[simpits-tech] RE: UPDATE

[simpits-tech@simpits.org]

Roy Coates wrote:
> 
> ok, educate me.
> 
> I've done a fair bit with glass but its always been a mould, gel-coat and
> fibre.
> 
> How would you cover something in glass and obtain a smooth finish?

A few ways. The best is to vacuum bag it. If the part is small you can
use a kitchen gadget called a Foodsaver. Can't be much bigger than about
8" wide, though. For bigger parts you can cover it in heavy plastic
sheeting, seal the edges together, and suck the air out with a vacuum
pump or venturi tube. There's more to it than that (peel ply, breather
cloth, etc.), but it's the best way to laminate anything, period.

If weight isn't much of an issue and you can live with the extra resin
in the layup, just squeegy down a layer of mylar and let it cure. When
you peel off the mylar it'll actually be too smooth to paint. I've done
it this way about a bazillion times, usually on parts that are just
plain impossible to bag. I molded the 3 parts of a Ninja tail together
like this while they were still on the bike.

The last way is to slap it all together as smooth as you can get it then
slosh on a coat of microballoons in resin and sand the hell out of it.
Been there, done that ;)

I've gotten to the point that I can lay up a part smooth enough that a
coat of filler and a little sanding has it ready for paint. The trick is
to use light cloth on the outside. The weave is finer so you can get a
better surface with less work. Also, paint on the resin before laying on
the glass. I like leaving the last layer a little dry so the resin and
micro can soak in a bit and grab on.

Just to bring all this back to building cockpits, sometime this summer I
might actually be able to get back to building something. I've lost the
room in the house I was going to put it in since my wife is pregnant
again (which earned me a new bike, but that's another story ;), so I'll
have to clean up the garage a bit. The plan right now is to build
formers out of 1" plywood, connect them with 1" square spruce stringers,
fill everything with 1/2" urethane foam sheets (so I can use cheap
polyester resin and glass mat), and glass it on both sides. Once it's
cured for a few days and post cured on the driveway by covering it with
black plastic, I'll cut out access panels, dig the foam out of the
edges, and fill the space between the glass skins with resin and flox.
The shell will only weigh around 200 pounds but will easily handle the
weight of all the crap I cram in there ;) The hard part will be paying
for 5 17" and 3 14" monitors. Donations can be sent to... ;)

While I'm at it, what's everyone's opinion on the most flexible heavy
metal sim out there? I like X-Plane personally, but I haven't had much
luck getting instrumentation working on networked machines yet.
-- 
Steve
mysticz28@swbell.net
Jesus saves, Budda enlightens, Cthulhu thinks you'll make a nice
sandwich.