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Flashback
40 years ago
30 years ago
In February 1957, Reinforced Plastics reported on a new lightweight advertising van being used by brewer Watney. Made from Cellobond polyester resin and glass fibre, and built by Watney the van’s body was in the shape of the company’s well known Red Barrel, and was mounted on a 10 cwt chassis. The finish was achieved using a high gloss enamel. The interior could be used for carrying advertising materials.
Another unusual glass reinforced plastic (GRP) product was reported in 1967 - a Louis XV style doorway moulded in glass fibre reinforced polyester resin. The door formed the entrance to The French Bridal House in London. The intricate tracery on the shop doorway was modelled in plaster. A very soft re-fusible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was used to reproduce the plaster moulding in
reverse and white pigmented polyester resin was laid up in the PVC moulds in various sections. The frame was built up with laminated hardwood packing around two upright H-section girders. The dentils were also modelled in plaster and flexible moulds made in 0.6 m sections. The work was carried out entirely in Crystic polyester resin supplied by Scott Bader & Co Ltd.
20 years ago The increasing use of diamond trimming and shaping tools in the reinforced plastics industry was illustrated in 1977 in a unique project: a 9 m long, 2 tonne operational model of the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner. Specialised Mouldings Ltd produced the GRP replica of the ship which was displayed at Leisure Sport Ltd’s Thorpe Water Gardens at Egham, UK, where it cruised around a lake, controlled from shore by radio. The original Queen Elizabeth sank in Hong Kong harbour in 1972.
This GRP replica of the Queen Elizabeth featured remote control, rotating radar antennae, sounding siren and even simulated ballroom music.
The hull of the model was laid-up by hand using a split GRP mould produced from a wooden master pattern. The resulting one-piece polyester resin moulding contained glass reinforcement consisting mainly of chopped strand mat with a more limited use of woven rovings to give the necessary flexural strength. Other parts were produced in separate moulds. Airdriven routing tools equipped with electroplated diamond bits enables the accurate shaping of finely detailed features.
10 years ago 1987 saw the launch of a larger and more modern boat. The frost stage of a major international project to develop fast, lightweight power boats for military and civil applications was successfully completed with the launch of the Smuggler 384 at Lymington, UK. The 12.8 m craft was claimed to be 40% lighter and have more useable space than a conventional GRP structure, while at the same time
Reinforced Plastics February
1997
possessing equivalent increased stiffness.
strength
and
Built as a prototype by Green Marine for Smuggler Mariner AB to validate new design, engineering and manufacturing concepts, the vessel was heralded as the first serious attempt to produce ‘advanced composites’ boats on a large scale. The craft differed from conventional craft of its day in its extensive
use of carbon and aramid reinforcements in an epoxy matrix, and also in the fact that it was engineered as an integrated structure with the minimum of framing. Greater acceleration, higher maximum speed, lower fuel consumption, greater range, lower overall running costs, smaller fuel tanks, bigger payloads and more accommodation were the many benefits claimed for the vessel.
30 years ago
In February 1957, Reinforced Plastics reported on a new lightweight advertising van being used by brewer Watney. Made from Cellobond polyester resin and glass fibre, and built by Watney the van’s body was in the shape of the company’s well known Red Barrel, and was mounted on a 10 cwt chassis. The finish was achieved using a high gloss enamel. The interior could be used for carrying advertising materials.
Another unusual glass reinforced plastic (GRP) product was reported in 1967 - a Louis XV style doorway moulded in glass fibre reinforced polyester resin. The door formed the entrance to The French Bridal House in London. The intricate tracery on the shop doorway was modelled in plaster. A very soft re-fusible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was used to reproduce the plaster moulding in
reverse and white pigmented polyester resin was laid up in the PVC moulds in various sections. The frame was built up with laminated hardwood packing around two upright H-section girders. The dentils were also modelled in plaster and flexible moulds made in 0.6 m sections. The work was carried out entirely in Crystic polyester resin supplied by Scott Bader & Co Ltd.
20 years ago The increasing use of diamond trimming and shaping tools in the reinforced plastics industry was illustrated in 1977 in a unique project: a 9 m long, 2 tonne operational model of the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner. Specialised Mouldings Ltd produced the GRP replica of the ship which was displayed at Leisure Sport Ltd’s Thorpe Water Gardens at Egham, UK, where it cruised around a lake, controlled from shore by radio. The original Queen Elizabeth sank in Hong Kong harbour in 1972.
This GRP replica of the Queen Elizabeth featured remote control, rotating radar antennae, sounding siren and even simulated ballroom music.
The hull of the model was laid-up by hand using a split GRP mould produced from a wooden master pattern. The resulting one-piece polyester resin moulding contained glass reinforcement consisting mainly of chopped strand mat with a more limited use of woven rovings to give the necessary flexural strength. Other parts were produced in separate moulds. Airdriven routing tools equipped with electroplated diamond bits enables the accurate shaping of finely detailed features.
10 years ago 1987 saw the launch of a larger and more modern boat. The frost stage of a major international project to develop fast, lightweight power boats for military and civil applications was successfully completed with the launch of the Smuggler 384 at Lymington, UK. The 12.8 m craft was claimed to be 40% lighter and have more useable space than a conventional GRP structure, while at the same time
Reinforced Plastics February
1997
possessing equivalent increased stiffness.
strength
and
Built as a prototype by Green Marine for Smuggler Mariner AB to validate new design, engineering and manufacturing concepts, the vessel was heralded as the first serious attempt to produce ‘advanced composites’ boats on a large scale. The craft differed from conventional craft of its day in its extensive
use of carbon and aramid reinforcements in an epoxy matrix, and also in the fact that it was engineered as an integrated structure with the minimum of framing. Greater acceleration, higher maximum speed, lower fuel consumption, greater range, lower overall running costs, smaller fuel tanks, bigger payloads and more accommodation were the many benefits claimed for the vessel.