1st Gen Toyota Tundra Aeroshell Build - Page 13 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

skyking · 10-04-2016, 02:02 PM

the edge wrap is hard, very hard. Even if you had radiused the edges quite a bit, it does not play nice. It puckers along the length of it too. So far this is looking great. You made the right decision in resanding; you have so much into it now, it should be done right.
I just go back and sand at the edge, make up some thick stuff with microballons and fair and sand it a few times. Then if you want to hide the opacity of those fairing compounds, a simple masked trim stripe and it looks great.

Macskyver · 10-13-2016, 07:17 PM

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still working on the camper shell and haven't forgotten about the forum thread. I have just been laying on coats of epoxy, so it looks pretty much exactly the same as before, so no need for new pictures. I think I have done like 3 or 4 coats since last post. I am just about to the point where I will clean up the mess underneath the eaves, so there should be a decent update soon.

Macskyver · 10-28-2016, 08:21 PM

I just wanted to throw up a quick post before I start the varnishing process. I had the shell flipped upside down and I finished the epoxy under the eaves. It is a little sloppy, but it will do for now. I just want to get this thing finished, so I am less concerned with what the inside looks like. I have other projects that need my attention. I can always fix it later if it bugs me. I am still going to take my time to make the exterior look nice though.

It has been over a week since the last epoxy coat, so now I can do the varnish per manufacturer's recommendations. The epoxy isn't very smooth, it's kinda globby and runny, so I have yet another serious sanding session ahead of me.

aerohead · 10-29-2016, 03:21 PM

I think your 'worst' is better than my 'best.'

freebeard · 10-30-2016, 01:46 PM

I may have to do some fiberglass work myself to demonstrate squeegeeing the resin out under sheet Mylar. I know it works because my parents used to do it.

skyking · 10-30-2016, 04:59 PM

I do it. I think I posted pictures here.
The big problem with mylar is rigidity in-plane. It will not conform to compound curves like the template < Insert jumping up and down with steam coming out of his ears Yosemite Sam GIF >
It will bend a radius fine.
For the compound curves you can cut pie slices of it, and not quite butt them, and be left with some ridges to sand off where the mylar does not cover.

Macskyver · 10-30-2016, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebeard

I may have to do some fiberglass work myself to demonstrate squeegeeing the resin out under sheet Mylar. I know it works because my parents used to do it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyking

I do it. I think I posted pictures here.
The big problem with mylar is rigidity in-plane. It will not conform to compound curves like the template < Insert jumping up and down with steam coming out of his ears Yosemite Sam GIF >
It will bend a radius fine.
For the compound curves you can cut pie slices of it, and not quite butt them, and be left with some ridges to sand off where the mylar does not cover.

I would be curious to see how the mylar technique works. It sounds like it would be a giant messy PITA, but doing fiberglass in general is a giant messy PITA, so maybe it's worth it..

Macskyver · 10-30-2016, 06:02 PM

I finally got the first coat of varnish on today. I started off with finishing up the sanding.

I didn't quite get the surface fully uniform and smooth. There are some areas where the cloth was starting to show through right next to low spots. You can see what I am talking about in this picture:

I decided to stop sanding there. There are a few occasional low spots, and the surface is a bit bumpy, but it is good enough for government work. The exposed cloth areas disappear in the varnish, so no big deal there. Here are some pictures during and after finishing the varnish:

Over the next week or so, I'll just be adding coats of varnish. I am not sure how many exactly... probably 7-10.

Jeddy53824 · 10-30-2016, 09:00 PM

That is gorgeous.

freebeard · 10-30-2016, 09:16 PM

Quote:

I would be curious to see how the mylar technique works. It sounds like it would be a giant messy PITA, but doing fiberglass in general is a giant messy PITA, so maybe it's worth it..

You pour the resin, squeegee over the top of the Mylar and let the resin cure before you peel the Mylar off.

I've done the same thing with paint stripper and 4mm polyethylene. The stripper melts the paint to the poly and when you peel it off the paint comes too. It's much tidier.