absmiami

before the sump - putty and clean-up for the under-tray and the radiator grill

the printed engine has no sump - model factory pico sent me a picture of the sump from and old german magazine - so Ill make me a V12 Delage sump ...

first photo shows the axle and leaf springs mocked up in the chassis - it's a tight fit ... second/third photos just show the opening for the sump in the undertray

time to replace the chassis tray - with .015 evergreen sheet

mock up pix for the axle/spring and spindles and placement into the chassis next - got to modify the front chassis cross brace , glue/attach the radiator grill/forward chassis rails, and make/attach the undertray

- dragged kicking and screaming into the new century .... - wow - I just learned how to use auto-correct - how exciting ! the part used to locate the front axle to the spring is cut fr tubing, filed, and glued the short length of tube is inserted into the part when gluing - to approximate the correct angle on the axle ...

thanks for the compliment - but if you want to really see some Delage detail - check this builders blog out ..... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235014899-delage-15-s-8-grand-prix-18/ this guy is gonna give me nightmares ... anyway - the resin cast spindle/drum brake assembly will be used in modified form -with separate brake drum housings with sharper detail and I glued a short piece of filed evergreen plastic - fr larger section tube - to the top of leaf spring to grab the axle the real axle was just welded onto the top of the leaf spring - but this way I think I can get a safe axle attachment w/out a lot of extra glue - at least that is the plan ... and I think I have just located some tiny cast "castle" style nut/bolt assemblies - been searching for these suckers for years - more later

but first the front axle ... using the white metal Finecast kit part for the '27 delage GP car as a reference began with .118 Raboesch wh styrene tube - tapered the ends with files and sanding sticks - marked a guideline to center the bends - inserted brass rod - cut notches in tube - and bent by hand with the help of a pin vice that is open-ended - so that I can insert the axle assembly then glued and sanded the bends and checked on the drawings - this should work ..... the axle and spindle is one single assembly - no need to design working spindles because the mechanical brake assembly makes pose-able scale turning front wheels impractical next have to figure out a secure axle attachment part on the top of the leaf springs ....

RRrrenshape: bought a half a slab over ten years ago - expensive - but it will last me a long time ... ebay is apparently an option for smaller amounts/pieces - at least one ebay seller offers board end "cutoffs" at what should be a decent price haven't tried it yet - but if you do - let me know - ask to try the brown stuff - 450 - first - that's what I've been using - but you can also order a "harder" substance the pictures show the second leaf spring in place - the gray casting - almost ready to glue the radiator/frame assembly to the main frame rails ...

none of the above makes sense til you see picture 0733 this is a mock up - once the radiator and front rail section is glued to the main chassis casting - not yet - the leaf spring will both locate the axle and act as a brace for the chassis assembly the leaf spring pictured is a casting from another project - I'll either use it or make something like it .... without the shaped fairings - the leaf springs can't sit under the chassis rails - where they belong ... starting to think about the axle - can use the white metal casting in the Finecast '27 Delage kit as a guide make it in nickel silver or shaped evergreen plastic ?? dunno

gotta make the same changes to the fairing attached to the section of chassis rail forward of the radiator so the renshape/evergreen sandwich replaces the thick resin fairing and will again be shaped with the bulge renshape is easily shaped with sanding sticks to get a precise shape also filling in the fairing ahead of the radiator - again with renshape the casting is accurate for the '25 team car - but the restored car that I am modeling does not have these openings

back to work using a sandwich of renshape - the brown material and .010 evergreen white sheet - to replace the forward section of the chassis tray the part is thinner and will have a shape - a slight bulge - to make room for the fr suspension leaf springs - which run directly under the chassis rail up front .... the bulge in these parts is not apparent on the scale drawings but is visible on the photos of the restored car on page 1

those were large sports cars !

