Delahaye 135 (Henri Chapron coach builder) by Heller 1/24 scale

[Spiny]

I look at the work involved and find it amazing - this looks as though it's going to be another excellent model from you. The down side is that I look at the work involved and realise that I just don't have the patience to achieve this level of finish...

[CrazyCrank]

2 minutes ago, Spiny said:

I look at the work involved and find it amazing - this looks as though it's going to be another excellent model from you. The down side is that I look at the work involved and realise that I just don't have the patience to achieve this level of finish...

Thanks a lot for the kind word, Spiny

Yes, Spiny, you would have it, if you want.

I'm not a hero, just a modest modeler who only try to imitate the reality of old cars, particularly.

And for that, I think, I think again and again, and I use to reach my goal, whatever is in the box !

Make no mistake, I've a few patience, but a lot of determination

 

[Codger]

As a Yank, am I allowed to say 'Zoot Alors !!' Did I even say it right?

 

Catching up on your work I am once again in awe of your skills and patience with such small scale. And your rear seat brings tears of joy to my eye because it looks almost a miniature version of my Rolls. The 1:1 motorcar is lovely and you will create an accurate replica once again.

Carry on my brilliant friend! / C

 

[CrazyCrank]

7 hours ago, Codger said:

As a Yank, am I allowed to say 'Zoot Alors !!' Did I even say it right?

 

Not entirely ! in French we would say "Zut, alors !"

the "u" of "zut" , in Froggies land , isn't "ou" or "oo", but, phonetically translated: "y" (international phonetic transcription)... very difficult to pronounce by an anglo-saxon

 

[Codger]

6 hours ago, CrazyCrank said:

Not entirely ! in French we would say "Zut, alors !"

the "u" of "zut" , in Froggies land , isn't "ou" or "oo", but, phonetically translated: "y" (international phonetic transcription)... very difficult to pronounce by an anglo-saxon

 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening Chaps

 

Going on with upholstery

 

I've "flattened", as asked @JeroenS for, the half-round strips of the rear seat, and of course, the aspect is better.

 

Then I've taken a look at a real Delahaye 135's front seat, and compared it withe the part provided with the Heller kit: it doesn't match at all !

 

 

  

 

So, scratch building was necessary.

 

Difficult to start from the kit seat to get what I'd planed to fabricate , so, I rummaged through the spare parts box and found..... a front seat of Talbot Lago Record.

And it appeared that the shapes and the upholstery of this one was pretty similar to the real one, but  frankly to wide... so, a bit of surgery was needed !

 

 

I used:

- A razor saw

- 2 mm half-round styrene strips

- 0.5 mm styrene sheet

- A hobby-knife

- various files

- Mr Hobby Mr Cement S

- Several hours

 

First, separate the vertical and the horizontal parts of the Talbot seat.

 

Then reduce the width of the each parts of 2 mm...How:

- On each part of the Talbot seat, there is a large surrounding , and in the center, 8 strips, each one approx. 2 mm

- I've cut off the 2 central strips, keeping the surrounding as it was

- Then cut the surrounding of each part on its center, so got 2x2 parts

- Reduced the width of the surrounding by 0.5 mm on each central side of the 4 parts

- And then reassembled the parts, using strips of styrene sheet and introducing 1 half-round styrene 2 mm strip between each half-part

- With this method, I've decreased the seat width by 2 mm

- Then I've used styrene sheet plate, curved and cut at the right shape, to fabricate the back of the vertical part of the seat.

- The rest is filing to round the corners, sealing etc.

 

 

It's not yet finished, it remains a lot of work to do on it :

- sealing, sanding, make the piping to match more to the real, etc.

- and to fabricate the metal stuff which join and articulate the vertical and horizontal parts of the seat)

- and of course, inflicting the same fated to the second seat

 

Photos being better than a long explanation....:

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

Is the result giving a faithfull view of the real ?

 

Absolutely not, because there is seven central strips instead of six !

 

But I think I've already got a rather good result

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

[Codger]

Excellent surgery my friend, just like your day job!

I will point out that many reference pictures we find are of restored cars and owners of these frequently modify the original parts to their tastes. Also, many originals in the day had custom features ordered by their owners from the factory.

[CrazyCrank]

19 minutes ago, Codger said:

Excellent surgery my friend, just like your day job!

I will point out that many reference pictures we find are of restored cars and owners of these frequently modify the original parts to their tastes. Also, many originals in the day had custom features ordered by their owners from the factory.

