'67 Triumph TR4A 4-17-18 Mirror update

[Foxer]

Got a mockup with primer .. bodywork  is done ... this was a long road to this point! Thinning the resin body and panel line repairs were the most time consuming but all the TR4 things are well done and it just needs the TR4A specific side chrome and side light assembly to be made. I popped the PE grill in that came with the kit. The wheels are in Metalizer Stainless Steel and maybe too shiny, the wires were only painted. The interior pieced are in black primer and the top boot is made but only taped in place and not laying flat. It will have the piece attached to the front edge that hangs down .. not sure of the purpose of this loose flap.

I've been working on the dash as this will be a focal point and need a lot of love! First is the resin dash that came with the lit. I was going to make a wood decal and drill out the instruments for more decals, but decided to print a photo of the dash wood and probably the instruments with it. There are trim rings on the PE fret to use around them. First is a scan of the resin dash and the PE fret from the kit:

This is the dash with a low resolution print of some dash wood .. needs sone more irregular grain I think.

[sjordan2]

Got a mockup with primer .. bodywork  is done ... this was a long road to this point! Thinning the resin body and panel line repairs were the most time consuming but all the TR4 things are well done and it just needs the TR4A specific side chrome and side light assembly to be made. I popped the PE grill in that came with the kit. The wheels are in Metalizer Stainless Steel and maybe too shiny, the wires were only painted. The interior pieced are in black primer and the top boot is made but only taped in place and not laying flat. It will have the piece attached to the front edge that hangs down .. not sure of the purpose of this loose flap.

I've been working on the dash as this will be a focal point and need a lot of love! First is the resin dash that came with the lit. I was going to make a wood decal and drill out the instruments for more decals, but decided to print a photo of the dash wood and probably the instruments with it. There are trim rings on the PE fret to use around them. First is a scan of the resin dash and the PE fret from the kit:

This is the dash with a low resolution print of some dash wood .. needs sone more irregular grain I think.

Try certainlywood.com for a huge selection of veneer patterns that you can print out. 

[Foxer]

Try certainlywood.com for a huge selection of veneer patterns that you can print out. 

Thanks, Skip. I've been there but their photos are a bit low resolution for my needs I want something that is 1500 dpi and 1.75" with the grain ... that's about 2600 pixels ... the nice ones at certainly wood are 400, but some of their teaks are perfect in color and grain ...

[Kit Basher]

Mike, if you would like a piece of actual wood veneer that you could photograph and resize, or use as is, just let me know. I have a ton of the stuff in many different species, including teak.

[Foxer]

Mike, if you would like a piece of actual wood veneer that you could photograph and resize, or use as is, just let me know. I have a ton of the stuff in many different species, including teak.

I really appreciate the offer, Hugh! t one point I was thinking of using a piece of veneer, but I think it would be too thick. A sheet of photo paper seems the thinnest I can get and would be great to have a piece of veneer to photograph at high resolution. The 1/24 dash is 1.75 x about .5", so I wouldn't need a large piece. Here's a photo of my TR4A dash so you can see what I'd like to get close to.

If you have something that might be close, I'd be happy to just photograph it and get it back to you.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Foxer

[Kit Basher]

PM sent.

[sjordan2]

Thanks, Skip. I've been there but their photos are a bit low resolution for my needs I want something that is 1500 dpi and 1.75" with the grain ... that's about 2600 pixels ... the nice ones at certainly wood are 400, but some of their teaks are perfect in color and grain ...

You can adjust those images any way you wish, from making a large screen shot to reducing the big images to smaller, to-scale photo paper images, screen shots, etc., take to a laser printer service, etc  There are a multitude of ways to get fine-quality prints from any of those very large images. Are you clicking to enlarge the thumbnails? They're very big. 

[Foxer]

You can adjust those images any way you wish, from making a large screen shot to reducing the big images to smaller, to-scale photo paper images, screen shots, etc., take to a laser printer service, etc  There are a multitude of ways to get fine-quality prints from any of those very large images. Are you clicking to enlarge the thumbnails? They're very big. 

Yeah, the ones that looked right were fairly small. I did see some pretty hi rez ones, but not what I need. I do 3D design (in spare time) making 3D objects and manipulation of textures in Photoshop. I could enlarge but that doesn't usually come out well. Maybe it's worth a chance since it's going to end up so small.

 

[JohnnyK]

I really appreciate the offer, Hugh! t one point I was thinking of using a piece of veneer, but I think it would be too thick. A sheet of photo paper seems the thinnest I can get and would be great to have a piece of veneer to photograph at high resolution. The 1/24 dash is 1.75 x about .5", so I wouldn't need a large piece. Here's a photo of my TR4A dash so you can see what I'd like to get close to.

If you have something that might be close, I'd be happy to just photograph it and get it back to you.

OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!!  Your car is beautiful. That is a great dash. In college I had a TR-4, TR-4a and a TR-6. Those were really fun cars. Too bad they all were eaten by the rust monster. I now drive a Z3 that I have owned for 18 years. It is as much fun as the TR's except it does not require weekly maintenance and constant repairing.

[Foxer]

OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!!  Your car is beautiful. That is a great dash. In college I had a TR-4, TR-4a and a TR-6. Those were really fun cars. Too bad they all were eaten by the rust monster. I now drive a Z3 that I have owned for 18 years. It is as much fun as the TR's except it does not require weekly maintenance and constant repairing.

