Pouln Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 15 hours ago, CrazyCrank said: This is my last post.............for today 🤣 For a second you had me worried…. Impressive work, Thierry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 12, 2022 Author Share Posted May 12, 2022 Afternoon chaps A promise made, a promise kept 😇 I made a new spring (in fact 2, because I lost the first one when intending installing it) et installed it on the injection pump. I still have to blue the exhaust outlets, connect some hoses already made and then I can move on to the oil circulation and cooling system, including the modification of the oil tank so that it can receive all the piping not provided by Revell. See you later 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 12, 2022 Author Share Posted May 12, 2022 Evening gentlemen I was a bit tired today, had to go to the hairdresser and some housework to do ! So not a big progress for once ! That said, I spent some hours tonight to prepare the parts I've to assemble for the oil tank, I said some hours....for only two parts ! The fit is terrible: once assembled, this doesn't look like much, except a poor approximation of the real thing. Hereunder some pictures of the unmodified parts, that I painted 20 years ago in bright aluminium. They seem to be good, but they aren't ! I filed, sanded, adjusted the pieces to make them fit well together. Then I removed all the "flash", the moulding pellets, the overhangs of the fixing lugs on the sprue of parts. Then I looked carefully at the assembly instructions and at the reference photos.... And so I decided: - To drastically modify what will be used as the upper fixing lug on the chassis tubes, by cutting everything that was on the kit part, and by redoing, on one hand a welding line, then by adding the washer and the bolt, and by replacing the 1 mm plastic pin that was just asking to be broken, by a 1.0 mm brass tube, inserted in a hole made in place of the cut parts, and passing through the bolt and the washer. - Add all the missing solder lines (7 in all), made with 0.18 mm wire (taken from an electric cable) glued with cyanoacrylic glue. - to drill the holes of the 3 oil pipes that come out or arrive from/to the tank, on which I will place at least 2 nice banjos and a standard fitting. Two of these pipes go to the oil cooler, the third one connects to the left side of the engine block, under and behind the alternator. After priming: And temporarily placement of 2 banjos: I've also begun to work on the fuel tank, and spent a lot of time to do the same cleaning job than for the oil tank. It remains to scratch the upper part of it, which will come out of the bodywork, under the left headrest , and there is work to be done! So no pictures at the moment. Stay connected for next steps 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 Afternoon chaps I'm currently workin both on the firewall (which has tubular parts of the chassis which ill support the oil tank) and on the rear part of the car. I've thoroughly studied the Ref. photos and noticed that is was possible if not sometimes necessary to make some additions on the tubular chassis, because they will be visible from below, or needed to support the battery. I just began the job, with brass 0.6 mm tube: I noticed too that the very rear part of the tubular chassis, which support the 2 spare wheels stands, the fuel pump, the treadle vac etc., has been badly interpreted by Revell, and is reversed , I mean the assembly instructions show it with its top placed at the bottom relatively at its true position on the real car. The kit's part The instructions and a blank test: The real thing: If I let it as is, it will be impossible to place the spare wheels, the fuel pump etc. in the trunk ! And, unfortunately, the piece is shape in a way which don't allow to invert it -to put it I the right sense- because it would hit the fuel tank. So, I think I'm going to remake it, probably with brass tubes soldered together On the upper part of the firewall, I've also modified some things: - Drilled holes where necessary to pass cables through - pointed the place where the steering shaft should cross the firewall - Added some details, such a recess where I'll put a 0.6 mm nut: - Thinned the thickness of the firewall on a semi-lunar zone on the right to simulate an embossing - Fabricated a bottom for the can which is on the center. - It remains to add the fixtures of the can, if possible ! (arrowed in yellow on the picture below) Things are going to progress slowly now, because all the additions I've planned need method and thinking before moving on to the implementation 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 14, 2022 Author Share Posted May 14, 2022 Morning chaps Impossible to sleep, so, I'm at the bench. Explanations: Looking again at the previous pictures of the real car, I realized that the tubes of the front part of the chassis are rather thin, and that in any case, the 1.7 mm of the plastic pieces attached to the firewall (which will be used, on one hand to support the oil tank, and on the other hand, on the left as well as on the right, to join the "stand" that supports the front drivetrain, to stiffen the chassis), are largely oversampled. Even after cleaning, deburring, the dimension remains at least 1.5, and it's not great, when you look at the engine bay, with the bonnet open, the body being placed on the chassis. So I decided, after a long hesitation - because I don't really know where I'm going, and I won't know it until I mount these parts, which is not very soon - to cut the right tube. This frame tube comes down at an angle of about 30° to