You're absolutely right, Chase, but we find also some pictures of Delahaye 135 which are still in their original conditions, and whose upholstery has probably inspired several vintage car restorers, as this one (1951 Delahaye 135 M Coach Gascogne par Dubos):

 

  

 

  

 

And also, we have, near Tours, not far from where I live, an internationally recognized vintage car restorer, Dominique Tessier, whose actual website homepage shows some pictures of a Delahaye 135 currently being restored : Atelier Dominique Tessier

This restorer is famous all over the world to make accurate restorations

 

[JeroenS]

Very nice work on the seats Thierry! And those interiors you showed look marvelous. 

[CrazyCrank]

Good morning Gentlemen

 

I've just noticed that I'd forgotten to  put  in my previous post some photos of the rear seat with flattened Half-round strips.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

  

 

A good priming with Alclad grey primer should help to reveal all imperfections, to fix before final painting

 

 

[GerryW]

Really beautiful detailing.

 

Drool. 

 

Gerry

[harveyb258]

Very nice work indeed, Thierry.

[Mr Mansfield]

Really impressive work on those seats. Looks like it really paid off too

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening Gentlemen

 

Not a lot of work on this project since the last post,  due to the end of the strong lockdown in France : my older son, his wife, and my lovely grand-daughter are at home for a week.

Fortunately, the baby takes her naps regularly and I've been able to make something.

The end of the engine scratchbuilding requires too much accuracy and tranquillity so I've planned to do that when the children will be back home.

 

So I've went on the seats and their upholstery.

Sealing, sanding, filing, piping etc. have occupied a few hours since yesterday evening, and hereunder is the result:

 

Rear seat. It remains some scraping to do, here and there before the final painting

 

 

Front seats. it remains also some scraping to do.

I've finished the piping and primed the seats, which seam correct.

I've scratched the rear passengers assist handholds (0.5 mm electrical wire, 0,3 holes, CA glue), situated at the back of the front seats, as well I did for the storage pockets (Paper, folded in accordion, and shaped, glue with Canopy glue at the back of the front seats)

 

  

 

   

 

  

 

I've also begun to scratch the chromed metal plates which all the articulation between the vertical and the horizontal parts of the front seats.

Of course, the system won't be functional (though it would have been easily doable), and will not be visible, or very few, but I wanted to be as close as possible with the real, so...

 

Materials:

- 0.18 mm brass sheet

- 0.8 mm brass tube

- A jeweler saw

- Soldering paste, well known song !

 

The goal:

 

Upholstery by Thierry Decorniquet, sur Flickr

 

my interpretation :

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

At the moment, only two have been made, 2 others to come and the nickel plating !

 

And, to have and idea of the result, once the seats put in the cabin:

 

  

 

  

 

The floor of the cabin will be covered with ultramarin blue embossing powder, the upholstery will probably be sky blue, somewhat that kind of blue:

 

 

Stay tuned for the next steps and thanks for watching

 

[Hamden]

 

Nice very very nice attention to detail, your seats take this to another level!

 

  Stay safe           Roger

[GerryW]

Beautiful detailing.

 

Gerry

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening chaps

 

I've spent some time this morning to mix different Tamiya paints  in order to get a color that is as close as possible than the one on the photo below:

 

 

It's rather difficult because the color change once dried, and darken a bit.

 

Nevertheless, I think I've got a pretty similar, mixing those paints:

 

- 20 drops of Tamiya Matt ultramarin blue XF8

- 40 drops of Tamiya White X2

- 1 drop of Tamiya Yellow X8

- And 3 drops of Tamiya Sky grey XF66

 

I've sprayed the 3 seats, and I'm very happy with the result I got, a satin petrol blue, which matches perfectly with the wooden parts of the cabin, and with the 2 colors I chose for the body 😎

 

  

 

  

 

 

I've also clear coated with enamel clear the dashboard and the interior side panels, and after a good drying, have unmasked the side panels, and put the decal on the dash:

 

  

 

.  

 

Indeed, for the panels, the result is very far to be good, with the magnification of the photo which reveal all the defects, but it's quite invisible at the naked eye.

 

It remains to paint blue the clear parts of the panels, and to paint chrome the handles.

For the front seats, it remains to fabricate 2 metal plates more, and to fix the 4 plates in place, once Nickel plated

 

 

I'm thinking about a light weathering and wondering  how I'll do that.....possibly a light brown wash ?

