Another scratch build ... Lola T70

[albergman]

Hi All

Here's a few shots of a model I've been labouring over for a long time ... and losing interest!

It's supposed to be a Lola T70 coupe and a design that I think is one of the most beautiful ever created.

Anyway, my other scratch builds have had a lot of interest so I thought you might like to see how I go about them.

Here are the patterns laid onto a block of Renshape then I bandsaw around the outer lines.

I like to cut the block down the middle as the seam, when glued back together, gives a nice centreline for reference. It's also handy for shaping to have easy access to the "middle" of the block.

Shaping done wit several tools ... orbital sander, Dremel MultiMax tool, small wood planes, files etc. Also use Dremels with a flex shaft and various tools on the end.

Additional pieces rough cut before glueing, filling and shaping. Body halves glued back together

Some old paint applied to test the shape ...

Temporary Renshape wheels in place. The large block in place of the windshield will be used to mould some plastic sheet over.

Further along ... black primer and a scratch engine fits snuggly in the 'ole.

Started turning some wheel rims from aluminum salvaged from computer hard drive chassis'

That's about as far as I've got and, as I said earlier, I've lost interest in it ... for now.

Hope you find this interesting and maybe even inspire some to try fabricating some parts.

Frank

[Pete in Lincs]

I hope you find some more interest soon.

The Lola's were lovely looking cars.

[bentwaters81tfw]

Will this one be painted as opposed to polished wood?

[keefr22]

I agree with Pete, hope you re-find your interest soon, love to see this beauty progress!

Keith

[albergman]

Will this one be painted as opposed to polished wood?

Yeah, have to be paint as this material has no qualities for clear coating.

[A5h]

Wow, truly inspirational way of building a car, takes way longer than a plastic kit but by jove they look good in the end.

Keep it coming Frank!!!!

[albergman]

Wow, truly inspirational way of building a car, takes way longer than a plastic kit but by jove they look good in the end.

Keep it coming Frank!!!!

Thanks A5h and all the others. As it is I have several other models in various stages of undress (pardon the expression) and I have to push myself to get back at it sometimes. It's much more fun to start something new. Maybe you find the same thing in the kit world? Too many models and not enough time.

Frank

[caterhamnut]

I think those two 3/4 shots of the car before it had the complete covering of color look beautiful - almost like barn finds.

Brilliant.

[keefr22]

It's much more fun to start something new. Maybe you find the same thing in the kit world? Too many models and not enough time.

Frank

Most definitely! Think I'm up to around 30 ''work in progress'' kits now. I've finished 2 so far this year...!!

keith

[larchiefeng]

Nice looking Lola great scratch building work as well! The closest I've come to building this car is the Tamiya 1/12 version; lots of fit issues with that one. Where do you get the Renshape? I was looking for some a while back to make the pontoons for a 935 Porsche conversion.

[albergman]

Nice looking Lola great scratch building work as well! The closest I've come to building this car is the Tamiya 1/12 version; lots of fit issues with that one. Where do you get the Renshape? I was looking for some a while back to make the pontoons for a 935 Porsche conversion.

Thanks for the complement. Re: Renshape. I get it from a local company here in Ontario, Canada so that won't help you as I see you're in the US.

If you can't source a free/cheap supply (and it's VERY expensive to buy) I'd suggest you look into composite decking. All the big box stores carry it now and it's not a bad substitute for Renshape. I got a bunch of off-cuts from a neighbour's deck project and screwed/glued them together ....

Massaged it to this ...

And eventually became ... not overnight mind you

Frank

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234992475-scratch-built-flying-scotsman

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991589-scratch-built-triumph-tr6

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991814-some-artsy-fartsy-wooden-cars

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991630-anyone-for-scratch-built-half-hulls

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991611-scratch-built-trojan-sport-fishing-boat

[larchiefeng]

Very nice as are all your other builds in the other links. That was my experience when trying to source the Renshape; the cost being prohibitive for the small amount I needed at the time. Thanks for the tip about the decking material; I never thought of that. It appears to be dense enough to be able to shape; I'll have to give it a try. Thanks

[albergman]

Very nice as are all your other builds in the other links. That was my experience when trying to source the Renshape; the cost being prohibitive for the small amount I needed at the time. Thanks for the tip about the decking material; I never thought of that. It appears to be dense enough to be able to shape; I'll have to give it a try. Thanks

I think you'll find it works very well. I used a couple of power tools (sanders primarily) on it and it does tend to "melt" a bit if you are too aggressive but that problem is easily remedied by just going at it slower. It seems there are several different composites out there so maybe one works better than another.

