Cato

TEST FIRST on a painted part but a wipe with 70% isopropyl on a cotton tip should do it. Or apply Goo Gone with the same method. Remove with soft dry tissue.

Personal sacrifice for the advancement of the hobby...

Thanks Bo but you CAN do something about it. If you want to tone down the shine a bit, carefully rub them with gray scuff pad or 4-0 steel wool. Practice on scrap first until you get the feel and sheen you want. DON'T scrub them hard! If they get too dull, you can buff them with clear (no color) shoe polish. Thanks also Bob, glad to have your interest.

If I had known your work experience, I'd have sent them all to you for building and saved a lot of torn-out hair! Compliments and comments well appreciated all. Thanks to you too Harry.

And I yours Harry. Your stuff has inspired me since I got here. Your big Benz opened my eyes as to what advanced things can be done to these big old monsters. Now I wait, as does the whole rest of the forum, until you pick up the Exacto again...

You have every right to be. The key is that I didn't construct it as a 'model car' - a complete accurate representation of a prototype. My goal is more a creative work of art which has an automobile as its core. Interesting things to look at and - hopefully aestetic beauty. Layers of detail to stimulate the viewer in a pleasant way. And those things are different for all of us. Think MOMA, not the Schlumpf Collection. You never saw a P II with a color sweep and tail lights like the Bugatti. But I felt it would add to the flowing lines of chopped top and windscreen, cut down doors and rotated fenders. Shaped by the wind kind of fits. Obviously the seats vs carpet are not the only controversial thing I've done here. This journey is two years old as of yesterday and I certainly expected to alienate or lose folks along the way. But it's been great talking to those admirers or dissenters. It has added to the enjoyment of this project for me.

Sure it should! But begging 'artistic license' I chose not to snot it up. I wanted a clean 'stage' for the props to sit on so as not to distract from them. The carpet has a pleasing texture for me. Just like the 'illogical plan' I used on the chassis Harry; beautiful bronze and brass axle and linkages on sooty, stained and grimy bits. Your Rolls seats are surgically beautiful and a museum presentation. Mine not so much - but by design. Again not the conventional way these are usually built and not to everyone's taste. But black everything would not reveal how nice those bits really are. Thank you Mike, you hit it on the head; I'm playing textures off each other. Used leather, nappy carpet, aluminum trim. More to come when the wood is in place on the dash, doors and rear seat platform.

Seats complete... First an explanation; the seats in many photos I took look like two different color leathers between front and rear. They are not. They ARE very changeable with the light source and type. To prove they're the same here are two shots, the first in natural outdoor light through a window and the second with room light on. They are the same color in each but the bright room light makes the gray lighter. No changes in camera white balance either. The only difference is the sheen of the leather and how it reflects the light. I need to work on the fronts a bit to match the sheen but that's easy after this amount of construction. Here they are. The seat shells (backs) are not yet glued to the cushion so you may see a small gap at the top there. The major elements are the modified resin MMC seat shapes and sizes, the base attachment method and construction, the polished aluminum trim, the carpet kick panels on the seat backs and the recessed piping. There are 83 hours in front seat construction to this point, not counting the idea drawings, testing of glues and construction method planning. I'm not proud to tell you that - I struggled with every step on the way as this is my first full leather job (including the rear bench) and a huge learning process at every juncture. Indeed, a miscalculation when I made the tilting pivots caused them to not tilt. But if I can do it, you all can do it. You probably just won't want to. The really important and worrisome part was getting the same look / feel / ambiance of all seats at home in the cabin of my luxurious but scruffy Continental touring car. Wear but not tear...I think I got what I was after but everyone's taste is different and many might disagree with what I did. This is certainly not what's usually done with Pocher Sedanca interiors and no 1:1 P II I ever saw was done this way. Although I did study the upholstery patterns extensively. So purists will scoff at this flight of fancy. Discussions invited. http://

Excellent Bo. Yes it's vital to keep the vision and inspiration going.

Glad you solved it Bo.

As long as you don't talk behind my back....

I'm trying to get starlets in there and you tell me bums have been there.... BUMMER!

Be seated!.... Finally got (most of ) the leather in place. Shown with a door panel to help recall what the combination will look like. Everything is just propped in place so the seat pleats will align better and the door panel will be flat. The back of the shell requires covering and the pivoting brackets will be bolted in - the holes are already drilled. The seats are all the same color and patina; it's just dark in the back of the cabin. All the major interior elements are all ready now except the headliner. The heavy lifting is still to come; building the door panels and latch system (not using Pocher's) and alignment of the four hood panels. The final push will be paint (with the arrival of good weather) and the dreaded roof fabric covering.

OK then I would still paint the white as I described being careful as you can. If you get any on the letters and assuming they are raised slightly, you can rub any white off them with toothpick. For the black, I would try to make a 'stamp pad'. Get dense foam or firm sponge and make a flat surface the width of the letters. Then dip the flat surface in black acrylic and gently and evenly touch all the letters with it. PRACTICE on a flat surface just to get an even thin coat down. Or paint by hand if you're really steady with a brush. When complete and dry, you can spray over with clear acrylic gloss. I don't know what else to tell you Bo, it's a tough one. No one else seems to know either....

Yes I understand and that's what I replied about. Numbers left black and background white.

If I understand you correctly Bo, you want the letters to remain as they are and paint the background they're on white? It's not easy but I would do the following; get acrylic flat white (this will dry without brush marks) and hand paint it in with a fine point brush and a toothpick for the really tight areas. May take more than one coat for the coverage you want. You want the paint to flow so thin as needed.

Thanks guys. Hard at work in the leather factory today! Great to see you drop in Dirty Harry. How about you throw some of your Pochers back up here? It's lonely here in Pocher land!

Well, Rick and I just explained to you why that happened, that's all.

OK - a tiny peek... Only 3 more cushions and 2 seat backs to go....(groan). The big effort was to get front and rear to match so the slightly rumpled,aged look continues...

The Willys is a D / Gas car with a Hilborn injector and possibly a blower. It's a total drag car with live axle, ladder bars and probably wheelie bars. The Cobra is a sports car with IRS. Willys can leave much harder. Note Cobra tire smoke.

There are aftermarket 1/12 AN fittings out there...

The dash 10 braided line used on the oil vents and supply was ~1" in diameter. Which is .083 in 1/12. The line you used looks like dash 6 or 8 fuel supply line.

With such a high difficulty factor, some things are best left as a compromise. Your foil work was beautiful; I'd be content with that.

Bill said the same thing in your other thread..............

Open one loop at each spring end and hook it over the plastic flange that supports the pipes.