That interior is looking good! I definitely want to see how this progresses! "thumbsup"
Thanks y'all!
Our first local "comp" and show and shine is this weekend. I won't be ready, but I've really been pushing for SORRCA based rules in our local club this year, and it looks like I've convinced the local "organizers". I'll be showing up to help set up courses, tech and judge this weekend. The interior will be complete, but nothing will be painted lol.
I had an hour or so to mess with it tonight. Another 13 hour day but was good to relax and cut on some more styrene.
In retrospect I really need to contribute more towards some "how-to" posts on this site. I've got a slightly different methodology being in metalworking for over 2 decades.
New door panels are in the works. For those that haven't picked up on it in the background, I'm very reliant on a set of dial calipers to help myself lay items out on the sheet. The "backer" material is .040, with a .010 overlay to act as the bolt on "insert" and a .060 half round bead around the outside. Normally I spend time edge sanding to get a radius to help differentiate between layers, however these layers are thin enough that the primer should help blend between them with a small radius.
Spending over 2 decades in a machine shop really had me spoiled on layout fluids like dykem. I'm not sure how that stuff reacts with styrene, but I know sharpie works, is readily available and from what I can tell, doesn't affect the bond too much (although I could be wrong).
So today, I laid out some new door panels on .040, referencing my messed up one as the overall dimensions and placement were correct. Starting with some that appeared to be the correct size and aspect ratio, I drew an extra wide sharpie line around the perimeter. I then took my calipers and set them to the desired distance, and used the sharp corners to "scribe" the width I wanted around the panel. I then followed this up with my exacto #11 blade used to "spot" the screw holes in the panel.
I then took these measurements, doubled the offset for the hole centerline and drew these out on .010 sheet. This will act as a raised portion that looks (to me) to be raised on the panel. These were cut out, corners were radiused and bonded to the .040 sheet.
I then bonded the panel to the backer sheet I'm using for the full door panel. Overall I'm not too concerned with the leftover sharpie bleeding, by the time it's painted no one will really know.
After this was complete and dry, I ran my .060 half round as a bead around the panel. A learning experience I had from the first try was that the half round cracked and broke as soon as I hit it with the solvent. This time I brushed a thin layer on the half round before bending to help soften everything up. It definitely worked for this one, hopefully I won't break it on the next.
As you can see in the photos I've left the inner panel overhanging the actual backer panel. After everything dries I'll go back and trim this to the appropriate length. To keep both sides the same, everything is done in pairs.
More updates to come by the end of the week. Stay tuned!
