François

Thanks Bugatti, both for the comment and for the push. Once glued in place and chromed, it should effectively look better. I 3d modeled the radiator cap and am trying to make it operational but so far, the print results are not to great. I haven't said my last word on that one. I also installed the wire mesh on the front grill frame, took me 2 tries but I'm happy with the result.

So, I was out skiing today when Bugatti fan and absmiami 'decided' that I had to move the bentley radiator badge. I took every ski lift time to think of a way to do this, here's what I did. First I found a good 2d cad line drawing of the logo then using this 2d drawing as a sketch in my 3d software, I embossed the logo on a curved surface that has the same radius as the radiator cover After several maneuvers I was able to isolate the logo and got this After printing, I got this. I also printed a test spout. Still a bit of tweaking to do but I'm quite satisfied. Noting is glued yet, once glued in place, the fit should be better. And the real thing So I think it safe for me to remove the kit's logo and replace it with the new better positioned one

Boy!! Talk about peer pressure! Not being one who backs out of a challenge, I'll give it a go. I'll first try to 3d model the logo and print it. If and only if this works will I remove the badge from the part.

Reprinted the radiator core and this time I got wedding patters right. And since I was reprinting, I added a small name tag. I'm not sure it's on my ref car but it was on a picture of a new core I have. I also installed the wire mesh. Naturally, unlike mine, you would't see thru a real core. But I kinda like it like this since the fans and water pump should be fisible from the front grill. I did a test with the front grill, not quite there yet but it's promissing. Here's a real core And here is mine the real webbing And mine And the name plate Front grill test

I had pretty much finished printed the different components for the radiator assembly when I noticed I made a mistake. Here's what I did wrong. There is a type of webbing inserted in small slots that goes all around the core's outter flange. Here's what I'm talking about. When designing the core, I missed one of the slots for the webbing, the result is a broken pattern. I'll reprint it. The rest of the parts are ok.

First test print of radiator core, not half bad. I'm still missing some details but at least I know it prints ok. I'll be using a very fine flexible wire mesh that as an aperture of .02 which should simulate the core's mesh pretty good. For the front grill, I'll use the same metal mesh used for the head lights.

Thank you all for the positive comments. Finished reenforcing the head lights assy, shouldn't brake anymore. Now that that's done, I decided to tackle the radiator. The kit's radiator is composed of 3 parts: 1-the inner part that represents the core (right), I'll completly replace this part because it not very detailed and it doesn't fit with the twin fans and water pump. The kit's core with the grill removed A real core My core so far 2-The outter shell (center). I'll keep the kit's part but will replace the poor excuse for mounting brackets that are there by more accurate looking brackets. The kit's bracket Real thing First test print I know that many say that the bentley badge location is incorrect but personnaly, I don't find it too bad. I think that playing with it would only make it worst since this part will be chromed. 3- the grill, I will also redo this completly As a side note, I was recently asked to 3d model and print a model T tire in 1/25 scale complete with the firestone logo and a specific thread. This is what it looks like And a vintage light. Again in 1/25 scale. The post holding it is a toothpick!! This was a mis printed part that I painted real quick just to see the color scheme

Had a bit of bad luck with the head lights assembly. The 'U' shaped bracket that holds the head lights is so fragile that it keeps braking. So I did what I should have done in the first place, I made it out of a brass rod. I had to slightly modify the horn bracket to have a more sturdy assembly. The new 'U' shaped bracket that is now more a 'Y' is made of soldered brass rod, round and square brass tubing. The lower rod will go thru the modified horn bracket and also thru the frame. I also made the spare wheel mount with a screwed on center spigot for easy spare removal And the real thing And lastly, l made the step. I might need to rework the shape a bit but it pretty close. This is the kit's step Mine And the real thing I'm also slowly advancing the lacing of the wheels. I've pre-painted all the hubs and rims First layer Second layer Third layer

