Repliconics Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 G'day all. My names Trevor and I live down in Tasmania or as we like to call it the best part of Australia. I Scratchbuild 2/3 scale cars and motorcycles using recycled and found materials. It sounds a little odd I know!. It all started years ago when I built my son a Billycart. His reaction was to say can't you do better. After the initial shock I started to wonder just how much could you make a Billycart look real. That's to say building it using the same kinds of things a child would, but try to get it as realistic as possible. The motorcycles came about after I'd built a T Model Ford C Cab delivery van. Looking at it one night I thought how good it would be to have a bike sitting beside it. At the moment I'm working on a 1926 Brough Superior. But here's a few things I've built along the way. A 1929 Indian Straight Four. 1920 Harley Davidson board racer. A 1916 Ariel with sidecar. One of my favourites Ed Roth Outlaw Hot rod! At the moment I've almost got the engine for the Brough done. Just working on a few of those little fiddly bits. Anyway I wont hold you up. But over time I'll post some WIP of the Brough as it goes along. Thanks for your time. Cheers Trev. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cameraman Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Good Morning Trev, what fabulous work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Wow Trev, they are incredible!! Outstanding modelling (if that's what it is?!) Really love the Indian, but they're all stunning! I hope your son is happy with those! Look forward to seeing progress on the Brough. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twobad Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 I'd be interested to know more about the techniques and equipment you used to build that Brough engine. Fantastic work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repliconics Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 (edited) Wow Trev, they are incredible!! Outstanding modelling (if that's what it is?!) Really love the Indian, but they're all stunning! I hope your son is happy with those! Look forward to seeing progress on the Brough. Keith Thanks for that Keith. I think the (if that's what it is?) is fair enough. I wonder myself at times. They seem to fall into the model category according to most. Although because I'm building them from little more than MDF and PVC pipe along with anything else I can find none of it is truly to scale. But it is damn good fun!. I'd be interested to know more about the techniques and equipment you used to build that Brough engine. Fantastic work. Thanks mate. The techniques I use are childish to say the least, but I find they work for me very well. On the equipment side of things most of my work is done with a bandsaw and a Dremel. Cheers Trev. Edited June 6, 2016 by Repliconics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Hold us up! Brilliant - looking forward to see more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 I think the (if that's what it is?) is fair enough. I only typed that Trev as they are most certainly a level far above any model I've ever produced! Whatever they might be called they are absolutely superb! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repliconics Posted June 7, 2016 Author Share Posted June 7, 2016 Before going into the Brough I guess it would be a good idea to show the methods of building I use.The Indian Straight Four is a good example of what I do and I have loads of photos of it's construction. Here's a couple of photos of the Indian when completed and a list of some of the materials that where in it's construction. MDF Timber PVC pipe Bodyfiller fiberglass old Credit Card Corn Flakes Box plastic Coke bottle chopstick toothpicks Ball point pens Aluminium can pencil wooden spoon bicycle spokes pieces of a Baseball Bat plastic ice-cream bowl Twist ties from loafs of bread coffee tin lid Tea leaf strainer Fencing wire metal from a cloths horse copper pipe part of a broom handle plastic measuring cup throat of a vase belt from a vacuum cleaner handle of an old washing trolley metal from a real-estate sign plastic imitation crystal tray torch Vick's inhaler old vinyl jacket bicycle wheels car brake line garden hose reel metal curtain rod Suitcase Handle of a Feather duster old electrical parts from a car Power cord from an old Iron Wire from an old 1930's radio The photo above of the bike with my son gives a good idea of the 2/3 scale that it's built at. To get things started here's some shots of the cylinders being made. All their really made from is PVC pipe and 3mm MDF. The cylinder to the right painted black is one I made as prototype. Here more of the fins have been added and glued in place. In this photo I used PVC to form the exhaust outlet and the sparkplug boss. You can see at this point I'm using automotive bodyfiller to start blending the fins together. Hopefully making it all appear to be one piece. And here's the four cylinders a little ways down the track. As you can see I've just started building the top of the cylinders. Cheers Trev. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Brilliant, just brilliant Trev - who would guess that such a beautiful model could be built from what my wife would label as 'junk'! I keep telling her I don't throw things away as they might come in useful one day. Unfortunately that day has still to arrive here! I do so like that Indian....! