Scratch Build – In Progress TRON Lightcycle - MotY 3rd Place!

Thanks ASPHIAX! Yeah, sketchup is great for pre-vis, but building an actual mockup tells so much more about how the parts will fit together in real life.

Love your Voyager class starship build. Great stuff! Good luck in MOTM!

 

Brian, I had to add some stars for the cardboard mock up. I'm really glad to see other people do this too. I thought I was alone doing it.

john

 

very nice cardboard modelling, looking forward for more!

 

The modelling are awesome!

Congratulations!

 

Thanks Gtek.

Thanks for the stars John. The cardboard model helps quite a bit. In fact I didn't realize until I made the 1/2 size model that my IO panel is sitting very low to the ground, and I will have issues with plugging cables in. If I can't fit even the 90° ends, I may have to revise the design yet again. Or maybe employ a couple grid-like bases to lift it up? lol

 

Very nice, even the cardboard mockup rocks, makes me think to get my hands on some since it is fairly cheap to acquire

 

Ok, so in the interest of time, I decided not to make these fairings out of fiberglass, or use my vacuum forming table, seeing as how I still have to rebuild it. Instead, I'll be forming the pieces with a plastic paste, which is a much quicker process. So the first step is creating a plug on which to lay the paste down.

So, time to cut some foam! Earlier in the week, I laminated three layers of foam insulation sheets to get the thickness I needed. I also made up a template that minimized the amount of foam I had to use. In fact, all four fairing pieces will be molded from this one block of foam after I'm done with it.


There's a front and back fairing, and they are split into left and right mirrored pieces. Here's half my template, with the back fairing on top and the front upside down on the bottom. The gray and black lines show the difference between the edges of the fairing. Gray is the wider part (over the center of the tire) and the black is the narrower edge.


Using a hacksaw, I started doing the rough cuts around the gray lines.


Then with an electric carving knife, I started shaving off the foam, following the black lines and curving out to the wider edge.


One half roughed out, next to the other side.


Here's a shot of them side by side in their eventual places. You can now see the shape of the bike emerging.


Once I got the pieces roughed out, I used an exacto knife to get more accurate along the edges.


The thickness difference between both edges is 3/4". I marked my square with tape and slid it along the edge to see where I still needed to remove material. I used a drywall sanding block to smooth out the curves.


Both sides smoothed out. This is the back end...


And turning it over we have the front end.


Next step is to sandwich it all together, with cardboard in between. These will form the walls of the pour area. I traced the foam block first, then scribed another cut-line about 1/4" wider.


Three pieces cut, two outside pieces, one center piece.


Using spray adhesive, I glued them all together.


While that was setting up, I used my flexible curve to transfer the overall curve shape to my custom screeding tool...


...which is just a piece of clear acrylic I just cut to size.


It will work like this. It fits over the foam block, and after I trowel the plastic paste into the mold, I'll slide the tool along the top of the cardboard to level it off. This will hopefully ensure a consistent thickness throughout the length of the fairings. It will also smooth out the top surface of the plastic and minimize the amount of touch-up and prep work I'll need to do before painting.


One last thing I needed to do before I was ready to lay down the paste, was to incorporate some form of fastening tabs into the fairings. So I dug out some cavities about 1/4" in from the edge, to account for the thickness of the ribs to which these will be secured.


Now I think it's ready for some plastic!


Next update will have the results of the molding process. 'Til then!

 

Wow! I can't wait to see how this pans out This is a typical Bod mod- precision engineering! Keep up the excellent work Bod! (+ rep)

 

Fantastic work on the foam buddy, precision and professionalism as always, gotta love this build!!!!

 

Agreed and subbed!

 

If I read this right, you are using body filler as a structural element?
The redneck bodyshop community would be proud. On this scale it should work beautifully though.

 

Looking forward to seeing this one getting finished, it looks amazing!

Good luck dude!

 

Personally I would have at least laid down a few sheets of Fiberglass to add some structural integrity. Even stretching fabric over the mold and pouring some resin would probably be enough. Body filler is definitely strong but its not really meant for this type of thing. Regardless I'm sure you've got it worked out in your head and there are bound to be things you haven't mentioned that will come later.

Definitely digging the progress Bod! Continue down the path to awesome because we're all waiting for more!

 

I like the tron bike. I will following your project.

 

The plastic paste I'm referring to is not body filler. It's a two-part fiber-reinforced resin that hardens into a very strong, rigid plastic when fully cured. I will be using some bondo to help fill in and smooth the surface, but it is by no means the sole element. I got one side done, and am about to lay down the other side. Be back later with a full report!

 

Smooth On makes a plastic paste that I've been looking for a prototype project too.

http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Plastic-P/c1120_1163/index.html

john

 

That's exactly what I'm using John, except this is Plasti-Paste II (it's new and improved!)



Posting more pics momentarily....

 

Here is the Plasti-Paste II from Smooth-On. It comes as part A and part B, and you mix it 1 parts to 2, respectively.


Opening up part B, the paste.


After doing some calculations, I figured out the volume of my mold, then converted to fluid ounces to get the total amount of mixture I needed. Here I'm measuring out 2 parts paste.


Transferred that to a larger mixing container. This stuff is thick! No sag whatsoever, which makes it great for applying to vertical surfaces.


Measuring out 1 part liquid hardener.


Thoroughly mixing the two parts together. This stuff normally has a 10 minute pot life, but due to the cold weather, that was greatly extended. Took about four times as long to set up, which actually worked in my favor, allowing me to take my time getting it onto the mold and smoothed out.


After applying a mold release agent (seen in the first pic), I troweled the paste onto the mold.


After about 40 minutes, it had set up to a hard plastic.


I repeated the process for the other side, and in a few hours I should be able to demold them.


Having coated the foam with the mold release, it should be easy to pop it out of the mold. I don't want to destroy the foam if I don't have to, just in case I need to make another set of fairings later. Once out of the mold, I'll need to clean up the edges a bit, and start smoothing out the top surface. I should be getting the acrylic parts in this week, so once they arrive, I can see how these fit, and find out if my template measurements were accurate!

 

Great Stuff !! You made it look so easy to do as well.

 

This looks excellent - sub'd!