How to Customize Fiberglass Sculpture?

Fiberglass reinforced plastic sculpture process according to the shape, can be divided into two kinds of round and relief sculpture. In the subdivision are characters, animal sculpture, cartoon sculpture,life size anime sculpture, shopping mall large art sculpture, campus relief, giant urban sculpture, European architectural sculpture, abstract art statue, vignette sculpture and so on. Whether it is a round sculpture or relief, the production process is not the same, only to grasp the key steps, you can produce a beautiful and unique fiberglass sculpture.

How To Customize Fiberglass Sculpture? 1

The first step: design and molding:

Excellent sculpture works need to have a good design foundation, fiberglass sculpture design should take into account the characteristics of its materials and processes.
Fiberglass reinforced plastic process is easy to mold beautiful streamlined products, can highlight the works of modern and period feeling, in the design can give priority to the use of arc shape and streamlined.
In addition, because FRP has the advantage of light weight and high strength, it can manufacture works with strong sense of movement and small supporting area. Sometimes fiberglass sculpture need to be painted after the gel coat surface layer, due to the gel coat has self-leveling, while curing in the role of exterior tension gel coat layer has a certain leveling effect, the situation is not suitable for the performance of detailed texture. These should be given thought in the design.
Traditional fiberglass sculpture of the original mold can be used clay or foam to shape the model, ordinary molding by professionals. After the sculpture work is completed, after natural air drying, with a certain strength, you can stop the FRP sculpture mold manufacturing.
With the development of science and technology, 3D printing technology continues to enrich the use, at present in the fiberglass molding stage will also often use 3D printing technology, but this requires professional sculpture designers and engineers to operate, different sculptures choose different ways of molding.
In addition to sculpture design, molding stage is the basis of sculpture molding, molding basically determines the full form of the sculpture.

The second step: Fiberglass Manufacturing

Fiberglass reinforced plastic sculpture manufacturing adopts hand-paste molding method. Manufacturing will be based on the shape of the sculpture before the characteristics, from the perspective of easy molding and demolding, the mold can be synthesized into a number of units turned. Accordingly molding unit products, and then combine them into a whole. Finally, the products will be disposed of as a whole and painting, the overall FRP modeling is completed.

The third step: fiber glass mold making

Resin fiberglass mold manufacturing is the key to FRP molding, FRP sculpture mold manufacturing often use plaster. There is a better way to manufacture FRP sculpture molds, is to use silicone rubber and FRP materials to manufacture molds.

1、First of all, the technicians will decide the surface of the clay sculpture according to various factors.
2、According to the customer's requirements, turn out different material molds. Such as silicone mold, plaster mold, or fiberglass mold. Several kinds of molds have their own advantages and disadvantages. Such as silicone mold, its cost is very high, but it turns out the finished product, its effect is the best. Fiberglass mold can also be used many times, the finished product is also good, but has the disadvantage of fickleness. The plaster mold is disposable, low cost.
3, mold making, technicians need to be based on the shape of the product, the mold is divided into more than two pieces. But its purpose is not to destroy the mold, easy to install and easy to splice.
Detailed mold manufacturing approach is: the preparation of good silicone rubber several times coated with drama in the original mold, silicone rubber layer should be more than 1mm after. To be cross-linked silicone rubber, silicone rubber and then molded on the thickness of about 3mm fiberglass layer. After the curing of fiberglass, along the division of the unit block will be the whole mold cut, cutting attention will be paid to the fiberglass layer and silicone rubber layer at the same time cut.
In the unit block between the manufacture of articulation ribs, articulation ribs should be set at the positioning groove, in order to ensure that through the articulation ribs to make the unit block mold combination into a whole. After the completion of the above work, the fiberglass unit block demolding, and then take off the silicone rubber layer, take off the silicone rubber block immediately put back into the fiberglass unit mold.
Dusting of the original mold → Silicone rubber preparation → Silicone rubber layer manufacturing → FRP layer manufacturing → mold splitting → articulation rib manufacturing → demolding and mold assembly.

Action Figure

The fourth step: molding manufacturing

Fiberglass reinforced plastic sculpture adopts hand-paste molding method, the molding line should be designed before manufacturing. Starting from one end of the sculpture, combining a part of the mold after the paste products. To be cured after the previous part of the combination of molds, continue to paste the product. In order to facilitate the premise of molding operations, a combination of mold unit block as much as possible.

So repeated, and finally left a unit block, the unit block pre-molded and glued to the overall sculpture. Fiberglass sculpture similar to the animal's horns, legs, tails and other difficult to use the above method of manufacturing parts, can use the corresponding metal materials made of rough shape, and then molding fiberglass on metal materials, after grinding the way to trim out.

1, fiberglass sculpture manufacturing using hand lay-up molding method. Separately for a number of unit molds for turning.
2, splicing, also known as assembly. Accordingly molded unit products, and then combine them into a whole.
3, seam processing, a number of unit products after splicing, the seams need to be bonded, polished.
4, support production. That is, to support the finished product stable skeleton, the general situation is based on steel.

Modulation of fiberglass reinforced plastic method:

Resin plus cobalt water slowly stirred, add talcum powder, the proportion of resin and talcum powder to half, cobalt water only a few caps enough, and then add 2 caps of hardener, stir, the first time the resin can be a little bit more, a little bit thinner the best, brushed in the mold, and so on 8 into the dry, brushed the second, talc a little bit more, a little bit thicker, brushed up, and then cut a piece of a piece of fiberglass cloth pasted on, each position should be affixed to the, and then use a piece without talc to make the fiberglass cloth. Then use the resin without talcum powder (to add cobalt water and hardener) in the coating again, and so 7 into dry, the mold line outside the excess fiberglass cut off, dry and then cut again on the cut.

Then apply a layer of thick resin on the mold line, then close the mold, wait for drying, then open the mold, take out the fiberglass, finished.

Turn out the fiberglass, repair the mold line, with caustic soda water to wash the surface, and then hit the water grinding, need to retain the texture can not hit the water grinding. Spray a layer of white epoxy primer, the surface has small holes in the place can use putty to fill a little. Then sanding, the surface needs to be rough can not be sanded.

Fiberglass reinforced plastic sculpture molding in an important issue is the structure to strengthen, strengthen the material common selection of metal profiles, metal profiles welded into the sculpture skeleton. In the molding manufacturing, the metal skeleton gradually buried in the sculpture.

In order to further the rigidity and strength of FRP sculpture, increase its service life, and ultimately through the metal skeleton device FRP sculpture assembly mold → fill surface putty → laying short cut felt → laying chevron cloth → burying skeleton → final product demolding.

Sculpture type surface is generally more complex, in the process of laying layer should be specially disposed of. Fiberglass mat is difficult to lay should be filled with resin putty containing short fibers, and then laying fiberglass mat and chequered cloth.

Sculpture outer surface with resin putty in the glass fiber length of 10mm is appropriate, sculpture exterior with resin putty proportioning information polyester resin glass fiber CaCO3 filler pigment peroxide methyl ethyl ketone cobalt naphthalate dosage 1002010022-40.5-4.

Finally is the post-disposal, then spray epoxy primer, then color to do the effect, and finally spray protection varnish, customized fiberglass sculpture process is completed.