Rolls-Royce No Chemicals, No Paint, No Harmful Glues

[MarkJ]

You might want to try something like this. You can order it online and probably also get it from amazon. I always use Evergreen because it's what Hobby Lobby sells. But they do not have the half round.

 

240 - .040" (1.0mm) OPAQUE WHITE POLYSTYRENE HALF ROUND - Evergreen Scale Models

Mark

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, MarkJ said:

You might want to try something like this. You can order it online and probably also get it from amazon. I always use Evergreen because it's what Hobby Lobby sells. But they do not have the half round.

 

240 - .040" (1.0mm) OPAQUE WHITE POLYSTYRENE HALF ROUND - Evergreen Scale Models

Mark

Thanks Mark, and I do have both Evergreen and Plastruct styrene products in my bag of stuff up in the loft. Without checking, I think I have half round, also square rod and round rod, styrene sheet in various thicknesses, and some girders and roof trusses too . . .  Thanks anyway for the tip.

David

[Anglia105E]

Following some careful calculations and measuring, I have cut out the front screen from thin clear film, and also cut out the inner frame from thin white card.

The inner frame will be painted the same colour emulsion as the headlining . . . The screen glass will be glued in place using Crystal Clear white glue, while the inner frame will be fitted over the edges of the screen from the inside of the body, using washable PVA glue.

This is the first time that I have tried this technique to fit a windscreen / windshield, so I am not sure what to expect . . . This idea just came into my head.

David

[Anglia105E]

On closer examination, the inner frame that was cut from thin white card was actually too small . . . This was duly rectified by measuring and cutting out a slightly larger frame, which now has a very precise fit. Without having painted the frame with the headlining colour just yet, here are a few photos showing the recent progress . . . It remains to be seen how the edges of the clear film screen will fit into the opening of the body, and also how well they will mate up to the inner edges of the frame. What is interesting from my point of view, is how the thin card has bent upwards when the emulsion paint was applied, and the curvature of this card frame seems to match the same curvature of the real car screen !

David

[MarkJ]

Great looking fit for sure. 

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, MarkJ said:

Great looking fit for sure. 

Although I seem to have managed to get a good fit on the inner card frame, the same cannot be said for the clear film screen. There is no margin for error with this part . . . Half a millimeter too large, or half a millimeter too small in either direction, and the screen will not fit into the opening of the body. I knew it would be that precise when I set out to make it fit, so no surprise really.

David

[Anglia105E]

Before attempting to fit the windscreen / windshield for the first time, I finished off the polishing of the body. This included removing several scuff marks caused by handling, which were careless fingers touching silver Sharpie, and also removing the silver Sharpie strips along both sills. Later, I shall be using styrene rod for the sill mouldings, and these will be given the silver Sharpie treatment. The polish used was as before, the baking soda toothpaste applied with microfibre cloth.

With a certain amount of anxiety and trepidation, I applied some Crystal Clear white glue to the surrounding area of the screen opening and allowed this to go tacky for a short while. The clear screen was eased into place, then the thin card inner frame was carefully positioned on top of the screen, which seemed to go into place nicely. At this point things started to go wrong . . . The screen refused to line up correctly and I struggled with a gap of around one millimeter that just would not cooperate. During the struggle the frame and the screen both suffered damage. Shortly after this failure I gave up and pulled out the two parts.

I need to come back to this idea with a fresh approach, or even find an alternative method. Maybe I am trying to be too clever here?

David

 

[Anglia105E]

I brought to the table a previous Silver Cloud build, and this one has quite a good windshield in place. The method used to build this model was to cut a length of styrene rod to go around the opening for the screen on the outside. For this current build, I have selected a length of Plastruct .030" Half Round styrene which is 0.8 millimeter . .  The idea is to glue the styrene moulding in position, with the clear screen already glued in place, probably using PVA glue. Previously I would have used Revell Contacta Professional cement, but this has a very strong smell, so I must avoid this product.

It will be necessary to apply the silver Sharpie to the Plastruct moulding before carefully positioning the part with tweezers, so as not to handle the moulding.

