A step forward and another backward…
Forward: Painted the new pipe fittings. First did the gloss black, then got on the exercise bike. Later, airbrushed the metallic bronze mix. Done and ready to install tomorrow.
The I went to finish up the Main Gauge Panel’s grating and join it to the evaporator platform so I could match the gratings better. I drilled the two platforms (MGP and Evaporator) for 0.032" pins and in attempts to join them all heck broke loose. The problem is my attempt to print scale-size I-beams. I had eliminated most of them on iteration #2, but left those on the visible edges. Big Mistake! It turns out that the web thickness of the I-beam is a little over 0.010" or .2mm. It’s not too bad before curing, but even at a few minutes post-cure time, the resin gets as brittle as glass and cracks with very little provocation. And making matters worse, it’s cracking right at the junction of the column sockets.
Just about every junction of the I-beams I got fracturing. Gluing and regluing weren’t doing anything. Then I tried to glue on a piece of styrene underneath across the joint, but when it set up, the levels weren’t even. Breaking the joint further destroyed the surrounding area. When the column socket itself broke off, it was time for another re-design. This time, I’ve reinforced all the weak areas including the column sockets which also were way too flexible.
Here’s version 3.0. Notice the bracing around the column sockets. Everything is now rectangular cross-section. I-beams are fun, but not when they don’t work. The model has to stay together during handling and shipping. I put a lot of beef on the member that has to bind to the evaporator’s frame. I also thickened the beams flanking where the lube tank goes. The grating was unsupported in that aread and I didn’t like it.
I had to print more floor gratings too, since I used the last of my supply building version 2.0 of this part. All of the parts are in a single print load and will be finished around 8:00 tonight. I’ll be able to build the whole thing tomorrow, or Thursday.