The Astroliner

[KCStudly]

Wow, you could shave your beard on that edge!

I guess loading up the first layer of filler is a lot less of a concern when you've got a sander rig like that to knock it all back down with. I was always leery about putting too much filler on because I was hand sanding and didn't want to lose the basic shape that had already been established. Comparing to my build, I see now that getting the hard shell on over the foam opens up the ability to fill and sand at will, whereas trying to finesse the fragile foam and soft fillers is more of a losing battle. Maybe.

[Atomic77]

Yes, that's my thought. Get the glass down, then work that surface to perfection. On the boats we don't use filler, just epoxy. So you could go that route if you wanted, but for a camper, car, motorcycle etc. Filler is perfectly fine. Have you landed on a top coat yet?
The thing about filler... Before I lay any down, I'm going to have my surfaces pretty darn close. I'm not using filler to fix a bunch of ugly. I'm only filling low areas and imperfections. By the time all of the filler is sanded down, the thickness would be measured in mill's not inches. Not much material left as most of it goes on the floor. Like I said, the secret is to get enough on the first time. I've watched plenty of guys over the years put it on and sand it off. Put it on and sand it off. It usually takes me one to two coats and done. I could have easily blocked the first coat with 36 grit by hand. But honestly, hand sanding for me is over rated. Lol.

[noseoil]

Michael, very nice job on the fill & sand. That edge looks very good & perfectly true. Are you going to break it at all, or leave the hard edge? Just curious about chipping later on with an edge that hard & clean. Really going to be beautiful with the paint in place.

[OP827]

Michael, great work with fairing. As Noseoil, I am also curious about the edge.

[dales133]

Looking good ma man,
Id apreciate bigger pics tho mate i view it all on my phone!
Well its a galaxy note 4 so decent size screen but im not getting any younger ya know!
keep on keeping on

[Atomic77]

Dale, for some reason it won't allow me to upload anything bigger. Have you tried tapping the picture to enlarge? When you tap it you should see, view in gallery and go to site. Choose go to site and it should be fullscreen. That's how it is on my Galaxy anyway...

[KCStudly]

If when you add your picture you use the Gallery button and "insert image into post" feature, it uses the Img-BBC code {album}{/album} (substitute [] for {}) and you get the little clickable images.

If when you add your pics you use the Img button and copy/paste the Img-URL from bellow the picture opened up in your gallery {img}img-URL{/img} you will get a larger non-clickable pic (size dependent on loaded file size). (Do not just copy the url from the header bar, there are differences.)

Not sure about pics linked from outside sources, or tapatalk.

Hit "Reply" to this post to see the code in use (no need to actually reply).

[Atomic77]

Michael, very nice job on the fill & sand. That edge looks very good & perfectly true. Are you going to break it at all, or leave the hard edge? Just curious about chipping later on with an edge that hard & clean. Really going to be beautiful with the paint in place.

Thank you Fellas. To answer your questions, I am leaving the edge. There's a couple reasons for that. First, I like the precise way it looks. I have a lot of practice sharpening edges on the running surfaces of the Hydro and I just like it. Keep in mind, the thickness of the filler is very thin. ( We're talking about mill's here. The most difficult part of the sanding process was being sure not to sand through it to the carbon fiber beneath.) It would take a serious hit to chip it and a hit that hard would chip anything, regardless. So let's hope that doesn't happen. Secondly, after lots of consideration, we've decided not to paint the roof. I could primer it, probably get base coat on it, but being able to spray clear and get it perfect would be next to impossible due to the size. Being 7 1/2' wide and 8 1/2' tall I just couldn't make the reach without swinging from a harness on a crane or something! We strongly considered building scaffolding over it but even then it would have to be moveable and I would need a couple guys slowly moving it forward as I went. Keeping the dirt out of it with that scenario would be impossible as well. I've considered a couple other options but all in all it's just not practical or cost effective to paint the roof. Therefore I'm reserving paint for the sides only. On the roof, we've decided to do a vinyl wrap. Our race team used to do vinyl wrap on the boat, before I was hired to do the paint work. They ran vinyl wrap for 3 years which held up well and looked very nice. It was surprisingly very durable at 200 miles an hour. Also, it held up nicely to rock chips while being hauled by the big rig cross country. The problem with vinyl on a race boat is it hides cracks, which isn't good. Cracks needed to be identified and repaired so the dang think doesn't come apart at high speed! There are really high tech vinyl choices available now, including brushed aluminum and carbon fiber. I think the added texture will lend itself well to the roof area and the sharp edge makes a nice clean break for the vinyl. It's thin enough that you can't see the edge from the side either. We have already laid down a test piece and it really looks fantastic. If I wasn't a painter I would wrap the whole thing and be done!

[Atomic77]

Ok Dale...Let's try this:



Thanks KC... Feels like longhand so I won't promise I'll keep doing it that way. Lol

[Vedette]

The wrap idea sounds Great!
We have a member in our Chapter that has her TD wrapped with graphic depicting all the sights of Seattle.
It is Beautiful!
Keep up the good work and thanks for posting pictures!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[Atomic77]

Thank you! The wrap won't be printed, rather a textured design that you won't notice unless you're looking, probably. The paint on the sides will be the main focus. I sketched out some ideas on paper, and Carrie has been very busy computer designing the layout of the paint scheme. Once we have it all created digitally, I will have a good idea of how I want to lay everything out. I don't want to give too much away because we have to keep a little mystery right? But the paint scheme will definitely follow the feel of the sixties retro space age theme I'm trying to obtain.

[Vedette]

I saw something at the Vintage Trailer Rally in Lynden that might be right up your alley.
But, I have such a problem posting pictures here. So please PM me your email address and I will send you the picture I took.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[Atomic77]

Here's a email you can use: [email protected]
Thanks!

[dales133]

Hey micheal thanks for the enlarged pics....i can seee i can seee!
I had miles of troble posting pics until i found this app...picture resizer.
I resize in 2 clicks straight off my phone in either small medium or large,i use medium.
Before i used to have to get on the pc and use tinypic and it was a massive hastle.
Give it a try,its on the playstore
Should work for you to brian

[Atomic77]

Thanks man.