| JASPER II - APRIL
2008 Progress
The head was then primed with latex paint to guard the hi-density polyurethane foam from the polyester resin which would soon be applied. This forms a barrier which helps protect the foam from deteriorating under the heat and chemical reaction of the resin. For the mesh I was originally going to use aluminum screening to wrap around foam ring contours to shape the outside of the body, but found a plastic 1/2" square fence material used to protect young trees. It was lighter and the openings allowed for more resin and glass to "bite" while wetting-in and form a stronger bond with the initial layer. It worked great! After cutting the plastic mesh (with scissors) for over-lapping and getting the form right, I bound them to each other using a roll of tie-wrap like that found on loaves of bread. The fins were cut from the hi-dense foam and initially tacked in place using a spray adhesive made for gluing ceiling fabric in auto restoration. The next step was the cutting and fitting of the fiberglass cloth. A layer of resin was brushed onto the mesh, cloth laid on top and more resin was applied using economy natural bristle brushes. This worked better than the roller method used by many to wet-in the fiberglass. Alternating layers of this type of woven cloth and layers of the Matte type (which is composed of multi-directional random fibers) were used to build-up the repetitive layers to form a thick, strong "skin". After fighting gravity too much trying to come around the underside, I gave in and Dale Bryant and I detached the Dragon form from the boat and set it upside down in a cradle to continue the process of building up the fiberglass on the bottom. While
belly-up, I formed the armor plates with the mesh and Dale was right behind me
laying up the glass. I then proceeded to start detailing the underside of the
jaw. This was accomplished by building-up fiberglass infused resin jelly which
hardens to stone. This is followed by carving with combinations of rotary carbides,
sanding discs and papers, building up some more and repeating. |
oughing in the head was done with a combination of tools: a saws-all, a high speed
rotary tool with an extremely abrasive roloc disc and handwork with coarse sandpaper.
The grits used here were numbered 250-300.