12 th scale ?? that's a curve ball [yes it's opening day]

the chassis is casted with the base plate in a single casting the base is too thick - about 4 scale inches - so I sawed/grinded most of it off to be replaced with some thin evergreen plastic sheet - probably .015 test fitting the engine - is this cool or what! and adding some notches to the casting for the engine mounting plates ... if you refer back to the pix on the first page - you'll notice that the chassis is painted - so it made sense to cast this in resin - and it will be easier to modify ...

the solder and metal were then hand filed to shape - to be polished later .....

once these rivets were sanded flush I did some work on the tail .047 brass tube was soldered to the rear fender flaps - the spring leaf will be attached to the ends and I needed a metal enclosure for the base of the tail - used a portion of the thick engine bulkhead that I had removed from the body - filed it to approx shape - and then attached it with a bead of low temp solder

confined to the house for 72 straight hours - doctor's orders so I got some stuff done - in between NCAA games ... the inside of the driving compartment has perforated sheets of aluminum - for reinforcement of body-work (?) these were made from .012 plastic sheet - to be painted then back to work on the rivets - I know you wanted to see some more rivets! these rivets attach the reinforcement sheets to the body work ...

March update more - lots more - rivet holes and rivets - following the outline of the cockpit cowling and the frame two more # 76 drills have bit the dust ...next - gotta enclose the under-side of the tail and make some frame/fit adjstments and make the perforated aluminum trim pieces that brace both sides of the cockpit the Indycal tachs are a bit too big for the dash - they were designed for a Bugatti and probably larger in 1/1 but I will order some 1/32 gauges that mite do the trick ... off to the Philly NNL .....

The 1940 Miller mid-engine Indy car - variously known as the Gulf Miller or the Preston Tucker Special - is now on display at the Indy Museum with it's engine bonnet open . The car was a non-runner for many years and the subject of a long term Museum restoration. As you can see, I began to build me one - in 24th scale of course - [ we'll leave the 24th/25th scale debate for another time] these parts have sat quietly in this storage bin for several years - I was not satisfied with my suspension parts - and there were no contemporary photos of the engine bay ... The Dees Miller bible has great drawings and some famous black & whites - the shots of the engine are incredible but I'd sure like some good engine bay photos of the restored car and perhaps some more good shots of the driving compartment ... so ... those of you who live within a Firestones' throw of Indy - I have a request take me some pictures - post them her or send them to me - up to you I'll gladly pay your admit fee for the day !! now, hurry ! by the way - the wire wheels are Bradford's

small update with the instr panel located I mocked up a support post inside the body - L shaped evergreen - to locate the run of the rivets over the cowl and of course broke another #76 - got three left ..... still a couple more rows of rivets on the body and then back to the bonnet for more .... rivets

bet Frederick has got some very helpful material .... looking forward to his post meantime ... noticed that the shape of the cowl above the instrument dash needed correction so I added low temp solder to the larger opening and removed some metal from the mechanic's side - I needed more balance .. after some fettling, I've got a more symmetric shape, which will look better with the instrument panel installed - mocked up in the last picture and with the panel taped in place I can run the rivets over the cowl and place the instrument panel frame the instrument dash panel will be aluminum, probably glued over the plastic sheet mock-up

with the strip glued in place I have to re-drill the rivet holes and glue in the wire for the rivets most of the stems on the underside will stay there they will help locate the bulkhead - which will probably be plastic with thin sheet aluminum glued to the front busted a couple more drills this weekend - even with the drill lubricant ... next is the rivets for the instrument panel frame - gotta do this together with the frame support so that everything is aligned ....

with the rivet holes drilled it's time to make and attach the lip along the bulkhead line that retains the bonnet re-profiled the under-side of the cowling with a steel cutting tool cut some .015 evergreen plastic strip to glue - epoxy - to the underside of the cowling the tape along the edge of the strip is temporary - just there to help align the strip while gluing ...

completing the brass trim around the driver compartment and drilling a bunch of holes for the rivets for the engine bulkhead and the chassis pic 3 shows the bronze wire product that I am starting to use for these rows of rivets