Evening all,
First task this week was to add some greenstuff around the base of the windscreen pillars to tidy everything up (and add a little extra reinforcement):
I left his to harden for 24 hours, then attacked it with the fine emery cloth and files:
It's slowly starting to look better - and it allows me to drop the entire roof section into place without having to interlock various sections around this front area. I've also added some greenstuff to the outer door mountings, which you'll see in some of the following photos.
The next job was to return to the lower sill filler panels - I'd made a start on these some time ago, but I've now re-cut them in thicker 0.8mm stryene rather than the original 0.5mm. A couple of lengths of 2.5mm strip on the inside face will locate the panel into the side of the main sill structure:
I'll add some small brackets to the inside of the top corners to give the fibreglass some extra support. The overall shape is not quite 'factory spec', but there's a couple of radiators to hang behind the doors - I might need to use the lower corners of these sill panels to provide fixing points, etc.
Having done all the work around the windscreen and front wings recently, I wanted to check the front bulkhead section still fitted properly. The strip-work around the edge of the doorframe clashed, so I've cut a couple of small notches in the bulkhead sides to clear - other than that, it all seems okay:
To be honest, I might not use this particular bulkhead panel: although the shape is quite 'busy' it's not really my finest piece of fibreglass work. It's very thick in places (over 2mm!) and still has some flex - ideally I'd like it stiffer and thinner! Other than trimming it to fit I haven't really done much to it since it came off the mould, so it wouldn't be a waste of effort if I re-made it next year. The front wings are still independent parts, so they
shouldn't be affected by a new bulkhead. Maybe I need to re-think how to mould this piece - the lay-up is not easy on the current pattern...
To finish, I've made a start on some of the detail panels to fit inside the rear wings:
The pressed detail on the original steel bodyshell would be very difficult to reproduce in fibreglass on this scale, so layering thin sheets of styrene allows me to get the right effect. Here I've got a base layer of 0.25mm, then a middle 0.4mm, and a top 0.25mm to finish off. I'll leave the top edge untrimmed for now, just in case I need to adjust the fit of the roof.
This panelling will also allow me to reinforce the joint between the two fibreglass wing and sill sections, and the bases of the B-pillars. The pipework for the radiators passes through the top of these panels, so at some point I'll have to punch holes in them - but that's not going to happen for a while! I'll continue with these for the near future and see what happens next...
Before I go, John: thanks for your comment there. What I've been doing in 2012 has been a change for me - although it's not the same as adding hex-nuts, drilling out brake discs or putting together a convincing-looking wiring layout, so far it's been an exercise in detailing on a larger scale! This year's work is the foundation for whether this project succeeds or not, and I've really had to think hard about how I put this car together. I guess I'll know the answer in 2014 (or 2015)! Until then, I'll keep posting...
See you all next week,
SB