BMW 507 Cabrio 1957 - Elvis Presley's one - Based on a Revell old kit 1:24

[CrazyCrank]

Good morning everybody

 

The keyring is now attached to the ignition key 😎

It took a long time because I had to start over several times.
Either I broke the eyelet on the key, or the eyelet on the keyring, during the delicate operation of creating a chain between the two with 0.15 mm wire. As a result, each time I had to either repaint a key, or - and this took longer - repaint and varnish a keyring!
 

  

 

The total length is about 7 mm: 2.2 mm for the keyring, 3.5 fr the ignition key and the rain for the chain

My eyes won't be able to work on this 1:24 scale for much longer !

 

And it took its place on the dash:

 

 

I've just started to paint the door's interior and the seats.....see you later 😉

[Fnick]

I'll say this in the nicest possible way but you are just nuts! 😄. Insane level of detail.

 

Are you using an optovisor for this kind of work?

 

Nick

[CrazyCrank]

2 hours ago, Fnick said:

I'll say this in the nicest possible way but you are just nuts! 😄. Insane level of detail.

 

Are you using an optovisor for this kind of work?

 

Nick

 

Yes Nick, I am crazy.....remember my nickname  Thanks for the nicest way said comment 😂

 

And yes, I'm using this headband optovisor, but the magnification factor isn't sufficient for the tasks I want to perform, and this headband is just c..p, like the 3 or 4 others I've used before.

Everything loosens up quickly, the headband comes crashing down on your nose at the critical moment... and you sabotage your work!
 

 

[nick]

I’ve been playing with a digital microscope for my failing eyes, works well if you’re comfortable looking at a screen not your hands - surgeons do it all the time. 
 

 

https://amzn.eu/d/4DJ7cjm

 

works for me and even has a ring light. 
 

 

 

[Fnick]

Hi Thierry

 

I use these:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08K2YPBLK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

Quite pleased with them so far. I think they are fairly generic as you can get the same/similar under different brand name

 

Nick

 

 

[Spiny]

I'd second the one Fnick (too many nicks!) has suggested above as I have an identical no-name version but without the loupe. Very clear and not too uncomfortable, although it has reached the loosening up stage and I have just had to superglue in the tightening screws a bit. The vast majority of the time you only need one lens, but for the really detailed work the double lens is very useful. And it only cost about £15 so not a problem when it breaks.

 

Trouble is, now Nick has shown that microscope style thingy I'm tempted by that for when this headset goes.

[Neddy]

Moi aussi, just a generic one with a choice of five lens sets.  It's OK, does the job well and doesn't slip down.

[CrazyCrank]

Evening (morning ?) gentlemen

 

A few days ago, I painted the white parts of the seats and of the door's interiors, using a mix of AK Pure White (60%) and AK White grey (40%).
One dried, I had sprayed over the parts a layer of Mr COLOR  semi-Gloss varnish.

 

Tonight, I've masked  the white part of the door's interior and of the seats and have sprayed 2 layers of AK Nato Black
And then , again  a layer of Mr COLOR  semi-Gloss clear.

But it looked too shiny for leather, so, once just dried, I've sprayed over the semi-gloss clear a layer of Tamiya matt clear, and...miracle !
I've got a mix between semi-gloss and matt, with as well a slight grainy aspect, convincingly reminiscent of the texture and colour of leather.

 

 

  

 

  

 

A lot of work still to be done on those elements to finish them.

 

Stay tuned for new episode 😉

 

 

 

 

[HOUSTON]

Crazy Crank ,

EXQUISITE  attention to your 3 Dimensional  work.

You are VERY meticulous in getting it just SO correct and I admire that you wait till you

are happy with the printed parts.

I think you have done an IMPRESSIVE  job so far and I cannot wait to  see the finished model.

 

 

Thank you for sharing your amazing  workmanship.

 

HOUSTON

[CrazyCrank]

52 minutes ago, HOUSTON said:

Crazy Crank ,

EXQUISITE  attention to your 3 Dimensional  work.

You are VERY meticulous in getting it just SO correct and I admire that you wait till you

are happy with the printed parts.

I think you have done an IMPRESSIVE  job so far and I cannot wait to  see the finished model.

 

 

Thank you for sharing your amazing  workmanship.