Three TR's .. wow! I think it was keeping the SU's in sync that finally did me in ... I was lucky if they went a month before the power dropped. My sports car bug hit me again a few years later and stayed thru five Porsche 924/944's ... galvanized bodies and the sweetest suspensions in the world.

 

In other news, the TR dash pieces are coming together .. I scraped the resin dash clean and started fabricating all the little pieces ... nothing worth a photo yet.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Foxer

[Speedfreak]

Nice work Mike.

[Foxer]

A small update by most standards, but for all the work that's gone into the interior this is a big one for me! And just a shot on the bench of the pieces still in the works. The dash proper is set but the center console had to be done from scratch and is still being shaped .. at least the fit is correct now. Kit Basher has generously sent me some wood veneer for my dash and this is in the process. It is so thin I was considering using the veneer itself but have photographed it and will use a photographic print. Maybe in next update if that works. The veneer he sent has beautiful grain .. perfect for my dash.

In this photo is the rear resin bumper that broke in two places due to my clutzy hands while sanding the flash off. They are pinned and ready for glue, but this joint will be delicate no matter what. The rear bumper has the mounting pins in place and is ready for Alclad.

The center console has a piece added because I had to lower the center tunnel to correct the console height .. I hope I can get a radio in it after adding the shifter piece. The shift boot was made from progressively smaller rings and are on the shaft made from a headed pin. 

[Foxer]

The dash wood has been chosen .. using the upper one in the Photo. This is a photo of some wood veneer that Hugh Grubb (Kit Basher) sent me and was photographed and a mask of the resin dash with gages and shape applied. I tried a print on photo paper and that will be cut out and glued to the dash. The glove box outline is in Photoshop in black and will be applied before making the final print.

 

The shift receiving piece on top of the tunnel was glued to the console face and now drying and I can finish shaping it tomorrow .. letting styrene glue dry a day and I'll add some surer glue to reinforce to the back. This is a drop in dash/console now!

Edited September 6, 2015 by Foxer

[Speedfreak]

Can't wait to see this Mike.

[Foxer]

Can't wait to see this Mike.

Me too!  ehhehe  

I did find the holes I did in Photoshop are too large for the PE rings in the kit. They are tough to accurately measure with my calipers without distorting them since they are so thin. So I'm going to scan the PE fret and use that in Photoshop to redo the hole mask.

I'm also going to try my wife's Silhouette cutter to cut them out.

[Speedfreak]

So you already have 'real' veneer that is already cut to fit the dash?

[Foxer]

So you already have 'real' veneer that is already cut to fit the dash?

I could cut the veneer to fit but by photographing the veneer pieces I was able to get the grain smaller and closer to scale. The photos I posted of the dash are enlarged and only 1.75" long. This was about a 3" long section of the veneer so the grain fits the dash better and more to scale. The printed photos look very good .. like the polished wood in the 1:1 car. I'm also going to print the instrument faces with the wood then add the metal PE rings on top. I think this will make it all easier and look good to boot.

Edited September 10, 2015 by Foxer

[ProStreetOnTheStrip]

This, even though im a muscle car guy, is one of my dream cars
 

[charlie8575]

That wood is gorgeous.

I'll look forward to seeing this one together, Mike.

Charlie Larkin

[Foxer]

I finished (!) two builds at the end of 2015 and have been considering which build gets back on the bench for 2016 .... this one wins!

I think I'm going to detail the resin engine that came with the Air-Trax TR4 resin kit for display next to the car. It is just a block/head casting and a engine pan/transmission bottom as can be seen in the following photo. I'll most likely have to make the SU Carbs and manifolds. I made a mold of the trans half so I can make a casting to glue on top.

 

These photos were to check the stance after making a new brass tube axle and some filing to get wheels up and centered. I basically have it now.

There's still some adjustment when they get glued in place.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Foxer

[Foxer]

The wood dash went to the cutting board today. I printed a photo of the scanned wood with instruments to photo paper and used my wife's Silhouette Cameo cutter to cut the outline out. It took a couple days of figuring out how it works and the best way. I used the Print and Cut method ... printed and cut from the Silhouette. I may do another cut as this one has a slight registration problem and the cut lines should be raised a micro millimeter. I will add PE rings around the instruments and add the hardware for the glove box.

 

The tailpipe and mufflers on the chassis were ground out with my old Dremel after the Stylus failed to keep running! The hole was filled with melted styrene.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Foxer

[Speedfreak]

Nice progress Mike, that dash is gonna look great when your done.

[Foxer]

I couldn't wait to post these ... got some PE wire wheels that are from the Gunze Sangyo High-Tech TR2 La Mans kit! These are VERY nice wire wheels! The tires on the plastic Tr2 wheels in the photo are closer to my 1:1 TR4A, even an inch undersize, so they will have to be put on the PE wheels. I'm not ready to try switching the tires yet ... just have to sit and admire the PE wires until I'm ready to get back on the TR4A. and the PE wheels have nice brake disks and calipers attached to boot!

Edited April 1, 2016 by Foxer

[Kit Basher]

I was wondering about this model a couple of nights ago. Glad to see it back. The dash is gonna be awesome with the PE rings, and those wire wheels look great!

Edited March 18, 2016 by Kit Basher

[blunc]

those are some really sweet wire wheels.