Day 86 through 88 - Dome cowl

Back at the beginning of June, I started to make the dome cowl.  I was originally going to follow ccain's method of using cardboard, but when I started to Bondo it, I was running into many frustrations.  First, I just don't do a very good job of sanding detailed pieces.  Second, the duct tape I was using to attach the pieces of cardboard onto the cowl were not flush with it, so the arc of the cowl was lifting off of the dome's arc.

So, fast-forward to now.  I took a big break from Rainier (mostly to enjoy two full weekends of other activities and travel), and have been coming back to him slowly.  I had lunch with a friend when it hit me: I don't need to use cardboard!  I could totally use rubber sheets like I used for the details in the dome!  Even when forgetting to apply release agent, the cured gel coat let go of those details perfectly!  This will be perfect for the dome cowl!

I went to Blick, a craft store here in the States, and looked around for suitable rubber.  I needed bigger pieces than the plumber's rubber that I had found at Lowe's for the dome details.  I was directed down an aisle, and I found large linoleum rubber sheets that were nearly 5mm thick.  I bought these, a mat cutter for slicing them up, and some stronger spray adhesive than what I had before.  (I didn't want a repeat of the rubber panels sliding off while gel coat was smothered over them.)

Back at home, tore off the old mess of a cowl, leaving the painter's tape attached to the dome.  I made paper templates to get the general shapes I needed for the new linoleum version.  The linoleum cut like a dream with the mat cutter, and in fairly short order, I had the main outline of the cowl base cut out.  I sprayed some adhesive onto the backs and onto the painter's tape attached to the dome, and let that get tacky.  Then started I attaching the pieces.

Even the stronger version of the spray adhesive was still not sticky enough, and some of the pieces were lifting off of the painter's tape.  However, a little brushing of Krazy Glue solved that problem.

I remade a cardboard structure—this time a little smaller than the plans to taking into account the thickness of the linoleum—for the interior of the main cowl piece.  This is because the linoleum is very bendy; it's basically like rubber.  I needed a stiff inner structure to adhere to the outer pieces.  Then I drew out and cut the front, top, and sides, similar to how I did it back in June.  Spray adhesive and Krazy Glue kept it all together.

Eventually, everything was attached to the dome.  I am extremely pleased with the result, and how sharp the details are.  I still need to fill in gaps between the various linoleum pieces, but I'm not sure if Bondo is the way to go, since the linoleum substrate is so rubbery and flexible. I just learned about another filler called Dolphin Putty that is used for repairing rubber car bumpers, so that might be a thing to try.  It's also sand-able and paintable.  After that, I'll probably throw a few coats of polyurethane varnish—goodness knows I still have a whole gallon of the stuff.

(Note that the front piece has a large semi-circle cut out from the bottom.  This was inspired by MrsCarleigh's 80% scale Dalek cowl.  I didn't like the way the front of my old Bondo version bulged out. This semi-circle will also be filled in and smoothed.  Also, I will be attaching the name tag piece in the eventual mold rather than on this cowl plug.)

OH!  And I would be completely remiss if I didn't mention that ChristmasDalek was kind enough to take my gazing globes in for powder-coating, in exchange for the Imperial dome that I made for her several weeks ago.  They turned out to be gorgeous!