Trumpeter Ford GT40 with my twists

[Pierre Rivard]

The content you are adding is absolutely lovely Ken. This is a great build to follow and definitely a learning experience for me. Thanks for sharing.

[Indyvil]

Talking about 3D printed nuts and bolts, you can cut the middle man and buy a 3D printer, then print yourself as many pieces as you want. 

I found this designer on Cults3D that modelled many kinds of nuts and bolts in 1/12 and 1/24 scale.

https://cults3d.com/en/users/gScale/3d-models

Pierre T.

[kensar]

Thanks for commenting everyone.  I'm pleased others are getting build tips from my posts as that is the point in it.

Loosely following the kit instructions, I started working on the front end.  I reduced the diameter of the suspension mounting points and shortened the camber adjustment in order to place a nut and shaft there.  The as-molded kit parts are on the left and my mods on the right.

I lathed off the grooved lines of the brake disc and made some disc faces on the lathe from aluminum, which I glued on the plastic backing.  I found the brake discs were not concentric with the hub - how do you screw that up?  The right-most part is how the disc was molded.

I have completed most of the left front suspension by assembling the kit parts with some modifications for adding details.  I added brake lines and crossover tubes.  I didn't cut out the back of the calipers because it appears that will not be visible.

I painted in a significant amount of flat black around the calipers and nearby parts, but absolutely none of it shows in the photos.

I have read in other builds of this kit that the front ride height is about 2mm too high.  I am using Icon Automotive tires (I waited about 2 years to get them) which are about 2mm larger diameter than the kit tires.  The front ride height is determined by the length of the front shocks, so I shortened them about 1.3mm to be on the safe side (I would rather err on the low side of the ride height).

After finishing the right side suspension, I will move on to the torsion bar setup.

Thanks for looking in.

Edited April 23, 2024 by kensar

[Pierre Rivard]

Great attention to detail and paying close attention to setting a proper ride height. Ride height is on the list of must do right for me as it is so visible.

[Force]

19 hours ago, kensar said:

Thanks for commenting everyone.  I'm pleased others are getting build tips from my posts as that is the point in it.

Loosely following the kit instructions, I started working on the front end.  I reduced the diameter of the suspension mounting points and shortened the camber adjustment in order to place a nut and shaft there.  The as-molded kit parts are on the left and my mods on the right.

I lathed off the grooved lines of the brake disc and made some disc faces on the lathe from aluminum, which I glued on the plastic backing.  I found the brake discs were not concentric with the hub - how do you screw that up?  The right-most part is how the disc was molded.

I have completed most of the left front suspension by assembling the kit parts with some modifications for adding details.  I added brake lines and crossover tubes.  I didn't cut out the back of the calipers because it appears that will not be visible.

I painted in a significant amount of flat black around the calipers and nearby parts, but absolutely none of it shows in the photos.

I have read in other builds of this kit that the front ride height is about 2mm too high.  I am using Icon Automotive tires (I waited about 2 years to get them) which are about 2mm larger diameter than the kit tires.  The front ride height is determined by the length of the front shocks, so I shortened them about 1.3mm to be on the safe side (I would rather err on the low side of the ride height).

After finishing the right side suspension, I will move on to the torsion bar setup.

Thanks for looking in.

I don't know why the Asian model companies do the discs grooved, I have seen several examples of that, the discs/rotors can be ventilated, slotted, drilled or nothing, but they have flat and smooth surface with no grooves what so ever.

[kensar]

I got the front torsion bar done today.  Spent yesterday making the heim joints.  I hand filed the flats on them as opposed to milling them as I have in the past.  I don't think I lost much accuracy and saved a lot of time.  Kit part at the top.

I'll likely hit this area with more flat black to simulate brake dust.

[iBorg]

So how did you make the heim joints? The rounded portion looks great!

 

[kensar]

The heim joints are made on the lathe from 1/8" round bar stock.  I made a special lathe cutting tool to get the round shape and the rod extending from it.  Being able to make special tools is certainly an advantage.  The cutting tool is High Speed Steel (HSS) which can be cut with grinding wheels and Dremel cutting wheels.  HSS is hard enough to cut soft metals and plastics.

