Vintage Wings master painter Korrey Foisy is currently working on creating a mock torpedo for the belly of the Swordfish.
The torpedo will look like metal, but is actually fabricated from Divini Mat, a high-density foam with fibreglass scrim on the back. The foam is coated with 8.9oz 7781 8-harness fibreglass (a common type in aviation). This will make the torpedo extremely light and very strong.
The mould for the torpedo is an 89-inch circumference plastic tube. The Divini Mat was laid around the tube and coated with fibreglass and resin. It was then vacuum bagged overnight to remove any air and fully impregnate the fibreglass with the epoxy resin. A cotton breather was laid on top to absorb any excess resin.
After the epoxy had hardened and been vacuum bagged overnight, the torpedo was gently and oh so carefully removed from the plastic mould.
All photos by HF.
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