Ok so its done, here are some pics, (below) I have literally just taken it out of the mould and done nothng else. I know you can sand/polish resin so I could maybe tidy it up a bit, but, as this was just an experiment, not too fussed about a pristine fuinish TBH. For me it was more about learning how to use
Epoxy Resin/Moulds, etc.
It has not turned out as nice as I would like, a bit too cloudy, some lines between layers, inconsistent colours, too many bubbles, etc!
Things I have learnt.
Need to use more rigid mould or smaller mould to stop the flexible silicone moulds from flexing/bending.
I did not measure the quantities when mixing resin/hardener, just did it by eye, so I think each poured layer is not consistent, so measuring will deffo help with that.
You can see "lines" between the layers from certain angles, especially from the side, so that could be improved upon, some peeps recommend sanding between layers so they "bond" better, I did not do this.
Theres still lots of (tiny) bubbles, so could have been more careful with initial mixing, and then with removing bubbles via popping, heat, etc.
Likewise I did not measure the amount of colouring I added, so theres some inconsistency with the colour in each layer, again I just eyeballed it!
I wanted the base to be a lot darker, dark grey/almost black, but its too light, so I did not add enough colour on the initial first layer with the rocks, seabed, etc.
I wanted the top half to be much clearer, but I've added too much blue colour, so its not as easy to see the sub and a bit cloudy.
Lastly, and this is a big one! another schoolboy error....I put the bloody wake from the top of the periscope poking out the sea, in the wrong flaming direction, so the sub would have to be reversing! Lol
I was going to add some white to the little wavelet tips, but I think I'm gonna leave it as is for now....
However, despite all the above, it was an enjoyable build and something new for me, and I have deffo learnt a lot, so if I use Epoxy again, hopefully I will have a bit more success with it....