the front in the sagittal plane and attaches to the right-hand frame rail. At another stage of the construction, a second tube is anchored to it, shortly after the firewall, which runs horizontally to hook onto the front axle stand. To replace these tubes, I decided to use 1.0 mm brass tubes, and two sections will be welded, at the same angles as the plastic parts of the kit, and the lengths will be adjusted later. I gave myself a bit of leeway. I don't knowwhy, but today, my soldering paste with my mixed station, using as usual the hot air flow, wouldn't take! Am I tired? I fought for a good 3 hours to finally get it right. Especially since during a dry run after having welded the two bars, I realized that the bottom one was 1 mm too short, and the top one 4! I don't understand how I could have made such mistakes. In any case, I had to solder an extension on each one. I could have restarted the work from the beginning, but given my struggle with the first weld to obtain the correct angles, I preferred not to take any risks. After painting that will not be visible. As a result, for the tubes on the left side, I'm less willing to do the same thing with the same materials, especially since the structure is much more complex, you also have to use 2.0 external / 1.0 internal brass tubes, and you can't afford to screw up, because this system is also supporting the oil tank and the fuel filter ! We'll see later. Concerning the left side bar, which goes diagonally and is fixed above the centre of the stand, during a test run, I noticed that it was impossible to make it go where it should go to join, according to the assembly instructions, a hole located under the upper crossbar of the stand. Even if I imagined that its diameter could be reduced from 1.7 to 1.0 mm, it would not fit. Even if, with a diameter of 1.0 mm, it is anchored on the TOP of the horizontal crosspiece of the stand, as is the case on the real car, it just passes, and moreover, it does not pass where it's necessary. In reality, this bar passes below the front Banjo of the injection pump and therefore well below the fuel outlet lines towards the injectors. But, as I fixed my injection pump lower than on the real car, otherwise, we couldn't close the hood, the bar must pass above the banjo and the fuel lines. Another prank on my part and a betrayal of the truth, but I have no choice! So, I cut off the plastic one, mais made a replacement one with 0.6 mm piano wire and will be anchored on the top of the horizontal cross piece with a retained I'll scratch later. It's possible that finally, I would used a 0.8 mm bras tube instead of a steel 0.6 rod Comparaison between the kits parts (of my first kit bought 25 years ago) and the new ones : . Furthermore, I noticed on the ref. photos that all the rear axle with suspensions , wheels spindles etc. was not black, mais light steel color, so I brush painted that with an enamel, and once weathered with Tamiya Black line panel, it's OK: At last, I tried to "burn" my chrome exhausts with the Tamiya weathering powders of which Dave @Fastcat talked about, but it didn't work, because the powders don't stick on a nickel polished surface ! I have to think about this problem to solve it. That's all for now, guys, see you later, probably next week 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver911 Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 If you want the powders to work on Nickel plating...either abraid (sand) the area to be weathered or...give the exhaust a coat of varnish (mat/semi/gloss depending on how shiny you want them) then apply the powders. Ron 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 14, 2022 Author Share Posted May 14, 2022 3 hours ago, silver911 said: If you want the powders to work on Nickel plating...either abraid (sand) the area to be weathered or...give the exhaust a coat of varnish (mat/semi/gloss depending on how shiny you want them) then apply the powders. Ron Thanks for the tip, Ron, I wouldn't have thought of it 🙄 I'll try that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 16, 2022 Author Share Posted May 16, 2022 Good morning gentlemen I still have trouble getting to sleep, so....at the bench I resume where I stopped a few days ago, having thought about re-make the chassis tubes of the left front part of the car, those which attach to the firewall, on the kit's part. I told you I wasn't very tempted to remake them the same way that for the right side, I mean with brass tubes welded together, having had some difficulties, and taking in account that the shapes of these tubes which supports the oil tank and the fuel filter are very complex . In fact, I have not had to decide anything, destiny did it for me ! Indeed, handling the firewall, and after having glued on the plastic chassis tubes one element which serves to support the oil tank from the bottom, the main tube broke ! I tried to repair it, but failed. So, I had no choice anymore ! I remade the whole system of left front chassis tubes with welded brass tubes. It took a lot to time, because of the shapes that are complex, not to say tortured, and we have to reproduce exactly if we want the oil tank to fit perfectly. So, countless successive tests fitting, as the work progressed. Soldering is the activity I still have a lot to learn, so it also took me a long time to get a job that is just passable, BUT... that gives an excellent result from the point of view of the desired stockings: - the fineness in the dimensions of the frame tubes - a perfect fit of the oil tank So let's not be more royalist than the king.. Please, bear with me. The tubes and their solders must still be cleaned, and