Big John

and my kit is buried somewhere in a closet and I can't find it otherwise I would scan it for you.

Your work on the carb is fantastic, especially after seeing what you had to start with! Not that the whole build isn't.

or add a sleeper for those long hauls to the concourse.

What a Fun build in deed. Way back when I was but knee high to a hubcap my family had a teardrop camper. Your build brings back wonderful memories and answers many questions about the layout of cabinets and so forth. Thanks for sharing!

Love it Bugatti Fan, I'll have to search for more. Now this isn't chrome bur a nice finish anyway. The manifold feed tubes are a combination of Testors spray 'Aluminum Plate' with an over coat of Tamiya 'Anodized Aluminum' that I believe I picked up from the lexan RC paint rack. It drys with a gloss finish but still keeps some of the satin look.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and kind words about my models. It has been a passion for much of my life. I look forward to seeing and learning more about you own work in the future. Model On! John

Hi Mike, Glad to have found this forum too, it means making commitments though. Which is not always a bad thing. Lee, I am working on putting together comprehensive production print sets of parts, to get the most bang for the buck, to be followed by getting quotes from 3D print companies. A daunting task with the complexities of this project. I don't have the production capabilities, and I know Mike has a head full of his own projects to keep him busy. Well let you guys know as the project develops. Thanks for all the great responses and interest.

When at first it don't look good do it again. If only they would come out right the first time. I'll have to check out the TMM line, good micro hardware is hard to find.

Yeah, I think carving them in will be the way to go, I'll do some tests before commitment... Kind of like love.

Have to admit that is a Hawk 1/6 weathered version that I picked up cheap to use as reference for my 1/8 stock version.

Thanks for the Detail Associates info, model train stuff is a great resource. I saw a tip once about using 'O' gauge "glad hands" air couplers for 1/24th truck break hose connections. They can even connect and dis-connect like the real thing. Do you ave a carburetor for that thing? "notice anything missing in the engine bay?"

Thanks Dave, I like the whole Van Vooren Deco look and Jean Bugatti's typ. 57 roadster show car. The back came out really nice. I think the innie louvers well be best.

Then we'll put on the salt! Still working on color variations...

I hate to pick nits but your blower is mounted too high and does not connect with the drive. Just saying...

Research Research Research! The Napier Bluebird sure looks like it it has Royale Dunlops. Here are the guys building our LSR cassis at the Bugatti Autorail factory. Now all I have to do is finish the beast.

And finally... what with the cold weather driving me out of the shop I've fleshed out the engine design. I upped the bore from 4.939 to 5" shortened the stroke to 4.75" to =746.13 cu. in. or 12.23 Liters. Twin cams with 4 valves per. Supercharged with variable boost setting, and twin headers. Hoping to get at least. 800hp @ 3,000 rpm. Per engine. The original Royale / Autorail had 275hp @1,700 rpm with Very restrictive intake and exhaust on regular gas not avgas as I would propose.

At this point I've done a rough color shoot to test my panel line depth and the best size for panel fasteners and rivets.

I am trying to decide whether I want to add louvers to the back panels for radiator exhaust. Innies or outies? Innies I will have to carve into the block, outies I am considering casting. I am using a technique that I've adapted from another mag. tip page, using alum. foil to make a quick mold and then pour, in this case one drop does it, resin go make copies.

Here are a couple of more views after further shaping and beginning to do layouts for panel lines. My driver is one of our late friend Chris Etzel's castings. I treasure this little guy. good for relating scale.

On my rocket car I developed a technique for the fin/wing using a rod and wrapping it within thin styrene sheets cut to size, glued the edges together and then filled with resin. As noted by a fellow contributor, can't find the reference now but, Plans are only suggestions and guides, reality is what's left at the end.

I like to make patterns so both sides of a the car match. And cut out a pattern in steel sheet to use in incising the exhaust ports. This way I could use a dremmel bit without too much chance of over shooting the borders. The exhaust pipes are from some 'teardrop' shaped aluminum tubing that I think is for sail boat masts or airplane struts, but makes a cool exhaust pipe in this case.

My original layout had flat sides on the wheel spats which I decided didn't fit the Deco liner feel so I made them more curved and sleek looking. Any time I need multiple items I will make resin copies, and always save the original prototype. Here I've used plex rod to make a rough casting that I can work into the intake scoops then cast the finished scoop x6.

This was to be a curbside model so I didn't go into all the internal structures and running gear but gave a reasonable space for transfer cases etc. The next step was to break out the renshape and paste the paper patterns on for rough cutting and preliminary sanding. Here are some shots of the rough shaped parts using coat hanger wire for connecting pins.

I am fortunate to have the special set of skills to bring to this project. Some automotive knowledge, AutoCAD drafting , and Photoshop. Using section views of the type 57 engine and it to a section drawing of the Royale bore and stroke of 4.94 x 5.125 in. I could do a rough engine layout and I basing the wheel size on the Royale tire size (6.75 x 35) and later found that they matched the tires on the Golden Arrow model from 'Profile 24' so I had some proven tires. I could now begin building the body loosely based on the Autrail and type 31 Tank both of which set speed records. To keep the profile low I went with the driver sitting low and in front of the business end of the car. I went about designing the CAD drawings in full size which I could scale down and print out plan views and elevations. I was also fortunate to have a large format printer to plot out full 1/24 scale plans. These I laid out with extra parts to use in the model parts layout.