Seamless modelling paste comes up trumps

A Huntsman Advanced Materials product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 5, 2005

RenPaste seamless modelling paste has once again proved instrumental in the successful design and development of the latest model for race and GT car specialist, Picchio, in Italy.

RenPaste seamless modelling paste (SMP) from Huntsman Advanced Materials has once again proved instrumental in the successful design and development of the latest model for race and GT car specialist, Picchio, in Italy.

Based near Teramo in Central Italy, Picchio designs and manufactures highly specialised racing cars for the European and US super-car circuits.

Picchio previously used RenPaste materials on their highly successful Daytona Prototype race car in 2003.

The company's latest model - the highly innovative CN2 Light - is a two seat open top vehicle that combines super streamlined design with a range of new safety features.

The CN2 Light is the first car in the Prototype Sports vehicle category to comply with the latest FIA safety regulations for crash tests.

When developing the CN2 Light prototype, Picchio's engineers tested a range of rapid prototyping materials and eventually specified RenPaste epoxy SMP SV/HV 4503 as the most suitable for this demanding application.

The SMP was used to make the model of the car body.

This comprised a range of separate complex, highly styled components including all the front, rear and side panels and front and rear spoilers, which provide the critical streamlined balance for the car.

To produce the full sized prototype, a slightly undersised model of the car was milled, using CAD design data, from an expanded polystyrene block.

Each individual component part was then covered in a 30-40mm thick layer of RenPaste SV/HV 4503, dispensed through a meter/mix machine.

These SMP models were all cured at room temperature for two days but those with the most irregular contour were also post-cured at 50C for 4-6 hours as an extra precaution.

The RenPaste models were then CNC machined to the exact dimensions for the car body parts, with just minimal hand finishing required.

The SMP models were subsequently used to build the glass-fibre moulds from which the GRP prototype parts were produced.

"In this new project, we capitalised on the experience gained with the original Daytona Prototype RenPaste model", explained Guido Pandoli, Head of Project Design at Picchio.

"This enabled us to improve the whole building and production process both at Picchio and at our RenPaste materials supplier, Fuchs.

"This mainly affected the milling procedures, paste application and the post-curing of the models".

"By maximising resources, we were able to produce the first CN2 Light car body, from CAD data in just three months".

"We have also achieved an unprecedented surface quality finish and level of design accuracy with this model", added Mr Di Pietrantonio, Managing Director at Picchio.

"With this vehicle we not only wanted to produce the prototype of a radical new racing car range but also make a definitive style statement which will be reflected in the road car version, in 2006".

"This will be the first road car designed by Picchio".