I’m sure it’s not escaped your attention that there are two massively ugly features in the cockpit that need resolving. Firstly is Mirror, Mirror, a hole cut into the wall of the cockpit for some unphathomable reason by the previous owner. A hole that was really, really badly masked by some sub-par workmanship, (Hi, my name is Beasty and I have a workmanship issue). Secondly, the god awful red door which would look more at home hung at the front of a brothel.
I thought I’d take on the challenge of both, but with some very forward thinking. With the door opening into the cockpit, it was taking up a lot of room, so I decided a sliding door would be the way forward. In order to “hide” the sliding door, the plan was to build a housing into which the door would slide, at the same time covering the monstrosity that is/was Mirror, Mirror. I went ahead in my usual “let me figure this out as I go” attitude and built the housing. As an added bonus the housing covered over Walkie Talkie too. Walkie Talkie however wasn’t the only thing that was covered as an added bonus, the ONLY drainage hole in the cockpit was covered too. A problem I decided I would deal with at a later date. The idea was also for the housing to have a dual purpose. See images for details.
Here’s a video of me demonstrating the concept: