Aft engine access panels.
All of the details that make up the aft engine access panels are off-the-shelf products, many of which are still available today in your average hardware store. The rest, is easily reproduced using wood and some imagination. Below are some photographs from internet image searches, of the original prop uses for the series.
*Note, they differ in many ways from some model kits, CGI used models. Though my Viper is based from Zoic’s CGI version, I am replicating the aft panels from the studio prop.
23 April 2019
Finally made it to the hardware store and spend my $50 allowance! Back to building! Yay!
4 May 2019
I’ve been working more on the upper aft panel. A mate from work converted a 3D file for me, then CNC routed it out of a piece of my demolished pergola. Something went wrong with the scale in the 3D file, so it printed too small, but it came out nice so we will do it again and up the scale. You can see from the photo I have in my hand below, it really needs to fill the space in the middle of the pane. Works out to about 300mm, which makes sense because a lot of stuff made in the US rounds off to the nearest inch or foot.
While I wait for that, I’ve been working wood and plastic to make the rest of the panel and paint it up.
4 June 2019
Thanks to my friends Tony Celliers of Dynamic Digital Creations for the 3D file, and Mark T from Tharwa Valley Forge for modifying said file, then CNC routing it out of a random bit of biscuit-joined wood. After a glue together and clean-up, it painted to look pretty darned good.
How much cost in materials to build your Viper
G’day Joe. It’s very hard to capture cost on a project like this. I don’t really keep track of it. I can tell you that the steel frame is not very expensive, maybe a few hundred dollars all up. The polystyrene was recyvcled food boxes, the plywood was recycled cover sheets for pallet stock. Some of the instruments were given to me, others I had to pay postage. Glue and screws can add up and some of the electronics can be costly too.