Saturday 8 July 2017

ModPod: The Glazing

It took me quite a while to find the right size and width of perspex I wanted for the doors and windows - I ended up having to order some off the internet, so then I had to wait for it to arrive :-)

There are two A4 sized pieces of  2mm perspex, which fit just nicely into the front of the Pod.




In order to mount the sliding doors, I glued pieces of 5mm wide plastic U-channel (from the local hobby shop), painted black with enamel paint, into the inside of the top and bottom of the front of the Pod.







I then realised that the two sides of the door overlapped right in the middle of the kitchen, which obstructed the view of the future modern kitchen!  Plus, I kinda want to put an island table in front of the doors so that the imaginary occupants can admire the view ;-)

So I resolved that by cutting down the two 2mm pieces of perspex and using a 3mm piece, cut to size, in the middle.  The middle piece will stay in place and the two outer doors will slide across.  All of them can be moved or removed for photographs - the 2mm pieces flex enough when bent to pop them in and out of the U channels.  The 3mm piece is too thick to remove that way, but it can be slid out of the way when the doors are removed :-)

The doors with the protective film in place:




Here I've removed the film from the middle "door" and Ive started framing the sliding doors:








Fro the framing I had to use something very think, or it would make the doors too thick to slide easily in the tracks, so I ended up using strips of thick craft paper, which I painted black and glued on with roller sticky tape!  Tacky glue dried too thick and ran out around the edges of the paper.




I used off cuts from the 2mm perspex to cut the slit windows, and popped them into place.  I'll leave the protective film on until I've finished so they don't get accidentally scratched.

The black box on top of the roof is the battery pack for the ceiling lights.  I'll use some black tubing to cover up the wiring when I mount it to the back wall, where I hope it will look like a power or air conditioner control box!





Ta da! Sliding doors!










I'm still debating what to use for door handles.  I found some pieces in my jewellery findings - they are the T bars from a couple of sets of bar and loop bracelet joiners - which I painted black.  I stuck them on with Blu-Tak to see what they look like:




Hmn, they'll do if I can't find anything else before I finish the Pod, although I don't know how I'll permanently attach them yet. 

Now for the interior!!  I have a few bits and bobs to put in, but the main construction is really the kitchen and I'm waiting for kits to arrive from the UK, from ELF Miniatures, to start.  I'm going to make the cupboards myself from scratch, but I've ordered a fridge, sink and taps and an oven front to insert into the cupboards, plus a few other things.  Exciting!