Like mentionned on my previous post, I tried printing the wheel rims instead of drilling the ones from the kit. Well after a few printing interrations, I'm very happy to say that I was able to print a very nice rim. The prototype rim (all the pictures that fallow are of that wheel) was printed at an angle, the finished rims are printed flat and the result is even better. So here are some pictures from start to finish with, as always, a few pictures of the real thing. The rim fresh off the printer, printed at a slight angle I made an assembly jig to aid the alignment of the first row of spokes First row done Second row Wheel completed next to the kit's wheel Primed And painted. The prototype was painted after lasing but the proper wheels will be painted in sections, the hubs and rims will get a coat before lasing and a final coat over the finished wheel. I believe that the result should be better this way. i also printed a valve And a bunch of wheel weights The finished prototype wheel The real thing again the real thing And for fun, the model Vs the cad model and a little video 20240110_212556.mp4

I did the exhaust system. I wrapped the down pipe, added tube clamps with expension springs before and after the silencer and added the correct tail pipe mounting bracket. The real thing Tube clamps and springs Tail pipe bracket The real thing I also decided to try my hand at printed the wheel rims instead of drilling a zillion holes in the kit rims. First try is promissing. And lastly, here are some general shots of the car with the body on

Did the micro springs for the brake segments using. 003" wire. 20240103_095231.mp4 Reprinted the brake drums

Yes, they will be spring loaded. I also need to fine tune the brake pedal in order to give it a bit more travelling and I should be able to see mouvement on all 4 brake pads. I finished wiring the head lights. It wasn't easy to hide the wires but I think it came out ok. All the wires (gearmotor and lights) come out of tge frame on the left side of the gas tank. They make a nice little wire harness that will eventualy go to a control panel mounted on the outside of the display case. I still haven't decided if the harness will run on or go thru the mirored display floor. It will depend on the look I want. I also added 2 red wire clips to hold the battery cables.

When I started this project, one of my goals was to have working brakes. To achieve this, I needed working brake segments. So I drew them up and printed them with the only printer I had at the time (a filament printer). So I had my brake segments which eventually gave me working brakes. The thing is, I now have a resin printer. Sooo, me being me, I had to redo them. Here are a few pictures. First, here's what the kit proposes These are the segments I printed first This is what I really wanted And this is what I now have. Still need to make the return spring. it's really nice to be able to do praticaly any parts at will!!

Thank you Bugatti fan, I'm very happy with the result so far. Not sure I agree with you on the 'comming to completion' part. There is still many months worth of work to do. Here a quick list of what is to be done. 1 finish wiring the head lights 2 do wire wheels 3 radiator 4 bonnet 5 redo all brake segments and drums with resin print 6 cover body with material, body doors, trims, floor, dashboard... 7 foldable roof 8 body stand 9 display case with interior lighting 10 eletrical box with battery holder and switchs 11 perhaps a second half body so the frame details can be seen but still have a body on the model(not sure about thin one) I guess I'll know it when enough us enough

Thanks Big John, It's the revell chrome. The pens work great but for small areas only and touch ups.

As mentionned earlier, I had a set back with the gearmotor that is supposed to run the drive train. While connecting the wires to the motor, the leads broke from the motor too close to the end plate to be repaireble. Fortunately, when I ordered the gearmotor, I ordered 2. One high ratio ( the one that broke) and one slightly lower ratio. So I very carefully removed the rear housing covering the back end of the motor and the spur gear and was then able to remove the broken gearmotor. I then redid the terminals in a more sturdy way on the new motor. I had to reprint a new rear housing and spur gear and after a few hours of coaxing, was able to refit the new motor and complet the wiring. 20231230_163606.mp4 I also wired the faux battery complete with proper battery terminals. I then set out to assemble and dry fit the newly chromed head lights. Very very happy with the result !!

Thanks Bugatti fan, I'm very satisfied with the grills. As for the wheels, having done the Alfa romeo wheels last year, I know to well how tedious it can be. I just need to give myself a swift kick in the behind and get on with it. I had a moderate set back yesterday with the gearmotor that drives the model's engine and drive train... more on that later...

