Airfix 1/12 Bentley Blower

François · December 24, 2023

Thanks absmiami!

I keep pushing off the lacing of the wheels but I'll have to do them eventually. The hubs were resin printed but I printed the drums with my filament printer. I might try to reprint them in resin for better details. I might also reprint the brake segments for the same reason.

Big John · December 27, 2023

The shocks are right on the money. The tech keeps getting better and better year to year if not day to day. Look at what you can do today that we wouldn't have even dreamed of a couple of years ago. I know you've updated the tech on this Bentley but I think the body should really rest on saw horses.

François · December 28, 2023

Saw horses would effectively be more period correct but since I'm reproducing a blower built in 2019 and they put the bodies on more modern trolleys, I will probably stick with this. And I must admit that I like the mecanical aspect of the wheeled trolley as opposed to a simpler wooden saw horse. That being said, I might very well change my mind when the time comes, would't be a first!!

I wired the head lights today and they work. Just need to chrome them up. I also 3d modeled the grill rim as the one furnished in the kit is not really nice. I know that many modelers will cut away the center portion of the grill and add a real mesh. And I might end up doing just that but I'll try printing some more accurate rims first.

I have a proper size wire mesh that has a .04" aperture that gives me about 20 squares which is about right and a .005" wire that scaled up is 1/16", also correct.

Wired head lights

Test fitted on car

Lights on

3d modeled grill rims

Real thing

Proper sized mesh

Kit's head light grill

Big John · December 28, 2023

The electric fans are pretty much a "period" ender. And the wheeled trolley is pretty cool. The wire screen does look like a good match for the 1:1.

François · December 28, 2023

Yes, I think the scale is ok.

François · December 29, 2023

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the 3d resin printing process like I was, I thought it could be interesting to show the different steps requiered to print a part .

1- decide what to print. In this exemple, I wanted to improve the head light protection grill from this

To this

2- 3d model the part

3- load the model in a slicer application. A slicer will literally slice the part in a multitude of layers. The number of layers depent on 2 things, the height of each layer, in this case it's 50 microns (.05mm) and the total height of the print. The taller the print, the more layers will be requiered and the longer the print will take. That's what fun with this process, the printing time is not dictated by the surface area being printed so a single small part of say 3mm height and 10mm square area will take as much time as 'X' of the same part as long as they fit on the printing plate. Now, this is where the game is won or lost. You have to give the proper orientation to the part so as to not have too much surface area being printed on each layer while taking care of the esthetics. You want to avoid supporting the part on visible surfaces because the anchor point will show a bit (or alot depending on their size and number). In this case, I wasn't able to avoid this but fixed the problem later on. Once oriented, you then add supports. The idea is to support the part at strategic point as it's being printed, avoiding overhangs.

4- load in printer and print

5- wash part in washing station. I use a water wash resin so cleaning is done with water. Most resin will requier cleaning with alcool

6- remove part from support structure by diping in boulingrin water for 2 to 3 seconds. This is not always necessary but will make separation alot easier.

Before boiling

After 2 sec dip

7- Cure in curing station. Most small parts will cure in 2 minutes. The longest I cured à part was 5 minutes. (The washing and curing uses the same machine, at least mine does)

After curing ( notice the bumpy top surface)

8- part finishing. Here you have to remove any anchor points that will be visible with either a blade, snippers or sand paper. I this case, not being able to support the part on a non visible surface ( I tried 5 different orientation but only one worked, I'm sure that someone with more experience could have achieved this), I printed a sanding tool since this part is very fragile.

Sanding tool

And after sanding

All that is left to do is to install the wire mesh

and chrome.

So that's it, hope you enjoyed this!!

Bugatti Fan · December 30, 2023

Those mesh headlamp protectors look really good. Looks like you fitted real wire mesh and got a most realistic look about them.

Saw in one of your previous posts that you are putting off fitting the wire wheel spokes. I have done a few in the past. More tedious than difficult once you get going.

François · December 30, 2023

Thanks Bugatti fan, I'm very satisfied with the grills. As for the wheels, having done the Alfa romeo wheels last year, I know to well how tedious it can be. I just need to give myself a swift kick in the behind and get on with it. I had a moderate set back yesterday with the gearmotor that drives the model's engine and drive train... more on that later...

Edited December 31, 2023 by François

Anglia105E · December 30, 2023

Your wiring and lighting of those Bentley headlamps is very interesting Francois . . . I might follow your procedure for a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III that I shall be building in 1:16 scale, starting middle of January 2024 . . .

David

François · December 31, 2023

As mentionned earlier, I had a set back with the gearmotor that is supposed to run the drive train. While connecting the wires to the motor, the leads broke from the motor too close to the end plate to be repaireble.

Fortunately, when I ordered the gearmotor, I ordered 2. One high ratio ( the one that broke) and one slightly lower ratio. So I very carefully removed the rear housing covering the back end of the motor and the spur gear and was then able to remove the broken gearmotor. I then redid the terminals in a more sturdy way on the new motor.

