Mould construction?

[awallin]

Through the mainboom blog (http://mainboom.blogspot.com/) I found this interesting picture series:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hankieberen ... SESSIONIOM#

Can anyone comment what kind of epoxy paste/putty is used for the mould construction? Is this a viable alternative to a traditional mould made from glass/epoxy laminate (or carbon, if you can afford it...).

Those that follow my website know that with Jari Immanen (now at rcyachttech.webs.com) we've cnc-cut plugs and made moulds for the PIKANTO, and made a few prototype hulls. I now have some new improvements and ideas, and I am looking for any ways we could simplify the plug -> mould -> hull build cycle. CNC-cutting a negative mould directly in aluminium or a hard tooling board would be nice, but requires a big machine and the materials are quite expensive...

thoughts?

[awallin]

I have now learned that the mould in the pics was made from a Sika product called
"Biresin L89" laminating paste

datasheet: http://www.scabro.com/assets/files/Sika ... g%20NL.pdf

I found a price over here
http://www.dirksartistsupplier.nl/blade ... s/50.2.htm
which is about 100euros for 12kg of the paste and 30euros for the hardener.

I should do some CAD work with the design, then discuss cnc-cutting a new MDF plug with Jari, and find out where I could get this Sika product at a reasonable price. If it goes well it would be great to make a new mould with this stuff around the end of the year.

AW

[awallin]

There are now more pictures from the same builder over here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/10564894834 ... EStart2010#

I got some local prices for the resins in Finland(all of these are made by Sika):
12kg pack of Biresin L89 is 12.36eur/kg + VAT
1.68kg of L89 hardener is 22.60eur/kg + VAT

for a heat-resistant gelcoat that can be polished to high gloss the importer recommended me Biresin S8
6x0.4kg resin and 6x0.080kg hardener work-pack 34.50eur/kg + VAT

It's very likely that these things can be found cheaper in other parts of Europe or the USA...
Our own project is on hold since I am very busy at work and Jari is taking delivery of a new CNC-machine...