Scratch building a classic muscle car.

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

I spent the afternoon putting the rest of the contour gauge together. The last part to finish off was the section that sits above the fenders. I had some filing to do to get the body to sit flush inside it. The white background is a couple of sheets of paper laid down. It was messy getting the final piece to slot in which explains all the shiny glue marks. A lot of glue was needed to get this last part to stick.

[fractalign]

Here is how it looks with the body sitting in place. With the gauge now complete I was able to try and fit the other bodyside. Over all there are not too many differences but the other body side will need a thicker C pillar. The next task will be to start getting the other bodyside to resemble this one.

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

When I scale down the overall length from the dimension I printed out I realised the the body came up short by 3mm. Looking at the body I came to the conclusion that length needed to be made up in the rear. So I added the appropriate amount of styrene sanded it back and filled it.

[fractalign]

The overall proportions appear to be correct now. I crossed referenced the body with the image of a 1:1 I found on Google. And it looks about right. I will be measuring the rear of my 1:1 in the next day or so to make sure it is correct. And once i have worked that out I will begin to make the housing for the tail lights.

[fractalign]

I sketched out a rough template for the taillights and and number housing. This looks close the right size, off course I won't begin cutting them until I have the exact measurements of the rear body and the housing themselves.

[fractalign]

With the rear of this body side finally looking right i took some time out to get the other side up to speed. The first thing I did was thicken the C Pillar. I then lengthened the rear. Like the other side I am using body filler in the inside to smooth it out. Its superior bonding also makes it stronger.

The next task will be to finish the measurements of the rear body and then start cutting out the tail light and bumper housing.

[fractalign]

Hey Guys. I managed to measure the rear of the body and the model's dimensions are very close to the 1:1. I just need to sand about 1mm off the rear.

That was all I had time for as i have about four other projects on the go.

Tomorrow I will get the measurement of the the tailight housing and bumper recesses and make them up.

[1 bad55 stan]

Starting to look like a torana now Rob,Great stuff...

[fractalign]

Thanks for the compliment Stan !

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

Today I got the measurements for the tail light housing and number recesses. Normally I would go down take all the measurement draw up a diagram and scale everything down. This time I did the reverse. I grabbed two sheets of A4 printing paper and a pencil and headed down. The idea was to trace the shapes first and turn the template into a diagram. I needed to press the first sheet in firmly because I need the outline of the top of the body as well as the swage around the twilight surround. I used the same procedure for the bumper recess, joined the two sheets together and then turned it into the diagram.

I then went back inside laid the two sheets down and measured all the major points. The shaded area with the arrows is where the swage is around the taillights. I will be using this technique for the rest of the body where the tail lights wrap around to the back because it save a lot of time.

Edited November 24, 2014 by fractalign

[fractalign]

The next task was to get the rear of the body to the same shape as the diagram and then shade in the areas to be removed.

[fractalign]

I then used the angle grinder to carve out the openings, I was careful not to take too much material.

[fractalign]

To clean up the openings I used my modelling files.

[fractalign]

The recreate the openings on the other body half I came up with a simple solution. I made up a jig from timber and modelling clay to lock the two bodysides in end to end and I placed the too sides in.

[fractalign]

I then used a rule to trace the openings from the finished side over to the other side and then shaded in the areas for removal.

[fractalign]

With that done I ground out the openings and compared the two sides. The next task will be to complete the rear section that sit under the boot and possibly joining the boot to it as well. This will give the rear of the body a tangible form of reinforcement when the time comes to join the two body sides to the roof which is something I am very keen to do shortly.

[microwheel]

Great to see you back working on this. Hope your getting better.

[fractalign]

As best as I can be with my arm in a cast !

Cheers !

[fractalign]

Hey Guys.

I got the dimensions for the rear of the body. Its quite a complex area with a flange that wraps around the twilight housing plus the bumper recess below.

This is going to be one one of the most challenging parts to the build.

[fractalign]

The first thing I did was add up all the longitudinal dimensions to determine the width of the panel from the diagram.

[fractalign]

With that done a cut a piece of styrene to the same dimensions. I then drew a centreline that would determine the position of the tail light housing and the petrol filler cap and drew in these features.

[fractalign]

I used the angle grinder to cut out the basic openings and finished them off with the file. I also cut out the hole for the filler cap.

[fractalign]

The next task will be to get the boot and the rear panel to mate up and then continue adding the detail to this panel.

Edited November 25, 2014 by fractalign

[Danno]

Amazing!

[mustang1989]

All skill right there!