Body panels Material?

[cpaddock]

Wondering what her skin will consist of.....FRP, Carbon, plastic....Corrosion is a big
issue here in Hawaii. Thanks.

[AZEqualizer]

Body panels, last we heard, are supposed to be made of a polymer or plastic or molded thermoplastic. The color would be the part of the material of the panel itself much like a lot of Helmets and Fairings on Motorcycles.

[Mark Tomlinson]

I know it's over there in the FlyTheRoad forums (http://flytheroad.com/blog/forums/) somewhere, but good luck finding it.

They'll be molded plastic. I believe the hard plastic that's used on "crotch rocket" motorcycles. Carbon fiber is just too darn expensive.

[Jack Willard]

Ian stated that 1/4" ABS plastic was the intended materal for the body panels. I read somewhere that apparently, the chosen color is to be impregnated into the plastic. That means that the plastic is produced in that color, i.e. all the way through.

This is a good choice in that any scratches will not show a different color.

However, ABS requires some serious preparation time/material and a totally compatible paint if you want do a custom paint job. Here is a rather informative link on the process: http://www.search-autoparts.com/searchautoparts/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=371504

If money is no object, then you have no problem. But from what I'm reading, any aftermarket paint job is gonna cost a bundle. :mad:

So ... in my case anyway, I sure hope that the beautiful blue that I have in mind will be an available factory color. Blue is my gotta have color. But not a dark blue. It's not visible enough. And not a light blue. It's too visible (at my age :COP: :o 57). Medium blue is my compromise.

[cpaddock]

Howzit Jack! I just forwarded that article to my finisher and will see what he has to say.
All I know is the secret to a successful finish is preparation, preparation, preparation!
Curves Ahead!

[ydeardorff]

pre-impregnated vaccu-formedABS plastic will be good for an outer skin. But for the body I think alittle thicker than 1/4" may be necessary, due to every day scuffs and scrapes. The nice thing is the vaccu formed plastic panels will be very cheap to replace. Im working on building a home made vaccu-forming machine myself. Parts can be replicated quickly and very cheaply. and if the color is already in the plastic, the biggest worry will be a spray on UV inhibitor to prevent scaling (the chalky effect plastic goes through as it bleaches out and dries out in the sun)