absmiami Posted January 26, 2018 Author Posted January 26, 2018 So, the lab-metal paste dried well and is sandable - but it was not fine enough to grip the small surface imperfections I ended up sanding most of it off and applied some more soft solder to the surface to fill in the larger surface pitting ... working - just have to be careful not to apply too much heat to the metal
absmiami Posted January 26, 2018 Author Posted January 26, 2018 some more solder and some more filing and sanding
absmiami Posted January 26, 2018 Author Posted January 26, 2018 pix still loading wrong - oh well the car has rows of copper rivets - like everywhere working here on the rivets that attach the hinge on either side of the fuel tank cover rivet rows lined up with scribed lines and a brass gadget that is bent from rod to locate the holes properly holes are .021 with corresponding copper wire clipped in and sanded rivets are close to scale and are just visible once all the sanding is done
absmiami Posted January 28, 2018 Author Posted January 28, 2018 okay - the pix are now saved properly and loading right side up - aren't computers great ! the patterns for the rivets are marked in hi-liter makes it easier to mark the rows and patterns and easier to photograph ...
absmiami Posted January 28, 2018 Author Posted January 28, 2018 working my way around the fuel tank cover with the rivets - just glue the copper wire in and clip close - but not too close - to the surface of the body with the rivets in place in pic 3 - but not yet filed - has a sort of steam punk look - maybe try this on another project in pic 4 the copper wire protrusions are filed and then sanded flush with the surface got lots more of these to make - already broke one #75 drill bit ...
GlueTube Posted January 29, 2018 Posted January 29, 2018 I am glued to my seat on this one! Keep up the good work. Regards Brian Kroon
89AKurt Posted January 29, 2018 Posted January 29, 2018 You have the patience of a saint. Watching this from a great distance. And is there a bowing smiley?
absmiami Posted January 29, 2018 Author Posted January 29, 2018 the great pix on the first page show that the driving compartment body-work is edged in brass trim in the deepest darkest depths of my workbench tool chest I located some brass "L" angle bar it's been sitting in a pile of misc brass and alu stock that I've had for years - well actually - decades the stock is .050 in height/width - just over a scale inch - which is close enough the brass was heated so I could bend it - using a grabber and pin vice on either end then super-glued to the body in sections - the first sections are shown - I'll work my way around the opening with 6 or seven lengths of this stuff then filed to shape now back to those rivets ......
absmiami Posted February 1, 2018 Author Posted February 1, 2018 rivet rivet ... rivet rivet .... Q for 1500 GP (and thanks for the compliment) the brass trim around the driving compartment on the restored car appears to have a weathered or aged or slightly darkened finish do you agree - do you know whether the restorer was able to use the original trim - I doubt it probably took care to finish and present the trim in a "vintage" look - do you agree ?? got some chemical darkening agent that I can use on the trim strip ...
absmiami Posted February 1, 2018 Author Posted February 1, 2018 so having broken my last #75 drill it was off to the local hobby store for some more provisions yes - there is still one lonely hobby store - specializing in trains - in Miami - Ready to Roll - for you train fans - and they carry a good assortment of scratch-building supplies for the remaining rivets on the body I'm trying some phosphor bronze wire - .020 the gadget in the picture marks the metal at .100 intervals, and was made from this wire - holes drilled with #76 drill gonna use some drill lubricant - so I don't break all of my #76's ... these rivet holes will crawl around the cowl and down the length of the body - as the body was riveted in this manner to the chassis
1500gp Posted February 2, 2018 Posted February 2, 2018 13 hours ago, absmiami said: rivet rivet ... rivet rivet .... Q for 1500 GP (and thanks for the compliment) the brass trim around the driving compartment on the restored car appears to have a weathered or aged or slightly darkened finish do you agree - do you know whether the restorer was able to use the original trim - I doubt it probably took care to finish and present the trim in a "vintage" look - do you agree ?? got some chemical darkening agent that I can use on the trim strip ... Yes, you're right, I doubt too ... so I agree ... I'll ask to Patrick Delâge in Retromobile next friday ... but I remember that the story about this restoration/reconstruction was not very clear with the original used parts ... What a good job you do on this model with so detailled parts , I'm falling of my chair ...
