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Scratch Building an Aussie Ford Falcon **New update,15/1/18**


ShawnS

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Thanks everyone.

Over 100,000 views so far for this build has far exceeded any of my expectations. I didn't think it would grab too many peoples attention (other than Aussies and Kiwis) so I'm more than stoked to see that my fellow builders from around the world are taking an interest. It's been a long journey, longer than I expected anyway so here's a big THANK YOU to each and every one of you who have kept coming back to check it out. At the moment I am in a good build rhythm and the next update should only be a week or two away.

Thanks again

ShawnS.

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Thanks everyone.

Over 100,000 views so far for this build has far exceeded any of my expectations. I didn't think it would grab too many peoples attention (other than Aussies and Kiwis) so I'm more than stoked to see that my fellow builders from around the world are taking an interest. It's been a long journey, longer than I expected anyway so here's a big THANK YOU to each and every one of you who have kept coming back to check it out. At the moment I am in a good build rhythm and the next update should only be a week or two away.

Thanks again

ShawnS.

i think that isnt because of the type of car you are building but the absolute perfection and insane scracthbuilding .... thats just to good to miss :)

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  • 3 months later...

Hi again guys. I didn't realize it had been so long since my last update. This update is a little mix of this and that. First up some house keeping.
I fitted the tail lights and the backs to the full detail version.
i2o4im.jpg
I changed the way the front wheels mount to the brakes. They used to have the mounting pin on the wheel that went in to the brake hub, now the pin is in the hub and the centre cap on the wheel will lock the wheel in place.
JyHACd.jpg
The new stuff.
I had make new head light units. The ones that I made for the curbside version were too big (the new ones are on the left) for the full detail version so I had to gut them, cut them and shut them to fit into the front end of the model. I also added an access cap on the back of them for extra detail.
ag7PEf.jpg
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To get them to sit in the right spot I had to make a shelf-like bracket to mount them on.
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Although they are not typical of the 1:1 they will be pretty much hidden once its all together.
FM2ZXY.jpg
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The grille from the curbside version was also unusable for the full detail version so I made a new one.
kZ02EN.jpg
cHz0F5.jpg

To be continued....

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One problem that arose from cutting off the bonnet from the resin body shell was that the front 1/4 panels opened up about 1mm which meant that the resin bumper/airdam was too narrow. I remade the front bumper (a bit rounder this time) and managed to work a resin airdam with some boiling water to get it to stretch enough to fit the new wider bumper.
OGSi0m.jpg
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I have been playing with the bonnet hinges recently and here's where I'm at. Thankfully Ford bonnet hinges were just one single arm on each side that went into the body so I didn't have to mess about with any convoluted design. For strength I chose brass.
qZo81C.jpg
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Without any previous experience in making bonnet hinges I managed to get some brass rod and tube to come close to what I needed it to do.
YqPydb.jpg
but unfortunately it sat too high and too far forward.
YT233t.jpg
I tweaked it a little too much now the corners of the bonnet now touch the body and it still sits too far forward.
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but that's where the experimenting ended because- Disaster again.
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I went to pick up the body to re-fit the bonnet and when I looked down there was a chunk of the engine bay missing. I have no idea how it happened but it did, now I will have to rebuild that whole area because there is no way I can re-glue and reinforce the broken area.

Obviously I'm not pleased with that last set back but it's only a model so it can be rebuilt.

Cheers

ShawnS

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^^^ What he said. Do you ever use rubber thimbles?

Don't worry guys I'm not immune to cutting myself or sticking myself with sharp objects like knives or 0.3mm drill bits. Much blood has been spilled over the last few years as well as sweat and swear words.

This build has been insane how is it you are not working for a model company.

Nobody has asked me, mind you I'm not holding my breath either. :mellow::)

Thanks guys.

Cheers

ShawnS

Edited by ShawnS
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Wow! This has been something else to watch. Took me days to go through this a little at a time. It is very encouraging. I like to scratch build but nothing like this. This project makes smaller projects seem more do-able. Shawn, you've just reminded me the importance of slowing down. Take the time to do it right. This rings true in other aspects of life as well. ;):)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi guys,

I have finished rebuilding the top of the engine bay,
rrTRJY.jpg
It's now stronger and slightly thicker. The only areas to survive the rebuild are marked in red.
OSnprt.jpg

I have solved the problem of having a working bonnet hinge by doing away with the hinge altogether. Let's face it you guys are only ever going to see the bonnet up or down so I figured I'll build it that way. I noticed that the front corners of the interior tub were directly under the hinge slots so I put a small box on both front corners,
MUkbO4.jpg
I also glued some styrene strips on to the hinge arms to make them thicker so they sit in the boxes nicely.
AV6YH6.jpg
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The next task was to make a strut for the drivers side. Obviously on the 1:1 it's there to keep the bonnet up but here it strictly decorative. I used Albion brass tube with a length of stainless rod from Hobby Design and some styrene rod. It's mounted on a bracket under the bonnet.
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The strut will be permanently mounted on the bonnet when closed and I can fold it down and put it in its place on the top of the engine bay when I want the bonnet to be displayed open.

To be continued....

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The next fiddly thing to do was the handbrake mechanisms. Although I had previously done the handbrake system for the curbside version I wanted to refine what I did to get it looking a bit better. It took me a while to figure out where I was going with it but I made it in the end.
Using K+S steel wire, Albion nickel silver and brass tubes, T2M 1mm springs and some evergreen this is what I came up with.
kfnERG.jpg
Szbfxg.jpg
In my eyes it's a lot better than the curbside version.
j4x1.jpg
A job for this week is to remake the curbside handbrake system to match the full detail version.

Other work done recently include.
Re-shaping the nose.
gg98eR.jpg
The right rear 1/4 window frame broke off at some stage and had to be replaced.
5asyXb.jpg
YZFCLI.jpg
And finally I got the curbside body in primer and fixed the issues on it. It's ready for paint now.
tXLdsM.jpg

After I have re-done the curbside handbrake system it's time to move on to the fuel and brake lines, it's not something that I have been looking forward to but I'll get it done .

Thanks for looking,

Cheers

ShawnS

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