Canopy

  I knew I would have to stretch the canopy apart to make it fit...so I came up with making ribs and a base from the floor panel stock. 

 I then filled the spaces with foam and glassed the bottom part of the frame and built the aft part of the frame in the same manner. I then filled the spaces with foam and glassed the aft part of the frame

I have fiberglassed the inside of the aft frame and have built a "proof of concept" front cowl out of cheap insulation.  I made some foam body frames, left the foil backing on one side and scored the foam to bend it.  The shape turned out great.  I would use it except the foam isn't very consistent and has a lot of divots that will just take too much time to fill and make right.  My plan is to buy a 1/2 inch sheet of good foam, fiberglass one side, then score the foam and bend it in a similar manner.

The forward part of the frame is built from the front deck.  For where the canopy attaches to the frame I started with foam and completed with micro.  Someone gave me the idea of thinning out the resin with alcohol when doing micro...the less resin is in the mix, the easier it is to work.  I can work it with a wood rasp and get the shape I want pretty quickly.

Here I have started the process of attaching the front deck to the canopy.  Once I complete the process I will cut the front deck around the canopy for the front end of the frame. 

I had to attach a jig to the fuselage and strap the canopy down to the jig to keep it straight while it cured.

I used fiberglass tape around the edge of the glass so I could butt it right up to the duct tape without those annoying strands you get when you spread the glass. 

This picture is awfully dark...I will try to get a better one when the weather is better...I think I'm going to like the results.  Next step is to cut the front deck from the canopy and finish out the inside.