Aug/090
Seat Kit Arrived & Painting Finished & Decal Designs
-
- Seat Kit
-
- Desktop Files – Decal Images
My seat arrived today. The kit looks great, can’t wait to try and mould it. Will possibly be doing that tonight, fingers crossed! The process seams quite lengthy, but it’s best to be thorough and get it perfect than to rush it. After all, if it goes wrong, I may as well have just thrown £145 down the drain!
I think I will have to add some more wood to the bottom of the cockpit, the seat needs to be raised slightly, the front being level with the entrance to the front half. It might be possible to shift the beads enough to fit it perfectly, but I’m unsure. The last thing I want to happen is for me to end up getting pins and needles/dead leg whilst driving. That would be a nightmare.
I’m also thinking of covering the seat in either black suede or Nomex cloth.
Anyway, the painting is completely finished!
Paint process:
- Sanding
- 1st Coat of Zinsser Grey Primer
- Sanding
- 2nd Coat of Zinsser Grey Primer
- Sanding
- Grey Undercoat
- Sanding
- 1st Top coat
- Sanding
- 2nd Top Coat
- Sanding
- 3rd Top Coat
- 4th Top Coat
Glad thats over! Each of the Top coats required 16 hours drying time in between. Although it will take around 10 days to fully cure.
Last night I drilled a hole in the bottom of the front half of the cockpit for a couple of wires to enter the cockpit. I will finish this off with a silver metal disc, so the hole is completely tidy.
I also spent a couple of hours last night preparing the decal images. This was a fairly length process. Each image requiring the correct size (in CM/MM), a blank backgroud, correct naming etc. Having to pull each one off the internet in a decent size was more difficult than I thought it would be. My desktop is now littered with the files!
In total there will be 37 decals on the cockpit. This seems a lot! However, every decal on one side also needs to be on the other. And then 7 decals for the top. Just like my initial design.
If the printing company can do the job, I’m ready to go!
Aug/090
Third Top Coat & Pedal Cable Tidying
-
- 3rd Top Coat Finished
-
- 3rd Top Coat Front done
-
- 3rd Top Coat Front done
-
- 2nd Coat dried
-
- Complete
-
- Complete
-
- Insulation tape
-
- Insulation tape
-
- Insulation tape
I applied the 3rd top coat of red today. I’m thinking about the possibility of a fourth, but I’m not entirely sure yet. I will see what it looks like tomorrow when it’s dried.
Yesterday’s coat looked pretty good, but still a little patchy, todays seems pretty much perfect. I’ve used a foam roller again and gone over it with a brush to remove the orange peel effect. The brush creates a far more reflective finish than the roller.
I finished off the cable tidying of the pedals today. Since the pedals will be inside the cockpit and won’t be seen the look isn’t massively important. But I did want it to be completely secure.
I took off the original insulation tape, and re-did it. I put a few more layers on and made the covering thicker. This will prevent any possibility of cross-talk between the cables. I insulated each individual wire first, and then insulated two together, and then all 4 (all clutch wires) into one group. There were a few wires that are usually quite far apart in the pedal housing, so I insulated those as well. After I finished insulating the wires themselves, I wanted to secure them to the aluminium to prevent them moving. On the back of the pedal mount, there are two grooves, so I put the wire through those and used insulating tape to secure them. Then I put the cables tidily on the base of the aluminum and taped them down.
Insulating tape is ok for a short time, but long term it’s not strong enough to keep them in place. So I used duck tape which is far stronger and sticker. I put this over the black insulating tape and now its absolutely solid.
Aug/090
Sanding Undercoat & First Red Top-Coat
-
- Undercoat sanded down
Sorry for the delay with painting, I’ve been very busy!
Yesterday I sanded down the undercoat. It came up extremely smooth, really impressed. I put the red (RAL 3020) on with a Mohair roller and a Purdy 1.8″ brush. I used this brush for all the other layers also. Purdy’s are made of synthetic hairs rather than natural. This allows for a much smoother application and no hair loss. After rolling the paint on I did a final drag over with the paint brush, I prefer light brush strokes than that awful orange peel effect you get with a roller.
This was the first top coat of red, so it’s patchy. Reds never cover very well the first time, unlike grey or white. The second (possibly final) coat of red will make a massive difference, and because its gloss any remaining marks should be removed.
Hopefully I should be painting the next coat tonight – the drying time is 16 hours. Gloss’ cure time is 10 days, so no more sanding. If your wondering why some of the cockpit is still grey, thats because those areas will be covered with either carbon fibre vinyl or carpet.
Aug/090
2nd Stage of Sanding & Priming
Today I’ve re-sanded the cockpit after the first prime coat with an extremely fine sand pad. I also went over the end grain – I filled this with decorators caulk.
The second coat went on so much easier than the first and really filled in a lot of the bits that needed touching up. This will dry overnight. Tomorrow morning I will paint one coat of grey oil-based undercoat. And tomorrow evening, I start with the red! I purchased the red today, its RAL 3020. I will paint two coats of this for best coverage and possibly a coat of lacquer on-top. I will be ordering my seat on Thursday. Once I have this, the cockpit should be painted. I will get the carpet and CF Vinyl fitted. The main parts remaining are attatching the wheel, and pedals in the correct place.
I didn’t 2nd coat the areas I intend to cover with carpet or carbon fibre. One coat was ok, just to seal it and harden it slightly. It will also take away that awful MDF smell.
I’ve also decided to add a curved cowling around the front steering wheel edge of the front section. This will cover over the wheel and add another dimension to the whole thing. I will post a photoshop of what I intend to do later!
Aug/090
Filling • Sanding • Priming
-
- 2 Part Wood Filler
-
- Part 1
-
- Part 2 – The Hardener
-
- Holes Filled
-
- Corner Shot
-
- The back edge
-
- Corner top
-
- Filled screw up close
-
- Cockpit Primed
-
- After priming – from the back
Last night I filled all the screw holes, any joins and gaps. I used 2 part wood filler. It’s basically a putty, and a hardener – hence the ‘2 part’. I let this dry for about an hour or so, and then sanded it all flat. I again used the finer sand paper and then ran over it with an even finer pad.
This morning, I primed the wood with Zinsser BullsEye Primer-Sealer. Doing this will allow the main coats of paint to cover more evenly and the final result will be a lot better.
After this, I have sanded down the ‘grain-edges’. This will allow the second coat of Zinsser to fill better. I sanded down the flat surfaces also just with the fine pad.
I used some caulk behind the obtruding edge on the front section. Allowing me a smooth area rather than a right angled gap and line. I also rubbed some caulk into all of the grain edges – this is basically the equivalent of 5 or 6 coats of paint. The grain will be filled far better with the next coat.
I am leaving that all to harden and dry. Tomorrow I will apply a second coat of the Zinsser primer, followed by another light sand.
Then its down to the red coat, sanding, 2nd red coat, sanding, followed by a final couple of spray layers and a coat of lacquer. The end result should look spot on.