Friday, August 8, 2025

Centuri Skylab Build, #KB-4, Part 9, Small Balsa Hatch




There's a small die-cut disk on the balsa sheet.
I set the scan into Corel Draw and set the 1" span to a drawn 1" box.

That brought the disk to a 0.40" diameter. 






I didn't want to use balsa for the disk.

I found some 5/60 centering rings in the spare parts drawer.
The centers were punched out and glued together using a clothes pin clamp.


These are 1/2" diameter. 
I marked the .4" center diameter.

Chip cuts were made with an X-Acto.



This left a choppy edge.

220 grit on a block cleaned up and rounded the edges.

The edges should be sealed, the easiest was is with white glue.
Apply a bead of glue making sure it fully covers the side edge. Keep glue off the flat face. Let dry.

Sand smooth with 400 grit.

2 comments:

  1. Looking through the scans of the instructions at the JimZ site, I was a bit confused about some of the parts -- there was balsa sheet for the pod pylons and "conduit" parts, but didn't see a sheet for the solar panel parts. Took me a while to realize that the panels were fiberboard (i.e. cardboard) rather than balsa. (which seemed a bit odd at first glance).
    The scan of the balsa sheet also had me scratching my head too -- as could only see only one of the solar panel supports. I guess the outlines of all the parts weren't highlighted (for contrast) before the sheet had been scanned.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Naoto,
      Centuri used fiberboard for fins on quite a few smaller models.
      The fin scan on the JimZ site only shows one of the solar panel supports.

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