GreenViking wrote:Good luck with that, I am sure you will learn alot at every turn... there will be language i'm sure!
Curious to see how you get the parts to mate without scratching and what types of tolerances and ability to seal the gaps when open. Wishing you lots of persistence, it is a necessary thing as the challenges stack for sure!
the panels are of 1/4" plywood, so they're pretty scratch resistant. I'll be able to walk on them while on clean garage floor. Minor scuffs will cover with primer and paint. The ideal gap between plywood panels in stich-and-glue construction is "a gap", but if it gets wider than say 3/16", I will use a splinter of wood as a filler. If they touch, that is OK, too. Epoxy resin is a strong glue, and I always add multi-layers of "biaxial" fiberglass tape over the edges, joints, intersections etc.
Getting the panels to mate is not difficult using traditional drafting layout skills, whether with computer aid or paper. Each panel starts as a plane, and then can be predictably bent into a cylinder or cone shape. Geometry and trigonometry are the true tools required. (Oh, and the ability to cut straight - which would help me immensely).
Alternative to theory is to model; just get some tape and flat stock like card, paper, or (best) that thin wood stock used for laminating cabinets. Scale say an inch equals a foot, get some scissors, and do the classic old cut-and-try modeling. When you like it, lay the parts out flat, grid and measure them, prove your numbers by building another model from your grid numbers. If it were me developing from scratch; I'd model it a THIRD time...