AmericanMuscleFan

Great job on the cab modifications Brian. 👍 It's crazy how accurate and believable your handcrafted pieces are, I have to check the photos more than once to convince myself that these are scale pieces. That reminds me, you must have a huge inventory of Styrene, that's not a subcompact you're making?

Hello everyone, As promise, the second part of yesterday evening update. I'm a bit rushed for time, I have a friend who needs my help this afternoon, I'll get back to you in the evening. Francis I drilled a hole in the end of the axle in preparation for adding a threaded brass bolt portion. I am currently machining the part that will become one of the brake caliper brackets. Now on the rotary table to create the final shape. A little bit more progress. I made a convex shape using a ball nose end mill and drilled a small hole to add a brass pin to increase rigidity and help with alignment. I realize I forgot to take pictures of some of the items I machined but you get a good idea of the process I think! Another one! For those who are just joining, the reference piece that I took as a model is at the beginning of the previous post. The reason I made the rotor first is because it's easier to adjust the axle size to the rotor hole than the other way around. Hope this makes sense to you? I can also take exact measurements of the remaining space for the brake calipers (which I will do next). The brass nut will hold the brake rotor in place, the same principle as on the real car.

What else can I say, everything falls into place with each update and the sum of all these good moves will surely create another masterpiece! 👍

You are just too kind and modest Brian, what I can then add is that we have a mutual admiration for this hobby even if we do not play in the same class! I persist and sign, you have a crazy talent and I will come to fill up on motivation on your thread and the subsequent ones I hope! Trust me, I won't wait another 18 pages before showing up! 😉

Thanks Rich, I will upload the rest of the photos tomorrow morning, I still have to reduce the size because the resolution is too high, I use a digital camera and not my cell phone. Francis

Brian, Brian, Brian, It's 18 pages of pure joy and pure passion to look at! It's been a long time since I took the time to come and see the projects in this category and you prove to me how passionate you guys are about trucks. It's so nice to see an artist with all the talent you have use it to create such jewelry! I am so impressed by the quantity and quality of work done in such a short period of time, it's beyond me! I take my hat off to you! 🎩

Cool project Dan! It's strange to see you building something other than a Mopar, but there's nothing wrong with that, the '64 Nova is a nice little car and from what I can see it will be equipped with increased power! The Moebius kit seems to be of good quality and your choice of color will be superb! 👍

Hello everyone, I finally finished the next pieces of the puzzle... before doing more!!! 😁 Continuing with the fabrication of the front suspension/steering components, I made one of the most critical and difficult parts, I would say, the front spindles. They are of course made of brass because as they are composed of several parts and cannot be made in a single piece, welding was the best solution for a reliable and precise assembly. For this project I wanted to make them more realistic in shape and the way the wheels are mounted on the car with a bolt on the axle. There are a lot of pictures so I will have to upload them in 2 posts. I am attaching the target image I used as a reference, please feel free to ask if you have any specific questions, I won't list all the fabrication details but a picture is worth a thousand words! Francis The target. I started with a brass rod of sufficient diameter on the lathe. Then on the rotary table on the milling. Same operation rotated at 180 degrees. Now at 90 degrees. Now, I shorten the opposite side. I could have done it by hand but I rounded the back directly on the milling machine. Drilling holes for the ball joints that I have made previously. It's still raw but you can see that I've planned holes to pin the other parts that will be attached to it. Note: The rest of the photos will be uploaded in a second post, I think that would exceed the limit allowed per post so i will do that tomorrow.

Gorgeous job on the mag Daniel, the sum of all those superb hand build parts will create another masterpiece! Your dedication to this and previous builds is a great example of what determination can produce! 👌

Fantastic work on the engine Pierre, all these hand made parts made all the difference, you are right to be proud of the result! 👌

Thanks Will, other updates coming soon, the steering components are not the easiest to make and there is little margin for error! Francis

It's hard to believe, you should put one aside to prove it! 😁

Yes, it's true, we are so naive... 😁

Thanks Brian and welcome to my WIP, the bolts are 0.6mm from Scalehardware, they are the smallest they sell with the threaded nuts making the whole thing. I had purchased the socket set before the original owner sold the business (I don't think they are still available), they are essential for handling as they are very small. Thanks Will, I probably answered your question in the one I did for Brian above. I have already made the request to Scalehardware and the threading dies are not available for such small bolts and nuts, I don't know how those who make them do it, it takes very specialized equipment! Francis

I can only respond with a broad smile my friend! 😊

Sorry Pierre, I have been at work for the last 2 days (12 hour shifts) but I saw that trusted friends have already given you the same advice that I would have done! 😊 Luckily there are some more diligent than me! 😉

What an improvement on the steering system! 👍 The pleasure of scratch building! 😊

Cool stuff Ian, I love this gold colored material (brass 😊) your builds lend themselves perfectly to it and you obviously master soldering! Did you print the differential, Lenco transmission and other parts yourself?

Hello and Happy New Year to everyone! 🎉 My short vacation is already over, time to go back to work but I wanted to share this before returning to everyday life. I made some progress, nothing fancy but I wanted to show it to you because I want to make my wheel hubs differently for this project so I started with the brake rotors because I need them to have a very precise fit. They are pretty simple, one-piece design as they will barely be visible when the wheels are installed to the car. As with my last builds, the wheels will be bolted and removable, I used small bolts as studs in the disk brake hubs. The size of the rotors is approximately 11 inches in scale. See you soon, Francis Basic machining on the lathe to get started. Now in the rotary table to make a groove for screwing in the bolts that will act as studs. Drilling holes for bolts. Drilling hole for axle. Back on the lathe to separate the disk from the rod. Back view. Front view.

Thanks Dave! The most interesting remains to be done and I hope that 2025 will be a good year to move this project forward. Happy New Year! Francis

Thanks Rich, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it could be even better but it might never end at the same time... 🤔

Great work Jason, it's been a long hiatus but the latest results of your work are first class! 👍

Wear a red hat and a white beard and you will be our Santa Claus even if the holiday is over! 🎅

The best way to try to increase the low value of our poor currency Pierre, I approve of your good gesture! 😁 Beautiful work on the linkage by the way! 👍

Your boots follow your lips as they say around here, your maxim (fun with Styrene) is well demonstrated with all these beautiful models, you are prolific Claude! With your creativity we "never know what you're going to come across" like Bubba said in the movie Forest Gump, you impress the gallery my friend! 👍