Posted by aramis on February 08, 2002 at 15:29:39:
In Reply to: a look inside... posted by RPT on February 08, 2002 at 15:13:03:
: : I was hoping that you could layer fiberglass on an armature but still get a smooth finish.
Yeah, the same method (stretch cloth then epoxy) could be extended to do something like this, especially the sunken monitor bezel area. For the outer bends (from the top to the sides), some foam inside supports for forming would help.
Keep in mind that the entire cab doesn't have to made all in one shot, and it doesn't have to be perfect right away...you could form certain pieces, then join them together using some more fiberglass and epoxy across the seams inside and out. And, fiberglass is very easy to patch/join, and can be sanded / bondo-ed aftwerwards to smooth out the curves perfectly. It just makes a mess when sanded (lots of dust).
The only thing I'd be worried about achieving is the finish...the real computer space cab looks like it might be gel-coated, which means the color was put in the large mold as the fiberglass was laid. I've only dealt with car stereo stuff, where usually vinyl is stretched over the sanded fiberglass form once its done. I'm not sure how painting aferwards would look...you would want to spend a LOT of time getting a smooth finish before painting, that's for sure.
I've used fiberglass for years, and I'll admit that without a large mold to lay the fiberglass in, this would be a lot of work. But, it could be done...just a lot of time and epoxy!
It would be one unique cabinet, that's for sure!