 

HOUSTON

 

Thank a lot @HOUSTON for this huge compliment

The annoying thing about receiving praise is that you're bound to keep on earning it! 🙄😂
 

[CrazyCrank]

Morning chaps:

 

A bit of progress on the doors:

 

I've added the chrome-plated rod that runs between the top black panel and the padded white panel of the door's interior, taking inspiration of this photo:

 

 

I used a 0.25 mm Nickel-Chrome wire, 38.5 mm long for each door:

 

  

 

I've also added the chrome-plated rod situated on the top of the door, just on the exterior edge of the window slot, as you can see on this photo:

 

 

I used a thin strip of Hasegawa mirror finish:

 

  

 

At last, I added the handles:

 

 

Is the job finished on the doors ?.....Nope ! it remains to add:

 

- the screws that retain the upholstery panel

- the locker system (fake)

 

  

 

And of course the exterior handle

 

See you later 😉

 

[CrazyCrank]

Good evening, gentlemen

 

Not a big progress today, as my workbench is invaded by a lot of bunches of all this BMW 507 3D printed parts that some French modelers asked me to supply them 😎

 

 

Nevertheless, even if I've not been able to finish the work on my door's interior, I've found time to 3D draw and 3D print the first element of the door locking system

 

I took inspiration of this photo:

 

 

And drew this:

 

  

 

`

Once printed, on the left the right locker, and on the right, the left one

 

 

 

 

[CrazyCrank]

Morning guys

 

I haven't finished the dash nor the doors !

Instead of this, I have switched to the seats, because a thought kept running obsessively through my head: How to make so small metal rings to place around the holes on the seat's back ?

 

And I found a method:
- I used 0.15 mm Nickel-Chrome wire (why nor steel ?: because it's too stiff, and magnetic !)
- A dressmaker's pin 0.6 mm diameter
- A mini chuck to holds the pin
- my hands and strong magnifying glasses (my last one, recently bought after some advices )
- and toothpicks.

 

Some photos to explain the process

 

  

 

The rings I got from the spiral, detaching them one by one, under magnifying glasses, with the point of a new surgical blade, were not perfect !
No matter what !
I rounded them better, threading them on the point of a toothpick until  they stick firmly and spining the toothpick between my fingers

 

Finally I got  5 correct rings of about 1.0/0,6 mm diameters.

I lost one, but I managed to save the four remaining and to glue them with a droplet of Micro Kristal Klear, exactly where I wanted them to be placed.😎

2 hours spent to making 5 rings: Unsaleable 🙄

 

But it was worth it

 

 

 

See you later 😉

 

 

 

[CrazyCrank]

Hi everybody

 

I go on with the seats:

 

Their chromed lateral hinges have been glued in place, using Micro Kristal Klear.

The rendering is really good, as you could see. I used Revell Chrome (and have let it dry one week)

It remains to glue in place the handles that allow to move the seats backward or forward.

You can see that they have already been fabricated.

They will be installed only when I glue the seats in the cabin.

 

Close view: all the defects are highlighted 😡

 

 

Normal view:  pretty satisfying

 

 

And backside view:

 

Sans titre by Thierry Decorniquet, sur Flickr

 

Not perfect on this one,  but with the naked eye, it does the trick 😉

 

All these little things have now joined the "fragile and precious" box.

[JeroenS]

The seats look great Thierry, nothing to worry about!

[Neddy]

Defects?  What are these "defects" of which you speak? 😁

 

Those seats look perfect to me.  You've even managed a leather-like texture.  Quite exquisite.

[Brandy]

Lovely work, even though you are certifiably nuts for doing it!

 

Ian

[Spiny]

5 hours ago, Neddy said:

Defects?  What are these "defects" of which you speak? 😁

 

 

This was my reaction too - I can't see any defects in those pictures. Well, apart from a little chipping of the end of the toothpick 😄

[CrazyCrank]

18 hours ago, Neddy said:

Defects?  What are these "defects" of which you speak? 😁

 

Those seats look perfect to me.  You've even managed a leather-like texture.  Quite exquisite.

 

13 hours ago, Spiny said:

 

This was my reaction too - I can't see any defects in those pictures. Well, apart from a little chipping of the end of the toothpick 😄

 

Thanks guys, very kind of you !....but there is defects....simply the photos are not explicit enough 🙄

 

 

20 hours ago, JeroenS said:

The seats look great Thierry, nothing to worry about!