David

[MarkJ]

David, that half round is going to work out beautifully. What did you decide on for the moldings on the doors and below the doors 

Mark

[NOBLNG]

Nice work so far David. I did a half-round windshield frame on a ‘41 Plymouth. I wound up doing it in four pieces. It was just easier than trying to get the bends the perfect distance apart.🥴

[Anglia105E]

12 hours ago, MarkJ said:

David, that half round is going to work out beautifully. What did you decide on for the moldings on the doors and below the doors 

Mark

Mark . . . Hoping to get the moldings cut to size for the sills, below the doors today. These will be the same half round styrene as the screen surround. For the door moldings / strips they will have silver Sharpie applied, as well as the styrene rod moldings . . . Progress does seem to be rather slow at the moment, but that is partly to do with all sorts of things going on around me. October looks like being a busy month for distracting commitments !

David

[Anglia105E]

11 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Nice work so far David. I did a half-round windshield frame on a ‘41 Plymouth. I wound up doing it in four pieces. It was just easier than trying to get the bends the perfect distance apart.🥴

Greg . . . Your approach to this method does make sense to me, which is to cut out four pieces of half round instead of one, but I suppose what I am trying to do is to bend the four corners of this molding into curves. Also, I wanted to avoid the joins where the separate pieces meet. I agree with you that the process of bending the corners and getting the distance right is difficult, so if my first attempt does not come out well then I shall go for the four piece alternative, thanks.

David

[MarkJ]

56 minutes ago, Anglia105E said:

Mark . . . Hoping to get the moldings cut to size for the sills, below the doors today. These will be the same half round styrene as the screen surround. For the door moldings / strips they will have silver Sharpie applied, as well as the styrene rod moldings . . . Progress does seem to be rather slow at the moment, but that is partly to do with all sorts of things going on around me. October looks like being a busy month for distracting commitments !

David

I know what you are talking about. Between honeydoos and running errands, I'm lucky to have any time in the afternoon to actually work on the model. Yesterday I spent half the day securing some Tamiya white spray primer in a rattle can so I can reprime the body where the sanding went through. I had to get my local hobby shop to order me some and they are an 18 mile round trip to get to. Hobby Lobby decided to not stock it anymore. It seems like they are trying to get out of the model car business and that will be sad for me if they do.

Mark

 

Edited October 2 by MarkJ

[Anglia105E]

During the past two days I didn't get any work done on the Silver Cloud, so today I did find my way up to the loft to reassess the situation . . .

The windshield and molding are on hold for now, and I am unsure as to where this part of the process goes next. Turning my attention to the sill moldings, and from out of nowhere, an idea came to me . . . This happens every so often, when a new and untested method suddenly comes to me out of the blue.

Having checked the silver Sharpie and found that it is not working, I decided to give my Molotow Liquid Chrome refill a good shaking, as it has been standing vertically throughout the Summer . . . Then I dripped a small of the liquid chrome onto a piece of scrap styrene sheet. My idea was to dip the tip of the silver Sharpie into the pool of liquid chrome, and then apply this to the styrene strips. The two sill moldings were laid across a couple of wooden blocks and to begin with there was a bit of a struggle to hold the moldings steady while I carefully applied the liquid chrome. Once I had placed a small piece of double sided tape on one end of the blocks, I was able to gently run the tip of the Sharpie along the length of each sill molding . . .

The result is not great, I must admit, but I shall leave the styrene moldings to dry for 24 hours and then see how they look. I used some of the remaining liquid chrome on the door strips of the body, just on the driver's side of the model . . .

David

[Anglia105E]

I forgot to mention in my previous posting, the reason that I felt justified in using the Molotow Liquid Chrome in this way, was that I don't need to use a chemical in order to wash the brush after use. The liquid chrome is applied using the tip of the silver Sharpie, which seems to work fine.

When I examined the two sill moldings after 26 hours drying time, the resulting finish is actually quite good. This evening I have applied a thin strip of PVA glue along each of the sills below the doors, and then carefully positioned the chromed styrene sill moldings with tweezers. Leaving these to set overnight, I am fairly confident this should work . . .

If this method of applying chrome to the Silver Cloud meets with my critical approval, then maybe most of the chrome on this model could be done this way.

David

[MarkJ]

David, I think you've got it. That molding below the doors looks excellent from where I'm sitting. It's always great when a plan comes together. Congratulations.

