Been picking away the the Kurtis. Getting the rear bodywork good hasn't been too hard. Getting it really good, is 10x as much work! The panels tend to dip in at the seams, so i need to raise those without screwing up the shape. Ordered a sweep set to help. Sweeps are radius gauges that vary by 1/16" over 60" span - ordered a set of 100.
I think i may lower my standards slightly in the interest of progress, since It will be painted. If i was going to leave it bare aluminum, it would be a different story....maybe my Frankfurt Flyer will be left bare (next project)
Also working on a Chicago Pneumatic (CP) Planishing hammer. These were used extensively in WW2 for aircraft manufacturing. Bought a kit from Jay Hayes (on
http://www.allmetalshaping.com) It is a lot more work than i was anticipating but will be worth it. Planishing means smoothing the metal, rather than adding shape/shrinking/stretching (power hammers stretch and shrink) The CP one works a lot differently then the harbor freight style ( an costs a lot more $$$) Probably will be my 2nd most useful metal shaping tool (English wheel #1)
Also did a little windscreen mockup - Looks good in the shop, but need to take it outside to stand back 30 feet