Making a body shell advice

[Mash Potato]

Hi all,

Trying to re-make a body that is no longer available. Have a shell to use to make a mould. Plan is to fill this with some sort of resin to make the mould to cast the rest of the shells from. Plaster of Paris has been mentioned but I have been advised this will not last long, hence looking at resins. Anyone have experience doing something similar and can offer advice on materials/resins to use?

[Gordonm]

Hi- I would stick with a plaster of paris mould to start with, also try petg rather than lexan, it's cheaper & much easier to work with-,0.7mm moulds well but probably not strong enough for hard use, ok for a shelf queen tho'..
Best of luck, cheers, Gord..

[dodgydiy]

when i tried this a few years ago i used one coat plaster. i would just make the mould with plaster of paris, grab a couple of screws and a bit of mdf just bigger than your shell will be and put a couple of screws down the middle and push this into the base of your moulding when you are pouring it. after the plaster is dry and you remove the body you will then have a good secure base to work from while you fill all the little defects that will be present, and it will stop your plaster being chipped over time if you intend re using it. after you have done any work to make the mould good, seal the surface with something like pva adhesive, after that you can paint or resin coat it so it is a lot tougher and lasts well.

[terry.sc]

If you are planning any sort of production run then you want an aluminium filled epoxy resin. If you want to stand any chance of saving the body you will need a suitable mould release agent to prevent the resin sticking to the body.

[mrspeedy]

You can also get polyurethene resin .. some filled with aluminium .. its a bit easier to work with than epoxy which can be very hard .. usually around £10 a kg .. which would be enough to make a buggy body ..

[yorak]

Also, please note that if you are using a cut and already worn body as the original, it will flex out of shape when you pour plaster or resin in. So use supports or bury it in sand or something while making the mould.