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Austin Tilly from Mars


Engineer66

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Hi all,

 

Its time for me to stop lurking and come out from behind the curtains and create a WIP thread.

I started a thread for an AA Stolly a few years ago but it sort of stalled. You never know I may pick it up again one day.

 

Anyway, having been inspired by the quality of work I am seeing on here I've decided to take the plunge and start another thread. This time I've decided on something a bit simpler and more straightforward with no conversions, aftermarket, extra details etc. (Hmm, we'll come back to this in a bit...) I am going to attempt to build (and complete!) the Tamiya 1/35 Austin Tilly 'Out of the box' which I received as a Christmas present last year.

 

This one 'ere...

 

Tilly Box

 

First thing I did was to see what aftermarket was available, yeah, I know, that plan didn't last long!  (it's the natural course of action isn't it, everyone does it, it's perfectly normal? please tell me I'm not the only one...) and decided to invest in a set of these...

 

Tilly Wheels

 

You know I said we'll come back to this being a 'simple and straightforward build'....

 

Well...

 

I took a deep breath, put away the plasticard and strip at the back of the darkest cupboard I could find and carefully took the lid off the box and started to examine the contents...

 

Things were going well until I had a look at the bonnet sides and thought to myself (Which as I'm sure you will know is a very, very dangerous thing to do) "Oh I don't like the look of those, you can't see through the bonnet louveres loovers luoveers them vent things...

 

Tilly Bonnet

 

 

Several experiments followed involving the use of tin foil, lead foil, thick plastic, thin plastic, crash molding and flames (always the fun bit) alas each time the results were decidedly sub par and not worthy of display.

 

It was while I was waiting for the burns to heal (I'd tried crash molding remember,) that things began to get out of hand, and I mean really out of hand after looking on other forums and getting drawn into TheBarons outstanding Sea Vixen build

 

 

 

I slowly came to the conclusion that to get them there venty things you can see through I am going to need a bottle of this...

 

Resin

 

and one of these to put it in...

 

Mars Printer

 

Oh and not forgetting a quick download of Fusion 360 (how on earth does TheBaron do what he does? It took me three weeks just to be able to draw a square, never mind create an accurate fuselage and a RR Avon to go inside it!) and some experimenting with Tinkercad.

 

I can see interesting things on the horizon...

 

Wish me luck all,

 

"I'm going in (headfirst with no safety net)"

 

 

 

Edited by Engineer66
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5 hours ago, robw_uk said:

oohhhhh nice... i would love a 3D printer just for the heck of it... just cant justify it to the financial controller 😉

And me, but can't justify it because I wouldn't have a clue how to the the bleedin thing anyway 😀

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When I built mine, I just painted the vents on the side with black paint. It looked fine in the end. I also ordered a set of SKP's wheels and was less than impressed with them. So much so that in the end, I went with the kit's wheels.

 

John.

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On 9/26/2020 at 3:49 PM, robw_uk said:

oohhhhh nice... i would love a 3D printer just for the heck of it... just cant justify it to the financial controller 😉

Thanks Rob, I've been after one of these for quite a while and couldn't justify it. I received a bit of a bonus from work and offered to 'share it' with the rest of the family, my plan was accepted, all I had to do was plan a weekend away... 😀

 

22 hours ago, APA said:

What did you think of the Skp wheels? I got some for my Dorchester and wasn't impressed. So much I bought a set from elsewhere. 

 

A

Hi APA, to be honest I'm not overly impressed with the wheels, the tread looks more business like that the Tamiya wheels which look a bit 'civillian' to me (gets plus points). However there are quite a few pin holes in the rims (gets minus points), so the Jury's still out on this one at the moment.

 

22 hours ago, M3talpig said:

This might be the most extreme fix for a bad kit part that you could possibly think of...count me in :cwl: brace yourselves for the most expensive Tilli evermade :boom:

I think you could be right there, a tin of black paint would have been cheaper!

I keep telling myself that in the long run it will save me a fortune in aftermarket...

 

21 hours ago, colin said:

And me, but can't justify it because I wouldn't have a clue how to the the bleedin thing anyway 😀

I know what you mean Colin, it is very much 'plug and play', however its the bit before you plug in the flash drive that takes some thought and practice... I've found Tinkercad quite easy to use, its very much like sticking shapes together to build things, a bit like Lego.

Spent some time on the interweb today and running test prints to try and calibrate the exposure settings and 'Z-Lift'  Makes it look like I know what I'm talking about (I don't really I'm just good at pretending!) 😉...

 

21 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

Hussar wheels for the Tilly are really nice and they do 2 tread types so you can mix them up as was often seen.  But definitely not cheap.

