1911 MAXWELL AB - 1/12

[kenlwest]

This is an online build of a 1911 Maxwell model AB in 1/12 scale.  A little unusual for this forum, but something different.  Early brass era cars are very difficult to pull off in smaller scale, due to the tiny and very delicate parts - hence the 1/12 scale.  Here is a picture of the real car.  Hope you enjoy the build!

[kenlwest]

Back in the day, it was common to see Firestone Non-Skid tires on these old cars.  Firestone and Coker still manufacture these tires in different sizes.  Here are the resin  prints showing the lettered pattern.

[kenlwest]

Here is the frame, crossmember and 4 leaf springs.

[kenlwest]

The front and rear axles are glued together.  The rear axle is made from 10 parts, with a steel wire through the center for alignment and strength.  I loosely placed the axles over the springs to check fitment.

[kenlwest]

The engine is pretty simple.. 2 opposed cylinders.  

[Anglia105E]

This is an unusual build Ken . . . I shall be interested to see where you go with this !

Nice scale at 1:12

David

[NOBLNG]

Nice project, and good progress so far. I take you are 3d printing this all from scratch?

[bbowser]

[kenlwest]

The pre-painted engine is assembled and sitting in it's position on the frame.  The crank starter shaft lines up with the notch in the frame.

[kenlwest]

Preview of things to come...

[kenlwest]

Dry fitting the exhaust system.

[kenlwest]

The wheels were printed in 2 halves. They are going to require quite a bit of finishing work to remove the evidence of printing.  

[kenlwest]

The radiator assembly is made from 4 parts.  The front and back grills are sandwiched between the outer shell halves.

One of the nice things about resin parts is that seams and imperfections are easily repaired with drops of resin, then files/sanded.  

[kenlwest]

Fenders and top is printed.

[kenlwest]

Here is a shot of the underside of the chassis.

[kenlwest]

Flywheel placed on crankshaft, and engine in place between frame rails.

[slusher]

Really nice work! Every thing was printed so nice!

[Deathgoblin]

This is beautiful.  I can't wait to see how it turns out. 

[charlie8575]

This is awesome!

Where did you find the files for it, or did you do them yourself?

About how big will this be once completed?

Charlie Larkin

[kenlwest]

5 hours ago, charlie8575 said:

This is awesome!

Where did you find the files for it, or did you do them yourself?

About how big will this be once completed?

Charlie Larkin

Charlie,  I modeled the parts in CAD.  I started with the plans from Hudson Miniatures which was drawn in 1949 in 1/16 scale.  Hudson made a number of balsa kits that are remarkably good for that time.  In 1961, Aurora tooled 6 of these models in plastic, but the Maxwell was not one of them.   Starting with the plans from Hudson, I rescaled to 1/12, and then added many details from hundreds of pictures off the web. 

One of the difficult tasks is to determine which details to use, because at that time, many parts were hand fabricated, and rarely would any two cars be produced identically.

At 1/12 scale, the wheelbase is 7.3 inches.

[kenlwest]

Here are the tires and wheels.  I reprinted these because the earlier prints were too large, and I wasn't happy with the FDM wheels.

I scaled them down, and printed them with resin.  Both tires and wheels were painted in flat black automotive primer.  Then the wheels were coated with one layer of semi gloss polyurethene.

 

 

 

[kenlwest]

The wheels are mounted to the axles, to create a "rolling chassis" as we would call it today.

I set the body and hood in place just to see how it looks/fits.

Note the cooling louvers in the hood are printed open, which is possible in the larger scale, and provides a more realistic look.

[Anglia105E]

Those wheels and tyres look really good Ken, and now that you have a rolling chassis you can see how well this all fits together . . . Certainly a good idea to have the louvres in the open position on the hood sides, as indeed they are on my Rolls-Royce hood side panels.

Your CAD work and your 3D printed parts are excellent . . . It is interesting how you have built this model from the original plans.

David

[kenlwest]

I added the fenders.  The seat and trunk are sitting in place.  

[kenlwest]

19 hours ago, kenlwest said:

I added the fenders.  The seat and trunk are sitting in place.