CrazyCrank

This model has been finished this year, end April. It took me 2 years, give or take 4 days, with many interruptions along the way, to assemble this very difficult Heller kit. Everyone here and elsewhere who assembled it has experienced mishaps, disappointments, and probably some anger too, and has solved or tried to solve, each in his own way, the major problems of body parts adjustment, especially the bonnet. 2 kits were needed to make one, because of broken or damaged parts during assembly, as usual. This kit includes 160 parts, I replaced some of them, and added probably as many, both scratchbuilt from various metals, plastics, fabrics, UV resin, and modelled with Fusion 360 and 3D printed with an Elegoo Mars Pro. The windows were shown open, the bonnet was articulated in 4 parts with 3 functional hinges, the bonnet retainers when open, as well as the bonnet latches to close it were added, and the engine compartment was highly detailed. The spoked wheels themselves are 3D printed. I tried to take the utmost care in making the smallest exterior details, the ones that make the model look bad when they are roughly made or not added, but that bring the model to life when they are right (I'm thinking in particular of the front and rear lights, the side indicators, the bonnet clips, the exhaust line that has been redone in aluminium tube). I was greatly helped by the abundance of documentation that can be found on the Internet, sometimes by searching a bit for precise details... And now, a flurry of photos, some outside in day light and others in my spray booth with additional lights: You can see more following my thread in Britmodeller.com WIP section: Delahaye 135 1938, coachwork Henri Chapron 1:24 Heller - WIP Hope you enjoyed the journey

Incredibly amazing model ! A true work of art ?

Superb car, superb build, excellent staging ?

Very nice upholstery !

After having built 3 Mercedes Benz 300l Gullwing, the last of which representing the one that won its class under number 417 in the famous 1955 Mille Mille race, as I had in stock this old Revell kit from 1991 started and never finished more than 25 years ago, and another one intact, I naturally decided to build it, to have the series of the two victorious Mercedes in this prestigious race, and also to complete in a way a series of emblematic cars and give them a new life, in all modesty. This model has been achieved 3 months ago and was built in a little less than 7 months, or even 5 if you exclude two months of holidays in Canada, a record for me. The true car was the overall winner of Mille Miglia 1955, driven by Sir Stirling Moss. It includes nearly 600 parts in all materials, more than 480 having been added to the 115 initial ones, of which about 50 were modelled and 3D printed, and the rest scratch-built. I didn't count the time spent, not being a professional modeler and not intending to sell it once it was finished, but I probably spent more than 300 hours on it, counting the time spent studying the documentation, the 3D design of the parts and the realization. Not only the hood is openable, but also the driver's door, the fuel flap on left headrest, the trunk, which open simultaneously with the 2 headrests. The interior of the trunk is fully detailed, as is the engine bay, and the underside. I'm quite proud of the result, despite all its imperfections, and the few big mistakes I made that I only realized too late to correct. They will be obvious to the connoisseurs. My Mercedes Benz 300 SL and SLR cycle doesn't end with this one, as one of these days I'm going to build the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupe, of which one of the two authentic examples ever built was recently sold at auction for the modest sum of 135 million euros. Hope you enjoyed the journey Those who are interested can follow the assembly of this difficult model in the WIP section here: Mercedes Benz 300 SLR n° 722 - Mille Miglia 1955

