Rolls Royce "balloon car"

[Harry P.]

Still adding engine details. But getting close to finished...I'd say I'm about 80% there at this point...

The hardest part for me is working this small. Yes, the model is "large scale" (1/16), but some of those engine details are tiny. I scratchbuilt the wiring looms on the exhaust side of the engine, and the one just above the distributor... they aren't included in the kit. The ignition wires are painted heavy thread to simulate the cloth-covered ignition wires seen on cars of the era.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Great to see another Harrry build, always such a pleasure

Keep your spirits up and mind busy while you heal up

Best wishes my friend

[Sixties Sam]

After seeing the great models you build, I guess I shouldn't be amazed.....but I am! This is superb work, Harry! I'm eager to see this one finished!

Sam

[gnygren]

Harry....Harry....Harry  You are building  a car that I built about 20 years ago. As for the material that you thread the wheels with, mine look as good as the day I finished them. This is a car that was built way before any thought of doing research on the car itself was any consideration on my part. While yours will make mine look like it was built by someone of lesser skills(and it was),I still have visions or nightmares of lacing those wheels. All in all it was fun. Gary

[gtx6970]

Does it have both a Magneto and a distributor ?

 

I did some work on an early 30s General  Monarch Firetruck a few years back that had the dual ignition. It had a BIG 6 cyl Buddha engine in it

Edited October 6, 2016 by gtx6970

[Harry P.]

Does it have both a Magneto and a distributor ?

Yes. 

[Harry P.]

Putting aside the engine for the moment... let's work on the steering box. Remember, I modified the front axle to allow for poseable wheels, so the steering box will also need to be modified in order for the Pitman arm to move. First step is to cut off the molded-in arm and using a razor saw and sharp X-acto, cutting a slot into the bottom of the steering box...

Next, a new arm needs to be made of sheet styrene and drilled on both ends...

Finally, I drilled a hole through the steering box and used a brass pin as a pivot for the Pitman arm. A drop of CA on the head of the brass pin holds it in place. Now all I need to do is paint the completed steering box steel and install on the frame rail.

[Harry P.]

Lots of progress since my last post. The chassis is very nicely detailed and went together without a hitch except for the driveshaft, which was about 1/8" too short. A bit of styrene solved that problem; otherwise everything else fit very well. The chassis has lots of little separate detail parts... just the way I like it! 

The front axle stubs are white because I had modified the axle to allow for poseable steering... so I had to remove the molded-in stubs and replace them with styrene rod... remember? 

The fenders have some sort of "leather" like texture molded into them... I guess the real car had some sort of leather or fabric-covered fenders? Strange. But the texture is definitely there and not a mistake.

[CrazyCrank]

Very nicely done, Harry, and amazing result and details at that scale !

[Harry P.]

Yes, being used to working in 1/8 scale, this one seems very small to me! 

[sjordan2]

The Sotheby's website says the rear fenders were made of flexible patent leather so that loading the balloon basket wouldn't cause damage.

[Harry P.]

Unfortunately, the kit's front fenders also have this molded-in texture, which is probably incorrect (front fenders would have been steel). But I'm too lazy to fix it... going to live with it as is.

[sjordan2]

Unfortunately, the kit's front fenders also have this molded-in texture, which is probably incorrect (front fenders would have been steel). But I'm too lazy to fix it... going to live with it as is.

In either case, I would assume that, as patent leather, the fenders would be somewhat shiny though not glossy, as seen on the recreation at the Sotheby's site.

[GTJUNIOR]

Impressive and clean work, as always Harry. Wishing you all the best with your treatment.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Impressive and clean work, as always Harry. Wishing you all the best with your treatment.

I whole heartily second both of these sentiments

All the best to you 

[peekay]

Beautiful work as always Harry, even under difficult circumstances.

[slusher]

Real nice progress Harry...

[bobthehobbyguy]

Beautiful work as always.

[kpnuts]

Superb work harry, I built this car 20 odd yrs ago (obviously not to this standard) but I remember enjoying it loads, I wish bandi would re release some of these older kits, personally I think they would stand up against some of the more modern kits

Edited October 12, 2016 by kpnuts

[Ace-Garageguy]

 You're doing your usual beautiful job of bringing plastic to life with all your added detail and textures. Glad to see you building, and I hope we'll be seeing your inspiring work for many years to come.

The painted thread to represent old fabric-covered wires is sheer genius.  

Edited October 13, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

Skipping around here and there... holes had to be laid out and drilled for some missing rear deck details.

It's kind of hard to see, but I also had to scribe in some missing panel lines...

[Zoom]

Looks very good so far! 

[Harry P.]

Ordinarily I would replaced the kit's plastic floorboards with real wood, but in this case the floorboards are molded in a fairly convincing "wood" color, so I thought I'd try to work with the kit piece and see what I can do to improve it...

I stained the piece, added a black wash to bring out the joint lines, and finally gave it all a coat of matte clear. The finished product looks passable as "wood," and was much easier than scratchbuilding a new frame and floorboards of real wood.

[CrazyCrank]

Looks like real old weathered wood...superb !

Edited October 13, 2016 by CrazyCrank

[unclescott58]

Very nice job Harry. I'm impressed with what I'm seeing.