Well then keep reading and I'll keep writing.
It's the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11. We were married just a year when it happened. I took a picture of the TV with Armstrong stepping off the LEM. Today, I read in Aviation Week (of which I am a 45 year subscriber) that Lockheed Martin is on their 5th iteration of a compact fusion reactor being design by the Skunk Works. They were getting tired of the delays and lack of progress in the international efforts such as ITER. It's way over budget (billions) and way behind schedule (years). Lockheed thought there might be another approach that doesn't require building something as a large as a big building. The initiative started in 2014, and while it's going a little slower than they would have liked, they're optimistic that a self-sustaining power reactor is within reach. They're looking to us it for aircraft propulsion and small utility use. American ingenuity!
I didn't post last night, so this is yesterday's post. I'll journal today's work later.
Yesterday was one of the those potpourri days, with a little of this and a little of that. I fixed the little corner bits on the main building and then used joint compound to fill all the gaps. I masked and painted the machine shop floor and added a wood strip around the bottom of the roof edge to give it more thickness and a place to attach the rain gutters. I finished all the windows (61) and they're ready for installation as soon as the exterior is painted. I added some rivet decals to the splice plates on the main gantry rail. I cleaned up the shop! And I 3D printed some more parts.
Didn't take much filler to close the tiny gaps. It will just make the outside look more put together.
The floor glued in tightly and really stiffened the walls. Here's a view looking down the length. I'll be brush painting those remaining wood structural members.
To mask the machine shop walls I tried using a combination of masking tape and Glad Press-n-Seal (PNS). The PNS (don't read that acronym phonetically or editor is going to zap my post) didn't work as well as I thought it should. The spray can's pressure was lifting it a bit. I was going to use it to seal all the main building window openings, but now I'm not so sure. It's cheaper than masking tape. It's really hot out today, but it's not raining so I may attempt to spray the building.
I have some MicroMark (Archer Fine Transfers) rivet decals left over from the truss bridge project of many years ago and used them to dress up the splice plates on the long main gantry rails. I shot them with DullCoat after applying to seal them. I'm painting the rails assemblies red primer color. I didn't have many decals left so I just did the exposed side.
I had one more medium-sized and seven large-sized windows left to assemble. All of them (61) are now complete. The window flanges are adhesive backed and having a glossy surface on which to stick them will be helpful.
As for the printing. Here's the primed parts. The new heads came out pretty well. I'm still having some trouble with bits of the details not appearing, and I awoke this morning and figured out why. I did a mental experiment and layered the part as the machine would in my head and discovered that when there are small overhangs that are facing in the direction of the build, the exposure is trying to form them in free space. In 3D printing that doesn't work. So the tiny layer forms, but not being attached to the main body or a support, it just floats away. The next layer forms and the same thing happens. This goes on until the overhanging bit is actually attached to the part and it starts forming properly. It's why the corner of the access hatches isn't there. I drew it as it is on the real thing, with an extended lip. That extended lip started to form in free space. Lesson No. 1: watch out for unsupported overhangs and fix them in the drawings. I'll go back and revise the drawing to get rid of the overhang and the problem will be resolved. There's also a similar situation in the head detail where the clamp bolts on one side aren't forming. I believe the same mechanism is at work. Otherwise, this engine looks pretty darn good!
I made another fan, and this time, the fan blades, while being just as drawn, are simply too thin after printing to maintain their structural integrity. Lesson no. 2: just because the printer will resolve it, doesn't mean it will work in the real world. The resin is only so strong and extremely thin cross-sections will break. I'm also going to thicken that lower flange on the engine mount so it won't break away when I remove the supports. I believe I'll have all this 3D printing stuff figured out in a few more weeks...
