TerraTrike Velomobile 99% Skinned

Another good day here at the Tinker's Workshop with progress again being made on the TerraTrike Velomobile project.  I was able to climb into the vehicle for the first time since I started skinning it and figured out where to put my speedometer and eliminate some problems in the process.  I also completed skinning of the hood that will allow me access to get in and out of the velomobile. 

With the hood finally skinned with 1/4 thick foam strip the smooth shape is really coming together.  It took me four hours to do this work and I am happy with the results.  

 This is a good shot of the nose and hood from the front of the velomobile.  I will be more than happy to get the outer skin fiber glassed as just the simplest thing can put a dent in it.  Easy enough to repair but just one more thing to be careful of while working around the vehicle at this point.  You can just see the hinges for the hood just above the nose in this shot.  I still have to grind down some of the wooden mounts so that once the body is fiber glassed very little of the hinges will be seen.  A nice look to be sure.

Another good shot of the left side of the velomobile.  You can see some of the indentations in the foam on the side of the body.  Again this is an easy fix as the body still needs to be completely sanded into shape before fiber glassing can begin.  All the little voids that I can see in between the foam strips will be puttied with an epoxy resin/micro balloon mixture and then more sanding to get the body just right. 

  Before any of this work can begin I will have to fiber glass the underside of the newly skinned hood.  I have to cut the ribs where the hood seam will be next and then the glassing can begin.  Not a hard  task to cut the hood from the body but just something that I will have to be careful with so that I don't make more work for myself in the process.

I am currently still working on the final details that will complete the tail end of the vehicle and I should have everything pretty much ironed out in the next few days.  Once I get parts made I will post that portion of the assembly when I get that far along.

One other thing that I saw today that I want to change is the opening of the cockpit for the velomobile.  As I sat in it  I was able to take a good look at how much room I actually need.  In this photo you can see a foam strip that I laid down on top of the body.  I plan on closing up the cockpit opening to fill in the small triangular area that you see here.  This will make the cockpit look a bit more closed in.  But not make it so small that I will have a hard time sitting in the drivers seat.  Still will have lots of shoulder room. 

  Total hours on the project so far have now jumped up to 338.5 hours.  A lot of work but fun work. As long as it puts a smile on my face it is time well spent.