absmiami Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 completing the brass trim around the driver compartment and drilling a bunch of holes for the rivets for the engine bulkhead and the chassis pic 3 shows the bronze wire product that I am starting to use for these rows of rivets
absmiami Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 with the rivet holes drilled it's time to make and attach the lip along the bulkhead line that retains the bonnet re-profiled the under-side of the cowling with a steel cutting tool cut some .015 evergreen plastic strip to glue - epoxy - to the underside of the cowling the tape along the edge of the strip is temporary - just there to help align the strip while gluing ...
absmiami Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 with the strip glued in place I have to re-drill the rivet holes and glue in the wire for the rivets most of the stems on the underside will stay there they will help locate the bulkhead - which will probably be plastic with thin sheet aluminum glued to the front busted a couple more drills this weekend - even with the drill lubricant ... next is the rivets for the instrument panel frame - gotta do this together with the frame support so that everything is aligned ....
1500gp Posted February 12, 2018 Posted February 12, 2018 Andrew, I spoke with Patrick Delâge last friday in Retromobile. So I have documents on the 2LCV to scan for you and I have the complete story of the restoration/re-construction of this car ... please, send me your Email on PM ... ... and, for your information, I bought this fabulous book (and dedicated by the author) ...
absmiami Posted February 12, 2018 Author Posted February 12, 2018 bet Frederick has got some very helpful material .... looking forward to his post meantime ... noticed that the shape of the cowl above the instrument dash needed correction so I added low temp solder to the larger opening and removed some metal from the mechanic's side - I needed more balance .. after some fettling, I've got a more symmetric shape, which will look better with the instrument panel installed - mocked up in the last picture and with the panel taped in place I can run the rivets over the cowl and place the instrument panel frame the instrument dash panel will be aluminum, probably glued over the plastic sheet mock-up
absmiami Posted February 15, 2018 Author Posted February 15, 2018 small update with the instr panel located I mocked up a support post inside the body - L shaped evergreen - to locate the run of the rivets over the cowl and of course broke another #76 - got three left ..... still a couple more rows of rivets on the body and then back to the bonnet for more .... rivets
absmiami Posted March 7, 2018 Author Posted March 7, 2018 March update more - lots more - rivet holes and rivets - following the outline of the cockpit cowling and the frame two more # 76 drills have bit the dust ...next - gotta enclose the under-side of the tail and make some frame/fit adjstments and make the perforated aluminum trim pieces that brace both sides of the cockpit the Indycal tachs are a bit too big for the dash - they were designed for a Bugatti and probably larger in 1/1 but I will order some 1/32 gauges that mite do the trick ... off to the Philly NNL .....
absmiami Posted March 19, 2018 Author Posted March 19, 2018 confined to the house for 72 straight hours - doctor's orders so I got some stuff done - in between NCAA games ... the inside of the driving compartment has perforated sheets of aluminum - for reinforcement of body-work (?) these were made from .012 plastic sheet - to be painted then back to work on the rivets - I know you wanted to see some more rivets! these rivets attach the reinforcement sheets to the body work ...
absmiami Posted March 19, 2018 Author Posted March 19, 2018 once these rivets were sanded flush I did some work on the tail .047 brass tube was soldered to the rear fender flaps - the spring leaf will be attached to the ends and I needed a metal enclosure for the base of the tail - used a portion of the thick engine bulkhead that I had removed from the body - filed it to approx shape - and then attached it with a bead of low temp solder
absmiami Posted March 19, 2018 Author Posted March 19, 2018 the solder and metal were then hand filed to shape - to be polished later .....
absmiami Posted March 19, 2018 Author Posted March 19, 2018 the chassis is casted with the base plate in a single casting the base is too thick - about 4 scale inches - so I sawed/grinded most of it off to be replaced with some thin evergreen plastic sheet - probably .015 test fitting the engine - is this cool or what! and adding some notches to the casting for the engine mounting plates ... if you refer back to the pix on the first page - you'll notice that the chassis is painted - so it made sense to cast this in resin - and it will be easier to modify ...
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