The first version was made out of aluminum flashing, used for roofing, that you can get from your local home store. I simply used heavy duty scissors to cut out the pieces and then hot glued them together. I wasn't to thrilled about the craftsmanship because the flashing was a bit too thin and flimsy causing the pieces to warp. Moreover, hand cutting it with a pair of shears did not exactly yield the straightest cuts. ...sigh.
The second version was created out of 0.040" styrene. Using my Husky heavy duty utility knife, straight edge and compass, the cuts were more controlled. The result gave way to much more cleaner pieces than the ones from the aluminum version. Because I wanted a fast setting glue, I also used a hot glue gun to attach the pieces together.
The radar eyes were painted using the basic Krider formula: one coat Rust-Oleum White primer > two coats Dupli-Color MetalCast Anodized Blue > two coats Rust-Oleum Crystal Clear.
The radar eye lens was cut out from the convexed portion of a 2 liter soda bottle. The back of the lens was then spray painted black and then taped onto the radar eye.
The results looked great, but being that the eyes were hollow, they were very fragile. One wrong bump into it will instantly destroy it. Filling the void with some instant foam from a can might have helped but there was still no solid surface to mount it to the dome. Another builder suggested pouring in resin filler but I thought it just wasn't cost effective. I finally decided to to order a council approved resin version from one of the group's part suppliers at a later date and use my scratch built one as a mock up for the mean time. Note the extreme warpage of the aluminum version in the picture below.
A year later, I obtained this fantastic resin version from Azman. Since the piece was formed with the use of a vaccuum chamber, which helps reduce the appearance of air bubbles, there was no need to fill and refinish it. It was also painted using the Krider formula and aluminum tape was used for the details. The soda bottle lens was also used. Because synthetic resin was solid throughout, it provided a secure foundation for mounting on the dome.
Installation was straight forward. The eye was held in the desired position and then a pencil was used to trace its outline on the dome. Using a 5/64" drill bit, two pilot holes were drilled strategically within the boundaries of the pencil outline. The radar eye was then taped to the dome in the same desired position and then the back of it was pencil marked using thru pilot holes. Using the marks, holes were drilled wide enough to accept #10 screws. The pilot holes on the dome were also widened to accept the new screws. The red arrows in the pic below indicate the marked holes.
So how does it look?, you might ask. Well, no peeking yet. Not until I've painted and mounted the dome panels. Stay tuned.
Next up: Choosing a Dome Bearing
