The (Almost) Finished Model!

Looking good! I just got some feedback from my lecturers & there are some little things I need to change, but I'm happy with it.

Installing The Screen

The Body

Here is the process of spraying the Observer body. The top right pic is the untouched, sandblasted body to the last pic of the finished article.

Sprayed

I haven't posted for a while, but here are the small parts (coin box door & platform) sprayed up with the primer & graphite grey spray paint. With the help of Gus, we applied 4 coats of primer with around 4 coats of paint. Looks very nice!

Polishing The Metal

To make the privacy cover match the other features on the body, I am polishing up the metal to a nice shiney finish. To do this, I need the following:

Emery cloth - coarse, medium & fine grit
Sanding sponges - medium, fine & very fine
Cellulose based thinnersFor some weird reason, the metal arrived with a dark surface coating, which is very tough to remove, so the first step is to use the coarsest emery cloth - 50 grit. I had to sand the whole thing by hand, which I haven't finished (so far it has taken two & a half hours, I'm going to have guns in the morning!).

Warning! You get incredibly dirty - as you can see I am covered in metal particles (which I am still trying to get rid of!).

After the surface coat has been removed, smoothing down the metal will be easier. After sanding the cover each time - gradually using a finer grain of sandpaper after each pass - it should end up lovely! & then I will remove any grease with the thinner.

Alterations

I've handed in the body back into engineering because I accidentally missed out the hole for the front dial. I have also bought some load bearing steel hinges to be welded on. Hopefully it will be ready for spraying on Tuesday.


It's just the small things that need to be sorted now!

The Little Things

Today, I've been focusing on the smaller parts of the project - fixing some holes that are slightly too small for the components, filling in any welding marks, etc. & it's slowly coming together! The next step is focusing on the bigger issues - spraying up the body (which will get done on Tuesday), attaching hinges to both the main body & cash box door, & the internal structure...

More Parts

Here's some pics of my big dial & some plates - I've been experimenting with surface finishes on the plates, using the sandblaster (top pic) & air sanders. I personally like the polished look!

So Close!

Engineering have almost finished my product! They just need to fix a couple of bits on the main body, but apart from that it's perfect! They have given me most of the parts so I can start finishing them - I have began polishing the pieces of sheet metal so I can acid etch it with details. The one piece that is completely finished is the eyepiece. The lens & support fits perfectly!

T-Minus 3 Days Until Model Is Ready

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Looking Good!

So far, so good!

Gettin' Made!

Went down to engineering today to see how they were getting on, & the progress is great! The main frame is almost complete (just needs the hole to be cut) & the eyepiece is currently being turned. Looking good!