Frank

[larchiefeng]

Since that decking material is a plastic/wood composite I can see how it would be prone to melting if you get to aggressive with a power sander. The other good thing is that it looks like it would be an easy matter to smooth out any imperfections with bondo. I'm going to have to experiment some with this on smaller parts or for use as buck to mold parts from; lots of possibilities. Thanks

[TGA]

Frank your models are all works of art. You are a great craftsman and I admire your skill. Thank you for sharing all these wonderful builds with us.

Tom

Edited November 29, 2015 by TGA

[seadog]

Lola, el oh el ay Lola.....One of the most beautiful vehicles - ever. Only surpassed in my mind by the Tipo 61 Birdcage Maserati... I'll be watching this build avidly!

[Caerbannog]

Nice build.

Regarding Renshape - this is AFAIK the new brand name for Cibatool. At least in Germany a similar product (seems to be the same) is also known as "Ureol". Some people from asia I know call it "Epowood".

Ureol is available in different densities the one I used for some models (at work) is 0,55 - 0,65 kg /l. It seems to be the same as used for the Lola.

Apart from the decking tip which is great the above info may help to find something suitable. What i like most about Ureol is that you can bend it with heat, which can reduce loss a lot.

[albergman]

Nice build.

Regarding Renshape - this is AFAIK the new brand name for Cibatool. At least in Germany a similar product (seems to be the same) is also known as "Ureol". Some people from asia I know call it "Epowood".

Ureol is available in different densities the one I used for some models (at work) is 0,55 - 0,65 kg /l. It seems to be the same as used for the Lola.

Apart from the decking tip which is great the above info may help to find something suitable. What i like most about Ureol is that you can bend it with heat, which can reduce loss a lot.

Thanks for all that good info. I doubt if I'll change from this material as long as my supply lasts. I've tried 2 different grades of Ren, basically one a bit harder (beige) than the other (reddish) but I prefer the "harder" one as it takes better detailing. The decking really is very effective as a substitute if anyone wants to get into shaping something.

I never knew that Ren/Ureol might bend with heat ... don't know that I'd need to do that but maybe? I know it catches fire real quickly!

Frank

[Caerbannog]

(...)

I never knew that Ren/Ureol might bend with heat ... don't know that I'd need to do that but maybe? I know it catches fire real quickly!

Frank

All you need is a heat gun - and wear gloves. The thinner the Ureol is the better it works of course. I use this method on 5-10 mm thick Ureol to form hard shell models for motorcycle racing suits, so I needed them to be hollow and to conform the shape of the appropiate joints. Was by far easier this way than by milling :-) Cheaper too btw.

René

[albergman]

Lola, el oh el ay Lola.....One of the most beautiful vehicles - ever. Only surpassed in my mind by the Tipo 61 Birdcage Maserati... I'll be watching this build avidly!

Damn you Seadog ... I had that song stuck in my head all day ... and now it's playing again!!

"dear boy I'm gonna make you a man" ... hmmmm wonder what that meant?

[albergman]

Comment for Seadog ... we were talking about band saws over in my Beneteau forum and I want to show you how effective the saw is with a narrow blade capable of cutting aluminium.

I wanted to make these deep rims for the Lola

so I scrounge my parts bin for "thickish" ally and find a chassis from an old computer hard drive I've dismantled. I like these because the alloy is pretty "soft" in comparison, also lots of areas are perfectly flat and almost 1/4" thick. I scribed out a few circles and cut them out on the saw.

I glued 2 of them together using only CA and put them in my 3 jaw chuck. I drilled out the bulk of the material with various sized drill bits then using just my Chinese carvers produced a passable rim.

The points I want to emphasize are: the bandsaw can hack out pretty thick (soft) metals, CA is amazingly strong as long as you don't get the work too hot, and a tool rest and cheap chisels can do a passable machining job. Forgive me if you already knew all this ... maybe others didn't

Now, maybe I should get back to this Lola some day ... el oh el ay Lola.

Frank

Edited January 22, 2016 by albergman

[seadog]

Blimey!!