How to Make the Cowling
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How to Make the Cowling
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| The start is to make a front and rear bulk head, and a gap seal that can be taken apart in the center. Here I started to see how much room I would need for the engine and exhaust. | ||
| I made a hole for the prop hub and an aluminum lower portion
of the cowling that would extend below the gap seal in the rear portion
of
the plane. |
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| Next the engine was bagged with plastic to protect it from the foam .I then put urethane foam boards from the front bulk head to the back, then used two part urethane foam to fill the holes and fill the top. then carved it with a bread knife and cheese grader files. | ||
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Rough shaped cowling. |
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| This is why you make the bulk heads so they can be split in half. With a bread knife I split the plug and removed it from the airplane. | |
| After both half's are removed from the plane they were put together on a tube and mounted on 2 saw horses so I could make them to the final shape and finish. Now the plug is ready to have a mold made from it. |  |
Cowling Mold The mold is made of epoxy resin, cabosill, micro balloons, fiberglass cloth, and end grain balsa. |
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Bottom view of the mold |
Front view of mold with the front of the mold removed
and sitting inverted on the front of the mold. |
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Front of the mold. |
The back of the mold. Notice the mold is made so it
can be split in half to lay the parts up and to get them out of the mold. |
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Now to layup the cowling in the new mold
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