then will be polished, primed and painted. The thickness after that would be about 1.1 mm instead of the 1.6 expected with the plastic ones The length of the main tube ill be adjusted at the final stage of glueing the firewall on the tub, and the whole set on the chassis. Well, I'm going to go try to fall asleep: wish me luck 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PROPELLER Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Stunning, be careful, scratch building is an hard drug... Dan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 16, 2022 Author Share Posted May 16, 2022 9 minutes ago, PROPELLER said: Stunning, be careful, scratch building is an hard drug... Dan. Thanks a lot for the kind words, Dan 👍 And too late for the advice, I'm already addict 😇 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 16, 2022 Author Share Posted May 16, 2022 Evening chaps Not a big progress apparently today, but a big progress for me in my thoughts about how to improve the rear part of the tubular chassis and the fuel tank, and the front part as well. I've primed and painted semi-gloss black the brass tubular front part of the chassis, it remains to spray a semi-gloss clear coat to protect it. I've partially assembled the parts supplied in the kit for the rear section of the tubular chassis, after several adjustment and fixing of defects. The goal was to glue them together, put in place over the tubular chassis, but not glued to it, after having fixed the twisting the chassis presented. So the twisting will be fixed, hopefully. And I've primed them. Obviously, it remains a lot of work to do on it, as I told young a previous post I've also primed and pre-painted semi-gloss black the oil tank (in the end, it will be matt aluminium) And at last, I have achieved the improvement of the fuel filter, adding the two banjos it must receive. The left/front one connects to the fuel tank, and the right / rear one connects to the injection pump. I almost forgot to say that I also painted and glued the drive shaft See you soon for next steps, thanks for watching 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 Good evening gentlemen Real progress today between a doctor's appointment and mowing the lawn (6000 yards!) 😎 I've painted and cleared the rear parts of the tubular chassis I primed yesterday and glued the whole set on the chassis, with CA glue. It's been "rock and roll" as we say in France when it's difficult, because the chassis was twisted 🤣 (sorry for the joke, couldn't resist ! ) As a result, I've managed to untwist it in the right way....It will be all the better for nest adjustments and additions. 👍 The missing parts of this rear section of the tubular chassis that I've planned to scratch will be added, if possible, later on, when I have made blank tests with the tub and the bodywork put on the chassis. These structural additions should not compromise the final assembly by hindering the adaptation of the cabin and bodywork ! I've also painted and cleared the oil tank. I didn't do it on purpose, but I was going for a bit of a rough look for the surface of this one, and I got it because I had set the airflow and pressure of my airbrush wrong! For once a blunder has a happy ending 🙄 On the picture below, this rough appearance is hardly increases by the magnifying of the camera. To the naked eye it is much more discreet I also added some parts on the rear axle, which are missing in the kit but are present on the real car: - the traction and thrust arms on the wheel spindles: They are made of 0.6 mm brass tube flattened and filed at their ends, glued with a micro9droplet of CA glue. - and the traction arms on the spindles and suspensions cradle: They are made of 0.5 mm piano wire, slightly bended as it was required, and which pass through the two transversal structs of the middle of the chassis. I've managed to drill the holes without breaking anything 🙏 This increased the rigidity of the chassis, which had an unfortunate tendency to bend in two lengthways Before painting the added elements: After I've also worked on the fuel tank and the gear box / secondary transmission case, but you'll see that later, because it's far to be achieved. Time now to add the oil lines on the oil tank, a battery and its stand, and to add the rear shock absorbers before, again, doing a lot of blank tests in order to adding some tubes on the chassis, and modifying the fuel tank, adding it a wart on the top ! See you soon, and thanks for watching 😉 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 18, 2022 Author Share Posted May 18, 2022 Good afternoon, happy fellows I've added the rear shock absorbers I've done several blanks tests with the bodywork put on the chassis, which is now a difficult task because of the addition of the rear chassis tubes, which increase the width of the chassis, and noticed that: 1/ I can add some tubes 0.6 mm on the front of the rear lateral chassis structures, what I did this morning As you can see, I've remade the double collar which retains the exhaust cans, the first one broke while handling the chassis 2/ The height of the fuel tank is far to be correct in its front section, it must be increased from about 3 mm. And indeed, when we compare the true thing and the kit's part, we can see this evidence ! So, I began a little aesthetic and radical surgery, removing the engravings o the top of the fuel tank, adding 2 pieces of 1.44 mm styrene sheet, roughly shaped with a scalpel , and then filled at the gaps and even more with Tamiya polyester putty. Now, the fuel tank looks like a Dijon mustard can 🤣 This putty coat is thick so I must let it cure possibly 24 hours before