Hi Gang,
LOTS of stuff going on this weekend! The heat and humidity are back... UGH...
I decided to move away from working on the canopy in favor of getting some other more important things done before the Escape Velocity SciFi Convention at the end of May. No more babbling... Enjoy!
I took off the Volvo panels in prep for pin striping and greeblies!
Sanded off all the dust and prepped for paint
These are going home with me
I added some protection to the lower half of the console - she was getting really beaten up around the edges
Trim the excess
I then added casters - this will make it MUCH easier for people to get in and out of the seats as we will simply push the console forward and back allowing for more leg room during entry and exit
No swivel, just a simple back and forth motion. These will also fit inside a simple track with bump stops at both ends
The door and door track are finally getting some attention
The door track has to be heavily mod'd to fit the new door frame - finish that up next week
I pulled the main nose flooring up
Adhered the corrugated rubber mat!
Trim the excess
Nice
Adhered the nose mats - note the rectangular holes - these are access holes for the "nose to body" mounting points
Cover plates for the holes
As many of you know I was able to remove the longer upper light bar housing(s) but I still needed a lip for the acrylic to lay against - I ripped some new edge pieces
Find and cut the correct angle
Test fit
Upper
Adhere into place
Chewie's side
Cover with aluminum foil tape to help reflect the LED backlight
Trim and even out the frosted acrylic
Dry fit into place - nice and snug!
Love that look!
The door pads still needed to be worked on... UGH
I had to trim / remove part of the interior side for a better fit against the door frame
The table saw really struggled with the foam!
MUCH better!
Cockpit side is done!
The original had small filler pads at the very bottom - debating whether to just extend the lower pads
The cockpit entrance side didn't have the upper center pad - time to make one!
Broke out the Mod Podge and Shop Towels... the heat and humidity was WAY up this weekend. Humidity makes everything horrible!
The Vickers Viscount Overhead Vent greeblie has been bothering me for years! I dont how the original designers mounted them to the console so it was time to put my thinking cap on.
Designed a new base which mirrored the basic shape
The vent will be adhered to the base using E6000
Sanded
Primed & Painted... UGH... DRIPS
Start over
Still some drips... Start Over!
Jake stopped by and continued wiring
These interesting LED strips will go...
Here on Han's side
Gaining access to all the wiring to figure some issues and the light bars!
These are the new seat posts!
They both slide and swivel (one is stacked upon the other)
Near perfect fit but the holes didn't align... No biggie!
Basic position
I found this old CB
Cut to fit - just need to mount
Another thing that had been bothering for a LONG time were the pin stripes on some of the "oldest" panels. Several of the stripes have spread apart creating UGLY gaps... Time to fix! Break out the white Paint Sharpie
Before
After - 1st of several passes (looks like I need Red too!)
Before
A little bit better...
Before
After... This process took about an hour or so.
I continued my corrugated floor mat adventures and cut these to fit the main nav chair platforms
Lay the adhesive...
Weigh down the edges
UGH... I was so miserable in the heat it seemed like everything was going wrong
About a year ago my neighbor tossed away / gave me an old pool vacuum hose. I FINALLY painted it
After adding silver paint I cut the ends off
Got a 90 degree PVC elbow - the hose fit PERFECT!
Test fit / location
Cut the hole
Dry fit - I'll keep in place with a PVC "coupler" on the interior side
Got some mounting cable ties
Insert the hose and then run up and around the interior side of the corridor ring above the pads!
It was a perfect fit!
I had about 10 feet of extra hose that I started to have fun! Just testing some ideas
You can just see the hose behind the pad
OH MAN... the humidity is such a show stopper. I did not get as far as I would have liked. BUT...
This is...
Where We Are!
Stay Tuned! More to Follow!