I had to reprint a new rear housing and spur gear and after a few hours of coaxing, was able to refit the new motor and complet the wiring.

I also wired the faux battery complete with proper battery terminals.

I then set out to assemble and dry fit the newly chromed head lights. Very very happy with the result !!

Big John · December 31, 2023

Wow, the chrome looks perfect. Is that the chrome pens again of some other finish?

François · December 31, 2023

Thanks Big John, It's the revell chrome. The pens work great but for small areas only and touch ups.

Edited January 1, 2024 by François

Bugatti Fan · January 1, 2024

Incredible build almost coming to completion. Really been interesting to follow.

Not much Airfix left in it I would guess judging by all the 3D printed work going into this model!

François · January 1, 2024

Thank you Bugatti fan, I'm very happy with the result so far. Not sure I agree with you on the 'comming to completion' part. There is still many months worth of work to do. Here a quick list of what is to be done.

1 finish wiring the head lights

2 do wire wheels

3 radiator

4 bonnet

5 redo all brake segments and drums with resin print

6 cover body with material, body doors, trims, floor, dashboard...

7 foldable roof

8 body stand

9 display case with interior lighting

10 eletrical box with battery holder and switchs

11 perhaps a second half body so the frame details can be seen but still have a body on the model(not sure about thin one)

I guess I'll know it when enough us enough

Anglia105E · January 2, 2024

Those headlamps François . . . You have clearly put a huge amount of effort, work and thinking into those components, including the bezels and the protective mesh. What an excellent result ! This whole model car is absolutely museum quality, and you must be so satisfied with your achievement so far.

This has been such a joy to follow, and I understand the completion of the build is some way off yet . . .

David

François · January 3, 2024

When I started this project, one of my goals was to have working brakes. To achieve this, I needed working brake segments. So I drew them up and printed them with the only printer I had at the time (a filament printer). So I had my brake segments which eventually gave me working brakes. The thing is, I now have a resin printer. Sooo, me being me, I had to redo them. Here are a few pictures.

First, here's what the kit proposes

These are the segments I printed first

This is what I really wanted

And this is what I now have. Still need to make the return spring.

it's really nice to be able to do praticaly any parts at will!!

absmiami · January 3, 2024

This is so cool - will you be able to spring-load the brake lining carriers ?

François · January 3, 2024

8 hours ago, absmiami said:

This is so cool - will you be able to spring-load the brake lining carriers ?

Yes, they will be spring loaded. I also need to fine tune the brake pedal in order to give it a bit more travelling and I should be able to see mouvement on all 4 brake pads.

I finished wiring the head lights. It wasn't easy to hide the wires but I think it came out ok. All the wires (gearmotor and lights) come out of tge frame on the left side of the gas tank. They make a nice little wire harness that will eventualy go to a control panel mounted on the outside of the display case. I still haven't decided if the harness will run on or go thru the mirored display floor. It will depend on the look I want.

I also added 2 red wire clips to hold the battery cables.

François · January 4, 2024

Did the micro springs for the brake segments using. 003" wire.

Reprinted the brake drums

François · January 9, 2024

I did the exhaust system. I wrapped the down pipe, added tube clamps with expension springs before and after the silencer and added the correct tail pipe mounting bracket.

The real thing

Tube clamps and springs

Tail pipe bracket

The real thing

I also decided to try my hand at printed the wheel rims instead of drilling a zillion holes in the kit rims. First try is promissing.

And lastly, here are some general shots of the car with the body on

François · January 11, 2024

Like mentionned on my previous post, I tried printing the wheel rims instead of drilling the ones from the kit. Well after a few printing interrations, I'm very happy to say that I was able to print a very nice rim. The prototype rim (all the pictures that fallow are of that wheel) was printed at an angle, the finished rims are printed flat and the result is even better. So here are some pictures from start to finish with, as always, a few pictures of the real thing.

The rim fresh off the printer, printed at a slight angle

I made an assembly jig to aid the alignment of the first row of spokes

First row done

Second row

Wheel completed next to the kit's wheel

Primed

And painted. The prototype was painted after lasing but the proper wheels will be painted in sections, the hubs and rims will get a coat before lasing and a final coat over the finished wheel. I believe that the result should be better this way.

i also printed a valve

And a bunch of wheel weights

The finished prototype wheel

The real thing

again the real thing

And for fun,

the model

Vs the cad model

and a little video

absmiami · January 11, 2024

Ooph …

Bugatti Fan · January 11, 2024

Wheels are looking really good. No substitute for real wire being used to make the spokes for realism. 3D printing the rims comes into its own for producing locations for each spoke.

François · January 16, 2024

Had a bit of bad luck with the head lights assembly. The 'U' shaped bracket that holds the head lights is so fragile that it keeps braking. So I did what I should have done in the first place, I made it out of a brass rod. I had to slightly modify the horn bracket to have a more sturdy assembly.

The new 'U' shaped bracket that is now more a 'Y' is made of soldered brass rod, round and square brass tubing. The lower rod will go thru the modified horn bracket and also thru the frame.