Set 12 - Ceiling Work
[ My Pod Home | Batch 1 | Batch 2 | Batch 3 | 4: A  New Interior Begins 5: Interior w/ Overlays | 6: Revised Interior ]
[ 7: Cutting Plastic [ 8: Real Progress | 9: Ceiling Taking Shape | 10: More Ceiling & Walls | 11: Padding the Walls ]
[ 12: Real Ceiling Work | 13: AC Vent Beginnings | 14: More Interior | 15: Misc | 16: Ceiling & Walls ]
[  17: Joysticks | 18: Handles & Base | 19: Decals | 20: Primer! | 21: Colo(u)red Paint ]
[ 22: Joysticks Redux ]
Ceiling in Place! (Just taped for now) The Ceiling Ring (Not terribly clear ...) The Ceiling Ring a bit clearer
In through the door   In through the door   The Ceiling Ring a bit clearer
The new rear handhold            
 
OK, I didn't mean to lie, but it took 16 months to get to work on the Pod again instead of two. I clearly underestimated the whole moving thing ...

So, here's what's happened on the Pod since I last wrote anything:

  • I built the two levels of the ceiling and added the first layer of the ring. I say "first layer" as this has to have some 1/2 round added at the top and bottom and a piece added between them to look like the padding that's there. It looks like there's a big gap in the wall where the ring ends, BUT that will be covered by the A/C vent.
     
  • Feathered out the interface between the front wall and curved side walls - 300 layers of putty and sanding with rounded sanding stick got the surface perfectly smooth and rounded.
     
  • I added the remaining 1/2 sphere's for the handholds. Didn't include a photo as I've already shown one of the three others I'd already done.
     
  • Dremeled out the handhold near the rear door and made my own handhold to go in there. Though you can't see very well from the shot, it's perfectly rounded to match the hull (or at least as perfectly as my skill level can get) and there is a proper bevel around the handhold and "dimple" it sits in. I have not yet done the ridges on the handhold as I needed to get the shape perfect first and this one's tougher to fit in place (notice the major filling at both ends). Doing this one definitely firmed up m resolve to cast the others.
     
  • A TON of cleanup. (The more I look, the more I see.)

Nothing really exciting in terms of new techniques or anything for this phase of construction. The only interesting bit was figuring out ahead of time the shape of the ceiling ring - a little geometry to get the top and bottom radii and the included angle (if laid out flat it is a section of a big circle). Of course I forgot to take the thickness of the ring into account (0.04" plastic) so it is off a bit, but nothing outrageous that can't be fixed with a little filing.

You'll notice that I've got a second layer of plastic on the top of the ceiling - this is to brace the two pieces of the highest point together. Ultimately there will be a hole drilled through this to supply power to the light for the ceiling console.

That's about it for now - things are progressing and there will be more coming in the future (without a 16 month wait this time!).

Stay tuned ...