-
-
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.
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.
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!