Scale-Master

Thanks guys! Here are some answers Well…, I have the degrees for cutting seven facets into round stock memorized… But as for each part, I decide what I am going to make, and how it will fit to the overall model. Then I determine what part(s) need to be made to be the “anchors”. In other terms, parts that can be measured off to make other parts that will fit later. While I have reference books for the real cars, I am not building this one to be one of them. Instead of building it as if it was a Caterham kit car, I am going for the initial Lotus mentality of making it to match the basic parameters of a Seven, but from raw and repurposed materials. The original Lotus Sevens were minimalist kit cars. The “kit” was basically a list of (mostly used) mechanical parts to acquire and the specs and directions to build your own frame and body with simple tools and inexpensive materials. The cam cover was made to fit a BDR head, so I matched the “footprint” and mounting points. When I make the head I’ll just meet those same requirements and make the bottom match the top of a BDR block. Since the mounting points are based on real car parts it should all fit together. I have no idea when it will be done and am not building it for anything other than my enjoyment and as a challenge to myself, (I guess both are kind of the same). So if I get it done in time for a GSL I don’t know which year it will be… I proudly use Sherline, and highly recommend their products. And now back to the program in progress: Before I could fully finish the shape of the rear of the hood, I needed a cowl piece to mate it to. The cowl is made from the same piece of brass as the hood. Here is the basic shape cut from the sheet. I hammered over the front edge and reinforced it with solder. Relief cuts were made into that flange to allow the shape to match the hood starting at the top center and working outward. Then a lip for the hood to sit on was formed and soldered on while shaping it to match the hood. Another arch was made of brass rod and set inside the lip with solder. Still a little more work fitting the cowl and hood together, but they are coming along…

In the first photo, the distortion of the canopy on the figure almost makes Ed look like Spock. Very fitting.

Andy, the answer to your question is contained in the text below... I was enjoying the mill work so much I decided to make a cam cover, something custom to contain a bit rowdier pair of cams. The bolt pattern is the same as what would mount to a BDR Cosworth head. I milled this out of 7075 aluminum. This is the top: And this is the underside cut to fit the head (I still need to make) positively: Here I have added the fittings for the PCV line and a made a “710 cap”…

This is a replica of my second car. I only had it for a short while (two weeks) in the very early 80’s before it died from spun bearings. It was just basic transportation between “real” cars. It still had the original paint, gold with a black top, (painted, not vinyl). Well, at least it had never been repainted… The model was built in less than 10 hours yesterday from start to finish, (once the factory pre-paint was stripped the day before). I made the proper license plates and added whitewalls, the rest is out-of-the-box. I did have to install the rear of the chassis up near the deck lid to get it to sit somewhere even near the real one though. Tamiya Gold was aged and faded with SNJ aluminum powder and other body/paint weathering was done with gray through the airbrush. The chassis, underhood and interior were grunged up with earthen colored acrylic washes. All the chrome trim was freehand painted, some with a paint pen, some with a brush. I know this Polar Lights kit has a bad rap, but since the real one I had was so rough, and I didn’t really care about it and it worked well for this quickie build. Mine was a 383 2bbl with a 727 trans, the kit has a 426. Since it was only going to be curbside it is fine with me, but I put the engine in anyway, it’s not like it is worth saving for another project… Here are a couple shots of the real one from when I had it after its first and only wash I gave it. Note the white ’70 Trans Am behind it…

How about: U.S. - Fenders = U.K. - Wings U.S. - Sway Bar = U.K. - Roll Bar U.S. - Roll Bar = U.K. - Anti Rollover Bar

Yes, I am familiar with the Donkervoort's. But I'll stick to the more traditional 4 cylinder and lightweight balance of Colin Chapman's Lotus and subsequent Caterham mentality. But since I am not using a kit I'll refer to the basic plans described in the "how-to build a Seven in your garage" tyoe books I have read. Lots of room for personal modifications and still have the spirit of a Seven. The Tamiya tires do work on the new 8 inch wide rims, and going any wider would not be logical on a real car. But I am exploring making new tires too. Maybe go to a 225/50R15? And thanks!