sanding it.... Next, it will remain to do other blank tests with the bodywork, in order to determine precisely the location of the "wart" of this fuel tank, and its exact dimensions, and at last to scratch it using the same method Stay connected and thanks for watching 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 18, 2022 Author Share Posted May 18, 2022 Evening chaps Surprisingly , thanks to the warm weather we have actually (at least in France), my Polyester Putty has fully cured in 6 hours instead of 24 expected for that thickness ! So, I began to shape the fuel tank, and here is where I'm at the moment: Closer to the real, isn't it ? A little test fit tomorrow with the bodywork over the chassis, to determine precisely the location of the top appendice of this fuel tank, and its exact dimensions, before scratching it and giving the fuel tank a final layer of putty to fix the little surface imperfections. Of course, even it will never be visible, I'll scratch new weld beads Stay tuned if you like 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 19, 2022 Author Share Posted May 19, 2022 Good evening gentlemen Some disappointment yesterday evening: While I had painted the new brass tubes, I've made a new blank test with the bodywork, and it appeared that, contrary to what I thought and wrote yesterday, it had become impossible to fit the body shell on the chassis, due to this added tubes, which hitted the side vents (those through which the exhaust outlets pass on the right side of the car, and the same on the left side). So, I've been obliged to remove them, and obviously, to do some paint repair on the chassis, on the places where they were attached. However, I went on working on the fuel tank, adding thickness with styrene and putty, and then doing the same job to adding the top appendice which goes through the body shell, and emerge under the left headrest. I did many blank tests with the tank being modified on the chassis, first without and then with the body shell placed on the chassis, to see how the upper appendix fell in relation to the "hole" made in the body, and I corrected the work several times with styrene, putty and sanding. Finally, I got the following result, which shows a slightly higher upper appendix than the one on the reference photo, and with a far from identical shape, but there were two imperatives to respect, and which were in conflict with each other: - not to increase the height of the front of the tank more than seemed necessary, by comparison with the reference photos. - To make sure that the top extension is high enough in relation to the body so that the access to the filler cap, through the opening on the left headrest / spoiler, is realistic. If I had increased the front of the tank, it would have looked disproportionate (even if it won't be visible once the assembly is done), but the upper extension would have had a correct shape, and would have come out enough. But as what needs to be seen is the top extension, and as it was less work, less filler, therefore quicker drying, less sanding, to increase its height rather than that of the front of the tank, this is what I chose to do! Obviously, the sanding job wasn't achieved? I did that after the photoshoot And I've finally primed the tank, with an automotive filling primer, that has succeeded in greatly reducing surface defects. It remains a lot but mainly on the invisible parts of the piece, so, I'll stop here. Especially since the real car's tank was anything but pampered to get a beauty award Now it remains to redo the welding beads, and then to spray a final coat of primer before painting the tank in dirty aluminium, to match with this picture: What would be a fuel tank without its cap ? The particular knurling of this cap being impossible to reproduce on the lathe and then on the milling machine at 1:24 on a part with a diameter of 3.4 mm, I have, naturally, modeled it with Fusion 3D I almost forgot to show you the progress that was made yesterday on the oil tank... to which I added: - 2 banjos and 1 standard connector - plus all the braided tubing that goes with it, - not to mention the 3 standard connectors that will go to the end of these hoses when their precise length has been determined. It wasn't much, but it has kept me busy for the last dozen hours since last night 🙄 Stay tuned if you like 😎 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 20, 2022 Author Share Posted May 20, 2022 Afternoon chaps I've spent a few hours today to study the connections of various hoses on the fuel tank and the part supplied in the kit, whose location is under the fuel tank and the brake drums, part which represent the gearbox. And I'm puzzled ! The assembly instructions plan to connect a hose, on the right side of the rear end of this gearbox, and to put the other end at the bottom of the fuel tank 😲 This is a strange way of doing mechanics 🤣 In reality, I don't know if there's a connector at the bottom of the fuel tank, it's possible...Furthermore I've placed one at this location, in the event that ... What is sure is that at the rear of the gearbox end , there is 4, if not 5, connectors (which are represented on the kit's part, for once) - 2 on the left, that are banjos, which I think they serve to connect oil hoses. Probably one hose come from the oil tank and the second one go to the rear axle (differential), whose junction with the gearbox is not represented in the kit. Logically it is heading upwards (so the bottom of the fuel tank) - 2, if not 3, on the right, standard connectors (and a banjo ?): from the first one come out a hose which, imho, connects on the same mechanical element, on