 

Stay tuned if you like

 

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by CrazyCrank

[CrazyCrank]

Evening chaps

 

A very little progress on that build today, but a sympathetic result  with the side panels and the weathering of the upholstery

 

  

 

 

 

Seats and blue parts of the panels have been weathered with a very light brown wash, then dry brushed.

Door handles have been chromed with Molotov Chrome, applied with the point of a tooth tip.

 

The windows will be polished, interior and exterior with Tamiya compounds.

It remains to scratch building a handbrake and a gear lever (broken part on the sprue) , fabricating the 2 last plates of the front seats and nickel plating the 4, scratch building new pedals, and to carpeting the floor.

 

Stay tuned for next steps

 

[GerryW]

12 hours ago, CrazyCrank said:

It remains to scratch building a handbrake and a gear lever (broken part on the sprue) , fabricating the 2 last plates of the front seats and nickel plating the 4, scratch building new pedals, and to carpeting the floor.

Good to read that you only have a few small details to get through. 

 

Gerry

[Spiny]

Good work for a day with 'little progress'

 

That front seat does make it look as though you have a dog with massive hair though

 

[CrazyCrank]

2 hours ago, Spiny said:

That front seat does make it look as though you have a dog with massive hair though

 

 

Exactly, @Spiny.

It's a 1:1 scale dog's hair, precisely of my daughter-in-law's dog

 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening Gentlemen

 

I've made the 2 last brass plates which go between vertical and horizontal parts of the front seats.

I've scratch built the gear lever:

- 1 mm brass tube bended correctly

- 0.5 mm brass plate 2x2mm  drilled 1,.0 mm, threaded on the tube, soft soldered, and filed to get a round shape.

- The knob isn't photographed on the picture below, but have been made, using the kit part, and is preciously kept in my "not-to-loose parts box"

 

I've cut off from my 0,18 brass sheet some rectangular bits, which will serve later on to scratch the 3 pedals.

 

At least, I've made the floor carpeting with embossing powder.

The ultramarine blue I would have liked to purchase is unavailable since several weeks, so I've ordered a blue lagoon one.

 

It seems to match rather correctly with the petrol blue of the seats and side panels, but I'm not sure to keep it as it is.

I wonder if I should not spray the carpeting with Tamiya Ultramarine mat blue ?

Any suggestion would be most appreciated !

 

 

It remains to scratch building the handbrake lever, to finishing the pedals, and to nickel plating all those brass parts, before to put them in place.

 

Stay tuned for next steps and thanks for watching

 

[JeroenS]

I don't know what Ultramarine Blue looks like but this colour seems to work, in any case it provides a bit of contrast which is always nice.

[Mr Mansfield]

Those the seats look amazing. The piping is a nice touch & the light brown wash really gives an old leather look

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening Gentlemen

 

A bit of progress this evening with the scratching of new pedals (no one plastic part is provided in the kit for the pedals, which are only simulated on the floor by an engraving !)

 

Indeed, afterwards, I realized that the 3 rectangles of  0.18 mm brass sheet I'd cut off previously would not be usable to fabricate the pedals, so, I used:

- a stronger 0.25 mm brass sheet

- 0.5 mm brass wire

- a 0.5 mm drill bit

- scissors 

- soldering paste, etc...well known song

 

Before cutting out  each pedal from the sheet:

- I drilled à 0.5 mm hole, threaded in the hole a too much long brass wire, sticking up from either side, soft soldered the whole set.

- Then, I cut out the excess of wire on one side, filed and sanded and polished this side

- At last, I cut out the rough pedal and then filed it to get the right shape.

 

Curiously, I achieved to not loose any stuff while working on it !

 

Once installed on the floor, I got this:

 

  

 

A bit of Tamiya mat black on the pedals, and we got:

 

 

 

It remains to cut off all the excess of wire on the underside of the floor

 

Later, I've begun the nickel plating job.

 

Unfortunately, my electrical adaptor from English plug to French plug died during the process and I could only nickel plate the gear lever and the handbrake lever.

The 4 "shoe-shape " plates for the front seats will be nice plated later on, when I have received a new adapter I ordered immediately.

 

Gear-lever glued in place:

 

  

 

Handbrake lever installed:

 

 

And after having painted Tamiya mat Black the handles of each one:

 

 

Little overview:

 

.  

 

And my seat sockets awaiting to be nickel plated:

 

 

I've to wait a week before the delivery of my adaptor, so I'm going to continue with the engine

 

Stay tuned if you like and thanks for watching 😎