Speed 400
Cloudster Project
There are at least two approches to seal the
bottom edge of the Cloudster's windshield. These include (1) applying
sparing amounts of either Weldbond or epoxy with a tooth pick along the seam
or (2) trying to put thin striping tape around and over the seam. Yesterday
afternoon I did a test case of trying to apply Weldbond with a tooth pick on
a sample and that did not work out for me at all so I didn't even try the
epoxy.
Next I tried putting 1/16" wide white striping
tape around and over the windshield seam, stopping it at the corners where
the side windows begin. The color of the white striping tape did not look
very good and the 1/16" width was so narrow that I could not accurately
control the amount of tape on the windshield and the amount on the
fuselage's turtle deck for a good seal.
I did not have any 3/32" wide tape in white tape,
but I did have some in both black and red. I put a strip of the 3/32" black
striping tape around and over the windshield seam, stopping it at the
corners as before. With the wider tape, I was able to control the amount of
tape on the windshield and the amount on the fuselage's turtle deck and
secure a good seal. However, the black did not look all that good either and
I did not like the tape's abrupt termination at the corners.
I noticed that the color of the 3/32" red
striping tape pretty much matched the color of the red Tamiya painted strip
on the fuselage. It was then I got the idea to used the red 3/32" striping
tape around and over the windshield seam, but instead of stopping it at the
corners, take it on back along the bottom edge of the side windows and stop
it midway on the upright behind the cabin. This way the thinner tape stripe
will compliment the fuselage's side trim. The collection of the five
pictures below show the red striping tape seal on the bottom edge of the
Cloudster's windshield from different aspect angles:
Right side View
Right Frontal View Close Up
Top view showing the accurate control the amount
of tape on the windshield and the amount on the fuselage's turtle deck. The
bottom edge of the windshield is well sealed.
Left Frontal View Close Up
Left View of the Entire Fuselage
Well, what do you think of this approach of
sealing the bottom edge of the windshield?....................Tandy