kennb

The frame came back from the paint shop this morning....... It seems to be adaquate and ready for the wiring harnesses. I also will have to ream out some mounting holes for the front horn.. I did not add any clear in as that this is probably as good as they did in the factory. Thaks to those that are watching my build. I know it is long and finally can see something with paint on it............. Kenn

Here is from yesterday This is for just one car,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,parts piled all over. Kenn

The grill had me going all directions. I have a drawer with fishing line and beading wire in and was looking at those things. Soldering guns and dont mix. it always liikes like i have more solder than what i am putting together.I really wanted to have the bars and have them look right and be able to see through them. Wait a minute,,,,if I can see through them it will be the black of the radiator and not anything else. So why would that be critical since i can black out a background, mmm.This is how this attempt went and is, at this point, how I am going to use it. I used .20 plastic with ,20 spaces..................on a ,20 backing Some more sanding and fitting off to the chrome shop... Kenn

As I mentioned before my posts are about 2 days behind actual consrtruction. I have much to post about the process but since I am doing aa final fit today I wanted to jump ahead 2 days for this post and give you a glimps of where I am. I am very pleased on how it is coming out and did a lot of reworking of areas which I will talk about later. But for now I will just add some photos. As you can see I still have a lot of sanding on parts and some fill to go but it is getting really close...................... Thanks to all those keeping up on the project with views and to those that comment and offer suggestions. They are appreciated. Kenn

Tom Thank you for the comments and forwarding the addy to the club. You have pointed out a very inportant fact that when you are working on a car it does not always go right and that you cant be afraid to go back and tear something apart to make it right. When I was doing the Tatra i redid the back 3 times and the front 4 times tearing is all out and redoing it. That is part of the process and it is good for others to see this in the works ....Thank you Kenn

Paulo. Thank you for the kind words. I am pleased that people find bits and pieces they can use. One of the things I do not mind doing is going back over parts of the model and redoing them to make it better as I go. I see things in the pictures and as I look at the progress and find things that I need to change, fix, or just do better. The boot lid has been a thorn in my side since it never looked right and had a crack in it so I did it over. This time to make the spare cover more in tune with the size of the tires on the car I used a size D battery fo the male mold and a large bottle cap for the female mold. You can see a fold on the side but since it is going to be cut off it does not hinder the final look. A little sanding on the top left corner and we are good to go. Next time I will have part 5 of the history,,,,,,,,,stay tuned Kenn

Sending the frame off to the paint shop today. Had to do a few last minute things. I installed the wiring harness to the rear lights to make sure all the fasteners were in place properly and all the holes were drilled to run it through the frame. The main body will go to the paint shop this week end for priming, maybe the fenders also. That is the color of the wiring so it will show up on the black. Most of it will not be seen but to make sure it is right I ran the entire harness. Thanks for looking and the comments Kenn

Thank you both for the imput. I know have the front end details ready for primer,then to the chrome shop. Thanks to all those that take the time to look at my project. Kenn

You are doing fine,,,just keep going...............

Ya or Na...it is still a little rough but not sure if it is worth the time to finish...............................it is 2 mm long (3/4")..................1mm high(3/8") Kenn

I completed the dash this morning. This is how I did it. I also got to the lights now after a lot of looking for the right things to make the cans with. Lot of sanding and they will be ready for chrome. thank you all for the comments and sharing of ideas. thanks to all those that are keeping up watching...... Kenn

That one does pose some interseting challeges for sure. The body will take some thinking as to the best approach........................food for thought. Thank you Kenn

Thank you...I hope that is provides some inspiration to others as to what can be done with just a few simple tools. Kenn

Back to the interior to get the dash done. I have the major part roughed out and working on the gauge cluster. The steering wheel is started but dont like the size so I may do it over. The front window opens and closes so I needed a frame for the glass so I can have it open in the completed model. I have also picked out the wires for the spark plugs. I will be using the same size for other electrical lines also. It has been donated by the telephone company . I have used it before and works out very well. I will be installing all the wiring after the paintwork is done. Again, thank you all who visit my build. Kenn

looking good

Thank you for that comment, but I think anyone can do a few of the things I have done, taking time and patience to do it. you just have to keep trying things. I finally have the front jacks installed and piped along with the rear jacks. Some of the details I added to the chassis that I didnt know how they were going to work out ended up being a metering valve for the front jacks. Thanks for the support on seeing this project to the completion. It has ended up being more details that I origional planned. Kenn

sometimes you post and it seems no one is watching,,,but keep going it is going great so far.........interesting build.