[Anglia105E]

17 hours ago, MarkJ said:

David, I think you've got it. That molding below the doors looks excellent from where I'm sitting. It's always great when a plan comes together. Congratulations.

Thanks Mark . . . The sill moldings have turned out better than I had expected, and the PVA is not visible at the edges. Here are a few photos of the result.

David

[MarkJ]

Yes, mighty fine. Is that a 1/24 scale David standing next to the Rolls? 

[Anglia105E]

2 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Yes, mighty fine. Is that a 1/24 scale David standing next to the Rolls? 

That is a 1:24 scale 3D printed figure that I had printed by Shapeways, and I modified the figure to look like Osmond Rivers, who was the Chief Designer and Managing Director of Hooper & Co. (Coachbuilders) Limited around 1958 - 1959 . . .

David

[MarkJ]

15 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

That is a 1:24 scale 3D printed figure that I had printed by Shapeways, and I modified the figure to look like Osmond Rivers, who was the Chief Designer and Managing Director of Hooper & Co. (Coachbuilders) Limited around 1958 - 1959 . . .

David

Very cool. Makes sense that you would make a figure representing him. Nice tribute on your part to do so. That 3d printing is an amazing thing and I'm sure your modifications made for a perfect likeness.

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, MarkJ said:

Very cool. Makes sense that you would make a figure representing him. Nice tribute on your part to do so. That 3d printing is an amazing thing and I'm sure your modifications made for a perfect likeness.

The Shapeways service used to be really good, and I had quite a few pieces shipped from the Netherlands and delivered by UPS at a very reasonable cost. Then they shut down their business, and after a couple of years reopened the business but in a totally different format. You cannot place an order for specific pieces any longer, which is a real shame . . . I did assemble my own 3D printer from parts supplied by an Ebay seller in China and somehow it actually worked well. Two years later the 3D printer exploded in my loft room and I haven't done any 3D printing since. The Rolls-Royce engine that I designed in FreeCAD at 1:24 scale was printed by Shapeways before they closed, but I only had two engines printed. Recently, a fellow member on MCM Forums has kindly printed some more engines for me in black resin which are really nice. The Shapeways printed engines are a white material that is not resin . . . I did manage to mold and cast one engine in resin, but I don't do molding and casting now because of the high risk chemicals.

Three photos below of black resin 3D printed engines . . .

David

[MarkJ]

Good supply there. That should keep you busy.

Mark.

[Anglia105E]

5 minutes ago, MarkJ said:

Good supply there. That should keep you busy.

Mark.

Even if I build two Silver Cloud models each year, there are enough engines here to keep me going for the next 6 years !

David

[Anglia105E]

Having decided upon a method of putting together the windshield for this car, I am not yet certain this will be successful . . . The plan is to fit the clear screen to the inside of the body opening, and then to mask off the area surrounding the opening on the outside, which will allow me to apply liquid chrome using the silver Sharpie tip. The chrome will be applied to the windshield molding that is already molded into the body, so to begin with I am not attempting to add the half round styrene molding . . . Once this has been done I shall be able to see if the screen looks right, and if I am not completely happy with the result, then I can modify the approach as required.

So far, the clear screen has been glued in place using Crystal Clear glue and this can be allowed to set overnight.

David

[Anglia105E]

Now that the clear screen has set overnight, I prepared to apply the Liquid Chrome . . . Rather than attempt to use the silver Sharpie which has a 1 mm tip that is too large for this job, I chose to use a CD marker that has a thin tip. By dipping the tip into a pool of Liquid Chrome I was able to apply the chrome precisely.

I used some blue masking tape and the orange fine line tape to protect the area of the bodywork around the windshield molding and wipers.

First of all the molding around the windshield was chromed, followed by the wiper arms and blades. I managed to avoid getting any chrome on the clear screen, and the thought then crossed my mind that the obvious thing to have done would have been to apply the chrome BEFORE the screen was glued in place. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course . . . Once the wipers were done, and not wanting to waste the pool of liquid chrome, I applied some chrome to the boot lid handle, and also the door strips on the passenger side of the body.

This will be allowed to dry for 24 hours before I examine the overall result . . .

David