Scratch building a classic muscle car.

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

Thanks for all the positive feedback and tips. And yes Niko, i will eventually cast it because I want to do a few different builds. As far as the putty goes I only use it for surface finishing. Any structural filling is done with car bog.

Anyway apologies are in order for not putting anything up yesterday, I have been feeling run down all week. I am getting back into a normal state now so I managed to get some more done today. In my last post I said I would continue working g on the body sides including the wheel arches. In order to get both sides symmetrical I have gone beck to work on the jig. I mentioned some time back that I was putting a jig together and even though it is not actually part of the model, it is still integral to the build and unfortunately with out it the build will not continue. So here is what I did. The arches at the front are for the wheel wells. The body will sit over the top.

Edited August 28, 2014 by fractalign

[fractalign]

I added the centre shaft to stop the sides from falling into the centre of the jig. I may add a higher shaft to allow the body to rest from underneath the hood.

[fractalign]

At the moment I have glued the driver's side body and the hood together. I have done this so that I can get an idea of how the other body side will fit.

You will notice that two of the slats have a strip of 2mm thick styrene inserted. These will have templates added to the ends that follow the contour of the body sides. These additions will make this a cradle jig that actually suspends the body above the main part of the jig. The reason for this is to allow enough space for the floor to be able to sit evenly inside the body. The floor will be removed and put back in when ever the new panels are added and with the body suspended above, this will be a lot easier to do. I will be using the same principal for when I do the firewall and rear cargo area.

Edited August 28, 2014 by fractalign

[fractalign]

Here is the floor sitting inside. The top of the jig and the floor are the same width.

Like the front, the rear of the jig will have wheel arches attached as well. These will also act as bucks so that the fenders can have the lips shaped properly. Once the jig is finished then I can really get back into getting the body finished so getting this jig completed will be the top priority in the next couple of days. Having said that now that I have the front arches made up on the jig I can also start shaping the front wheel arches too. So getting these two things completed will be the next tasks.

Edited August 28, 2014 by fractalign

[JTalmage]

Wow.

I can honestly say that is awesome. At first I wasn't convinced just seeing the sides and how 2-dimensional and flat that looked... but once you put it on the jig w/ the other parts, it looks amazing!

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

Sorry for not posting anything yesterday, I was pre occupied with a minor drama of sorts.

Anyway back to build and more work to the jig. This time I joined the cross beams.

[fractalign]

This is how it looks sitting in the jig. You will notice the contour gauge in the back ground that will eventually attach to this assembly, once I have cut the other three to match it. This is what will make it a cradle jig. The other part in the foreground, slots in at the front to support the hood. This panel will actually hold the whole body in place while I work out the rest of the floor and firewall.

Edited August 30, 2014 by fractalign

[fractalign]

Because I have made this panel removable, I will be able to construct the engine bay, once the floor and firewall are completed.

[fractalign]

This is what the jig will eventually look like. With all the contour gauges finished I will be able to get both body sides to be the same.

[fractalign]

Before I started putting the jig together this morning I did find some time to work on the other body side. With the contour gauge I can see that there will still be some filling to be done before this side gets up to speed with the other. Next task will be to finish the three remaining contour gauges. With that completed, the main part of the jig will be completed and I will be able to really start finishing this body side.

Edited August 30, 2014 by fractalign

[DeeCee]

Knowing what a Torana should look like, i am IMPRESSED! This is coming along very nicely mate.

[fractalign]

Thanks for the compliment.

Owning one definitely helps, I would not undertake this build otherwise.

[1 bad55 stan]

Great work Robert,,,

[skymnky721]

Now thats what you call "scratchbuilding",,nice job,,very neat car as well.

[fractalign]

Thanks for the comments guys !

And just a quick update, I did not get much done today other than filling the inside of the other body side. I had a job on in another town which set things back. But when I get back into the build tomorrow, I plan to wrap up the cradle jig and get top work on the wheel arches.

Cheers !

[TFchronos]

Amazing building skills as always, very nice progress.

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

Got the rest of the jig done, starting with completing the other contours, these are the front ones. The piece of timber has two saw cut, one at each end. This is the guide for the correct width of the cradles.

[fractalign]

Once the contours were attached, extra tabs were added at the front too keep them rigid. This is the rear cradle.

[fractalign]

Here is how the unit works. You will notice that i have not attached the contour on the other sider on there front cradle.

[fractalign]

The reason for this is because more of the edge needs to be cut back on the top passenger side fender in order for the hood to sit flush with this edge.

[fractalign]

The other thing that will need cutting back is the wheel arch which will need to be opened up more so that it sits over and not above the jig's arch. All in all the jig is working very well, so the next task will be to make these corrections and add the belt line on this side.

Edited September 1, 2014 by fractalign

[Danno]

Very impressive.

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

After putting the jig together last night I was able to make the necessary correction to the passenger side of the body. The first task was to sand down the inside edge of the top of the fender so that the hood would sit flush inside the engine bay.

[fractalign]

The other thing I did was open up the wheel arch. You will notice extra putty has been added to the sides. This is to fill the gap between the body and the contour. I would not have noticed this gap had i not created this cradle jig, so it is more than doing its job.

[fractalign]

I still need to add the belt line on this side and tidy up the crease line. At some stage I will either be starting to put the roof together or doing the firewall. One I begin either of these tasks the body will need to be glued together. I won't do either of those tasks until i get this side as finished as the other side. That will mean adding the belt line scribing the door and finishing the wheel arches. Those will all be the next tasks.