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Scratchbuilt Tatra 603


kennb

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Last night i reworks the fender scoops to come into alignment with the tlaer versions. The basic bodt design remained intact to over 18 years. I have seen in different places that the first model of the 603 came out in 55, some make it as 56. Since they realy did not change the body year after year they just refined it. The Tatras were not cheap cars nor were they intented for the common manso they took more time maked a car that was a cut about. Changes could occur at anytime and cars going in for repairs could come out completed refitted to current appearance. There was 3 major design changes but I have seen variations in all of them. I also have to be carefull of my sources. Those beautifully crafted 3D images derived on the net are gorgous renditions but are not accurate reditions of the vehicle.

I am still not toally pleased with the rear of the car. It is not right. I knew that as it was coming together but I think at this point I am going to leave it as it is. For a one off shelf model there is no one that is going to know the difference. If for some reason I get to want to make more of these, different colors, years, or to fantisize a creation with the body I will make a master for casting. I have done a lot of resin trains in the past but would want to send something like this out and want the car to be a little more accurate all the way around. I also have looked at how it is progressing and would do things differently on another.

I have started to add smalled details, which I may regret when I add the filler. The front marker light bases are on, I picked the style that does not have the 603 name on it, variation from theone that should be here. I felt that in this case I would be allowed to adjust it since I only want to carve out one 603 for the front grill in this scale. I also have the rear bumper roughed out. There were many variations of this and the more I look I see even more. The bumpers seem to be an item they changed regularly. I have some more work to do on it and the bumper guards. The fornt and rear will hane the round bullets with rubber tips on them.

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Kenn

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I have been adding trim and window mouldings to the front and rear windows. Also added is the side spear from the marker light to inside the rear scoops,not shown. I was also not happy with the way the rear was coming out so I ripped it out between the fenders and redid the deck lid and rear panel areas. The rear bumper now slides into a slot created bu the bottom valance panel and deck lid. There has also been some more adjusting of the windows on the sides to get them shaped a little better and getting the pillars narrower, They are actually metal trim on the windows. I now have most of the "chrome" in place except for the front light panel and deck lid trim. The hood has been redone again but still I am not pleased with it but it can be adjusted with some filler which I will be doing Thursday. I have seen several types of hoods on these but I am thinking I might use the second generation hood on this because I happen to like the scoop that was deleted on the version three, which I have been following. Now is the adding of filler and finishing off the exterior of the body. Time to start the interior and chassis which is all one piece. I will set it up for adding the power plant and drive gear further on down the road. A reminder that this is all from .40 plastic sheet. Most areas are 2 layers now to add mass to the thickness of the finished body. A further note on the tools I am using. 5 needle files, a wood ruler, an exacto knife, and a pair of needle nose that I use the bend and shape the plastic. It is amazing the amount of glue used on something like this, I have gone through half a bottle of Plastic Weld. I like this glue since it does set up fairly fast and permit me to work quickly.

The biggest challange is the complex shapes on all areas of the car, There is nothing straight, parallel, or squared off. Overall I have been having a lot of fun with this car. The way I have done this with a few minor changes of sequence has seemed to work out nicely. I have also been carefull how the inside is finished and will use filler to smooth things out inside, specially with the roof areas since that will be totally open to the viewer.

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Kenn

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i applaud your efforts AND your choice of subject! i do some scratchbuilding but NOWHERE along the lines of this project! BTW someone queried who owns Land Rover and Jaguar now... that would be Tata Motors of INDIA, not TATRA of the Czech Republic.

dudes; this thread illustrates that NOTHING is impossible if you get past the little nagging voice saying "i can't do that." and we thank you for showing us!

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i applaud your efforts AND your choice of subject! i do some scratchbuilding but NOWHERE along the lines of this project! BTW someone queried who owns Land Rover and Jaguar now... that would be Tata Motors of INDIA, not TATRA of the Czech Republic.

dudes; this thread illustrates that NOTHING is impossible if you get past the little nagging voice saying "i can't do that." and we thank you for showing us!

That was me who asked, and there is a link which would take you to the Tata Motors website to answer that question. Apparently no one clicked on the link. Some one else had commented earlier in the thread that Tatra would have done better in the US if it had dropped the "r" from its name, and that post was a (maybe too) subtle answer.

I, too, am very impressed with this build. Great job!

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I have been filling and sanding since yesterday. It coming along but still needs some attention to some of the harder spots. I will be adding some more betails and priming in the next few days.

I also have started to rough out the interior bucket and chassis. I am going to get the front end set up this week and hopefully the back also. I have to start the seats and start detailing the dash using version 3 specs. I am refering to a site that has destail on the fornt and rear suspension but will have to fill in some details that may not be 100% accurate. Artistic license shall we say.

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Kenn

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I have put together a test chassis for this. I am going by a few pictures, and a lot of guess work. From the photos I am fairly close at this point. From what I can tell they used transaxels on the front and rear. The photos are bit yellow because of the type of lighting in our place.

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Kenn

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That has got to be about the coolest project ever!! You've really captured the shape and that's saying something. The chassis is also looking great. Comrade, I nominate you for the Model Building Hero of the Republic Medal! :unsure::lol:

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Time to staart the mechanicals I guess. I have been working on the tires, not my favarite part. Sanding,more sanding, and more sanding. I put together the tranny with transaxel hookup. The way this is set up the transaxels actually come out of the front of the transmission close to the bell housing. The tranmission is just 1 inch long. I started out with a styrene tube for the body of it. I have some other tube stock for the axels front and rear. I need to get these set up to get the wheels on the chassis. the body is about ready for primer. I added trim around the side windows and cleaned them up.(no photo)I will try to get the first coat this week if the paint shop has any in stock.

I want to thank everyone for the comments, it is nice to know that I am doing a respectable job on this.

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The next step is the motor. I have more photos and information to work from for this. It is set up a lot differently form the US motors, the only real part is the fact it has pistons. Everypart of it is put together alien to our way of thinking. The block is even 2 halfs bolted together as was the transmission.

Kenn

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New photos today again. I cut out the front grill area and redid the front end. The grill is a seperate piece now. I will chrome it along with the bumpers and then add the painted areas. The lights will be clear and be made when I do the turn signals and tail lights. For those I use old lighters of clear amber and red cut and shaped to fit. I also fixed the front bumper with a slot and tab to attach it to the body like the rear bumper.

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I also finished the wheels and rims with the hubcaps this weekend.

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For the rims I used various tube stock that telescoped into each other.

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Time was also spent taking care of a few areas that needed some attention to get the filler finished and a few rough places finished off. Since I redid the front I have additional work to refinish that place. Sanding, filling, sanding, filling and more sanding. There is very little to fill but to make sure it is perfect and free from marks it takes time. I did hurry the first coat of primer a bit, I should have waited a little longer until I fixed the front and the back of trunk. I get ahead of myself sometimes, getting anxious to make progress.

When I make the second car I will have all the bugs works out and have less filling and finish work since there will a smaller number of pieces. There was a lot of adjustments to the front and rear of this one to make it right the way I thought it should be.

Kenn

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This I my first attempt at building a motor from scratch. It is like trying to change a spark plug with a hammer. I hope that I at least captured the essence of this power plant. I took the key elements that I could see and then added a few things to make it look fuller and meatier. The whole thing is about an inch square. I still have to paint it and add some wires here and there to make it more presentable.

This entire car has been a challage but fun. I am about to wrap up the chassis with the wheels on and tramsaxel in place. Just trying to figure out how to mount the tires on the axels and get the springs in place.

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Thanks to all those that have been following along. There is much more to come.

Kenn

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