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'67 Triumph TR4A 4-17-18 Mirror update


Foxer

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  • 2 months later...

I've been working on mounting the PE wire wheels and had to make a metal axle for them as the Air-Trax kit came with resin axle shafts. Glue is drying on that fitment but in the meantime I finished the dash with some pe rings for the dash and speedo and some stick-on metal rings on the small ones. I wish I could get larger rings as these went on easy and look great!

Dash done DSC 2062

Edited by Foxer
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I've been working on mounting the PE wire wheels and had to make a metal axle for them as the Air-Trax kit came with resin axle shafts. Glue is drying on that fitment but in the meantime I finished the dash with some pe rings for the dash and speedo and some stick-on metal rings on the small ones. I wish I could get larger rings as these went on easy and look great!

DSC_2062_zpsos8ym7di.jpg

WoW! -you made that dash look 100% better!!

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Tidying up this point as things start crying out for paint and assembly! This is everything laid out ... not that many parts, though I think I made (or borrowed) more than came in the kit.

The underside of the chassis is being ready to accept the wheels and copper axles in a fixed position. The plastic TR3 chassis fits into the resin body with no movement .. almost a snap-tight fit! ))

The resin axle shafts were replaced with 12 and 14 gage copper house wires that fit perfectly into the PE wire wheels.

The exhaust pipe will be replaced with an aluminum one that will show the open pipe sticking out the back.

image.png.9ede2b2671caa2e7493523ad148ca3d9.png

 

Edited by Foxer
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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been spending my time getting the axles fixed in place so the wheels are centered and will just slop through a hole in final assembly. You can see a bove photos that axles are just metal rods through the chassis but they are near the top edge at the rear and I'll run out of adjustment getting the wheels up tight to the top of the wheel wells. The fronts are done.

Here's some lightened pics from the side. You can see how I have to move the rear wheels and get the rear body down. Those PE wire wheels sure look good though!

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image.png.b4d8212e3112b6512fc63c4bf0c65e70.png

 

Edited by Foxer
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Hey Fodder,I love that steering wheel in the 1/1  pics at the beginning of ur build! Nice work so far

The PE that came with this body does have the steering wheel center in it (see page 3), but I'm planning to use one from the TR3 donor kit as that looks accurate for my 1:1. This has been in the back of my mind all along and I think the TR3 steering wheel will look better. :)

Thanks for the comments.

Edited by Foxer
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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a quick, but not so timely, update getting the wheel mounts fixed so the wheels are centered. There was much watching glue dry, styrene and epoxy and it looks done to me.

As can be seen in the last photo, I just used some pieces of styrene drilled for the brass rod axles. No suspension or engine in this curbside.

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I did start fiddling with the front turn signals but the first attempt failed. It did give me a direction to head toward for 2nd attempt. :)

tr4a%20trur%20signal-4_zpsxainbpm9.jpg

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Edited by Foxer
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I have a soft spot for TR4s as well.  I drove this car at Sebring in 1968.  We did well until about 8PM (race over at 10PM) and the car had somehow gotten too lean a mixture and holed a piston, putting an end to the effort. The team was 2nd in class with this car in a previous year.  It had a Laycock overdrive and would go about 135 on the long straights.

Nice work on the model.  Glad to know there is a kit out there.

 

TR4 Sebring 1968 (1468 x 1164).jpg

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I have a soft spot for TR4s as well.  I drove this car at Sebring in 1968.  We did well until about 8PM (race over at 10PM) and the car had somehow gotten too lean a mixture and holed a piston, putting an end to the effort. The team was 2nd in class with this car in a previous year.  It had a Laycock overdrive and would go about 135 on the long straights.

Nice work on the model.  Glad to know there is a kit out there.

Wow .. 135 in a TR4A! 

Thanks for the comment and cool photo.

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  • 1 month later...

I've been debating with myself for two years about how I was going to make the front turn signal fixtures and I finally have a solution!  I had a question up here all that time looking for suggestions and this led me to have some made with a 3D printer. I have a TR5 3D file that I took the signals from and fixed them up in 3D Max. They went to the printer yesterday.

Here's the model I took them from ...

 

the signal pod with light lenses ..

 

and this is what went to get printed ..

A couple shots of the wire wheels close up. The fronts have disk brakes while the rears are drums.

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I got the turn signals back from Shapeways and they look good. Remember, these are 3/8" (.375" or 9.525mm) long! In these closeup photos the striations from the 3D printing can be seen, but not with the naked eye. I have to experiment with these to figure what I have to do to get smooth enough for Alclad. I'm going to put some thin primer on one and maybe some silver paint on the other.

TR4A%20Turn%203Dprint%20DSC_2093_zpsnk0x

TR4A%20Turn%203Dprint%20DSC_2099_zpsuvrp

 

They are tough to see in the plain clear material, so hopefully some paint will bring to life. The material is Frosted Extreme Detail. 

Painter silver ..

Edited by Foxer
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Very interesting build. Your research and ambition to do this car right will reward you with a 1 of 1 model to be proud of. 

Thanks, James.

As I read your post I looked at that last photo I posted and I sure looks a mess. But they are all sanded and look smooth. Only used 600 and 1000 grits and very easy. :)

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Here's a test mount of the turn signal pieces. The body crease on the resin body turns down and prevents the signal from sitting flush. The third photo shows how the crease on the model turns down and the fourth shows a TR4 that plainly shows the crease ending before where the turn signal would be. Just some body sanding to remove the high spots and the signal should fit well.

These are also good shots of the 3D printed parts sanded and ready to chrome! I really am impressed with how these came out .. 3D printing IS in our hands!

Turn%20signal%20test%20mount%20DSC_2110_

Turn%20signal%20test%20mount%20DSC_2111_

Left%20side%20wheel%20centering%20LIGHT%

 

 

Edited by Foxer
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Everything was looking good, parts sanded smooth, body bump corrected and was adding a pin to the printed parts for security and the gray carpet monster reared it's ugly head!

I just ordered another set of turn signals from Shapways. If I had hand carved these I might have ordered a Shapeways Hari Kari knife  ...  but just printing out another set made it workable! :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

This one has been a lot of work!  The headlight lamps in the Revell Ferrari California kit look a lot like your Triumph front turn signals, just a little larger.  These kits can be found for not many $, and styrene might be easier to work.  The 3d pieces might look better with a small coating of something like MicroMark CR300 resin or DecoArt triple thick glaze to give a smooth finish.

Edited by GerN
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  • 2 weeks later...

This one has been a lot of work!  The headlight lamps in the Revell Ferrari California kit look a lot like your Triumph front turn signals, just a little larger.  These kits can be found for not many $, and styrene might be easier to work.  The 3d pieces might look better with a small coating of something like MicroMark CR300 resin or DecoArt triple thick glaze to give a smooth finish.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions ... I'll have to look at one of those Ferraris, but these 3D printed ones are pretty exact. They are at a stage to be going to the black Alclad coat very soon. I've been off it due to me daughter's wedding this past weekend on the beach at Cape Cod.

I did try a Gelly Roll white gel pen for the white piping on the black rubber seats. I never thought they would cover the black well but with just one swipe along the raised piping they look fantastic!

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I gotta say I admire your persistence with a piece that 99% of us wouldn't give a second thought to. I'm looking forward to more.

Thanks, Rob

I'm sure it would be at the bottom of the stack if it wasn't one of the favorite cars I had. I do get a bit too picky when I do these, but the turn signals are the most visible change for the 4A.

 

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