The next challenge with the left gauntlet was getting the top to marry up properly with the lower curve. Keeping in mind that the straight part needs to end up virtually flush with the outside of the gauntlet, as it will eventually hold the flamethrower, it became clear that the curved side ended up too wide for the top portion as it currently was built. Looking at some reference photos, you can see that the inside edge of the left gauntlet has a bit of a curve to it that begins on the upper section that marries up to the bottom curve where they meet.
To achieve this, I decided I needed to warp the inside edge of the upper portion outward quite a bit. I did that by custom making some ribs underneath that would push the inside edge outward. I hope you can see that in the following picture:
The left side of the gauntlet is pushed outward by the custom ribs (there are not templates for those), I just made them up myself, just large enough to get the outer edge braced outward as much as I needed it.
With that in place, I then began using the interior wood filler to seal the entire top portion.
I then added many, many layers to edge that I pushed out with the custom ribs to get the curve to look right on the outside. In this pic, you can see on the right side how there is over a quarter inch of filler built up over the cardboard to make the outer edge approximately right for this early stage. Note that you can’t build up this much filler at once…use multiple thinner layers, allowing enough dry time and sanding in between.
That's all for now...I'll try to the next set of pics together soon.
To achieve this, I decided I needed to warp the inside edge of the upper portion outward quite a bit. I did that by custom making some ribs underneath that would push the inside edge outward. I hope you can see that in the following picture:
The left side of the gauntlet is pushed outward by the custom ribs (there are not templates for those), I just made them up myself, just large enough to get the outer edge braced outward as much as I needed it.
With that in place, I then began using the interior wood filler to seal the entire top portion.
I then added many, many layers to edge that I pushed out with the custom ribs to get the curve to look right on the outside. In this pic, you can see on the right side how there is over a quarter inch of filler built up over the cardboard to make the outer edge approximately right for this early stage. Note that you can’t build up this much filler at once…use multiple thinner layers, allowing enough dry time and sanding in between.
That's all for now...I'll try to the next set of pics together soon.