Thanks Das, I'll check them out, now thinking about printing the wheels now!

What have I let myself in for? 😱

8 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

When I built mine, I just painted the vents on the side with black paint. It looked fine in the end. I also ordered a set of SKP's wheels and was less than impressed with them. So much so that in the end, I went with the kit's wheels.

 

John.

Hi John,

I must admit I'm not over impressed with the SKP wheels, there's quite a few pin holes in the rims. A Bottle of matt black would have been easier and cheaper  😀

I shall have a mosey on over and check out your build...

 

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Evening All,

 

Today has been a day of discovery and experimentation and destruction...

 

I spent the morning with several mugs of Yorkshires finest and the tablet watching videos and reading blogs and faceybookey groups on 3D printing and spent time calibrating the printer;

 

Which turned out to be easier than it sounds really:

 

1. Download the file for a a calibration tile thing

2. Print it (takes a while)

3. check the resolution

4. change the exposure settings (the printer uses a UV light source to cure the resin in the vat, lifts the build plate a midges whatsit and then cures the next layer)

5. repeat from step 1,

 

After a couple of hours of this I seem to have it got it 'Dialled in' to use the technical term, so whilst it was printing each tile I needed to find something to do, cue the destruction...

 

From this:

 

Tilly Bonnet

 

To this, in four easy saw cuts (and a bit of abrasive action)

 

cut tilly

 

Whilst cutting off the bonnet sides I also decided it would be a really great idea to give myself even more work and went ahead and built up the rear truck bed, carving off the frame fittings and tarp' hooks etc. in the process.

 

20200914_210217

 

 

Now comes the easy bit...

 

Replacing all the bits I've cut off!

 

Stay tuned folks, I'll be back with more updates eventually and several probably unrecognizable lumps of resin...

 

 

Al

 

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22 minutes ago, Engineer66 said:

Stay tuned folks, I'll be back with more updates eventually and several probably unrecognizable lumps of resin...

Well i have to say more power to ya ...i've not yet moved into the 21st century just yet but i have to say when the spare cash is on hand i think a 3D printer will be at the top of the shopping list.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/27/2020 at 9:58 PM, M3talpig said:

Well i have to say more power to ya ...i've not yet moved into the 21st century just yet but i have to say when the spare cash is on hand i think a 3D printer will be at the top of the shopping list.

Take the plunge if you can afford it, you won't regret it. 

 

I was fortunate in that I was given a load of African River Vouchers...

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Hi All,

 

Sorry for the lack of updates, it's been a bit manic at work meaning too many late finishes. Any time I have had has been spent knee deep in CAD software and/or up to my armpits (well fingers really) in resin.

 

Having spent several hours measuring, drawing and printing (and drawing and printing and drawing and printing...) I managed to create some bonnet sides and a radiator grill (well that's what they look like to me anyway).

 

However due to me trying to be way too ambitious and get the vents thin it would appear that the scourge of the restorer has already bitten and some of them look like they already have Tin Worm...

 

Lots of parts

 

Not to worry, lets go back and do some more drawing and printing and drawing and printing, (you get the idea, nobody said it was going to be easy...)

 

After thickening up the edges slightly I finally managed a set of parts that would fit...

 

Parts

 

I know the radiator grill is damaged bottom left but I have a couple of spares ( more than a couple actually)

 

With a little bit of trimming and sanding we now have a grill and bonnet sides 😀

 

20201011_185239

 

 

20201011_185248

 

 

The fit is actually quite good, here they are just dropped in position so look like they don't fit; they do, trust me I know what one that doesn't fit looks like, I have fifty of them!

 

Whilst I was waiting for the bonnet sides to print I got into my 'What if?' mode and decided to create a few more goodies at the same time...

 

20200801_205014

 

 

I'll let you work out what they are...

 

Finally for tonight, remember when I sanded off all the fittings on the back of the body? Well this is what it looks like now that I've put them all back on again...

 

Tilly Rear 2

 

 

That's it for tonight folks,

 

Tune in next week for another thrilling mildly interesting episode..

 

 

Alan

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Well you must have got to grips with that software then ...thats some stunning looking parts you have there and an obvious and very clear upgrades to the original kit......bet your as happy as a dog with two ding a lings :D.....great work.

 

Steve

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I guess to us minions that have no idea how to go about making/designing a drawing to produce a spare/new part . . . .  what you have produced is bloody marvellous.

Foot pedals, padlocks  and fire extinguishers  to name a few, look brilliant.

 

I shall watch with further interest

 

PS (Somebody ought to post a tutorial on these 3D printers to show how you produce a design).

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  • 5 weeks later...

