Airfix 1/12 Bentley Blower

[Bugatti Fan]

Thanks for your reply Francois.

I think you already know of John Teresi's Bentley build that I have also followed, and I will now also be following your build.

Also I will be looking at what Nick is developing to sell for the Bentley. One of the things he has been working on is a replacement radiator shell where Airfix got the position of the Bentley badge hopelessly wrong. It is one of those things that has been criticised many times down the years. The funny thing is that Airfix changed the number plate a few years back but did not correct the radiator shell at the time.

[sjordan2]

7 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Thanks for your reply Francois.

I think you already know of John Teresi's Bentley build that I have also followed, and I will now also be following your build.

Also I will be looking at what Nick is developing to sell for the Bentley. One of the things he has been working on is a replacement radiator shell where Airfix got the position of the Bentley badge hopelessly wrong. It is one of those things that has been criticised many times down the years. The funny thing is that Airfix changed the number plate a few years back but did not correct the radiator shell at the time.

It was about the registration number, the original one now owned by Ralph Lauren. One of the executives at Airfix, a Bentley owner, had them change the number to the one he had. They didn't spend the money to make other changes.

[LaughingIndian]

On 5/30/2023 at 10:28 PM, François said:

I hinged the gas cap and added a brass flanged sleeve to act as a filler neck. I'll eventually put wood on the cap handle. Now if I could only figure out how to remove the chrome,  this is no paint, it's very hard. So far, I've tried bleach and draino. Didn't do a thing. The only thing that works seems to be sanding. There are many chrome parts on the car and none are nice enough to keep. Does anyone know a way to do this?

Great work Fran! 
I used Easyoff oven cleaner on my MPC Bentley to remove the chrome. It worked very well within a few minutes.

I hope it’ll work on the Airfix for you.

 

 

 

[François]

Thanks, after bleach and draino which worked as well as water, that's exactly what I wanted to tfy next. I'll let you now if it works.

[Bugatti Fan]

Skip, all British car identification registration numbers remain the property of the UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority. Ralph Lauren owns the car but not the registration number on it. The car has to remain registered in the UK to use it on UK roads.  The Lauren organisation probably keep it licenced in the UK purely to retain the car's provenance. I have not seen it with a US plate on it so I would guess it gets shipped to wherever it is put on display throughout any year.

Bentley's own company registered plate now depicted on the model is probably just to do with Airfix's product licencing agreement with the company. It is fortunate that the Bentley owned car is almost identical to the one that is the subject of the Airfix kit being a short wheelbase car.

Back in the early 70's Neil Corner owned the Lauren car when the kit was issued. The car went on to belong to Tony Bamford, CEO of JCB and formed a part of their collection before being acquired by Ralph Lauren.

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[François]

Did a bit more work today. I made a sort of closing latch for the gas cap.

I glued 2 tiny (.020 dia) styrene rod, 1 on the cap and 1 on the spout. The cap, when pushed in place makes à very satisfying click.

 

Next up will be the tail lights assembly. Here's what will be done. 

Fabricate the mounting brackets 

Modify the light itself by drilling 3 holes to create an inner cavity and adding a light bulb (fake) inside

Make the wire connection with braided line, rubber grommet and knurled nut.

Here's what I'm aiming for 

Here's what the kit provides (yikes!!)

First test with wire

Edited June 2, 2023 by François

[François]

I did the tail light brackets today. For those interested, here's how I proceed with the fabrication of a small sheet metal part.

First I 3d model it using the sheet metal section of my cad program which provides me with a flat pattern (part before bending) of the part. 

3d part

Flat pattern 

I then print it 1:1 on a sticky back paper and stick the paper to a sheet of aluminium.  I can now cut it and drill the holes by simply following the print 

then comes the bending and voila, a nice little bracket 

Test fitted

Edited June 3, 2023 by François

[absmiami]

!!!  !! …

[David G.]

Holy Cow François!

What you're doing is going waaaay beyond model building and into model engineering.

Tremendously impressive work!

David G.

[François]

Thank you, not sure what it is but, it's very fun!!

[François]

Not much done today,  I drilled out the light fixtures. Next up will be to make 3 small red lenzes per fixtures using a red mylar of some sort .

[cifenet]

Impressive implementation!   Keep up the good work!

