Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Started Painting Outer Ankle Cylinders, Started Attaching Dome Panels

It was a busy afternoon/evening today. It started with the masking of the outer ankle cylinders for painting.



I painted the cylinders using what little Krylon Chrome Aluminum paint I had left.



I also went ahead and repainted the panel that goes above the window frame panel. Of course, a minuscule spec of white dust had to land on it toward the end. I hope I can refrain from letting that bother me, but I'm not sure.



And then... it was on to attaching the dome panels. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm using the 3M Very High Bond tape once again to do the job. Tonight I only attached the easiest panels, namely those that don't have front or rear logics, or holoprojectors protruding through them. I'll get to those other panels soon.



I got into a pattern of measuring the space for tape on the back of each panel, and then I'd measure and cut the tape, using the label as a guide as to where to cut. Holding the tape by the edges prevents it from sticking to fingers.



Then, one at a time, I applied the tape to the inner dome, and attached the panels.




It makes more sense with some panels to attach the tape to the back of the panel itself, and trim the excess with a razor blade.




Once I was done with the side panels, I moved on to the top of the dome.




I considered using silicone for the little ring at the top, but decided to go with the VHB tape, trimmed to size.



I did use silicone to attach the small blue dot at the very top, however.



Here's how tonight's work turned out.



As I said, I skipped the panels for the front and rear logics, along with the top holoprojector, and the frame piece and the piece above it. Those will all be mounted soon.

1 comment:

Victor Franco said...

Hi Edwardo,

The holes allow me to poke the panels off from behind with a dowel. Without them, the tape would hold the panels so tightly that they would likely bend if I were to pull them off from the front by the edges.

-Victor