kensar

A perfect shade of red for red leather.

I couldn't find a good place to post pictures of my workshop, so I'll put them here. I am uploading all my pictures so they will be suitable size for messaging boards through Postimage. I don't know how to post them directly to the site as it only accepts the BB code, as far as I know. I have two main work areas, a 'dirty' one in the garage, and a cleaner one in my basement man cave. The man cave is where most of the work is done, pictured below: I work on a desk with the modeling tools and paints in easy reach. The cardboard box on the shelf is my paint booth! I made it myself about 15 years ago and it works fine. I direct the exhaust hose out the window that is behind it. It has a flourescent light on the top, shining into it so I can see what is going on, although a strip of LED lights would be better. Here is the main work space. In addition to the pictured area, I have a couple of other book case shelves with tools and supplies. It's ironic that 95% of the work is done in a 18" X 18" area on the desk and all this other space is just for storing stuff. The dirty area is pictured below: Here I have a lathe, mill, drill press, scroll saw, and belt sander out on the benches. I also have a grinding wheel and a lathe tool grinder. The one machine I use by far the most is the belt sander. All this is a lot and I'm grateful that my wife puts up with it. Many years ago, I decided I had too many kits - too many to build myself, so I changed focus to invest in my own skills and machine tools instead of a lot of kits. Now I could make a model of anything and not be constricted by what kit manufacturers make. Now if only I had a 3D printer...

Impressive detail continuing. I hope painting all that detail doesn't present a problem.

Nice looking engine turning. Can you tell me more about the X-Y table? Where you got it and the height from the bottom of the base to the top of the table?

Thanks for looking in, everyone. The doors are getting a lot of attention. I can't find anything drastically wrong with the design, but it needs a lot of test fitting and small adjustments. I plan to add a wire reinforcement running up into the roof area of the door to get the top to fit closely to the body. So far the doors are fitting well.

Time for another update. I'm now getting into the more personalized modifications on the body and chassis. I'm moving the cooling air intakes to behind the radiator like was done on the Mk.IIb. I guess the cool air coming from the front of the car was cracking the brake discs. I used the kit air pickups and put them on the radiator shroud. I also covered up the intakes on either side of the radiator opening. I also worked on the front clip. On the kit, this is posable open or closed. I will hinge it, although not like the typical GT40. I also filled in the hatches on the front clip as this is not a 24 hour racer, these would not be needed. I will leave the right side fuel filler as this is common to most GT40s. I abhor these screws that are in a lot of big scale kits. Most of the time they are completely unnecessary with proper kit engineering. I will remove or hide most of them. Thanks for looking in and following along.

The finish looks pretty good in the pics. I guess its too late to add some yellow trim to set off the green. Just the same - an excellent model in the making!

Looks excellent David. Jim Hall was such a significant innovator in racing technology, its a shame more of his work is not kitted.

Nice progress on this, Pierre. Have you decided on a livery yet?

So, the parts are coming together. This is one to watch!

That was quite a big gap to fill in!

Yes, Mark, I'm always looking for the easy way to do things - but the end result must look right. I got the cockpit tub straightened out with some hot water and then painted. Then did a test fit to look for fit interferences and note what the assembly sequence needs to be to make sure everything will hookup correctly. Doing so many modifications usually creates some fit problems. Found no current fit interferences but the left upper tie rod mount is close to the ignition coil and will need to be installed before putting the rear cockpit wall in place. Also need to put some hoses on the water pipes as I won't be able to access that area later. I need to paint the side pods before putting the interior tub in. Overall, things are looking good. Thanks for following, everyone.

This is looking very good, David. Regarding panel lines on white subjects, I sometimes just deepen the lines with a hobby knife instead of painting them, but what you've done looks good.

Hello Pierre and Mike. The bellows on the shafts were made from 3/32" styrene tubing. The 'grooves' were cut into the tubing using a 60 degree thread cutting tool on the lathe. Thanks for looking and the encouraging posts.

Fantastic work, Charlie. Where do you get the small bolts, screws and fasteners?

If I remember correctly, Profil24 did one of these in resin in 1/24 scale some time ago.

Thank you very much, Mark. The finished pedal assembly. Test fit. Next, I need to straighten out the slightly warped cockpit tub before installing these parts.

After a few days away for Memorial Day, I finished the seats. They came out as good as I had hoped - a massive improvement from the kit version. Finished with the belts. I've turned my attention to the pedal assembly, reworking them yet again. This time I am confident they are more correct. Still a work in progress. Due to the dimensions of the foot box in the model, I'll only be creating the front side that is viewable. Thanks again to Randy for the reference pic and diagram.

Nice work continuing here. Your focus on accuracy is quite admirable. I see you opted to make springs from styrene instead of wire. I don't think I've seen that before. ?

I'll be following this one. Really interested in seeing what you do with it. Many interesting possibilities.

Thanks Randy! This was exactly what I was looking for.

Worked on the seats. Drilled 300 holes, taking about 5 hours. Gluing in the crimp tubes is next, of course. I think I will use aliphatic glue instead of CA. It also dries clear and since I can control its viscosity by diluting with water, it would be more controllable to apply. I had separated the pedals, but pictures showed they are mounted on a common pivot rod, so I reworked them. I'll be putting together some master cylinders and reservoirs. I couldn't find any pictures of the actual setup used in #1046, so I will wing it.

The gold color on the pumps is Alclad gold paint. The bottom is the natural aluminum. Thanks for stopping by.

After getting some paint on the interior parts above, I turned to the seats, which along with the tires, are in my opinion the worst parts of the kit. I carved in some seams and wrinkles using hobby knives. Some time ago, I saw these bead crimps in the local craft store and thought they would be good eyelets for GT40 seats if they are the right size, so I bought a bunch of them for a dirt cheap price. They are silver plated, so no painted needed, which is what I wanted to avoid in the first place. Yea, these will work great, after I get some paint on the seats. They will be CAed from the back after being placed in position.

I've been following this project for a while now and must say it's quite ambitious. Great work!