Airfix 1/12 Bentley Blower

[François]

I started the front end of the

engine,  the water pump and magnetos. 

Like previously stated in many other blogs, the pump on the kit is nowhere near what it is in real life.  This is what the kit provides 

what it should look like 

And what I would like to do 

As for the magnetos, I'll try to add the likage coming from the steering column stator shaft. 

And also the 2 fans

Edited October 15, 2023 by François

[François]

Here are the modeled fans. 

Edited October 15, 2023 by François

[François]

Test

[David G.]

You've been making some spectacular accomplishments with this build.

You have impressive engineering and building skills

I'm just happy when I can get all four wheels to touch the ground simultaneously. 

David G.

[François]

Thank you David, that's very kind. 

A member from another forum noted that I made a mistake with the water pump. I assumed that the left side water pump connection was going to an outlet ( or inlet) on the engine block. It turns out that it's actually plugged. Looking at one of my ref pictures,  I can clearly see it now. That connection would have been used only on non-blown models where it would have been connected to a hose going back up to a thermostat 

[François]

The pump is almost done, just need to put the bolts on the front flange and a couple of black hoses and clips. Althougt it's not a very complex part,  it was a pain to print with the type of printer I have. I really need to get myself a resin printer.

I also finished the handbrake linkage. Just need to chrome the lever.

 

[David G.]

Following your build is like watching a magic trick in slow motion François.

There's always something amazing going on that I don't quite understand but find captivating.

David G.

[François]

Thanks David,  that's exactly what my boss used to say to me when I designed machines,  "don't know what you're doing or where you're going with this but I can't wait to see the result"

[François]

Up date time,  I've been busy on many fronts at the same time. 

 

1- Due to "peer pressure", I remodeled the water pump and from cover to better reflect the picture posted by nick. I had it resin printed instead of trying to print it myself.  The result should be alot better. 

 

The real thing

The 3d model

The new pump (still drying)

And the cover plate (also still drying)

2- I started to assemble the brake ajuster but I'm still missing a few aluminium parts that I need to fabricate. 

3- I modified the steering wheel. The one on my ref car has plastic covering on the 4 spider branches.  In order to do this, I removed the center portion on the wheel, printed a new one, inserted 4 heat shrink tubes, glueds the 4 branches to the wheel and shrunk the tubes. Looks ok to me. I also started assembly of the stator control that mounts on the steering wheel. 

My ref car steering wheel 

The kit's wheel (sorry for the poor picture)

Heat shrink test 

All the parts ready to assemble 

The finished wheel 

and with stator control

4- received the fans. I had to make a sanding jig to sand the mounting surface of the fan housing. They look very nice and they spin!

Jig and parts before sanding 

Housing in jig

Fan assembled 

Back from paint 

5- started to instead the gazilion bolts on the engine block aluminium cover plates. 1 done. 2 more to go. 

6- the engine block is all painted,  lower portion aluminium. Core black and top chrome.  

7- finalized the handbrake release lever

 

[David G.]

So much progress! ? 

Using the heat shrink tubing on the steering wheel arms was brilliant!

David G.

[François]

Not much done today.

Fan assembly done.

 

And water pump face plate mounted. 

It was noted that the steering wheel arms are maybe a bit big and I have to agree.  I'll reprint the center portion and see it I can heat shrink on a narrower arm and maybe compensate with the print the too thick heat shrink. 

[David G.]

It's coming along quite nicely François.

David G.

[François]

I'm rethinking the steering wheel.  I really don't like my first try,  the heat shrink is too bulky and out of scale.  I even tried heat shrinking over a smaller section arm but that didn't work either,  the heat melted the plastic.  So I'm scraping the shrink idea altogether. I'm going to try using super thin rice paper tape (about .002" think) to simulate the plastic cover used over the spider arms.

So let me remind you of my goal.

My first try with the head shrink. 

my first rice paper test (not as bulky as the heat shrink)

the rice paper and newly printed wheel center

l'm also slowly advancing with the engine dress up, I've got the second aluminium cover plate installed and drilled.  Still have to put the bolts on. 

[François]

I assembled the brake adjuster today, I would need a strongher return spring to properly stretch the cable but my parts would not take the stress. But it still fonction as it should. The cable can be tensionned by turning the adjuster knob, this would have compensated for brake pad wear.

Here are some progress and finished pictures and a video of the working mecanism. 

 Also redid the steering wheel using the rice tape described in my previous post.

 

[David G.]

Excellent engineering of the brake system.

Good call on the steering wheel, it looks much better.

David G.

[François]

I finished installing the side covers on the engine block. 

 

[David G.]

They look good.

David G.

[François]

Almost done with the water pump.  After a bit of research, I finally figured out where the lower 'y' connection goes to.

They connect on bottom of the radiator 

Unfortunately,  the kit's radiator doesn't provide these connections. I can see more major modifications in my futur 

[absmiami]

Yup - think you can do much better - maybe bin the kit part and draw a new one ?  Spare time’s over-rated - right ?

[François]

I'll see what I can do with this one before scrapping it. I'll empty it out, give it the proper shape at the bottom and insert some mesh, I'll see where I stand after that. But that's for later. For now,  I'll concentrate on finishing the engine. Still have the plugs, wiring, coolant pipe, the advance/retard and throttle linkage and much more to do.

[François]

Made the spark plugs and plug wires today. Not sure I like the wire I used.  At .5mm dia, the scale is good (about 1/4" scaled up) but it's not as smooth as the ones on my ref car. I'lI look for something else. 

also installed the now finished water pump. Very happy with the result. 

I started 3d modeling the magneto advance/retard ajustement linkage. Should look like this.

I bought some liquid chrome markers. Very impressive !!

Edited October 26, 2023 by François

[Bugatti Fan]

Amazing progress with all the extra detailing being done!

The liquid chrome markers you bought and found impressive.    Molotow or another make?

[François]

Since I wasn't sure how good it would work,  I went with another brand. 3 different size markers for 16$ instead of 1 molotow for 22$. I wouldn't use them on a large surfaces but for small parts and touch ups they seem to do the job. 

[François]

Did some more work on the throttle and magneto linkage. The parts are very small, not sure that they are printable. I would really have liked to be able to adjust the magnetos from the stator control on the steering wheel but I can't find any info on just how it's done. I know that there is a lever of some sort mounted at the end of the steering column but don't know what it looks like. 

 

[Bugatti Fan]

Francois, you forgot to say the brand name of the chrome markers you bought that cost much less than the Molotow when you kindly responded to my question.