Swingers

I have successfully made free-swinging blinker shells.  But not without some difficulties.

First I realized that the wood block I cut, though cut to the dimensions I intended, actually made the bracket slightly too large.  Luckily I had cut some wood blocks for another purpose that were smaller, but had possibilities.  They proved to be a better size for the bracket bending.

I figured out ways to mark and drill the holes properly.  I bent the coat-hanger wire to fit the shells.  However attaching the shells to the wire was tougher. I tried using Gorilla Super Glue (the clear kind) because it sets up almost instantly. But I had difficulty holding the shells in place without gluing my fingers, too.  So I fell back on my tried-and-true Magic-Sculpt.  Four tiny dabs worked great.  This morning I tested the shells swinging over the eyeballs and they cleared them with no problem.

The next step will be to attach a synchro rod to the shells so they open and close together.  Believe it or not, I actually worked up a sweat getting this far.