Here is my interpretation of the graphite grey Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing that John Fitch drove to victory in the famous "Mille Miglia" race in 1955 (5th overall and 1st in his own class GT +1.3 !). At that time, it was numbered 417 (which indicates, for the curious, the authorized starting time of this car for the race, 4 :17 AM). This model that I entirely built on a Tamiya base at 1/24 scale – with addition of more than 200 scratched, 3D printed parts, or self-made decals- is to my knowledge the second scale model in the world of this mythical car to have been entirely built by a modeler. It's been achieved last December . I was able to find this during my documentary research that the first one was built over 2 months between September and October 2015, on a FROG kit n°705 base, by a modeler named Ian, whose work is exposed on the “themotormuseumminminature.co.uk” website (link : http://www.themotormuseuminminiature.co.uk/1955-mercedes-300sl-mm-fitch.php). Ian voluntarily omitted the chassis and the engine, glued the bonnet and the rear trunk lid, and made though not only a very nice model, but a remarkable work, in spite of some mistakes and omissions, if you compare it with the pictures of this car taken during the race, some of which can be found quite easily on the Internet. I have to say that he was less lucky than me, who benefited from a wealth of advice and documents, such as those kindly and generously provided by a member of the Britmodeller.com forum, E.J Boyd, a Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing enthusiast from New York. It must be said that it was Edward Boyd who suggested, not to say asked, that I make this car, after seeing my first silver Gullwing, and I gladly accepted the challenge. I didn't know yet what I was getting myself into, and had no idea of the difficulties I was going to encounter in creating or recreating certain indispensable and characteristic parts of this car. In the end, it will have cost me 2 Tamiya kits, more than 400 hours of documentary study, drawing in Fusion 360, 3D printing, assembly, a lot of hardware and supplies I didn't have, a few nervous breakdowns and a lot of beers I also discovered and sometimes mastered new techniques, which improved my modelling skills. Of course, there are still many imperfections (At least, my clear coat, which is covered with a lot of micro-scratches, because I sanded it too early after application) or mistakes on this model, but I assure you I don't intend to build it a third time. During the building, I noticed that the first chassis had a little and un-fixable defect, which would lead to the impossibility to close the bonnet. So, I built a second one, avoiding to repeat the same mistakes, and this is the one I’ve incorporated in the body of the finished model. The first bare chassis has been even more improved, and is exhibited naked below with the car. And now some pictures (Sorry for the dust particles, they wasn't visible with the naked eye nor on my iPhone's screen ) I hope you enjoyed this journey Here is my interpretation of the graphite grey Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing that John Fitch drove to victory in the famous "Mille Miglia" race in 1955 (5th overall and 1st in his own class GT +1.3 !). At that time, it was numbered 417 (which indicates, for the curious, the authorized starting time of this car for the race, 4 :17 AM). This model that I entirely built on a Tamiya base at 1/24 scale – with addition of more than 200 scratched or 3D printed parts - is to my knowledge the second scale model in the world of this mythical car to have been entirely built by a modeler. I was able to find this during my documentary research that the first one was built over 2 months between September and October 2015, on a FROG kit n°705 base, by a modeler named Ian, whose work is exposed on the “themotormuseumminminature.co.uk” website (link : http://www.themotormuseuminminiature.co.uk/1955-mercedes-300sl-mm-fitch.php). Ian voluntarily omitted the chassis and the engine, glued the bonnet and the rear trunk lid, and made though not only a very nice model, but a remarkable work, in spite of some mistakes and omissions, if you compare it with the pictures of this car taken during the race, some of which can be found quite easily on the Internet. I have to say that he was less lucky than me, who benefited from a wealth of advice and documents, such as those kindly and generously provided by a member of this Britmodeller.com forum, @ejboyd5, a Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing enthusiast from New York. It must be said that it was Edward Boyd who suggested, not to say asked, that I make this car, after seeing my first silver Gullwing, and I gladly accepted the challenge. I didn't know yet what I was getting myself into, and had no idea of the difficulties I was going to encounter in creating or recreating certain indispensable and characteristic parts of this car. In the end, it will have cost me 2 Tamiya kits, more than 400 hours of documentary study, drawing in Fusion 360, 3D printing, assembly, a lot of hardware and supplies I didn't have, a few nervous breakdowns and a lot of beers. I also discovered and sometimes mastered new techniques, which improved my modelling skills. Nothing would have been possible and I would not have succeeded in completing this model if I had not benefited from the support and sometimes the suggestions of all my contributors, whom I will not mention all, for fear of forgetting one, but they will recognize themselves without difficulty. I could never thank them enough for their enthusiasm and for giving me the courage to go through with it. Of course, there are still many imperfections (At least, my clear coat, which is covered with a lot of micro-scratches, because I sanded it too early after application) or mistakes on this model, but I assure you I don't intend to build it a third time. During the building, I noticed that the first chassis had a little and un-fixable defect, which would lead to the impossibility to close the bonnet. So, I built a second one, avoiding to repeat the same mistakes, and this is the one I’ve incorporated in the body of the finished model. The first bare chassis has been even more improved, and is exhibited below with the car. And now some pictures (Sorry for the dust particles, they wasn't visible with the naked eye nor on my iPhone's screen ) I hope you enjoyed this journey And I invite you to follow my thread on the assembly of this car by following this link: MB 300 SL Gullwing n° 417, class winner of Mille Miglia 1955

Your Alfa is utterly amazing ?

Utterly stunning result and job ! Details of building, please ...

Good evening chaps On my first brake axis, the inner end which will receive a rod (where to attach the spring) isn't large enough ... so I can't attach on it the rod, because it would hit against the lower brake shoe. Furthermore, the dimension of the different sections are not perfect So, I've had to machine a new one, and then a second one. For those who may be interested in knowing how I've made them, here is the process: - Starting from a 8 mm diameter brass rod (21-22 mm long) , because the oval section (the cam) is 7.5 mm wide. - Put it in a 8 mm collet on the lathe - Reduce the diameter to 4 mm over 10mm long (1st section, will be outer the drum and will receive the brake lever) - Then reduce the diameter to 5 mm over 1.5 mm long (2nd section) - Then jump a 8 mm section over 3 mm (3rd section) - Get the part out of the 8 mm collet. - Reverse it - Put the 4 mm end in a 4 mm collet on the lathe - Reduce the diameter to 4 mm over 6 mm (4th section) - Mark the center with a centering drill bit (1 mm) - Drill this end with a 1 mm drill bit over 2-3 mm depth - Reduce the length of this end section from 6 to 5 mm. - Get out the part out of the mill I've got this: Then put this part on the dividing head that you have previously attached horizontally on the milling table, in order to fix the part vertically, the inner end (4 mm diameter over 5 mm long) on the top The 1 mm hole previously drilled at this end will be used to set X0 and Y0 points for the CNC mill Then, using Estlcam and a little G-Code file, I've milled the 8 mm diameter section, in order to get an oval shape: After several tries (because mistakes with settings of coordinates), I've got a part that I've put another time in a 4 mm collet on the mill, in order to reduce the 10 mm long 4 mm section to a 2.4 mm diameter, and finally I got that part: Of course, the brake lever fits well on this axis: So, I've actually machined 2 brake axis, but they are not finished. It remains some difficult and very accurate things to do: - I've to make measurements of lengths and angles, to attach the rod for the tensioning spring at the right place, in order to ensure the system operates correctly , and to calculate the good length of a homemade spring. - And I'll have too to mill a 0.8 mm groove at the end of the 2.4 mm section, placed at the right angle. This groove will host the M1 bolt that attach the brake lever on the axis. While waiting for this, hereunder are some pics that shows the system: Not counting the drum, the brake shoes and the 2 springs, each assembly comprises 6 parts. I wouldn't even dare to count the hours I've already spent for that insignificant job Stay tuned if you like and thanks for watching

