Project started October 2023,

 

We used a few pieces of scrap metal tack welded to the frame to mount the 2 halves of the wooden oiltank template. To finetune all the gaps we don't want the parts moving in the frame. Once we were happy with the shape it was time to start on the metal version!

 
 

We made a tape pattern from the wooden template. This has 3 layers; the first is a layer of masking tape that will help with removing the pattern, on top of that are 2 diagonal layers of reinforced packing tape. This stuff does not stretch in the length direction, so we get a pattern that holds the information about areas to stretch or shrink. With this particular oiltank there was no shrinking needed by the way.

 
 
 
 

We took off the tape pattern, sprinkled some baby powder on the sticky side so it was not sticky anymore and cut a piece of 1.2 mm steel plate. The first step was then roughly stretching using a wooden hammer and a sandbag. The planishing hammer was used to smooth out the lumps. Using the tape pattern you can quickly find the areas that need more stretching as in these places the tape pattern does not touch the metal yet.

 
 
 

The front part of the side panel did not need any stretching or shrinking at all, Aad just bent it around a fire extinguisher. Next we will trim the panel according to the wooden template and then repeat for the other side.

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