absmiami

"Thanks for allowing us to come along for the ride" by the way - it's a rather dangerous ride ... I think two of the team drivers were killed in races in 1925. It was that era ..... very fast cars and dirt circuits - yikes

thing 1 the '24 car had a raised lip on the cowling in front of the riding mechanic - the '25 car did not, so neither did the casting I melted a bunch of low temp - "tix" solder onto the lip - a small pile then sanded and filed into shape per the above photos next I am removing some louvers and reshaping the cockpit opening

well - now the plot thickens ... Frederick: very good pictures - I've d/loaded what is generally available on the web - starting years ago when the car was first shown after it's extensive resto but any of your shots can be posted as you have time - and they will all be helpful / instructive etc Do you think the body rivets are copper ? they appear to be in the photos And how about the cockpit opening trim ? appears to be brass ?? regarding the parts: they were "sourced" from Pico Elgin who lives in Atlanta - I will make sure that he sees your post some or all of the parts could be available - if he is able - his terms, obviously dash: I think that Indycals produces very good Bugatti dash gauges - they mite be the answer Please ask Patrick Delage it the car will be back in the US any time in the next few years perhaps at the Amelia Island event - my favorite concourse ...

per the attached good kits - similar to the 12 cylinder cars of '24 and '25 it's a curbside kit - but a good start it was inching higher on my to-build list - until I got my hands on Pico's castings/printings has a straight 8 cyl engine - the cylinder head looked a lot like the heads on the earlier car and shared a lot of design features

initially - this will not be real time work was begun 2 months ago so I'll be posting in catch-up mode for a week or two ... first prep work on body before making changes to build the restored car. the opening for the cockpit was covered in a "film" of white metal - removed with steel cutting burs and metal files removed the thick metal engine bulkhead and did some surface prep and removed quite a lot of metal flashing from the inside

a cyclekart based upon a Delage ??? couple more shots - the translucent parts are 3D printed by Shapeways these include the engine, exhausts, tires and wheel rims other parts are resin casted the body parts are white metal casted - partly because they look cool - and partly because the car was finished with a turned metal pattern - EVERYWHERE - I'll be scratch-building the other stuff think I forgot to mention that this is 1/24 scale try scratch-building that engine and exhaust manifold in 1/24th - lots a luck ...

"I have one of his bodies" Did Pico 3 D print his body ? - does that mean that he can be two places at one time ?? what do you do when your "parts" start to fall off ??

Gramps - good guess - Auto Kits did the '27 Delage - which had a straight eight engine - though the kit was a curbside ...

don't think Mr. Leno will object to the link .... this is just the coolest looking pre-war Grand prix car I've ever seen actually - I've only seen photos and videos and I'm breaking one of my rules ... I generally never build anything that I haven't actually walked up to and photographed but I'm making an exception for this thing so the Cooper is back in the barn for a little while so I can build me a 1924 Delage Grand Prix car the parts are 3D printed and casted by a Georgia modeler well known to participants of the NNL South Atlanta show his name is Pico he actually "drew" - and built - the 1925 race winner using printed parts from Shapeways that he then re-cast in metal. I'm taking a second set of his parts to modify for the 1924/5 car - and wait til you see the engine casting! which was a sort of hybrid car - this is the car that has been restored and featured on the Leno video I don't think any of the other 2LCV's have survived - maybe one other early car here we go

I hate when this happens ... just as I was recovering from my U joint fever , I obtained some really cool white metal castings of a long lost French Grand Prix car - from the twenties It's a Delage - and it's been on my "to build" list for years So the Cooper has been put back into the barn for a little while so that I can begin this project - with apologies to John Cooper .... off we go ...

what a nice find never heard of Fador - do you know what else they produced I've got a similar kit for the Allard sports car made in the late fifties - but I have never seen this !

yes - the photo of the soldering on balsa should have come with a warning - something like "don't try this at home" there are better, safer soldering pads available - but I seem to be stuck in my ways - as you know ..... and about the rear suspension - yes - excellent and thorough hx - I oversold this Cooper's innovations Ferry Porsche has to be considered the Father of the modern race car J Cooper would have seen - and studied - the Germans at the pre-war British Grand Prix races and like Chapman - he was anxious to try his own designs after the war .... anyhow - I've got a U joint fetish - let's keep this a secret ..

some more shots to illustrate gonna make one more or three more undecided - the joints either side of the transaxle might be faked as they run under the frame and are difficult to see anyway

some more shots to explain the process my first attempts used U joints made from solid brass rod but I wasn't satisfied with the plastic yokes - which had to be made in halves so I then made the joints fr tubing - which had to be filed and sawed to tiny joints that would fit into the yokes as close as I will come to brain surgery on this project ...

"three little pigs"... time for some U joints this Cooper was one of the first race cars with indep rear suspension - using U joints they are relatively compact - they don't have to be as hefty as later U joints on car w larger engines So I tried several different methods of construction - using U joints soldered from brass my first attempts were too large - and a re-check of my photos led to some construction changes I will use the top one in the photo - the U joint is made from 1/32 brass tube - soldered and drilled - with .019 brass pins through the yokes the yokes are filed drilled and sanded from .60 x 1.00 evergreen stock, with some discs from round stock

klean !!

Glad to see you're not working by candlelight. : ???

Aber Chains : sold out on the BNA Model World site (Australia) have a look around - I purchased these w/in the last yr - can't recall which internet seller check the major model sellers catering to military modelers photo: current model assembly bench it takes one of two events to force me to clean my work bench first: an act of Congress second: a major hurricane this time it was the hurricane ..... Merit kits: got any un-builts left ?? which ones ??

back to the suspension for a moment the kit rear uprights will be used as modified with evergreen bits and the rear suspension arms from the Deeks' kit will be used as modified

post-Irma ........ note that there is a small bike chain sprocket in the picture of the crank case shown above the chain travels to the transmission - alongside its casing - and then runs back to a sort of transaxle casing difficult to machine these - so an internet hunt before the storm turned up ETSY - which sells old watch parts in bulk some of the parts will be used for the sprockets -which are different sizes on the crank case and the trans case some of the smaller gears will turn up in a later Bugatti project ..... the chain will be simulated with photo-etched "chain" links made by Aber they don't match perfectly with the watch gears but it should look okay - will probably try to solder this together

some more detail - including some structural webbing cast into the crankcase - added w bits and pieces of evergreen strip the head removed for some more mods and the crankcase sides lacked the cast fins or slots added with sections of evergreen railroad siding sheet

have you ordered your Resin Jag D yet fr Profil 24 ?????? oh, the storm ... luxuriating in air conditioning 100 miles north of Miami - house will be fine - whenever we get back - florida "gold coast' did much better than the Naples ft Myers area ...

these are some internet images of the Norton engine - showing the driver's left side of the engine

so the casting did not include the bottom of the crank case - which I am adding - it will poke out of the bottom of the engine bay - just some evergreen strip and liquid glue - then sanded and filed to shape and some initial crank case details - again fr bits of evergreen stock