Scratch building a classic muscle car.

[fractalign]

With the boot lid done and the nosecone done, I am keen to move onto the roof. I was going to shape the roof from the 2 mm styrene that I have been using for the rest of the body until I realised this would take too long and it would not be evenly contoured. I have come up with a solution to this problem by using something else. All will be revealed tomorrow.

[David G.]

Still watching- still amazed!

David G.

[rsxse240]

I have to be honest. At first I was a bit skeptical about how you were going about this build. Since I am unfamiliar with the subject matter, to me it looked as if you were playing it by ear. Now that I've looked at some pictures of the real car, compared them with your build, and you have made some significant progress, I must say that you are doing an outstanding job! The more you get done, the more I want to see it finished. I can't wait to see what you do with the roof.

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

Today I made up the roof, like the boot lid and hood, it was a surprisingly easy task. As I said last time I decided to drop the idea of using the 2mm thick styrene because it would take too long to shape. Here is what I did instead.

[fractalign]

This was an old plastic ice-cream container I had laying around. While most of these types of containers had a flat base, these particular ones had a slight raise at the base. If you can imagine a very shallow dome in the centre of the base, that is what these had. It just so happened to be more or less the same contour as a car roof. After cutting it out I took some more measurements of the 1:1 roof, this time the width, I already had the length written down having measured that earlier in the day. Each end was shaped to follow the flow of the windscreen and rear window. When I measured the length earlier in the day, I only measured dead centre because this is the longest point in the roof. The length on either side of the roof will be determined by the measurement of the windscreen and rear window. The width of the roof was determined by measuring from drip rail to drip rail directly above the B pillars. One I had cut out the piece I looked for a second container so the I could add a second layer to reinforce it. Here are the two pieces before being glued together.

[fractalign]

Here is the unit being test fitted.

[fractalign]

After some undercoat and trimming, here is how it looks. I am still to determine where the roof will sit in relation to the rest of the body. That will be easy enough though because I took measurement from the leading edge of the hood to the leading edge of the roof to determine the exact position.

Once I do that I will be able to adjust the rear of the body to suit. The b pillars in particular will need to be lengthened and once that is done I can begin the task of attaching the roof and finishing the front and rear edges in preparation for the fitting of the front and rear windscreens. That will be the next task.

Edited September 21, 2014 by fractalign

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

I spent time preparing the body for the roof. The first thing I did was cut back the sides, this roof sections will basically cover the whole area a lost up to the drip rails. Because the roof was longer than the roof sides on the body, I thickened the b pillar to bring it into line with the roof.

[fractalign]

I also bevelled the roof sides because there is a slight drop where the roof meets the drip rails.

[fractalign]

I am not ready to attach the roof just yet because I need to position it. I got the measurements yesterday by running the tape measure in a straight line from the front tip of the hood to the top front of the windscreen housing, the leading edge of the roof. To do the same thing on the model I will need to re attach the hood. In order for the hood to sit evenly I have created the channels along the top of the fenders.

Edited September 21, 2014 by fractalign

[fractalign]

Here is how the roof sits at the moment, I will need to raise up the height of the b pillars slightly. They taper off too early which is why the plastic strip is holding up the roof. The next task will be to re - attach the hood and lock in the exact position for the roof.

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

I was planning to re attach the hood today to bring the body back together but I realised I would need a slight gap between the hood and the fender sides. In order to do this I was going to add the side braces on the underside of the hood so I checked the 1:1 hood and realised that there was a 10 mm wide crease that ran around the perimeter of the hood. I knew that I would have to add this detail sooner rather than later so I did. There is still a little clean up on the lower edge and I will need to trace the perimeter around the front edge but that will be a later task. There was something else that I wanted to finish off first.

Edited September 22, 2014 by fractalign

[fractalign]

What I really wanted to get sorted out though was the roof namely the contour at the front. I was racking my brain trying to work out how to get this contour. Then it dawned me. I would get the angle of the A pillars in the 1:1 and angle the windscreen to the same position. Needless to say the contour gauge proved very useful in this task, I will let the photos do the rest of the talking.

[fractalign]

[fractalign]

[fractalign]

With the contour of the front edge worked out, I was able to reproduce it in the 1:25 scale version with out too much trouble.

With that out of the way I will finally be able to focus on attaching the roof and finally bringing the two body sides together hopefully permanently. The next task will be to complete the roof section and get it ready for attachment.

Edited September 22, 2014 by fractalign

[chunkypeanutbutter]

You, sir, are amazing.

Whilst I myself would never have the cash for it, you should look into casting this.

[fractalign]

Hey Miles.

I will definitely be casting this one, you must have read my thoughts.

[crazyrichard]

awsome progress !!

[TFchronos]

Very nice work!

[fractalign]

Hey guys.

Having finished the top of the roof, I am now turning my attention to the underside. Before I even think about attaching it I will need to get all the details correct including the bracing and inside shape of the pillars. This is what the 1:1 roof looks like, you will notice the cross beam that extends from b pillar to b pillar. Also notice how the inside wall of the pillars are rounded.

[fractalign]

The underside of the upper part of the front windscreen area will need to be recreated.

[fractalign]

The upper part of the windscreen sits inside this recessed area. This will also need to be recreated. While most models feature a built in windscreen frame and glass that attaches from the inside, this one will have a separate windscreen frame and the windscreen will attach from the front just like the 1:1. There is a very good reason for this extra detail and that will be revealed later in the build.

[fractalign]

The steel inner pressing in the C pillar will also be included. Next task will be to recreate all the elements in the roof and then begin the task of attaching it.

[fractalign]

Hey guys !

After photographing the underside of the roof yesterday, I got the measurement for the various sections and began construction.