 

Thank you so much 👍

 

17 hours ago, Brandy said:

Lovely work, even though you are certifiably nuts for doing it!

 

Ian

 

Thanks Ian

I needed to deserve my nickname 🤣

[Pouln]

Thierry, you keep at it until it is perfect and that shows. Hat off (again) for your perseverance and eye for details. 

[CrazyCrank]

2 hours ago, Pouln said:

Thierry, you keep at it until it is perfect and that shows. Hat off (again) for your perseverance and eye for details. 

 

Thank you so much Poul for this huge comment and for your encouragements, very appreciated, coming from you 🙏

[CrazyCrank]

Good morning gentlemen

 

In the last two days, I've continued to build the dashboard:

- Painting its top Nato black and varnishing it matt.

- And adding the 6 screws on the top 

- as well as the passenger handle

 

The inside of the dashboard frame has been painted the same body colour as the original.

Some retouching will be needed on the outside of the 2 vertical posts, and the inner peripheral bead of the frame will have to be painted rubber black, as this is the windscreen seal.

 

I've also to repaint chrome the front of the windscreen frame, because the original Revell chrome has been worn during handling, as you could see on all the photos below. I'll use Revell chrome, and, once done, it will dry a looooong time before I can handle it (even wearing gloves), probably 2 or 3 weeks.

 

The most difficult part was gluing the dashboard to the windscreen frame.

 

There weren't many possible contact zones, the angle to be given to the dashboard in relation to the frame meant that these zones were very thin, and at the same time we had to make sure that the L and R edges of the dashboard didn't protrude too far outwards and forwards at the risk of preventing the doors from closing, and a whole host of other difficulties which I won't bore you with.

 

During the pre-gluing operations, and even before the aforementioned painting stage, the windscreen frame split on the lower horizontal pillar at the rear, necessitating an acrobatic repair with cyano glue. 
Luckily, the chrome part was not damaged.

 

But in the end, I managed to glue the dashboard solidly to the frame, precisely and correctly (more or less) compared to the real car, and the effect is nice and satisfying.

 

 

Some pictures to show you the actual state:

 

  

 

 

And some others of the body shell where I've temporarily put the windshield, just to have an idea of the rendering:

 

  

 

  

 

 

The front part of the windshield  frame has been  re-painted chrome (except the inner bead):

 

 

All that's left to do now is:

- to paint the windscreen seal

- touch up the paint on the vertical frame uprights

- install the windscreen, the ignition key and key fob, and the steering wheel.

 

And of course to fabricate the sunvisors's mounting brackets and fix them, and to 3D print, paint and install the inside mirror on the frame

 

See you later

 

 

 

[Neddy]

Y'know, I'm really glad my eyesight is preventing me from modelling at the moment, it means I can just sit back and admire what's going down here without thinking "I wish I could get anywhere near that level..."

 

This is just at another level entirely.  It will almost be a shame when it's finished!

[CrazyCrank]

2 hours ago, Neddy said:

Y'know, I'm really glad my eyesight is preventing me from modelling at the moment, it means I can just sit back and admire what's going down here without thinking "I wish I could get anywhere near that level..."

 

This is just at another level entirely.  It will almost be a shame when it's finished!

 

Thanks so much @Neddy

 

If you allow me to pass judgement on the quality of your work, I'd tell that as far I can see, your skills in modeling are increasing regularly  and that your level is already high

You seem too modest to me.

 

And dob't worry, this build is far to be finished  

 

[CrazyCrank]

Evening chaps

 

As I've to wait several weeks, if not months before handling my re-chromed windscreen , I've focused on other tasks. But always working around the windscreen and dash: 

 

So, I've 3D designed a new inside mirror, the kits's one being inappropriate in terms of dimensions and  accuracy.

 

I took inspiration of this picture:

 

 

And produced this with Fusion 360

 

  

 

  

 

I'm now going to launch a 3D print, to see what I get, and if  the dimensions are correct enough to allow the fitting on the windshield frame between the two sun visors

 

I've also 3D drawn some mounting brackets for the sun visors, hoping to be able to make them articulated with true hinges

 

  

 

These are lilliputian parts and will be printed simultaneously .

 

See you soon