I made some good progress today. I tacked the supports to the side pieces with just a dab of hot glue. That let me make sure everything fit together well.
Next, I used two part epoxy to reinforce all of those joints. I applied it with a brush which allowed me to get it down into the crevices well. After several hours of curing (the epoxy is cured enough to handle in about an hour) the joints were well secured. I then used the epoxy to attach the aft portion of the MPDD. That went on well and after a few hours was nice and secure.
Next, I sanded the front of the entire piece, and then attached the fore piece of the MPDD. I didn't get a picture of just this, because I was on to the next step...
I test fit the top two panels to the drive, and was happy with the result. I then glued these pieces together with CA...I figured it would be nice as one single panel and would be easier to hook to the entire unit. After letting that set, I made sure the pieces all fit together well, and then went ahead and used the epoxy to seal it in place. A bunch of rubber bands helped with making sure that the entire piece was held together correctly.
The gaps aren't nearly as noticeable in person as they are in the photos, however, I feel like I probably will end up trying to fill them in some way. I've read that Green Stuff (Kneadatite?) can be rolled into very, very thin strands...so this may end up being a good option for this project...I can get several thin strands and put them in place, then use a sculpting tool to scrape off any excess before the Green Stuff sets, allowing it to show up in a way that minimizes the difference in textures between the printed parts and the Green Stuff.
While all of that was sitting, I went ahead and printed the cargo pods that go along the entire length of the ship. Well, three of them. There's a total of, I think, 33 of these that will end up being printed. I had thought that they would take a long time to print, but they actually went fairly quickly...because they're much smaller than I figured they would be.
Here's a picture of them with a standard glue stick to illustrate the size of them.
After printing those out, I printed the "nut" pieces that will hold them in place. They printed well, but I ended up looking at a remixed version of these parts that will do a better job of holding these cargo pieces in place. I think I'll be using the remixed parts going forward, and most likely I'll be using the epoxy to hold the pieces together. I think, though, that I will be looking into getting that rod first...I'd like to be able to have the rod actually running through the nuts before gluing the cargo pods to them. This will help me make sure that they are completely flat and centered.
Overall, I'm happy with the progress. I fretted and fretted over the fit of the panels...and ultimately just decided that I was going to have to glue it together and see how it fit. The rough fits were all coming in just fine, but with a bit of pressure applied in one spot or another, it would render the whole thing just a mess. Of course, the pressure was only there because I would be squeezing on one part of the model or another, just to see how that impacted the fit of the whole thing.
I am printing another front plate for the bottom of the MPDD. I'm printing it very slightly thinner than the one I have now, so that I can hope to get it to lay flatter when it's assembled. The one I have works well, but I thought I might be able to get it just a BIT better by having one ever so slightly thinner. That part should be done printing in an hour or so, so I'll be able to see how that goes.
My next steps, other than continuing to print the cargo pods, is to put some of the epoxy on the inside of the MPDD to help secure the panels that I put on it today. Of course, I will not be able to do that with the OTHER side panels due to the fact that the entire thing will be enclosed...but the panels on the other side seem to fit a bit better, so I don't think they'll need any reinforcing at the joints. It is also possible that I COULD just use some hot glue to hold these panels in place, and have that be the top of the ship...this way if I ever needed to, I could peel them off and work inside of the MPDD if need be. I also thought about possible holding off on gluing these on until I'm completely done with the model...that way I can easily see the tube when I'm installing it for support, and not have to worry about trying to jam it in there blindly, and possibly damaging something.
Better not use a brush; spray or airbrushing should do the trick
