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Friday, September 30, 2011

Birth of a Moomba Legend: Mojo Build Day 2

Moomba Boats @MoombaBoats is digitally chronicling the first production build of the new Mojo 2.5 wakeboard boat with daily build photo posts. This series of blog posts and photos galleries will illustrate the superior production processes that make a Moomba boat.

Today is the second production day of this new Moomba wide-bow wake boat and the day the boat gets personal, with custom colors. The pattern was precisely taped and masked on the deck yesterday. Today begins by spraying the gel coat colors and ends with more taping and masking on the hull.

Remember, boats are built form the outside in, so this Mojo receives its colors before almost anything else. The base gel coat color of the deck is sprayed first, in this case it is white. Then the first accent masking is removed and black is sprayed as the deck accent 1. Next the second accent masking is pealed back to reveal the green of the mold. At this point, the deck accent 2 yellow gel coat is sprayed. From this view it looks as if there's no rhyme or reason to the colors, but the gel coat touching the mold tells a different story. Even though we can't see that side of things yet, we know the deliberate mold preparation, taping and masking executed yesterday have created an exact Mojo pattern with a beautiful finish. 

At this early stage Moomba Production Team members are not only concerned with the initial look of the gel coat, but its durability as well. Throughout the gel coat spraying process thickness is measured with a Mil Gauge to ensure a consistent 22 mil depth for the entire deck and hull. This is a thickness that will make the Mojo's gel coat durable, yet not so thick that cracking could occur. Once the gel coat has been sprayed, the Mojo is covered with a vinylester barrier coat to protect the boat from blisters.

The skin coat is the first layer of fiberglass that will be applied to this Mojo's deck. The skin coat is a vital process to ensure a smooth durable gel coat finish. During first step in lamination the mix of fiberglass and resin is digitally monitored to ensure the perfect combination and weight for the optimum skin coat. Once applied this mixture is hand-rolled by dedicated Moomba Team members to make sure it fills every corner and crease in the deck.

And all of that that was just the deck! We get to do all of this again for the hull. To make sure we're ready for that step, the tape and mask are applied to the Mojo 2.5 hull mold ahead of time. 

One of the many great things about the individuals who work on the production line at Moomba Boats, is their dedication to continued improvement. They are constantly looking to better themselves and the processes they execute everyday. The results are evident in the new Mojo 2.5.

Stay tuned to the Moomba Boats Blog for more photos and production process descriptions of the first production Mojo 2.5 build. Your Mojo could be next. Moomba is brand you!

Tags: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | mold prep | build photos | production

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