Airfix 1/12 Bentley Blower

[Bugatti Fan]

Andrew, contact the guys who run Britmodeller directly. 

They will be the best people to contact to sort your access problem out in all probability. HTH. 

Like you, I have been following what Francois  and Nick are doing on that elderly Bentley kit. Both doing some cutting edge improvements. Nick is developing items to market on his Unobtainium website, whereas I think Francois is building more for his own personal pleasure and challenge but very good to see him sharing his techniques as well as Nick.

John Teresi also did an excellent Bentley build a few years back too that I can remember on this forum I think.

Edited July 28, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[François]

Completed the gearbox today. I'm not 100% satisfied with the shifter gate.  Right now, it's painted to look like brass but I might try and make a real brass one. Espacialy since the gate and shifter are the only 2 things from the gearbox assy that are visible once the model is complet.

l also printed a holding fixture to hold both bulkheads in relation while I glue some brackets in place.

Here's the design (hi-lighted in blue)

And the fixture in use

I'm still scratching my head as to how l'll glue the latex covering on the body, it's getting clearer but I'm not quite there yet. I do know that I'll probably glue a thin felt between the body and the latex to give a little more volume and roundness to the latex.

[François]

Pretty much completed the bulkhead assembly. I still have the gas pedal to do plus a few more wires to install but that will come later.

And the real thing 

[François]

A word about my body covering dilemma . I had found some very thin latex (party balloons) but someone from another forum mentionned that latex will degrade in a fearly short time so that's a no go. I'm looking at the option of using neoprene instead. I found a wetsuit fabricator who uses 0.3mm (.012") thick neoprene (apparently the thinnest available) which is exactly what I need. He's looking to see if he might have some cutoffs for me. If it works out my model will end up saying 'l'm Batman' . More to come on this. 

[Bugatti Fan]

Francois, Black ladies glove leather may be the thing to use for the body covering as the latex balloon material is a no no. It would probably look pretty much to scale to simulate the black rexine covering on those limited edition blowers. I have used it on seats in 1/16th and 1/12th scale to good effect. It has good stretch and give qualities being so thin to be able to work around curvatures.

Suggest you try contacting a glove manufacturer to see if you can buy some off cuts. A company named Pittards in the UK sold bundles of assorted off cuts for crafters to buy. I bought a bundle some years ago now, and they may still do so. Alternatively there must be leather glove manufacturers in the States of Canada you could contact. Or maybe contacting amateur craft leather workers might yield some other suppliers. HTH.

Edited August 8, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[François]

Bugatti,  I will certainly try and find some leather scraps as I will need it for the seats but I not convinced that leather would do for the body. First it would have to be very thin (under 0.015") and second, the Rexine has no grain at all. I'm not sur that leather can have no grain. Still, I'll look it up. Here's a shot of à Rexine coverded body where we can see that there is no grain to it.

[stitchdup]

1 hour ago, François said:

Bugatti,  I will certainly try and find some leather scraps as I will need it for the seats but I not convinced that leather would do for the body. First it would have to be very thin (under 0.015") and second, the Rexine has no grain at all. I'm not sur that leather can have no grain. Still, I'll look it up. Here's a shot of à Rexine coverded body where we can see that there is no grain to it.

a member kalled kpnuts has done the fabric covering on his bentley. It was a 3 or 4 years back and i think theres a build thread for it. I cant remember what fabric he used but i'm sure it will say in the thread, possibly it would be book binding leather as its pretty thin and has a little stretch in it

[Bugatti Fan]

Francois, I understand what you mean by trying to simulate a Rexine covering not having any perceptible grain. You may have to simply resort to spray painting it if all else fails.

[Matt Bacon]

 

I just sprayed mine with Halfords Grey Plastic primer and didn’t sand it at all. It’s slight roughness (compared to Tamiya Fine Surface Primer) gave enough of a texture contrast to my eye…

best,

M.

[Bugatti Fan]

Matt's idea looks the most feasable to attain that really subtle texture by using Halfords grey primer and not sanding it. Over in Canada there will probably be a very similar automotive grey primer that will offer you the same properties. Like Matt says, Tamiya primer will probably be too fine, and I guess that other dedicated model making primers may be similar.

After the primer, airbrushing a semi gloss black should give you the finish you are trying to achieve.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[François]

If the plan was to simply paint the kit's body I would agree.  But since I'm covering the open structured frame I did with a fabric, I really don't believe I can use paint. I think the final texture and color has to come from the fabric I will use.

