The Roswell A Cometh !!!

[dandan]

forgot to mention,
have brought some teardrop shaped bodyside lights from an ebay seller in the UK.
they are navigation lights for a jet fighter.
intend to use some on the roswell.

reckon they will look good on any teardrop.
if you search ebay for the keywords "jet teardrop lights" they should turn up.
the seller ships worldwide.
the British £ is in free-fall.
grab yourselves a possible bargin !
best rgds dan.

[planovet]

Now those are cool. And the price is right, only $12.50 for two of them. Too bad the shipping to the US is so high. Also, I wish they were flush mounted. But really nice find!

[Nitetimes]

the British £ is in free-fall.
grab yourselves a possible bargin !
best rgds dan.

That may be true but the dollar went off the high dive nose first!!!

Nice job on the trailer. It'll be interesting to see finished.

[01Sport]

Doing a google search comes up with some ideas on bending poly/lexan.

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/how-ben ... 26467.html

Can't wait to see your finished product.

[angib]

Assorted thoughts, Dan:

- Do you really need 1/4" thick polycarb? I suspect you could go thinner and you might get away with just cold bending it in situ.

- If you do cold bend it, there's a risk that the window will try to flatten out the body, rather than the body curve the window. But it might be less effort for you to build in some reinforcement near the window opening to stop the body flattening-out, rather than have to much around with heating windows.

- Custom plastics moulding is hugely variable in price. So if all the alternatives fail, ask around until someone recommends somebody who's cheap and cheerful, and then suggest to them that you will build the 41" radius plug yourself for them to bend the polycarb on - you'll have to take responsibility for the finish if you do the plug, but that's better than £250. A suitable plug would be four 3/4" ply ribs with some 1/4" MDF curved around them - but get the plastics guy's preference on that.

Andrew

[Mike M.]

these would look nice on the fenders as tail Lights First time posting a url, please let me know if it works

[Cliffmeister2000]

I don't know much (if anything) about jets, but most private aircraft (Beech, Cessna, etc.) have 28VDC systems. This allows more wattage with less amperage than 12VCD does. So you may have to adapt these to accept a 12V bulb.

[jackdaw]

I don't know much (if anything) about jets, but most private aircraft (Beech, Cessna, etc.) have 28VDC systems. This allows more wattage with less amperage than 12VCD does. So you may have to adapt these to accept a 12V bulb.

I have the same lights fitted as porch lights on our teardrop. They accept regular 12v bulbs . A 5 watt bulb is plenty when its mounted on the side


Ive sandwiched the light onto the side. The larger plate is on the inside.

I was stunned when I got mine , as they were packed up and sealed in 1963


Rosie often asks if I've turned off the landing light when where tucked up in bed.

Dave

[Nitetimes]

these would look nice on the fenders as tail Lights First time posting a url, please let me know if it works..

It works but if you shrink it down it won't double the width of the page!
Click the quote button in this post and you can see what I did to it.

[Mike M.]

thank you. I fixed it

[dandan]

whats a url ???
thanks for all the help with the polycarbonate issue.
its all been logged into the old grey matter & will be put to good use.
i now reckon its best to avoid heat.
less to go wrong.
will also have a re-think on the thickness needed.
your help has saved me time & money. its appreciated.
posting more build pics soon.
many thanks
dan.

[Nitetimes]

thank you. I fixed it

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Hi Dan,
Regarding your polycarb question...
If you are only bending the material in one direction, you really wouldn't need to heat form the bend, providing that your means of securing the window will hold the bend in the material.
On real tight radius bends not using heat, it isn't uncommon to have small light fracturing occur over a period of time with flat material held fast into a prescribed bend.
If your bend for the window is going to be curved in two directions, (Like a sphere) heat draping/heat forming must be used.
The problem I see using a heat gun, wanding it back and forth over the material is... You most likely won't be able to heat the entire piece in a uniform way and still reach the prescribed temperature.
What I would do if I needed to heat form polycarb material would be to build a sheetmetal box with a lid, which housed the mold or form.
Add some insulation to the exterior side of the box for easier heating.
Place a simple candy thermometer through an 1/8" hole in one of the sidewalls at or near the elevation of the mold.
Run some flex line or duct into the box and use a heater or maybe even a heat gun would be enough to get the insulated box up to temp.
If the shape of the mold lent itself to a tricky drape, I'd probably drill small holes in the mold and turn it into a vacumme mold, so when the material started to sag it would be held in place and not allowed to fall off of the mold.
Hope this helps... It should be a fun thing to do.

[magilla]

Sorry Dan Dan Dont want to hi jack the thread of your amazing build, of which I am quite envious, but here is a link for these lights in US

E-bay aircraft recognition lights


(admin note---if you quote this and look at the way it is written you can make these smaller. Miriam)

[Cliffmeister2000]

whats a url ???

"Uniform Resource Locator" is what the initials mean. It's that address on the internet that usually starts with www.

For instance, the URL to this forum is www.mikenshell.com/forums/