its right side. And for the second one, I've no certainty, but it think it goes as well to the rear axle (differential). Those hoses are oil hoses as well. I made these assumptions looking at the following picture (MB 300 SLR chassis à 1:8, visible on Techni-art Website ) So I've decided ( tell me please if I'm wrong and you have solid informations about these hoses ) that 2 hoses, one on the left and the other on the right will head upwards. Hereunder some pictures and explanations of the work I did after I made this study: First I decided to modify the rear end of the gearbox, in order to put my own connectors and hoses, instead of the kit's ones. 1/ I used: - A 1.5 mm brass tube to represent the end of the gearbox (It's 1.6 on the kit's parr ) - In which I threaded a 1.0 mm brass tube, to represent the junction with the main part of the gearbox - I flattened the 1.5 mm brass tube. - This flattened end has allowed to fix the tube in my milling machine's vise, and will be cut off later. - I used my mill as a drill and drilled through the 2 walls of the 2 tubes two holes , so I got 4 holes, perfectly spaced and aligned. - I threaded in the holes 2 sections pod 0.4 mm piano wire. - On the left they will be used to connect 2 banjos I've still to fabricate. - On the right, I threaded 2 short sections, about 2.0 mm of 0.6 mm brass tube, to represent standard connectors. 2/ Then I cut of then plastic end of the kit's gearbox 3/ I drilled a 1.0 mm hole where I has cut the plastic, and inserted my new metallic part in the hole 4/ I shortened my new gearbox end. The hole will be filled with UV resin before painting . 5/ At last, as I don't like the top of the gearbox is missing, I scratched it to close the box, even it's absolutely not matching with the true thing I have also added a stand connector on the left side of the gearbox, where there I already a pin Some blank tests fitting have been made on the chassis before the painting job: It looks rather good See you soon for next episode 😉 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fnick Posted May 20, 2022 Share Posted May 20, 2022 It's looking very good! Wow Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 20, 2022 Share Posted May 20, 2022 I'm just catching up with the progress on the Mercedes build...... Mon Dieu, CC, Reading and watching your WIP just blows my mind 😲 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 21, 2022 Author Share Posted May 21, 2022 14 hours ago, Fnick said: It's looking very good! Wow Nick I appreciate we share the same feeling Thanks Nick for the kind comment 😎 10 hours ago, rob Lyttle said: I'm just catching up with the progress on the Mercedes build...... Mon Dieu, CC, Reading and watching your WIP just blows my mind 😲 Wow ! what a huge comment ! Thanks a lot, Rob 🙏 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted May 21, 2022 Share Posted May 21, 2022 6 hours ago, CrazyCrank said: Wow The thing is, CC, having done the Uhlenhaut Coupe I'm familiar with these little pieces you are working on.. Like the 2 saucers on the back of the chassis frame..... I didn't even know what they were (until I read your post! 😇) Then there's the welding lines on the oil tank..... 😶🤯 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted May 21, 2022 Share Posted May 21, 2022 It was nice to catch this build after some weeks. Good progress and lot of nice details. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 21, 2022 Author Share Posted May 21, 2022 4 hours ago, Vesa Jussila said: It was nice to catch this build after some weeks. Good progress and lot of nice details. Thanks a lot @Vesa Jussila for ths kind comment, much appreciated 👍 Hopefully, with now the experience of issues and difficulties with this first kit, I will do better with the Uhlenhaut coupé 😉 To say the truth, I've just bought some tools and hardware I haven't in my stash when I scratched for exemple the fuel line's of the injection pump, such Ni-Cr wire 0.4 mm and ringing pliers, which would have made easier and better this job, to name but one ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 21, 2022 Author Share Posted May 21, 2022 5 hours ago, rob Lyttle said: The thing is, CC, having done the Uhlenhaut Coupe I'm familiar with these little pieces you are working on.. Like the 2 saucers on the back of the chassis frame..... I didn't even know what they were (until I read your post! 😇) Then there's the welding lines on the oil tank..... 😶🤯 Thanks a lot @rob Lyttle for this comment. I've also made the welding lines on the fuel tank, even if they won't be visible, just for the fun and respect for the truth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted May 21, 2022 Share Posted May 21, 2022 To distract you from building, and having seen in the paper today that one of these has just sold for €135million I had a look round and came across Mercedes' take. https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/classic/history/coupe-300-slr/ Oddly enough, first thought on reading it had been sold was this build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted May 21, 2022 Author Share Posted May 21, 2022 3 minutes ago, Spiny said: To distract you from building, and having seen in the paper today that one of these has just sold for €135million I had a look round and came across Mercedes' take. https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/classic/history/coupe-300-slr/ Oddly enough, first thought on reading it had been sold was this build. Thanks @Spiny for this link. I'm in awe and have fallen in love with her. I'm looking forward to begin the build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now