Holy Guacamole! Why didn't someone tell me how much that insulating foam expanded. It blew the pattern apart. I guess we will just have to file this under Things not to do. Meanwhile back at the finish welding farm, I have added the gussets to the suspension pickups.

Supports have been added to the front roll bar landings.

I added another piece of 1/8" wall square tube to the bottom of the frame. I don't think there will be very much flex in the frame unless the girls decide to try and pile on 10 more kids.

I am trying to support this model so that it will not move when the fiberglass and epoxy is applied.

OK. I have an idea to speed this up. The can that you see on the left in this next photo is a can of that expanding foam that they use to fill in spaces between pipes and crevices in the foundation and plumbing. I will just fill in the remaining holes in the model and make it more stable.

Well just one can didn't go very far. But it should be enough to really solidify the model.

The fiberglass hood will be my first real try at making a plastic part. The first thing to do is draw out a sketch of the area to be covered on a solid surface.
Next you will need to cut templates out of chipboard or similar material for the model frame.

Next I prefer to start at one end and start building up the model using the foam insulation I described in an earlier post. The nose of the template seems to be a logical place to begin and work backwards. The foam needs to be glued up a little thicker than the overall dimensions so that it can be trimmed to the finish dimensions.

There are probably better ways to do this but I prefer to cut the sections and layer them up to the needed thickness.

You can make the model completely out of foam if you like and it would work just fine. But I prefer to use chipboard templates to help shape the model because I am not that artistic. ( I just remembered that I dreamed about making this model last night.)

I am going to try to use a solid piece of foam for the top contour so I am cutting 5/8" off of the inner templates to accommodate the thickness of the foam.

In order to keep the contour constant you will need to cut off the inner ribs at the same length as the outer framing.

Now that you have the outer dimensions defined it is just a matter of reinforcing the model so that it can be covered with fiberglass and resin without distortion. ( I now recall the dream I had last night about the model. I dreamed the model was complete and the first layer of fiberglass had been set smoothly in place but I had not put on the epoxy resin. Someone had come along and put a bunch of junk on top of the model and messed up the fiberglass. )