I think the 1/12 scale Blue "Superb" Seven was the 7th Seven if I count the 1/24 and 1/12 scales (Caterham and Lotus) I had done up to that time. This one is the 7th 1/12 scale Seven, but it may not be a true Caterham or a Lotus although it will be based on Super Seven principles to a certain degree. Confused yet? The short answer to your question Pete is no, it will not have a theme as an "Eight" or a "Seven" or even a "Ten or Eleven"... OK, so next I figured I’d make a wheel for it. I have a hood, and a leftover tire to fit a rim to. All I need to do is make a wheel and then just fill in the stuff between them, right? I started off with a chunk of 6061 aluminum rod stock, (actually two like this): Using the lathe, I turned out two parts like this. The basic shape of the face of the spokes/spider is cut in at this point. Front: Back: I made sure they nested together with a positive fit: Next I cut out everything that wasn’t the spider part of the wheel on the mill and added lug holes: Here is the dry assembled rim: I used a 195/50R15 tire. The standard Tamiya kit provided a 15X6 rim. I wanted more. So my rim is 15X8. Any wider (in my mockups) and the tread bowed in like it was underinflated. 8 inches wide is pushing it for this tire, but I like the way the sidewall looks now. A stock Tamiya (a spare tire from a previous build) is on the right for comparison: The almost finished wheel; it needs a little surface fine tuning before making a mold:

I cast very few parts for the last one, most of what I made was used as parts, not patterns. I think the seats and the wheel centers are the only cast parts on the Blue one. And I don't want this one to look like the others, so those 7 spoke rims will not be used on this one. Since I don't have and am not building a kit, it could very well end up as a scratch-built model. It will not run, at least not on purpose... I do not have a real Seven. I thought about it, but went with a Corvette instead.

Thanks, but it isn't orange. It is TS-49 Bright Red.

I used the "Big Ruler" shown in the last frame along with a not-so-new X-Acto knife (#11 blade). More like scribing it out than really cutting it out. I also used a PE saw to cut the notches in the corners.

I decided the time has come for me to build yet another 1/12 scale Super Seven, (it has been almost six years since I finished my last one), the only “problem” is I don’t have any more kits of them. If I counted correctly, this will be my 7th 1/12 scale Seven. So instead of shopping for one, I grabbed a sheet of brass and started cutting, beating and bending. I am not sure why I started with the hood first, it just seemed like a good idea.

The chrome is BMF. The tough part was polishing the black where the foil should go before application without polishing parts of the body that should be flat/satin black. So there is a texture I'd rather not have in the chrome in return for the black areas being a uniform sheen. Maybe a larger scale would be easier to pull off that technique on?

Straight forward repaint and minor detailing done for a Christmas gift.

"but you forgot to paint the engine bay (mopars were the only ones with enough class to paint the engine bay body colour instead of just painbombing it black)" http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67826&page=2

Bob Downey did an excellent article in SA about painting with acrylics and using pastel powders to add depth and realism to seats. Maybe it could provide some help for you on this project too.

The driver's side would be the wiper/washer reservior, the passenger side would be the radiator overflow, at least that is how Chevy built mine... They are both made of the same material.

Great concept AND execution! Diggin' the white tracks and the wheels. Oh yeah, the Stingray too.

Yeah, I hear you on that. I cannot count how many times I have been told (I'm sure it is usually well intentioned) that I NEED to build a such and such. No, sorry, I NEED to build what I want; unless you want to hire me to build what you think I need to build. Nevertheless, it does come across as nails on a blackboard to me too.

If you didn't like the styling of the LFA, I don't think you should hold out much hope that you would like the next advanced design Lexus offers either, likely you would care for it even less.

Chas, If you did not know that it was made from a Standard before starting to build the model, then why did you write all this claiming it was made from an RS when I pointed out the discrepancy (hopefully before you were too far in to correct it)? Just where did you get the info when you wrote ” But here is the catch, They did start with an RS and shorten the nose a little but also made it bigger.” since we now all know that it is was not built from an RS but clearly from a Standard?

That's too pretty to be in the same class or realm as Old Yeller. But I really like the idea.

No, it started as a Standard as shown in your photo. Reworked, yes, but not an RS. The sub-structure of an RS header panel is different since it is made to accept an Endura bumper/nose. That is a standard nose and valance being reworked in that photo. (Plus I researched the real car.)

I'm not sure if you realize this, but the body you started with is an RS, the real car shown in the photos is a Standard. So the nose (around the grille) on your model is much too long. (Notice the line that denotes the Endura (RS only) nose extension.) You'll also have to widen the lower valance a bit if you want those proportions to be correct since the Standard version uses the parking lights that are under the bumpers. The RS front valance has no provisions for those lights and is a different shape.

I always thought it was interesting that the Crystals for my R/C stuff were also abbreviated as X'tal.

VERY Nice!