I'm trying to reboot this thread as a sort of build log and I'll try to continue keeping it updated regularly to help me keep my focus. Today is a repair day. I had a part of the edge of the flange a bit too tight to fit but that flange was darn strong. As I pressed in, a weaker part of the frame gave way and I had a full transverse crack run all the way through (top and bottom.) It was still holding its shape and everything was still positioned okay, but I wanted to try to get it fixed. I'm not doing all this work to cut that corner!

I filled the crack with as much epoxy as I could press down into it without fully breaking the frame into two halves. I then skimmed over with more epoxy on all 4 sides. I'm hoping that will give it the structure I need but if it doesn't I'll grind down and create a wire lath to bridge across the break then redo the epoxy over top of it.  

I hate setbacks.
Silver lining: all this patchwork is improving my skills, but I wish I could get them some other way.

You will get there in time.  You may just have to spend more time on those difficult areas then get back to general progress all over the surface once it is all at the correct shape and level. 

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Weekend progress report. I'm doing about 20 minutes of epoxy work in the morning then about 20 minutes of shaping work in the evening after it cures hard enough to file. It's getting there.

I'm so close to being ready to prep the surface layer that I'm having a touch of trouble just plugging away with the build step.

Continuing to chase the flange all the way around the body. Rasping, filing, sanding down after curing to get a good interference fit. Still lots of surfacing work on the vanes themselves, but I'll probably switch up to polyester filler when that time comes. Focus on the vanes is to make sure the variance between the high and low spots is small enough for each vane to be a final 1/8" thickness after surfacing.

Glad to see still making progress. World events have meant a lot of people have had similar issues!  

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Here are some up to date shots of my current iteration of the pattern sitting in position on my car. I've still got to fiddle with some fine tuning of the shape and I've got to add a final surface layer, but I'm closing in on having something presentable.

Materials are JB-Weld, eps sealed with wood glue, chicken wire (unsure of gauge. It's literally some scrap chicken wire), and foamcore. I'll be epoxying #4 and #5 in an hour or so to get the cure started,  then time for a final surface layer over the epoxy.

As you can tell from the timestamps on my posts, life happened but I've never abandoned the project.

So the glue just dried on my latest iteration earlier today.  Hopefully, this helps tie with the visuals from the earlier version and give a better idea of what I'm going for. The "blocks" from the earlier version intended to represent the surface of each louver vane as well as reserve the space for the standoff of each louver from the next. That one was mostly an art project; this one I'm seriously hoping to take to the mold making process.

I made a frame like before, but this time I used my saw to slice 1/8" planks which allows for a MUCH thinner frame.

There is a space near the fore and aft of the panel that will have to be filled to finish the whole thing out. But here's where I am.

I still need to pin the louvers in place to set the position of the bosses then I need to remove my guide rails (white).

Then...it'll be time to skim with a surfacer and prep for a mold.

Looks like a great scan, what did you use for that?