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Click Photo For Enlargement (199 Kb)
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October 2005: The upper hull will be a frame style construction with an outer skin of ply and fibreglass. I chose this way because it’s very light, strong and uses up less space. The frame was made out of ½” ply and the fenders are made out of ¼” ply.
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Here’s the ply that will cover the frame. It is 1/8” thick
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Click Photo For Enlargement (144 Kb)
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Click Photo For Enlargement (130 Kb)
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All the pieces have been attached with glue and screws, the whole thing will then be cleaned up with putty and sand paper. It will then be fibreglassed to give it some strength.
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October 2005:
All the fibre glassing has been done, now I just need to do a little bit of clean up work. I used two different weights of cloth, on the sides and top I used 6oz cloth and on the front pieces I used 9oz cloth. I did this because I’m not expecting to get hit on the sides ;-) There is obviously still a lot of detailing work to be done, cupola, loading hatch, etc.
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Click Photo For Enlargement (163 Kb)
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Click Photo For Enlargement (109 Kb)
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All the glass has been coated with Bondo to give it a nice smooth finish.
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It was then coated with acrylic house paint, it’s now finished. I still need to add all the details but that comes later. I would have to say that is probably the most amount of work I’ve done on one piece, but it was definitely worth it in the end. Thanks to Frank P. for all the advice, extremely helpful!
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Click Photo For Enlargement (123 Kb)
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Click Photo For Enlargement (85 Kb)
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I’ve started prototyping several different types of homemade markers, so far this one is the most promising. It is more compact and better built then my last one. The loading tube is now in a fixed position (my old one had to slide forward stressing the servo and sometimes jamming the paint) it will also be powered by a Co2 bottle instead of an air compressor, much better.
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Another notable feature is that it is made out of two different diameter tubes and two different thicknesses of acrylic, that’s pretty much it. You also don’t need any special tools (Lathes, mills, etc) just the basics, jigsaw, drill, sandpaper (although a dremel helps it’s not essential). The only way to truly know if it will work is to test it on the battlefield.
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Click Photo For Enlargement (133 Kb)
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October 2005: Here’s what it looks like after three months of building.
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November 2005: After installing the motors and transmission it was clear that the springs I had were too soft, so they were upgraded. I also worked out that the longer the bolt the harder the suspension, so they are now longer, making them half the length of the trailing arm.
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Click Photo For Enlargement (160 Kb)
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