This is a good picture to lead off this post. This is what happens when you get cocky and start making bets about when your plane is going to be done. I had a bet with a friend of mine that the plane would be flying by the time OSH started. As you can see, I lost...convincingly! haha! This is what I had to cough up...his favorite vodka. Now, of course, I was naïve when I made that bet...and I also thought it would take right around 2000 hrs to finish up. As you can see, I just passed 2200 hrs...so I was way off. My advice...don't make that bet, the "90% done and 90% to go" legend is real.
Ok, back to the center console. I wanted my center console to have nice blended curves...something other than the straight lines and hard edges that sheet metal has to offer. I also wanted it to blend in nicely with the cockpit interior. Here are some shots of my cosmetic bezel that will cover the quadrant.
I started off with some modeling clay, you can pick this up at your favorite hobby shop. Then unleash your creative side and sculpt it to the shape you want.
Do the best you can, but it doesn't have to be perfect since we will use micro filler to make it nice later.
I put some clear box tape on the areas I didn't want the resin to stick to. I also used my mold release (hair spray...because it works and I'm cheap).
Doing some test fitting with the fuel selector cover plate. Notice its a little rough at this point...and that's ok.
Now, I mix up some west systems filler...and start fine tuning it to shape.
I wanted to be able to remove the bezel without removing the fuel selector plate so I cut a hole in the bezel. The sheet metal will be painted black so it should blend right in with the bezel covering.
Next step was to cut the hole for the quadrant. After some careful measurements...make the cut, clean it up with some sanding and we are getting there. Its looking good.
I just laid the levers in there for this pic to see how it was going to look. Notice I am using a piece of gray fabric that I got with my Classic Aero Designs (CAD) interior. I plan to cover this bezel with black material, which I will get from CAD so it blends perfectly with my side panels. It also allows me to not have a perfect surface finish on my bezel....the fabric will hide the small inconsistencies. This has been a fair amount of work, but I think its gonna look pretty slick when I'm done.
A parting shot...one of our mutual friends, Scott Taylor, is the proud owner of a 1940's vintage Piper Cub. He needs a temporary hangar home so he is staying in our hangar for awhile. Never sucks to have a Cub in your hangar, its such an iconic airplane.
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