Evening All,

 

My apologies for the lack of updates and my tardiness in responding to your comments. There really is no excuse, however I am going to blame it on work, family and other commitments!

 

Before tonight's meager update I shall deal with the incoming post...

 

On 10/11/2020 at 11:44 PM, M3talpig said:

Well you must have got to grips with that software then ...thats some stunning looking parts you have there and an obvious and very clear upgrades to the original kit......bet your as happy as a dog with two ding a lings :D.....great work.

 

Steve

 Thanks Steve, You're right I am as chuffed as a dog with two wotsits! 

 

It's a bit like the theater, the public sees the final performance but not the multitude or rehearsals that went before. For each part you see here there were several failed versions that now reside in a pot at the back of the bench.

The Software is pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it, it's all down to breaking an object down into its component shapes.

 

On 10/12/2020 at 8:10 AM, Bullbasket said:

Although you've had to do many to get one, they do look good. Nice work.

 

John.

 

Thanks John, It's one way of practicing with the software and getting used to the printer and the resin. If i change resin the calibration process starts all over again!

 

If anyone is thinking of building a post war scrapyard let me know I have loads of damaged body panels available 😀

 

On 10/12/2020 at 9:32 AM, Mancunian airman said:

I guess to us minions that have no idea how to go about making/designing a drawing to produce a spare/new part . . . .  what you have produced is bloody marvellous.

Foot pedals, padlocks  and fire extinguishers  to name a few, look brilliant.

 

I shall watch with further interest

 

PS (Somebody ought to post a tutorial on these 3D printers to show how you produce a design).

 

Thanks Mancunian, 

You don't have to produce a set of drawings for the parts, you build it up from basic shapes, a bit like making something out of Lego. Each basic shape can either be a 'solid shape' or a 'hole shape' If I was going to make a mug for example I'd start with a 'solid cylinder' then to hollow it out put another slightly smaller 'hole cylinder' inside it. For the handle you take a ring and cut it in half and then stick that on the outside. You essentially then click a button that says 'export' and the software converts it into a set of instructions the printer understands.  It's actually quite easy to pick up, as I say if you can build a basic car out of Lego then you're halfway there. (I must add that I'm still only using Tinkercad and not fusion at this point, that is a whole different kettle of fish! 😱.

 

Not being modest here, just honest 😀

 

By 'foot pedals' if you mean the square shapes they are supposed to be packets of ciggies! the pedals in the Tilly are circular, as you can see below.

 

 

 

OK, correspondence corresponded with now on to the measly amount of progress...

 

 

As I say I have had other things taking my attention away from the Tilly for the last couple of weeks, (checks date of last update and then looks at Gil Elvgren  😁 calendar) By Eck, its actually been a month, better pull my finger out!

 

After the work so far I decided to try and do something about the interior floor. The load bed didn't need anything other than needing an access hatch above the diff scribing in which i did earlier. It was the passenger compartment that threw up the challenge. the original vehicle has strengthening beads pressed into the floor pan to give it rigidity and stop it from drumming. My dilemma was how to replicate this without it looking like the cat had been chewing on it... 

 

This is the sort of thing we are after, I'm not tying to make it 100% accurate as you probably won't see it in the end anyway!

 

seat base 2

Picture borrowed for illustrative purposes only (not mine and I will remove it if requested).

 

 

Option number one was to try and scribe and sand in the beads as grooves, but a couple of tests on a scrap piece of plastic proved the cat could have done a better job.

 

Option  number two involved 3D printing a new floor, now while this could have come out a treat with a favourable wind and if the gods had been on my side and the planets were in alignment and I'd been wearing my lucky socks etc. I decided to rule this out as: A. I wanted to try and keep as much of the original kit as possible (I'm only fixing the bonnet sides remember!) and B. the amount of time it would take would be immeasurable, (do you know how long it took to create a padlock, never mind a full car floor!).

 

Option number three was to laminate a piece of plastic card with holes in over the existing floor to give the impression of the pressed in beads. I ruled this option out as the thinnest plastic I could find was too thick, and I cannot cut out accurate lozenge (is that what they're called?) shapes if my life depended on it.

 

That left option four, the only problem was I didn't have an option number four!

 

So it sat like this for a couple of weeks whilst I gave it a good coat of thinking about. Then one day whilst rooting around in one of my many (and I mean many, SWMBO will confirm this!) modeling supplies drawers for a length of brass rod to fix something else I came across a 3 inch square piece of self adhesive chrome foil. "O look" i thought "a 3 inch square piece of self adhesive chrome foil" and moved it aside to locate the rod I so badly needed. I only remembered the foil the following week when I was plugging in a new web cam and had to move my Silhouette 2D cutter out of the way, the one I use to make masks and such like. At this point I had a rare moment of inspiration and realised that there was an option number four after all...