[François]

So, here's what has been done on the fixtures today.  Let me remind you of my goal.

And here's what I did.  After drilling out all the holes, I inserted 3 small sleeve, 1 per hole, that will give me a shoulder for the lenses to sit agaist.

next, I made the buld socket with knurled nut, rubber grommet and wire. I'm pretty sure the this is how it would be in real life since the buld would be unreachable thru the lens hole.

I also made sure the buld is fisible once installed 

next, using a disk cutter, I cut the lenses out of a red sheet protector. I increased the red effect using a Sharpie pen. Getting the correct diametre was a bit of a pain but I eventually got it. 

and this is how it looks with buld and lenses installed.  This is only a trial fit, the fixture will be painted gloss black besofe final assy

I also did the exhaust support bracket 

Edited June 5, 2023 by François
Added picture

[absmiami]

oh  ...

boy   ...

[François]

Hello everyone,  

Well I'm done with the scratch building of the gas tank, the easy part for me,  and I'm starting the paint which is not so easy for me. On my Alfa projet,  I used Tamiya rattle cans and was very satisfied with the result. Then again,  the paint was flat so very easy to achieve a good result.  This car will not only be gloss, it will be gloss black which in my opinion is much harder do to. I've already painted a few small bits and this is how I proceded. 

All metal parts, brass and aluminium were first primed with Tamiya metal primer,  then all parts, metal and plastic received a coat of Tamiya gray primer. I then applied 2 coats of Tamiya gloss black.  All this in the rattle can format.  The finish is ok but I'm wandering if a clear coat should be added. Should I use flat black instead of gloss and systhematicaly apply a clear? Is the product I'm using the correct one? There won't be namy large surfaces to paint, the largest being the front hood and the 4 fenders.  All other parts have alot of features on them, nuts and bolts and wire mesh... so buffing of these component is out of the question. And the largest part of the car, the body, will be coverded in fabric so no paint there.

Any thoughts/comments/hints would be greatly appreciated. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by François

[LaughingIndian]

I suggest you try the flat and then soft brush on this stuff : 

 

Remember, they didn’t spray paint a lot back then and that method will give you better control of the finish you may be looking for.

Also, the guy in the video is a laugh to listen to but very creditable!

 

 

[LaughingIndian]

I apologize — I see they discontinued this product.

Here’s what I see others are using as a replacement- Quick Shine - this guy explains it well but is very long-winded( like all YouTube ‘influencers’).

Remember, all this stuff is diluted acrylic medium that can be found in art supplies in various finishes (matte to gloss) … all dry clear

 

 

[François]

Thanks,  I'll check it out.

[François]

Did a little bit of assembly on the tail lights.  So far so good... I think 

the real thing

Edited June 8, 2023 by François

[David G.]

Fantastic looking tail lights François!

Beautiful engineering.

David G.

[François]

I received my 3d printed wingnuts for the tank.  Boy those things are tiny but impressively detailed. 

I also started 3d modeling the inner parts of the engine.  The idea is to create a working crank shaft with connecting rods and pistons as I did on the Alfa romeo. The difference is that the Alfa is an 8 cylinder while this one is a 4. The crank will be much shorter and should be a lot easier to print.  I also included the overhead valve train (non working) that should be visible by removing the valve cover. The crank,rods and pistons should be visible by removing the pan cover... I hope...

A real valve train

my rendering of it

how it should work

 where it should all fit

[David G.]

An operable will be amazing if you can pull it off François. I have no doubt that if it's possible, you can make it work.

David G.

[François]

David, if you haven't seen my post on the Alfa I did, go check it out. You'll see it is quite possible to do?

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/181906-italeri-112-alfa-romeo-8c/

[François]

The engine inner parts are just about ready to print 

[LaughingIndian]

On 6/12/2023 at 8:56 AM, François said:

David, if you haven't seen my post on the Alfa I did, go check it out. You'll see it is quite possible to do?

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/181906-italeri-112-alfa-romeo-8c/

Wow Francois, I just saw your Alpha post. What a fantastic build!

The Bentley was one of my favorite builds ever ( although several levels below what you’re going to do). And now since I got the Alpha kit 2 months ago, I’m that much more excited seeing what you did with it. It looks like it’ll be right next to the Bentley on my shelf some day.

Your work is VERY much appreciated — thank you!