Airfix 1/12 Bentley Blower

[François]

Hi all, when I did the Alfa from Italeri,  the kit came with a small coil of 1/16 dia rubber hose. I didn't use it all on the Alfa but used the rest on this build's fuel line. I'm trying to find some more but all my searchs have failed.  Any body know where I could find some? I was about to write italeri to see if they could sell me some but I would like to cut the middle man.

Here's the tubing in question. 

[Straightliner59]

20 hours ago, François said:

Hi all, when I did the Alfa from Italeri,  the kit came with a small coil of 1/16 dia rubber hose. I didn't use it all on the Alfa but used the rest on this build's fuel line. I'm trying to find some more but all my searchs have failed.  Any body know where I could find some? I was about to write italeri to see if they could sell me some but I would like to cut the middle man.

Here's the tubing in question. 

Is it actual rubber, or just soft vinyl? I have some vinyl tubing that is soft, and looks and feels very much like rubber. I'm unsure where it came from, as I constantly pick up unique-looking materials for scratchbuilding. Finding rubber that small would be a cool thing! Sorry, not much help, I know.

[François]

It's actually silicone. I contacted italeri,  hopefully they can help.

[Straightliner59]

It might be worth looking into fly tying supplies.

[François]

I'm not familiar with this, could you please elaborate ?

Thanks

[Straightliner59]

4 hours ago, François said:

I'm not familiar with this, could you please elaborate ?

Thanks

They are materials for tying artificial flies, for fishing. There are quite a lot of those materials that lend themselves well, to modelling. Lead foil and small diameter soft wire are two that come to mind, immediately.

[Bugatti Fan]

Single strand wire from electronics suppliers may be a substitute that could be used.

I have a number of coloured single strand wires taken from a piece of old telephone cable that are very useful as another source.

[François]

Thanks Bugatti fan,  I already have some wires like that but I find them to stiff. The good news is the Italeri is willing to send me a good length for 5 euros.  

[François]

Ok, so I finaly finished modeling the brake linkage and all the parts that need resin printing are sent out. It took me a while to figure out how the system works but know it's ok. When you press on the foot pedal,  the hand brake doesn't move and vise versa.  It was just a question of mounting a pivot tube over a pivot shaft

 the pivot tube (in black) over the pivot shaft (aluminium).

I also finished modeling the main bulkhead (firewall) with all the brackets to attach the steering column,  dynamo, oil tank and dashboard.  There is also a smaller bulkhead frame that is attached to the body.  Fun fact, these 2 bulkheads where made out of magnesium, quite adventurous for the time as magnesium is explosive. I worked on a dashboard fabrication line for a GM car 15 years ago and I remember it was a big safety issue even with robots doing the majority of the part handling.

all components printed (the part over bulkhead is actually a locating jig to help me glue the various parts in the proper location.

a bit of assembly on the bulkhead 

And l finally started modifying the frame rails by removing certain moulded features such as the fake brake linkage levers which will be replaced by real ones and the steering column mounting bracket which will be replaced with a more accurate one. I'm also drilling a few holes for various pivots.

 

[CabDriver]

This is really impressive and masterful building - great work on the 3D modeled AND scratchbuilt parts alike!

[Bugatti Fan]

Pleased to hear that you could get and know that Italeri can supply that very small bore tube.

Your CAD renders of the handbrake system make it very clear how it all operates. I like the way that you are upgrading that old kit both by embracing new 3D Cad and Printing along with good old fashioned hand work.

[François]

2 big steps were achived today.  I finally assembled the ladder frame with a mix on kit parts and newly printed parts. Everything went together well.

next,  I test printed the front portion of the body. I wanted to see if the parts were printable and how they would fit together.  Again,  I'm very happy with the result. Even if  preliminary,  it is promissing Althougt I'm not sure l'll ever make it in wood.

Here the newly completed 3d body on the frame

and as a reminder, the real thing

Next, I'll do some test fitting of the aluminium sheets on the body. 

[François]

Second prototype of the body. I'm getting closer with every try. I'm trying different slicer applications to see which will give the better result.

[François]

Still working on the second body prototype.  Added the aluminium sheets to the front portion and tried my hand at covering it with the faux leather I found. Not to bad for a first try. I still have to work on the flatness of the assembly so that the seams aren't as visible. Not sure about my fabric choice. The ref car look a bit more shiny.