 

Any way, after having a sit down to recover, I took a photo of the floor pan, uploaded it to the computer and then opened it in the Silhouette software scaling it to size. On top of this I drew the outline of the floor and the various strengthening pressings for the passenger side. This was then copied and mirrored for the drivers  side and a couple of changes made for the pedal cut outs. The chrome foil was carefully loaded into the cutter and I clicked 'Send To Cutter' and disappeared off downstairs to make a cuppa. On my return the cutter was silent and on the floor in front (it was on the edge of the desk and I forgot it ejected the sheet after it was done) was a set of nicely cut floor pan laminates.

 

This is what I ended up with after they were parted from the backing and burnished into place on the Tilly...

 

20201111_205303

 

And from a slightly different angle.

 

20201111_205255

 

Quite passable and give the look I was hoping for, even if they are a bit on the big side.

 

The eagle eyed among you will also have noticed that I've installed the pedals as well; another session with the Mars. These will be replaced as since I did this I've printed a better set with more defined rubber grips on them.

 

After looking at the picture of the 1:1 scale floor above I decided that the Tamiya seat mountings (four upright posts with a horizontal one between them on the floor) would not fit the bill either and would have to go, Time to top up the resin in the printer...

 

The picture below shows (not very clearly I admit):

Top left the Tamiya versions after removal from the kit floor.

Top right my first attempt using copper wire and contrail tube

Bottom left my first attempt at 3D printed ones

Bottom right the final versions straight off the printer before support removal or curing (I know this bit is not the best picture, the camera keeps focusing on the green seat and not the grey resin. I'll try and take another pic that shows the detail a bit better).

 

20201111_220423

 

That's as far as I've got so far, hopefully I'll have another update soon.

 

Thanks for looking in and the comments, it does motivate me to do more.

 

Cheers

 

Alan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Must be costing a fortune in resin. But, it looks to be well worth whatever it cost. Some fabulous small details there.

Love the padlocks and hoops for the tilt supperts. I like the use of the tape on the floor too. Well outside the box thinking.

19 hours ago, Engineer66 said:

If anyone is thinking of building a post war scrapyard let me know I have loads of damaged body panels available

Funny you should ask.... :laugh:

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On 11/12/2020 at 5:17 PM, f matthews said:

This is amazing.

Thanks Mr? Matthews 😀

 

On 11/12/2020 at 6:20 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

Must be costing a fortune in resin. But, it looks to be well worth whatever it cost. Some fabulous small details there.

Love the padlocks and hoops for the tilt supperts. I like the use of the tape on the floor too. Well outside the box thinking.

Funny you should ask.... :laugh:

Cheers Pete,

 

Surprisingly enough the amount of resin used is tiny, I'm still on my first bottle of this stuff, it seems to go a long way...

 

On 11/12/2020 at 6:20 PM, M3talpig said:

Well you're certainly selling me on getting a 3D printer...great work with the seats...looking forward to the next update :goodjob:

Cheers M3talpig

 

I've wanted one for a long time but they were way out of my price range, it was only when I discovered how much they had come down in price that I began seriously considering getting one. I bought a filament one initially and that is great for bigger jobs, but no good for stuff like this, which i regretted after the first couple of weeks. It still gets used quite a bit though so it's not a white elephant! About six months later I got a bonus at work and decided to invest in the resin one. To be honest it's one of my best purchases to date, (after the LED lighting i installed under the modelling desk!).

 

Go on, do it, you won't regret it... :laugh:

 

 

As promised last night here's a better picture of the seat runners. If it helps illustrate what the printer is capable of each runner is 12mm long and the upright tube sections the seats sit on are 0.8mm dia. If you look carefully you can just make out the bolt heads in the mounting plates! 

 

20201113_204541

 

 

One other item I forgot to mention last night...

 

Private Milligan now has a way to wind the window down if it gets a bit warm...

 

(I don't think I need to point out which one is the unmolested kit part).

 

20201113_204610

 

That's the lot for tonight folks,

 

Just a brief little bonus episode!

 

Take care and see you all soon.

 

Alan.

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  You should try to recoup some of your overhead and sell these to us.  Door handles, washwipes, seat parts, ect.  I'd by that for a dollar.  Nice job scratchin'.

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1 hour ago, Ned said:

This looks amazing, I had no idea that 3d printing had got down to this level. And no mould lines to clean up :)

Will you be printing a 3D HM The Queen©️ in her overalls to stand in front?

One of the figure companies already makes a 1/35th figure of Her Maj in uniform.

 

John.

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