Serenity TearDrop Build

[Capebuild]

Wow!... that's pretty wild! As if building a teardrop isn't hard enough you also have to watch for dangerous wildlife interrupting your build.
No poisonous snakes here.

When you put the skin in the jar what is that for... not familiar with that.

[western traveler]

John
It is how to tan snake skin hides for leather work.

The jar has a mix of glycerin and alcohol (It can be isopropyl or denatured).

They get used in all types of leather work. Wallets, long bow sheathing, hat bands etc.

This is one from in front of my porch a couple years ago. I have kept it, as is, because of the unusual hole in the skin.
There are many stories of folks getting bitten by severed rattlesnake heads. Believe me many are true.
I shot this snakes head off. The body kept coiling and when it came in contact with the severed head, the head bit it’s own body.
I skinned it and placed it in the jar but the venom ate that hole into the hide regardless.
I have a video of the whole event.
The skin is soft and pliable.

[tony.latham]

but the venom ate that hole into the hide regardless.

That's amazing.

I had a horse that was bitten and I damn near lost him. Nasty stuff.

Tony

[western traveler]

Funny, I can gauge my apprehension over a task by how slowly I proceed through it. Second guessing and fear of making mistakes. Hasn’t helped

I expected the wiring to take a while as so many have commented on how it took longer than they expected but the insulation took a bit of time too. I wasn’t super comfortable cutting the kerfs to start with on my table saw but it went smoother than expected. I did experience a couple of kickbacks. Like getting whacked with a nerf ball. Way better than a piece of wood I suspect.

[western traveler]

After asking for input on fastening the roof panels from more knowledgeable people than me, I felt comfortable enough to move forward with that.
I was concerned with staples showing through the fiberglass (I kept imagining just using crown staples).

Pmullen503 pointed out the use of T50 staples from a mechanical stapler. Who knew? I did a practice run last night and was quite happy I asked.

Today I placed my first panel using Gorilla glue and the T50 staples along the spars and crown staples on the sill as those will be covered with molding.

I started up front so as to eliminate a seam at eye level, had I worked back to front. Hoping for the best with adhesion but feeling good about it for now. More will be revealed tomorrow when I pull staples.

[western traveler]

Did the other roof panels today…

[western traveler]

Pulled staples late last night. So nice having it in the garage instead of the barn now.

Severe Thunder storms were predicted for this afternoon so I pulled it out to the driveway early this morning to router the roof line and sand getting ready for the Trans Tint and glass. I have a couple of small spots to fill with epoxy mix but all the concerns about the misaligned exterior wall panel was wasted worry. It is 3/16” at its widest point and tapers to nothing at about 14”.
Pretty pleased how it is shaping up so far.

[western traveler]

I filled the roofline/wall seam with epoxy mix where needed and sanded it out later in the day. Currently waiting for the trans tint to dry. It is becoming more uniform as it does.
I have made a lot of extra work for myself throughout this build by being so focused on the task at hand I have failed to look down the road.
Here is an example;
I was struggling to get a good application of varnish on my walls (I never was super happy with it). From the start I knew I would be overlapping the fiberglass cloth onto the walls but failed to leave the top 2” free of varnish. So my first task tomorrow is to strip the varnish from there before moving on to glassing the roof.
Amazed that I am at this point in the build.

[western traveler]

This morning I tried hand sanding the sidewalls where they meet the roofline but it was way to slow so I used a random orbital with 120 grit and it left an obvious line between the varnish and bared fiberglass. I then green padded the Trans Tint to remove the raised grain.
I found the 6 oz. cloth (the only weight available in that width at the time I made my purchase) to wet out a bit more difficult than the 4oz. It may have been a combination of the 6 oz and the unsealed birch but it wasn’t a problem with the 4 oz. That said I like the heavier cloth on the roof. I was also able to wrap it around all the edges and lap it with the glass on the walls without needing to clip any wrinkles.
Now as long as it all goes off…

[western traveler]

Two fill coats later. I’m guessing it will take at least two more before it can be finish sanded after curing.
Going to start on the hatch build next. One bite at a time…

[western traveler]

Something worth mentioning with roof fastening…

There was one issue I hadn’t considered in time to perhaps avoid.
I used Trans Tint for color enhancement. Perhaps had I stained the panels prior to installing it would have made a difference. I didn’t think of it in time and when I did I was faced with the possibility anything used to seal the staple holes would likely hinder the dye penetration. So I applied the tint and let it dry. When I used a green pad to knock it down the dye accentuated the holes enough that if I look hard enough they are visible. Not enough to be upsetting but dang.

[western traveler]

It took 4 fill coats of resin applied with a foam weenie roller. I then sanded it out and applied the first coat of Helmsman after it cured.
After cutting out the gussets, spacers and blocks for the hatch I glued them up and set the clamps.

Today I started on the hatch framing. One more spar to place and then add the blocking. I will then be ready to screw some temporary sheets to stabilize it and move on to the next task.

[GarthB]

Looking good WT! You're going to have a finished 'drop in no time.

I notice that the top spar of your hatch has a hole for wiring. If what I'm about to describe has already crossed your mind, good job thinking ahead better than I did. When I built my hatch, I attached the inner skin, ran my wires, insulated, and then attached the outer skin. I then stepped back and realized that I was going to be pinching my wires between the hatch spar and the first spar on the hatch with them running through the top spar the way they were. With some careful trimming with a box cutter, I was able to trim the interior skin back enough to pull the wires back and through the interior face of the hatch.

The picture below shows my fix for it. You can see the original hole through the spar if you look closely. With them ran this way, there is no wire pinching. I believe Tony ran his through the interior side of the hatch as well. I just wasn't paying close enough attention as I was moving through this stage.

[western traveler]

Garth,
Thanks for pointing that out!
I had it in my mind coming up through the bottom with the wires in a split wire loom but I was being so careful with alignment and not wanting to make a mistake it slipped my mind.
Great catch! I would have been faced with the same situation…

Another reason these build journals are great.

[western traveler]

Today I set the blocks and added the panels to stabilize the hatch. I removed it from the TD and pulled the temporary spacers. I then let it sit off for a while and set it back in position. So far so good on the fit. I am going to start on the inside skin next. I took some photos for reference.