08/26/01

     I believe I've successfully repaired the hull - it took a couple coats of putty and some extremely delicate work with wet sandpaper and dental tools, but the only thing that indicates something funky happened are a pair of red dots.  I'll be certain of this after I apply a basecoat (which I have decided I do want to do, so as to confirm the putty jobs around the whole ship).

 
     I've drilled the holes in the appropriate places for the port and starboard indicator lights, fore hull light and flashing running lights and have begun shaping the fibre lines for placement.  I used a candle to do this before, but it heats things up so fast it's really hard to control the bend rate.  I tried a soldering iron this time, just putting the optic cable over it and allowing it to heat up - it provided a slow, easily controlled bend that didn't cause any noticeable optical loss.

 

 

     I've also been contemplating the fact that the flashing fibres and now the port / starboard indicator fibres must be shielded from the ambient light that will be in the hull illuminating the larger windows.  I've decided to use small-diameter shrink tubing - I can slip the cable in there, then cement it in place.  I will paint over them with black and aluminum paint, that should more than suffice.

     I've also found that by moving a soldering iron around the glued fibre cable, it will mushroom the head and cause it to expand (making sure it's quite stuck (neigh fused) into the hole drilled for it) as well as make it look like a more.. natural?.. light.