplier where I got my paint told me I was more than welcome to come down and he would help me get my gun setup. Course I'm stubborn and didn't. Overall it came out decent for first time. Where my came out like crap was with my primer it didn't come out right. To much air I sanded best I could. Still holes in it sprayed paint thinking it would fill all the pin holes. It did for the most part

 

[kswiatk]

When i was spraying rustoelum gloss from my harbor freight gun i was able to get less orange peal in my finish by turning up the air in my gun to the max psi allowed and mixng less acetone (35% instead of 50%),and using much thinner coats. so maybe turning up the air will help?.
Before I shot my first paint job i took some scrap fiberglass and cut it into squares or marked them with tape, then i sprayed into each section using different technique, air, paint, thickness, and other settings and wrote down my settings by each. Then found the best one to use.

 

[plaidward]

Whoa, dropping the scientific method bomb on painting. Nate_D, you should do what kswiatk said.

 

[Jakobi86]

I've sprayed a lot of different paints. Single stage, base coat-clear coat, primers, sealers, laquers, gel coat... Etc. most all of those liquids were on the thicker side and the best way I could get a decent coat that lays down flat, glossy, and free of orange peel is to crank up the air pressure and/or thinning. I've tried different psi, gun tips, dry times, spray distances, all of it. Air pressure turned up is what got me good results. The downside is overspray. I don't spray often enough to try to figure something else out, so I do what I'm used to and get the results I like


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[Nate_D]

I have the same experience as you guys. Best setup has been more air pressure and smaller nozzle or limiting the opening. I am running my guns above the maximum. The 2k primer and single stage I used to refurb the air compressor shot great. Duratec has always given me a lot of orange peel. It used to be extremely bad. The bottom deck plug took me ~15 hours to sand out. I've tried thinning it with MEK, didn't help. Thinning it with high gloss and shooting it at 75 PSI with a 1.4 tip and only partial opening has given me the best results. A lot of overspray though. I feel like a pro could lay it better still. At the end of the day it doesn't matter all that much, it just means more time spent sanding.

For the in mold coatings I'm shooting them in a 0.6 detail gun at high pressure to get light mists. Takes forever to lay it out though.

I'll play around with the panel idea when I get some time. Good advice, thanks!


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[Jakobi86]

Is duratec like a gel coat? The only way I've seen guys spray gel coat the best you can, sprayed it out of a cup gun meant for gel. Like I said, I run more pressure to compensate. Also, my guns are always run at above max psi. Just do what you can to get the results your looking for and forget about the rest


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[MCrider]

maybe @jeastes1 could shed some light on the topic. Hands down some of the best paint work i have ever seen!

 

[Nate_D]

Is duratec like a gel coat? The only way I've seen guys spray gel coat the best you can, sprayed it out of a cup gun meant for gel. Like I said, I run more pressure to compensate. Also, my guns are always run at above max psi. Just do what you can to get the results your looking for and forget about the rest


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It's somewhere In between a gelcoat and a primer. It's a like a high build primer that cures quickly and has a hardness similar to a 2k clear coat.

I would love for jeastes to chime in if he's still following this thread.


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[jeastes1]

I have only sprayed gel coat a few times, and it was pretty peeled, I used a 1.8 gravity feed gun. Just like mentioned, with each coat you get more peel. So the answer may be a few coats at a time, allow cure sand repeat. I used to do body work then put 5 coats of primer on, it makes the surface you spent time straightening now lumpy. Wish was more help, but gun pressure, reduction, gun distance, pattern, volume setting, temperature are all factors of a sprayed finish.

 

[jeastes1]

Also you have to draw the line with pressure some where. Clear is sprayed at the highest pressure of all the materials I spray, at 29-30 psi.

 

[Nate_D]

What gun do you use for your clears? Do you feel the quality of the gun makes much of a difference? I've noticed pattern makes a big difference with certain materials. In my experience PVA does not like a wide pattern. Might be the gun though. When I shot that pole in those pics, the fan pattern was stuck wide open my cheapo TCP global gun.

One issue I'm having is that the material is getting kicked back into the cup causing it stop and start spraying, or sputter some. Is there is a specific reason for this?


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