I've finished cutting all the sides, side 2 was very easy, I brought up the file for side 1, copied and pasted one of the sides into a new document and then just deleted the openings that aren't on that side and added the extra 'window'. Then it was just a matter of duplicating it four times then saving it as a DXF file ready for the cutter.

The sides and ends, after cutting out, were then glued up, I cut two spacers by hand and stuck those in so the inside was now three compartments roughly equal in size.

When it was all dry the next day the whole thing had really stiffened up and is quite sturdy.

At this stage I was itching to start shaping the body but not knowing how the card I'd used would react to sanding as this is the first time I used this type of card. I resisted the urge and mixed up some PVA with water and a smidgen of acrylic paint just so I would know which bits had been primed. The added benefit is that I can see just how much has been taken off by sanding, which is difficult to see when it's all white.

The thing with this particular project is that it's all purely experimental, I'm learning as I go along. It could have been that applying water to it could have separated the laminations, I'd experienced that with the first side I made, but for these sides I'd used UHU which seemed quite rubbery, like the old puncture repair kits used to contain, and sure enough everything was ok the next morning

Next day I couldn't resist it and started sanding one end with the emery boards and luckily it seems as if it will sand quite well. Here's a pic of the body, The left arrow points to the join which will need filling, the right arrow points to the start of forming the tumblehome

Next I turned my attention to the construction of the roof. I thought this might be formed as I'd seen previously, in other posts, by layers. The alternative would have been by cutting cross sectional slices and stick those together. The roof is 9mm deep but 37mm wide and as the card I'm using is only 0.5mm thick, it was a no brainer to choose horizontal layers. The sections I drew and cut are shown below

at the top is the first five layers, with a void in the middle to give extra headroom for the Lima pancake motor, the second one down is the first of the solid layers. This is 1mm smaller all round than the voided layers, the layers reduce progressively by approximately 1mm each time. The third one down is the uppermost layer, (top of the roof), below that are the two templates that I will use to shape the roof to the correct profile. I used templates to shape the roof in Balsa for my Metro Vick, seen in a previous blog. The roof layers have all been laminated now, but are still in the press, so I'll show you those in the next instalment.

cheers

Roly