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the 3d resin printing process like I was, I thought it could be interesting to show the different steps requiered to print a part . 1- decide what to print. In this exemple, I wanted to improve the head light protection grill from this To this 2- 3d model the part 3- load the model in a slicer application. A slicer will literally slice the part in a multitude of layers. The number of layers depent on 2 things, the height of each layer, in this case it's 50 microns (.05mm) and the total height of the print. The taller the print, the more layers will be requiered and the longer the print will take. That's what fun with this process, the printing time is not dictated by the surface area being printed so a single small part of say 3mm height and 10mm square area will take as much time as 'X' of the same part as long as they fit on the printing plate. Now, this is where the game is won or lost. You have to give the proper orientation to the part so as to not have too much surface area being printed on each layer while taking care of the esthetics. You want to avoid supporting the part on visible surfaces because the anchor point will show a bit (or alot depending on their size and number). In this case, I wasn't able to avoid this but fixed the problem later on. Once oriented, you then add supports. The idea is to support the part at strategic point as it's being printed, avoiding overhangs. 20231229_071358.mp4 4- load in printer and print 5- wash part in washing station. I use a water wash resin so cleaning is done with water. Most resin will requier cleaning with alcool 6- remove part from support structure by diping in boulingrin water for 2 to 3 seconds. This is not always necessary but will make separation alot easier. Before boiling After 2 sec dip 7- Cure in curing station. Most small parts will cure in 2 minutes. The longest I cured à part was 5 minutes. (The washing and curing uses the same machine, at least mine does) After curing ( notice the bumpy top surface) 8- part finishing. Here you have to remove any anchor points that will be visible with either a blade, snippers or sand paper. I this case, not being able to support the part on a non visible surface ( I tried 5 different orientation but only one worked, I'm sure that someone with more experience could have achieved this), I printed a sanding tool since this part is very fragile. Sanding tool And after sanding All that is left to do is to install the wire mesh and chrome. So that's it, hope you enjoyed this!!

Yes, I think the scale is ok.

Saw horses would effectively be more period correct but since I'm reproducing a blower built in 2019 and they put the bodies on more modern trolleys, I will probably stick with this. And I must admit that I like the mecanical aspect of the wheeled trolley as opposed to a simpler wooden saw horse. That being said, I might very well change my mind when the time comes, would't be a first!! I wired the head lights today and they work. Just need to chrome them up. I also 3d modeled the grill rim as the one furnished in the kit is not really nice. I know that many modelers will cut away the center portion of the grill and add a real mesh. And I might end up doing just that but I'll try printing some more accurate rims first. I have a proper size wire mesh that has a .04" aperture that gives me about 20 squares which is about right and a .005" wire that scaled up is 1/16", also correct. Wired head lights Test fitted on car Lights on 3d modeled grill rims Real thing Proper sized mesh Kit's head light grill

Thanks absmiami! I keep pushing off the lacing of the wheels but I'll have to do them eventually. The hubs were resin printed but I printed the drums with my filament printer. I might try to reprint them in resin for better details. I might also reprint the brake segments for the same reason.

You can get a laser cutter for around 1500$ which is still quite expensive but I'm hopeful that, like with 3d printers, the prices will go down in years to come. As a side note, my very first encounter with 3d printing was back in 1995. I was designing an in line skate assembly machine for Bauer and they gave me a prototype wheel hub that had been 3d printed on a very big printer. The tech back then resembled todays resin printer in the manner that the part gradualy came out of a vat filled with a resin of some sort. But the major difference is that this big printed cost 1000000$ (yes, than many zeros) and the print quality was to 1995 standards. I can print the same part on my 500$ printer with a much better result. So yes, I am hopefull that laser cutters will be affordable. The shock absorber being done, my next task will be to run some micro gage wires from the head lights and gearmotor/starter all the way to the back of the car and eventually out of the still to be determined showcase and into a, also to be determined, electrical cabinet where there will be batteries and switchs to activate the head lights and the engine.

Finished the shock absorber, I think they turned out pretty good. Front shocks compared to the real thing Rear shocks

Ha but that's where it gets interesting Big John, my plan is to have a removable body that would be on it's own stand beside the car. That way I wouldn't lose any of the frame details. A bit like this. The completed body mounted on a stand and the completed frame on jack stands

It would certainly be a way to do it but I would need to fabricate close to 30 separate plates, all identical. If I had a laser, it would be doable but I don't (yet!!). The prototype had .025" thick arms (.3" scaled up). I've reprinted the parts with. 015" thick arms (.18" scaled up). It looks a lot better but I think I can still improve it with better print supports and a bit more details.