 

[absmiami]

What if you tried cloth-backed sanding sheets ?  They are thin and a little flexible - just choose a sheet with some texture - glue it and paint it - ive used this method to cover 24th sc racing seats - might work - 

[François]

I'm affraid it would not be flexible enough.  It needs to be as flexible as ultra thin latex but non degradable. The frame has multiple curves and very small radii. I'm stiil waiting to hear from the wetsuit guy that has 0.3mm thick neoprene. 

[Matt Bacon]

How about something like Oratex or Oracover that they use for R/C models (and in the latter case, real aeroplanes!) That's intended to be glued over a wooden structure and then shrunk to a perfect fit so it might work here, and it would be durable. Oratex seems to come in a version with a matt finish, and a range of colours including black and olive drab.

best,

M.

 

 

[gbtr6]

I work in dental and nitrile gloves come in black. There wouldn’t be any large section so you’d have to take smaller squares perhaps and do sections at a time. It’s thin and strong. 
 

Perry

 

[Bugatti Fan]

Might have to make a compromise on what to use if you cannot find the perfect material Francois.

[LaughingIndian]

The original Bentley body was painted canvas which is what rexine is except it can be with imitation leather on cloth. That process wasn’t created until way after the Bentley was built. To be more accurate, you should experiment with an ultra-fine weave cloth like Italian silk and simply paint over it with latex or acrylic.

[Matt Bacon]

1 hour ago, LaughingIndian said:

The original Bentley body was painted canvas which is what rexine is except it can be with imitation leather on cloth. That process wasn’t created until way after the Bentley was built.

Not sure that’s true… this article:

https://www.vintagebentleys.com/services/rexine-magazine/
 

says that “Old No.2” one of the 1930 Le Mans Bentleys, is still wearing its original Rexine fabric body covering. The restorers who the article is about have put Rexine back into production specifically to meet the needs of coach builders restoring classic cars. I’m not sure they’d have gone to the effort of recovering and rebuilding the original machinery and process if you could just cover the bodies in canvas and paint them…

best,

M.

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Matt Bacon

[LaughingIndian]

8 minutes ago, Matt Bacon said:

Not sure that’s true… this article:

https://www.vintagebentleys.com/services/rexine-magazine/
 

says that “Old No.2” one of the 1930 Le Mans Bentleys, is still wearing its original Rexine fabric body covering. The restorers who the article is about have put Rexine back into production specifically to meet the needs of coach builders restoring classic cars. I’m not sure they’d have gone to the effort of recovering and rebuilding the original machinery and process if you could just cover the bodies in canvas and paint them…

best,

M.

 

Thank you Matt for the link. It was a bigger process and I should have just said ‘coated fabric.’
I also didn’t realize imitation leather was used then. 
But I still think a ‘coated fabric’ would be worth a shot.

[François]

Thank you both for that info, very interesting.  That being said, since I'm not reproducing an old bentley blower that was built in 1930 but rather à 'new' old bentley built in 2020, I will stick with my goal and try (operative word here) to simulate the rexine that was employed on the continuation series car zero. It will certainly not be rexine, and it will not be any type of woven fabric. It as to be extremely thin, I guesstimate rexine to be around 1/16" thick. So at scale my material would have to be .005". And in order to conform to the very small radii and curves, it will have to be extremely flexible. These 2 criterias eliminate many choice. I'm still looking into the ultra thin neoprene. I'll also look into rc plane shrinkable covering and today I ordered a box of xlarge nitrile glove (thanks gbtr6) which is 6mil thick (close enough) and very flexible. 

[Big John]

Hi François,  Looking at the 1:1 green leather in the previous post I would suggest trying a reverse casting of a fine grit sand paper as a possibility. 380 or 400 grit coat liberally with mold release and spread a thin coating of urethane mold making RTV this should give you a dimpled surface more closely resembling the leather and be fairly flexible.

[François]

Hello all, it's been a while since my last post. I've been busy with another project but should be getting back on the Bentley soon. I received a bunch of resin printed parts today.  So I'll be able to start on the wire wheels and the brake linkage.  Still waiting for the. 3mm neoprene for the body. 

[Rattlecan Dan]

Allow me to reiterate. Your work is fascinating. I look on with near disbelief. I enjoy being privy to your precision and dedication to perfection. As well as enjoying your sense of humor. Thanks so much for posting all this fine work.

[Big John]

Love It! Knockoffs and hubs with threads and all.

[customsrus]

Excellent work.