SECTION

2.1

BODY & FRAME

Body & Frame

2.1

Heres the front of the dome. You can see where the old
radar eye was siliconed into place. That stuff holds well,
but removal is a pain in the butt. At least that part will be
covered with the new radar eye.

The templates are all applied to the 1/2 Birch plywood

sheet. It all fit on a single 4x4 sheet. The plans are a mix
of some good concepts from other frames Ive seen, as
well as my own ideas.

Wow! That was a LOT of cutting! Everything is cut out with

the jigsaw and bansdaw.

The frame is assembled. I didnt take any pics of the

process, because this design is not very complicated. The
entire thing is screwed together. I dont quite have the trust
or the patience for wood glue that some builders do.

Body & Frame

2.1

On the top, you can see where the tabs on the vertical
pieces fit into the ring. I secured it all with drywall nails,
since they have a good wide bite (and, I had enough to
finish the job).

A shot of the inside from through the body. I didnt want

the screws to interfere with the skins later on, so the
second layer is secured from within. All the screws were
pre-drilled and counter-sunk.

From the bottom, I secured the pre-skirt layer to the

verticals. Again, pre-drilled and counter-sunk. I tried to get
the screws in far enough that the skirt would hide them. It
should work...

Here is the rear door. Its a basic ribbed structure, and I

just held the pieces flush to the exterior while I drilled and
screwed it together.

Body & Frame

2.1

Since the door kinda sticks, I thought Id also take a pic of

the door open. Its a very tight fit at the moment. Later Ill
sand it way down to allow smoother operation.

The utility arm bays are constructed and installed. This

was harder than I thought, especially having to hold the
1/4 thick curved pieces together while I hand-drilled the
holes from the sides.

The vertical supports on either side of the main vent area

are also installed. The front of the frame is based more
around the JAG style frame. I liked its minimal but effective
structural support.

For the flat sides, I laminated two pieces of the 1/2 birch
together to make a full 1 plank on either side. Thatll give
the shoulders a nice sturdy anchor to hang on to.

Body & Frame

I also went back and sanded down the tops of all the
vertical rails to ensure nothing got in the way of the Rockler
bearings even mounting.

Well, I had a full set of inner and outer skins completely cut
in .040 styrene, but I found that trying to install the inner
layer was insanely hard. It wouldnt wrap consistently, and
the places with cutouts bent at a further angle than the
solid pieces, so I scrapped the inner layer for an uncut
piece of styrene. I wrapped it and pulled it tight, and it
rolled a lot more smoothly, since it was all a solid piece.
Once secured, Ill remove the cutouts later.

2.1

I flipped the frame upside-down and removed the areas

of the bottom panel that correspond with certain details.
Since my skins will be installed permanently, this will allow
me access to things like the power couplings and octagon
ports, should I ever need to repair/ replace them. These
open sections will be covered by a sheet of styrene on the
bottom. Some of the ribs are also routered to make room
for these pieces.

Tape was used to pull the skins tight around the body, and
small nails tacked it in aling the vertical risers adjacent to
the rear access section. Since the rear will be removeable
anyway, I just used a piece that barely reached over the
edges of the rear door. I tacked it every couple inches to
ensure a secure fit.

Body & Frame

2.1

Though I forgot to show it, I added a curved piece to each

side plank that matched up with the outer circumference
of the frame. That let me use heavy-duty staples to secure
the inner skins above and below the place where the
shoulder flange goes.

I popped through the predrilled holes for the leg mounting

bolts from the inside. That let me see where to start
removing material to allow the flange to fit in. I test-fit and
removed little by little until the flange fit.

Enough styrene was removed to allow the flange to fit into

the skin nice and tight.

A view from the back, with the inner skin on and the
shoulder flanges installed.

Body & Frame

2.1

For the rear door, the excess styrene was trimmed straight
along the edge.

The overhanging styrene on the top and bottom were also

sanded even with the frame. I didnt bother worrying about
that before. I wanted to concentrate on getting the skins
tight instead.

The styrene was removed to make room for the large data
port, and the middle section of the outer skin located
directly below it is glued in place. This will aid in ensuring
the skins are installed straight.

Next, the main portion of the front outer skin is lined up

and held in place with clamps.

Body & Frame

2.1

I traced out the inner outlines of all the places where a

hole will be cut all the way through the skins. This includes
areas like the utility arms (shown), main vents, power
coupling, octagon port and vents.

I rough-cut out the holes in the inner skin for the utility
arms and the main vents. The only reason I cut these out
before attaching the outer skin was...

...to make sure the slats inside the front of the frame lined
up well. The vertical supports on either side of the main
vents were re-aligned, and the utility arm carriage was
braced a bit tighter against the skin, ensuring a nice curve
on the outside.

The inner skins were secured tightly with about fifty heavyduty staples, then tapped in deeper with a small hammer.
I made sure to double-check and keep the staples under
areas where the outer skin will hide them.

Body & Frame

2.1

Then, in the most nerve-racking five minutes of the entire

build, I traced styrene cement over the underside of the
outer skin, flipped it over, and began a furious effort to
clamp, tape, push and smash the outer skins into the right
place.

The styrene cement sets in a minute or two, but needs

a full two hours to completely cure. In the end, a few of
the lines are out of square and some of the panels arent
completely down, but when you step back, you dont even
see it.

Even though I didnt show any pics of the arduous process

of hand-cutting the skins, one down side of styrene skins
is the lip of displaced plastic that forms next to the blade
along each cut. I went back and sanded down the edge of
every panel before cutting the other holes in the front.

The back panel get its layer of inner skin. The middle part
on the bottom (the pic is upside-down) was also removed
to make room for the rear power coupling.

Body & Frame

2.1

I just took a flat sheet, pulled it tight, stapled it, then

trimmed the excess on the sides to make sure it still fit on
the body.

The test fit is a good match. The top and bottom were left
long, because the rear hatch fits inside the top and bottom
rings of the frame.

A shot from the inside.

The rear panel is secured with tape, then trimmed and

filed even with the top and bottom of the frame.

Body & Frame

2.1

The full rear outer skin is held in place for me to trace the
locations of the rear details.

The slightly modified rear outer skins are trimmed to their

final sections.

Now with more clamps, the sections of the rear skins are
cemented in place to either side of the rear hatch.

The outer skins are also glued in place on the rear panel.

Body & Frame

The rest of the frames and panels on the front are glued
into place.

2.1

The frames and panels are completed on the backside,

too.