Anglia105E

Thank you Gary, and it was just an experiment with the Vaseline, but it turned out surprisingly well. I need to point out an error which appears right at the beginning of this topic..... the Franklin Mint Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud is not a 1962 Silver Cloud II, but atually it is a 1955 Silver Cloud I...... must have been getting tired ( it's late ). David

Thanks Mike for the quick reply and I hope you find this topic interesting. Moving on to the chassis..... the Minicraft styrene chassis is a good fit for the Franklin Mint diecast body shell, but I needed to cut out a few small areas to allow the front end of the chassis to fit properly. It is worth mentioning that I had to dismantle a Franklin Mint Rolls-Royce Phantom I - 1929 to provide the correct screws for assembling the door hinges, dashboard and boot lid on this Silver Cloud. You can see that part of the exhaust silencer has been cut away but once modified, this will be replaced and the exhaust sysyem will be painted aluminium, with a chrome tailpipe made from spare plastic kit sprue. Above the spare wheel that sits at the rear of the chassis I shall scratch build the boot floor section and fit the boot floor carpet material. The front bumper and registration number plates for both front and rear of the model will be added later, as will the roof aerial made from fuse wire and solder.

There follows a photo of three cars showing the Sand colour of the hybrid at the back, the Oyster Grey colour of the Silver Cloud in the middle, and the Gold colour of the Bentley at the front. All the component parts are gathered together, ready for assembly, including chassis, axles, road wheels and tyres, engine, bumpers, interior seating tub and the radiator grille is already fitted. The rear lamp clusters and headlamps were coated with vaseline rather than masking tape, and the process of scraping off the paint afterwards worked well. My previous builds were the Silver Cloud I which has a 4.9 litre inline 6-cylinder engine while this Silver Cloud II has the 6.2 litre V8 engine. The interior upholstery is cream leather and the steering column has been moved to the right hand drive position on the dashboard.

Usually I post to an ongoing topic in the Dioramas section, so this is my first time posting to this section. When I say ' Hybrid ' I am referring to the fact that this is a coming together of diecast and plastic, with 70% of the build using plastic parts and 30% using diecast parts, plus a few scratch built parts also. I have wanted to do this for some time, as all my builds have been styrene or resin. The body parts are from the 1:24 Franklin Mint Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II - 1962, which include body shell, four doors, bonnet ( hood ) panels, boot lid and dashboard. All the remaining parts are from the 1:24 Minicraft Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II - 1962 kit. The real car was a 1960 motor car owned by Osmond Rivers in 1963 and while the Franklin Mint model is finished in Masons Black over Oyster Grey, this car has to be Masons Black over Sand, which is a subtle gold colour. I shall try to add text in between the photos to make this topic more interesting. There is one photo of the original 1:1 car and we begin with the body parts before masking with best blue masking tape, then applying Halfords grey primer ( rattle can ) and then Zero Paints Rolls-Royce Sand. This is to cover the lower part of the car, leaving the original Masons Black untouched. David

Your 1952 Hudson Hornet build is really interesting Anders, especially the blue and ivory paint and lots of chrome! The early fifties motor cars from USA and also England, France and Italy had plenty of style, and the Hudson is a true classic. Well done with your excellent build. David

That is the place to be Patrick.... the log cabin in your back garden..... privacy and doing what you do best. I walked out of a large company at the age of 50, having turned down an offer of redundancy 12 months previously, and went self employed. Leaving the company with no redundancy money and 23 years service was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, but going self employed was something I should have done maybe 10 years earlier. Now 65 and enjoying not only building scale model Rolls-Royce cars but also able to continue fixing computer problems for my loyal clients. I do think it is important to spend time and money on the kits that you want to build and do it now..... not tomorrow, or next week.... or next year. David

Your rolling chassis shows how this build is going to work. Also, you have overcome the issues along the way, and this is scratch building at it's best. Your idea to use the pile of plastic cards taped together is clearly a sound method of assembly..... a very effective way to get the alignment and the stance right. David

Pat..... I reached retirement age 11 days ago but there is so much going on, which is a good thing, that I have to remember scale model car building is a serious hobby. Over the next couple of years I hope to spend more time at the work bench ( kitchen table ) and planning to come up with some quality builds, and diorama ideas too. David

Thanks Pat, and I will get round to it soon! Quite a few builds going on at once..... need to concentrate on one build and get it done. David

I like both your MK II and your MK I builds...... the clear crystal body shell reminds me that I want cast a clear Gedeo body shell from my Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud mould. Not sure how that will turn out. David

Liking those double doors Pat...... maybe could be styrene, balsa, or resin even? David

Excellent colour choice Bo, and the Tamiya Mini kit is a nice build. I have not seen the Hasegawa Flat Black Finish before, but I might try this product. Davi

This is exactly what I have found, which is that quite ordinary pieces of electrical kit can be dismantled to reveal all manner of useful shaped components that will serve as very convincing parts for scale model cars and engines. David

Just had a look at the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 engine, which has printed really well, and also your Mini project is very interesting Michi, as well as unusual. The Tamiya Mini kit is a good kit and I used one as a donor kit for a Morris Minor Traveller I was building. You did well to change the data of the 3D printed engine and the whole build looks great. David

Way to go Pat....... keep adding those extensions, and the building continues....... ! David

All your painstaking detailed work for the gauges and the dashboard has paid off Mark........ what an excellent result ! David

Some things do not work so well in 3D printed material, but as you say, your 1:25 scale blueprints will be very useful. I have designed a 1:24 scale Rolls-Royce 6 cylinder inline engine in 3D, using FreeCAD software and this has been 3D printed by Shapeways. Two of the engines have been used for two of my 1950's Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud models in 1:24 scale. Few photos for you. David

Michi...... I am very interested in your idea to begin this project. I will follow your work in progress and waiting to see how it goes. The plan drawings and the 3D option are of particular interest to me. David

Osmond Rivers, the chief designer at Hooper & Co., has arranged to meet a gentleman just outside the Bennet Street entrance of the building. The gentleman in the bowler hat and the long black coat has arrived by taxi cab and he has asked the cab driver to wait. Perhaps there is something in the briefcase that Mr Rivers is carrying that is to be handed over to the tall gentleman........ ? David

It is early one morning and a Jaguar Mk I has been abandoned outside the main entrance door of Hoopers. This has been reported to the Police by the managing director of Hooper & Co, who discovered the abandoned motor car as he came into work that morning. PC Dixon has called for backup, and also forensics to examine the Jaguar. - A second call from the constable's headquarters confirms that this vehicle has been used as a getaway car during a bank robbery that same morning. David

Pat.... would that be a Junkers aircraft engine from World War II ? David

The Police Public Call Box has been painted, also given new sign boards and a new lamp on the roof. PC Dixon is now able to make use of the call box in order to make his important duty calls, as well as somewhere to have a cup of tea while on the beat. St James's Street outside Hooper & Co is now a safer place for the community. David

Some neat figure work there Alex....... and you have a running race driver....... I need to try something like this with my figures. David

Chris..... this Ferrari build of yours looks so real and you will have one happy client I am sure. The Tamiya kits take some beating, as I have found with builds like the Jaguar MK II and the Morgan 4/4, as well as the 1936 Toyoda AA. My builds tend to be focused on 1930's, 1940's and 1950's motor cars, especially Rolls-Royce but I would certainly like to build a Ferrari Enzo like yours! David

Thank you, Andre.... Wow !! David