[Bugatti Fan]

Adding thin aluminium to skin your 3D printed 'ash wood' frame looks very realistic.

Can you create normal 2D engineering line drawings in 3rd angle projection from your 3D cad designs of the frame?

I would imagine that you can in Fusion 360?

The things that you and Nick Edwards in North Wales  are doing with that elderly kit are incredible!

[François]

Thanks Bugatti,  I'm not using fusion 360, l work with Inventor which is a mecanical design software. So making 2d line drawings from the 3d cad is quite easy, every part I would design had to be transfered to a 2d line drawing so it could be machined.

[Bugatti Fan]

Inventor!     Yes I have heard of it. I believe it is produced by Autodesk like Fusion. Autodesk seem to be pushing Fusion 360. Is it a successor to Inventor, or another product they still market?

[François]

Fusion is not really the successor but a more affordable 3d cad system that will cater more to the educational/ hobbist crowd like autocar did in tge late 80's and 90's. Inventor is, for now at least, a more powerful mecanical design tool. 

[Big John]

Thanks for the photo of the 1:1 wood body frame Francois.  Being a woodworking guy at heart I can really appreciate the craftsmanship that went into the hidden coachwork that lay beneath the skins of the the early vintage cars.

 

[Bugatti Fan]

Francois.   Thanks for coming back and explaining the difference between the Inventor and Fusion 360 3D CAD programs as they are both Autodesk products.

[François]

 body prototype number 3 is fully assembled using an assembly jig. Next up are the panels.

I found another material for the skin that is 4 way stretch and shinier. But is it better, not sure. I think what would be best in latex but I'm having a hard time finding some.

 

[Bugatti Fan]

Have you thought about ladies glove leather? It is very thin and has a little bit of give if stretched moderately.

I have used it on the  seating in my 1/16th and 1/12th scale scratch builds quite successfully and certainly looks to scale.

A UK company Pittards who make ladies gloves sold packs of off cuts for crafters. It might be worth contacting them to see if they still sell those packs. I bought mine from them but it was a long time ago.

[François]

Finaly got the body framework completed and added the aluminium sheets. 

I found what I think could be a good alternative to the different materials l've been testing to wrap the body with.  I was looking for a latex sheet but couldn't find any so I bought a large latex party balloon. It won't be easy but I think it could work. 

It's not as shiny as I would like but I'll get some latex shine to buff it up once all glued on.

Next I tackled the gearbox. The one provided with the kit is pretty good. But the side extension for the shifter is non existing. The kit's shifter is simply glued to the floor.  That won't do since I'm doing redo the floor out of wood as should be and I really want a moving shifter with a 4 position gate.

Here what it should look like. 

Here's what I've done so far

I had to modify the shaft going thru the gearbox t9o accomodate the shifter extension 

[François]

After several unsuccessful tries at removing the airfix chrome,  I finally found the right product. It's ferric chloride, and this stuff is nasty. Gloves, goggles and a mask are a must. But after about 30 to 60 sec , the chrome is off and about another 2min to remove the copper. And yes, there is copper under the airfix chrome because unlike other kits, and despite what others may say, the chromed parts on the airfix bentley are actually chrome,  not paint, and not an aluminium deposit. The process is similar to chroming a metal part except that the copper layer is applied via an electroless process since plastic is not conductive. Once the copper is there,  the chrome can be applied thru a normal electro plating process. This producess a very hard chrome which is why it can not be scrapped or sanded off without serious damage to the part itself. 

 

I tested Revell's chrome paint on the gear shifter and,  althought very pricey at around 35$ canadian, the result is very surprising and extremely simple. No black primer, no clear. Just spray and let dry for 48 hrs. I'll never fuss with Alclad products again.

Here's the shifter before

and after the chrome paint. 

[absmiami]

This is getting funner and funner ….  Its so cool to watch you and Nick on Britmodeler come up with different approaches to correct the failings of a 40 yr old kit - I’d love to post on Britmodeler but i seem to be in some sort of password hell w my user name …. Anyway - im concerned about skinning the body w latex - as i wonder if it will gradually change its shape - consider a very fine - like 8000 grade - sanding sheet - it has some flex - and you could finish it with a coat of suede finish spray paint for some grain ….   Maybe  - ?!!