Polyurethane Side Strakes first cast
Crossfire......
08-06-2004 | 01:21 AM
#102
Who Cares?
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
From: Robins Air Force Base, Georgia
Which is the resin cast strake? I'm cornfused! If it is the shinier of the two you have outdone yourself and I know that is what I would like if the price is right, because I know the materials for this one was quite costly if I remember correctly.
Outstanding job Dennis!
Outstanding job Dennis!
08-06-2004 | 02:47 AM
#104
Thread Starter
Moderator with a mycocardium
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,599
Likes: 2
From: Springfield, IL
The cast of all four side strakes for the mold has been set. Tomorrow night, errr tonight I wll be taking the set of original aluminum strakes out of the molds to ready them for the first complete set of polyurethane/Aluminum side strakes. I will make several sets in one series as it takes about 10 minutes before I can take them from the mold. After that, I have to wait for 24 hours before continuing to finish them. The finish part is the longest as I have to sand each of them by hand through a process of 220 grit, 1500 grit and finally rubbing compound until I get the surface smooth enough to buff. After buffing, I will need to clear coat them. This will take another 24 hours. After they are clear coated, I will drill the tap hole and install the bolt, washer and lock washer to tap the threads. Then it will get the 3M double sided foam trim tape on the ends and by Sunday, I will be posting pics of the first run with a set installed on my RX-8 so that everyone can see what these look like installed. I plan on making a couple of colors this weekend, in addition. Gun Metal Gray and Velocity Red are the two non aluminum finish that will be available and also installed for picture purposes. Black and white are next in line. After that, the remaining colors of the RX-8 and then it will be on to other designs afterwards. I will attempt to take a set and make the three strakes your out (3 per side) design with a set and a half of these.
The polyurethane/aluminum side strake in the pictures above is the one on the left. If I had to describe them to you I would say it is a little bit darker than the original, a little bit less reflective but if you saw them side by side on an RX-8, you would be hard pressed to say which one is which. It's more closer to the brushed aluminum but a bit more shiny than that. Sort of a dark aluminum but only by a shade. The photos I will take will show in detail and will be taken during the daytime, hopefully it won't be raining when I am able to take the pics.
For those who know about the fog light accent strakes, I did cast the mold of one of the newest prototypes tonight and am continuing on with that adventure hoping to be only a week at most away for the first production. Also, I am going to work on the frame for the oil cooler screens this weekend. I got the part for the right oil cooler cover ready and am going to make the mounting design prototype. I have developed a way to mold the frames effectively. This is all time consuming and I thank everyone for being patient.
The polyurethane/aluminum side strake in the pictures above is the one on the left. If I had to describe them to you I would say it is a little bit darker than the original, a little bit less reflective but if you saw them side by side on an RX-8, you would be hard pressed to say which one is which. It's more closer to the brushed aluminum but a bit more shiny than that. Sort of a dark aluminum but only by a shade. The photos I will take will show in detail and will be taken during the daytime, hopefully it won't be raining when I am able to take the pics.
For those who know about the fog light accent strakes, I did cast the mold of one of the newest prototypes tonight and am continuing on with that adventure hoping to be only a week at most away for the first production. Also, I am going to work on the frame for the oil cooler screens this weekend. I got the part for the right oil cooler cover ready and am going to make the mounting design prototype. I have developed a way to mold the frames effectively. This is all time consuming and I thank everyone for being patient.
Last edited by D MENAC 7; 08-06-2004 at 02:50 AM.
08-06-2004 | 07:41 PM
#108
Thread Starter
Moderator with a mycocardium
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,599
Likes: 2
From: Springfield, IL
First mold run has been cast and removed. I will be working on finishing these first thing in the morning.
An interesting observation: I had to make a second mold of one of these because the original strake stuck to the mold which is highly unusual. I decided to sand on the surface to clean any impurities off using 1500 gritt sand paper as I have done this with two others when I scratched them while creating the mold, accidentaly. These are the ORIGINAL Mazda aluminum strakes, mind you. Unlike the other two this one seemed to be covered with something, almost like it was clear coated at some point. The other three were not because when I sanded on the final one, and the two before, it didn't do anything like this one did. I cast another mold of it immediately and it is just fine.
I did get a near perfect duplication of the finish after I used rubbing compound on the first test. I still have to buff one of these to see how much further I can finish this aluminum/resin compound. After the rubbing compound, I could actually see reflection when it was sitting close to an object. This is with absolutely no paint applied, mind you. I took it out afterwards and applied some clear coat. One of the other "chrome" paints I tried before that you can purchase at an auto store in a spray can looked great until you put clear coat on it. It was really weird in that it disolved part of the chrome paint and turned some of it dark. I tried that on one of the original fog light strake pieces I had laying around. On this one, it had absolutely no effect on the brightness or color of the polished test strake. Tomorrow, I will install a set of these on my car and will post a pic tomorrow night of what they look like installed. :D It shouldn't be too much longer.
An interesting observation: I had to make a second mold of one of these because the original strake stuck to the mold which is highly unusual. I decided to sand on the surface to clean any impurities off using 1500 gritt sand paper as I have done this with two others when I scratched them while creating the mold, accidentaly. These are the ORIGINAL Mazda aluminum strakes, mind you. Unlike the other two this one seemed to be covered with something, almost like it was clear coated at some point. The other three were not because when I sanded on the final one, and the two before, it didn't do anything like this one did. I cast another mold of it immediately and it is just fine.
I did get a near perfect duplication of the finish after I used rubbing compound on the first test. I still have to buff one of these to see how much further I can finish this aluminum/resin compound. After the rubbing compound, I could actually see reflection when it was sitting close to an object. This is with absolutely no paint applied, mind you. I took it out afterwards and applied some clear coat. One of the other "chrome" paints I tried before that you can purchase at an auto store in a spray can looked great until you put clear coat on it. It was really weird in that it disolved part of the chrome paint and turned some of it dark. I tried that on one of the original fog light strake pieces I had laying around. On this one, it had absolutely no effect on the brightness or color of the polished test strake. Tomorrow, I will install a set of these on my car and will post a pic tomorrow night of what they look like installed. :D It shouldn't be too much longer.
08-17-2004 | 04:43 AM
#113
Don't you wannabanana?
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 146
Likes: 0
From: Tdot
put me on the list for the lighted ones...it'd be best if tthe light was more spread out
Originally Posted by D MENAC 7
Did a test on a clear one tonight with a blue and a white LED inserted. These photos cannot do it justice as light is one of the most difficult things to photograph. To keep it from being too intense, I used the spot meter function on my camera but in doing so, it also lessens the actual light being reflected in the nether regions of the clear strake.
Here is the blue from the top, blue from the side and white from the top.
Here is the blue from the top, blue from the side and white from the top.
08-25-2004 | 08:02 PM
#121
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
From: Farmington Hills, Michigan
make chrome ones and email me when their done, i will buy right away. qdog145@aol.com
09-01-2004 | 11:27 AM
#125
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: grimy jerzz
i was wondering if you could photo shop a pic of a black 8 with all (aluminum, gunmetal, grey, and white) fender and fog strakes. but i definately want a pair of fender and fog strakes just want to find out which color would be best.
btw i know you have heard this many times already but Fu@*in awesome job..
btw i know you have heard this many times already but Fu@*in awesome job..