I have been putting off the transmission, not quite knowing how to approach the construction. Then I looked in a box of stuff from doing the thermal forming and spotted something that could work. I tryed it and much to my surprise it all fit together just perfectly. The seam shows a little but I can live with that since very little will show when the car is assembled. It fit right where I had the floor mounted top load shifter. I also have the muffler in place and the header cut to fit in place but it is not shown. I also added some details to the underside that are not much more than some detailing to create more interest when it is over the mirror in the display. I have since finished the brake lines but no picture yet. For more pictures (almost 300) you can use the previous link to see more details and other photos that I have not put up. Thank you for looking and the comments...They keep me going and trying to get things better as I go. Kenn

Further information on the materials used. Self explanitory. Also are a few shots of the partial assembly, along with a scale to get a size relation. The hood does not fall correctly at this point since the fenders are not seated in the final position. The have a pin that will be flattened on final assemble to seat them properly and then the hood will nestle down to the correct position and fit right. (so the plan says) Kenn

I am going to digress for a bit here telling how I came to choose this model. I was on a hunt for cars in India (on the net, of course) and came across a few photos of a sad looking car that just intreaged me. The shape and flowing lines of this car were so indicative of the luxury cars in Europe of the 30's. The long hood, the wire wheels and rounded body are so smooth. I had to find out what it was. There are many clues as to the identity if you knew nothing of this car, which I didnt. The badge on the radiator is gone so that was of little help. This picture was part of a forum that many people had different guesses but one stood out and that was the MG Saloon post. So I started to do google searches for it and it came up to be correct. I researched and thought about this car for about a month before I decided that this is going to be a build. I had the materials on hand so I could start. The material is a small part of the build. It is amazing as to the amount og glue required to do something of this nature. I am going on my second bottle, which ends up costing more than the plastic does. Since the nearest hobby shop is Carrs in Duluth,(30 miles) I have to plan for this. (not always working outsince I ran out of glue past night and cant get to Carrs untill Friday. The is a lot of experimenting and making of parts that I will not use, but they lead to finishing the final project. The headlights are giving me problems in getting the different sizes needed for this and getting them finished the way I want. I have made about 10 so far to get 2 that I deam acceptable and the exact same size. So as you can see there is a lot more to a project of this size than cutting and pasting plastic but is worth all the time for the final car. Starting to scratch build components like a body and mating it to a kit frame is a good start. The hardest part is to get the curves close to right. Since I have no drawings for this car like I did on the others I have done it is very much seat of the pants building, using your eye and judgement. I do know that the motor is slightly overscale but works out ok in as that is fille the engine compartment and looks massive in there. Enuff rambleing for now....back to sanding and building.. Kenn

How much of that big sheet of styrene have you used on this so far? This is kinda hard to answer directly in as that some was used for experimentation. I am guessing through experience that I have used about 2 square feet of .40 and 1/2 square foot of .20.

Thank you ...................the wheels still need a lot work and the hub caps are not on yet, Your observation is appreciated, Kenn

Today marks 30 days since I started the construction of this project. I am on track to finish the second week or March. I have only done some details today on the chassis. Brake lines and fuel lines to the back, and setting up the exhaust system. Also worked on the brake drums. There are more photos on photobucket than I post so be sure to get the whole story there. I dont feel like I have done much even tho I spent a lot of time on it today. Some of the details on top of the rear end will not be seen on the finished model since they are buried under the rest of the model so they are faked in instead of a lot of fussy detailing. I also worked some on getting the stance perfected and front wheel openings set up up and finished off to fit the wheels a little cleaner. Thank you for looking. I hope that you get something out of the process that you can apply to your own builds, even something minor. Kenn

neat addaptation

Today I redid all the wheels and hubs, The initial set where not very good and too small so I started over. Dont ever be afraid to tear something apart to redo it if you are not happy. If you dont like how it is now there is no amount of paint that will fix it. I also was not liking how the back was and it was not right to start with. Nothing was fitting the way it was supose to either so I tore that aprat and redid the rear fenders. The fender lines are wrong and I just hashed things together (mistake) and it was totally wroorng and did not even look like it was supose to. Now it is closer and roughed out. Just a little more finishing. Comparing the 2 pictures you can see right away what I mean. Note also the pencil lines at the rear windows. They are about where the windows should be and will be corrected. I just have some final work there and that part is corrected. Fixing things like that is part of the game. If I was paying better attention to start with and consulting the drawings better I would not have had to go back and do the fenders over. I will be going over the pictures more and comparing to the car and making more adjustments this week and getting it ready for primer. Final colors will be British Racing Green and a lighter green for the body sides. The motor will be the British Green and engine compartment will be black along with the frame. The wheels are still temporary hubs since I am going to try my hand at real wire wheels which is what they should be. For the time being I will just have hub caps. Thanks for watching the build and the comments. They really are appreciated even if you see something you feel needs to be correctd. Kenn