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Off the charts man! Show us your cars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnkm13 Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Absolutely gorgeous! It belongs in a museum. Regards, Jeremy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repliconics Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 Off the charts man! Show us your cars! Here's some of the car's or billycarts I've made I guess it just depends on how you look at it. The Outlaw you've seen a shot of but here's a couple more. The original was made by Ed Roth back in the 60's. This is the T Model Ford C Cab that l lead me to building motorcycles. This one I'm still working on it's a 13 foot long 1970's rail dragster. I had great fun making the engine it's all pretty much just built from PVC and MDF. This last ones more of a cross between a billycart and a model car. It's based on a 1908 Napier. Hope you like some of the work. Cheers Trev. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Beautiful creations, Trev. Keep them coming. Open a showroom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Thanks and fantastic work. How do you achieve those polished ally finishes on PVC and MDF?? The blower case, hat and pulleys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repliconics Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 Thanks and fantastic work. How do you achieve those polished ally finishes on PVC and MDF?? The blower case, hat and pulleys? I use automotive spray paint to get the best surface finish I can before applying the top coat. In most cases I found it doesn't really matter what's underneath so long as your preparation is good. With the crankcase for the Brough it's pretty much just a collection of bits and pieces of old pine, plywood and MDF that I had laying around. All I did was to cut and laminate layers of wood together to build up a basic shape, then blend it all together using bodyfiller. Then that's where the automotive paint comes in. You can see on this section of the crankcase I've used a thick premier filler to (hopefully) get a nice even blended surface. Usually I'll give each component two or three coats of the filler, with a light sanding in between each coat. Then later when all of the component parts have been finished and ready to be bolted together, I'll give it all a coat of grey primer. It's that process of filling and priming that gives the look to the top coat of paint. In the case of the Hemi in the dragster the top coat is an automotive spray chrome finish. Cheers Trev. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 You've got those parts looking like castings. Fantastic work Trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Have a On me.....I suspect it will be the first of many! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 You've got those parts looking like castings. Fantastic work Trev. I agree, there's absolutely no way to tell what they're made of & that it isn't metal! Tremendous stuff! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms111s Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I think that this thread is the most impressive thing I have ever seen. What creativity you have, totally blown away and inspired by your work. Thanks for sharing with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pouln Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I second all of the above. If you look at the painted parts and the finished products, you simply cannot suspect that they are created in the way you did. Wonderful stuff. kee[ it coming. Question though. These models are quite sizeable and take up quite some real estate. Where do you leave them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repliconics Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 I second all of the above. If you look at the painted parts and the finished products, you simply cannot suspect that they are created in the way you did. Wonderful stuff. kee[ it coming. Question though. These models are quite sizeable and take up quite some real estate. Where do you leave them? Thanks for all the kind words it's greatly appreciated!. The short answer to the storage of my work is pretty much all over the place. I've just recently moved down to Tasmania from Victoria so at the moment the stuff really is all over the place. Over time I'll get it all moved down here, but it's going to be a nightmare!. When I was living in Mildura (a large country town at the top of Victoria) I worked under a carport for 10 years or so because I'd filled the shed with models. Space really was getting tight there for awhile. Apart from the Billycarts and 2/3 scale stuff I also from time to time have fun with some Si Fi as well. The photo below shows a couple of very British creatures I'm sure you'll know. Behind the two under the carport you can see a Billycart painted up in the colours of the St. Kilda (ozzie rules) football team. The Napier behind that and the T Model behind that again. The shed doors to the right is where all the reset was stored. Luckily where I am now storage wont be a problem, there's plenty of room to store and build as much as I like!. Cheers Trev. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_64 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Mr C., This is something else than my little Avant, isn't it? There are some creative people around the world. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repliconics Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Here's the next step in the construction of the crankcase of the J.A.P KTOR to fit the 1926 Brough I'm building. The lettering on the crankcase is done by making letters from a stencil with bodyfiller. All I do is stick some masking tape across the letters I wont on the stencil. Then fill them with bodyfiller. Once that's dry I pop the letters out and glue them in place with PVA. Then blend them in with some sanding and a primer filler automotive spray. The method is simple but effective. Cheers Trev. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 That's brilliant! Again, I'd never be able to tell that wasn't stamped metal! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pouln Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 to me it looks like the real casted thing.. fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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