Ever since I installed my canopy, there was something erking me - the fuselage/canopy blend was way off. This was because I purchased a canopy bubble that was bigger than the "per plans" canopy. So when I made my canopy frame I had no choice but to make the frame a bit wider too (otherwise, the frame would be so thin, I wouldn't have any room for the hinges and latches).
It's hard to see in the pictures above, but the canopy frame is overhanging the "per plans" fuselage curve:
I needed to fill this void for a nice smooth transition. I wasn't comfortable with leaving this to "body work" later.. since this was a bit larger than the size of a quarter... extrude that area times the length of both fuselage sides and that is a LOT of volume to fill.
I also sanded 2" or so onto the strakes so I could overlap onto it...
I then taped off all hinges, rollover structure, etc...
Using cardboard scraps, I duct taped them to create a dam.. this will keep the pour foam from spilling into the strakes...
Damn! That's a nice dam! (see what I did there?)
With both sides ready.. it was time to mix some pour foam!!
I poured small sections at a time.. probably did four batches in all... (2 per side)...
I let it cure overnight. I noticed that the quality of the pour foam is much more reliable if I weigh the A and B portions rather than doing it by eye. This guarantees a more accurate mixture, which results much better quality.
I then removed the cardboard (I wish I had added duct tape to the cardboard to make it easier to peel off... it was surprisingly difficult to pull the carboard out). But with a little bit of patience and a little at a time, it peel off. I then used a saw to shave the top of the foam flush with the top of the longeron, being careful not to damage the longeron.
I then sanded the foam perfectly flush with the longeron...
In order to have a perfect blend, I reinstalled the canopy to sand it flush up to it...
Here is the "before" pic....
I then sanded everything nice and smooth for a perfect blend...
Ooooooooo!!!! Looking gooooooood!!!
Much better!
Happy with the foam blend, I removed the canopy and focused on the hinges...
I removed the hinge and sanded those portions of the foam as well...
I then rounded the edges so the glass will bend around the corner...
It now time to glass! I painted all mating surfaces with plain epoxy and micro'd all foam surfaces...
I glassed 2 plies BID at 45... and peel plied the top surfaces and along the strakes for a nice transition...
Notice I let the inside overhang, rather than wrap around...
The next day, I removed the peel ply and cleaned up all edges... sanded everything smooth and flush...
Ooooo that looks good!
I placed the rollover structure on top.. and traced out the edges onto the longerons..
I then had to open up the holes for the canopy hinges...
Reinstalled the rollover structure and made sure there was no light shining through the straight edge...
No light!!! Perfect!!!
I then reinstalled the hinges and canopy...
Super happy with the canopy / fuselage blend!!! We're just about ready for body work!!!
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