Radar Eye and Lens

I know that my previous post showed the Radar Eye attached to the dome, but it was just held there with tape. This week I have been working with the resin eye to get the curve just right for the 300mm dome.

In the process of working on that, my wife suddenly got up with an exclamation and went to the kitchen. I heard some terrible plastic noises and she returned with a clear radar eye lens for me to try out.

She had cut the lens from a Washington Apples carton from Costco. pictured below.













I tested the fit and it was pretty good. Im not an expert on the lens curve but this seems really close to perfect. It slightly protrudes from the front.













After a number of tests trying to heat the plastic with a hair dryer and mold a lip around the back I gave up on the idea. The plastic was too thin and warped badly. So I decided that I will have to cut the whole thing down once the resin piece is properly shaped.

To add strength to the eye I cut 2 pieces. I plan to paint the inner piece with black paint and then place the outer one on top to add the gloss. I have also considered filling the inner piece with some bondo to give it slightly more durability.













This is just a cheap fix for now. Later I will probably replace it with something better, but its one less thing I have to spend money on before WonderCOn.