Good evening chaps I've begun to work on the Fusion 360's project of a new brake axis which incorporate an elliptic section. This elliptic section will act, as on the Pocher part, as a cam whose function is to spread the brake jaws when the brake lever of a drum is pulled backward (or forward fir the rear brake) by the brake cables. Hereunder several pictures of my fusion project. At resting state, the gray (steel) rod will be pulled backward by a spring, and this mechanism (thanks to PROPELLER) will pull forward the brake lever on the drum, providing a good tensioning of the brake cables. If the "driver/modeller" press down the brake pedal, the brake lever will be pulled backward, the gray rod will move forward, enlarging the spring, and when the modeler will release the brake pedal, the spring will compress, pulling backward the rod and forward the brake lever. The two jaws of the bake drum will be joined, as on the Pocher system, by a spring which ensure the jaws will get closer when the brake pedal is released. This mechanism hasn't be tested yet, only in my mind, but I think I've found the way to create it. Unfortunately, my CNC Mill isn't five axis, and it's actually impossible for me to machine this part in a simple and single way So, starting with a 8mm brass rod, using the lathe and the CNC milling machine, I've at the moment got the following part, which has to be considered as a rough draft, and on which a lot of work remains to do (groove at the outer end, hole and rod at the inner end), before it gets its final shape: Stay tuned if you like, and thanks for watching

Thanks Codi

As it's impossible to recover my old thread, and even more impossible to rebuild it from the starting zero point, I've decided to publish here the next progresses and improvements of the model. The following pictures describe rather well the actual state of the model:

Thanks a lot Peteski and Iamsuperdan for your encouragements. I'll be back soon at my bench, my weakness is vanishing

Hi guys Still alive You can follow my build here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235007598-pocher-bugatti-t50-coupé-de-ville-a-resurrection/

Very kind of you, Peter As soon as possible, I'll rebuild my thread, summarizing the steps to get to the heart of the matter ....so, let us be patient.

Hi Don I've posted two requests by the "contact us" form since I deleted my thread, and have not received any response ! I've a great lack of free time actually so i'm not able at the moment to re-build my thread, but, I hope to do so in a few weeks. Meanwhile, you can connect on : http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235007598-pocher-bugatti-t50-coupé-de-ville-a-resurrection/ to follow my work. Many thanks for your encourgaments Thierry PS: the last picture I posted, with a totally scratch new exhaust system

Waiting an hypothetical repair of my disaster, I will invite those who are interested in, to follow my building report, on this link: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235007598-pocher-bugatti-t50-coupé-de-ville-a-resurrection/

Thanks Peter.. Yes it's terrible, not only for me, but too, I'm so so sorry for all my followers, who encourage me in my building report since my introduction. I've already sent a message by this mean, and havn't yet received any answer. Possibly I've made another mistake ? So I just achieved to sent another identical one....wait and see ! Thierry

Hello guys Is there here a moderator or an administrator, who will be able to UNDELETE my Bugatti's thread ? ("Pocher Bugatti T50 Coupé de Ville: a Resurrection" in "Other models - > Big Boyz" ) My very long last post had been reproduced five times ! I wanted to delete 4 of them, and OOOOOOUUUUUUPPPSSSSSSS, the whole thread has been deleted I hope a recovery would be possible ! If not, I'll try to rebuild the thread, but it might take a while Sorry for all of you, guys, who followed my thread

Hello guys Is there here a moderator or an administrator, who will be able to UNDELETE my Bugatti's thread ? My very long last post had been reproduced five times ! I wanted to delete 4 of them, and OOOOOOUUUUUUPPPSSSSSSS, the whole thread has been deleted I hope a recovery would be possible ! If not, I'll try to rebuild the thread, but it might take a while Sorry for all of you, guys, who followed my thread

Utterly amazing Congrats

Sacrilege but eager to see the result of your build ( )

Really amazing Harry... I'm very impressed by the rendering of the top !!! hope to reach, one day, such a level of craftsmanship ...my hats off !

Very interesting !

Fantastic build ! I'm very impressed