plexiglass
 

Anyone have any experience working with it? I'm curious if it can be used to make a template from which a mold can be made. The entire undertail/undertray/battery box assy on my RC is in serious need of help and I need a project before I go crazy. How hard is plexiglass to shape i.e. bend without breaking? Or can it even be shaped? If it can be shaped, then what tools will I need?

i think you are better off building it from fiberglass.

Every time that I've worked with fiberglass I've made a huge mess and I'm really hoping to avoid that. I can lay fiberglass if I've got a mold, but this time I'm gonna need to make a mold. Another problem that I've run into is that some body parts for RCs, especially undertrays, are extremely hard to find unmolested.

it will be easier to build from fiberglass... BUT if you use thin plexy you can bend it with a heat gun and patients... but try'n to do complex bends and corners is a waste of time and effort. at most you can do is roll it one direction ie roll it into a u... but can't make a box with out cutting and attaching ends.

in the end the plexy would be very heavy compared to fiberglass..


why were you thinking plexy?

Cutting and bending isn't problem, and when I'm working with my hands, I've got all the patience in the world. So pretty much a dremel and a hair drier?

I was thinking plexi because I need something to use as a template in order to build a mold. The final product(s) with be from either fiberglass or carbon fiber.

Depends on what you mean by plexiglass? Straight acrylic would be a pain in the ass as it likes to shatter... Lexan or some other polycarbonate would be much easier. Polycarb can be formed using a heat gun, but a torch works better... obviously the thickness used would determine the heat source. Now, I would recommend just making it out of the polycarb and forget fiberglass and CF.

I was thinking something along the lines of acrylic but I do admit that going that way would be a pain in the ass. So maybe Lexan, but how thick? Something like 1/16 inch?

A trick used in the kit car world is to use a foam the hardens to a solid (come on one of the body shop guys help with the name of the poduct) to form a negative impression , by covering the original with a release agent ( I used saran wrap the last time) then put relase agent in the mold and lay the glass glass into the mold. I did a couple of scoops this way and pulled molds for fender flairs off a buddies car as well

You mean like styrofoam? What I was thinking was to make the shape that I wanted from the acrylic/polycarbonate using modelers clay if needed to smooth things out and then make the negative. Then take the negative (mold) and make my final product from either fiberglass or carbon fiber.

1/16" would be ok for a mold... could be done with a heat gun... 1/8" would require a torch... I'd just make it out of 1/8" and be done with it. You can even get black Lexan... The whole making a mold thing just seems counter productive... You're talking about adding a part that weighs a few ounces and isn't really seen.