After the round end is cut, the lathe is stopped and I hand file two flats on it at 180 degrees apart.  I have milled these flats in the past, but hand filing saved a lot of time.  Then I finish cutting the rod extending from the end, making a provision to insert it into a 1/16" aluminum rod.

Next, remove it from the lathe and drill a hole through the flats on the milling machine.

The hex jam bolts are Meng 2.6mm hex bolt heads drilled for a 1/16" rod to pass through.

Everything is then CAed into place.

Edited April 27, 2024 by kensar

[kensar]

rear suspension - completed

The rear suspension took a while due to many heim joints and bolts replacing kit moldings and I also worked with the tires for test fitting.  I found the Icon Automotive tires were just too wide and would not fit.  I addition to interfering with the hub carriers, they would have stuck out of the body work too far.  It took a while to come to this conclusion.  If building this kit, check the fit of the brake calipers and brake discs with the wheels.  The calipers are placed pretty far inboard and could cause problems fitting the wheels.

Nearing completion and before weathering

Completed and with weathering and brake dust

I will likely go back to the wheels before moving on to the interior.

 

Edited May 5, 2024 by kensar

[Bainford]

I am really enjoying this build. I always appreciate a builder sweating the details. Some very fine model building going on here.

[4knflyin]

That weathering is excellent. I mean really good. The oxidation at all the pipe joints in particular got my attention. 

The rear sway bar actually looks adjustable (current setting looks like you're expecting a wet-weather race lol).

But that particular black, dusty looking and with the subtle rusting... just great.

[cifenet]

Top notch!  Great work so far!

[Metalmad]

Awesome detail that your adding to this Ken. Its motivating me to get back on the 1/24 scale Meng kit get I started awhile back.

[kensar]

Spent a lot of time in the machine shop this past week, making fuel pumps, ignition coil and fuel filter housing and then figuring out how to mount them all.  I ended up cutting off all the molded mounting points and remaking provisions for mounting it all.  I decided to only use 3 fuel pumps, 2 on the left side and one on the right instead of 3 on each side that the kit has.  I have serious doubts that any GT40 had 6 fuel pumps anyway.   Got some painting and detailing done as well, so this is moving along again.

Fuel pump parts

Detailing done.  The fittings and lines will be added later.  Again some of the kit plumbing is wrong.

Fuel filter housing

The shelf behind the rear window was shortened to make room for the fuel filter and narrowed up for a better fit.  Pictures later.

Also worked on the wheels - painting them and preparing the tires, which were painted a dark gray on the tread after sanding for a used look.  Also took off the squared edges that were on the tires.

[kensar]

Small update, moving into the interior.  I'm basing most details off of the 1046 chassis.

First, a look at the back of the interior wall where the fuel pumps and filter are mounted.

I'm just hoping I don't run into some fit interferences when I put everything together.

Here, I've separated the pedals and need to fab some master cylinders.  I'm guessing the reservoirs were mounted on top of the master cylinders on the 1046 chassis and were accessed  through a removable panel in front of the windshield.  At least that's my plan for this build.

Chassis 1046 had a shifter made from flat bar stock, so I've gone that direction.  Mock up of the shifter parts.

Thanks for looking in.  Comments welcome.

[kensar]

After getting some paint on the interior parts above, I turned to the seats, which along with the tires, are in my opinion the worst parts of the kit.

I carved in some seams and wrinkles using hobby knives.

Some time ago, I saw these bead crimps in the local craft store and thought they would be good eyelets for GT40 seats if they are the right size, so I bought a bunch of them for a dirt cheap price.  They are silver plated, so no painted needed, which is what I wanted to avoid in the first place.

Yea, these will work great, after I get some paint on the seats.  They will be CAed from the back after being placed in position.

 

[absmiami]

Great seat fix - like the finish on the pumps and filters  -  are they painted  - they appear to be annodized - 

[kensar]

The gold color on the pumps is Alclad gold paint.  The bottom is the natural aluminum.

Thanks for stopping by.

[MarkJ]

Ken, I agree with you on the seats and your solution is awesome, but the work is going to be astronomical drilling all those holes and installing all those crimp tubes. The addition of the seams and wrinkles goes a long way to adding some fantastic realism. Keep up the amazing work. This build is going to be one for the ages.

[kensar]

Worked on the seats.  Drilled 300 holes, taking about 5 hours.

Gluing in the crimp tubes is next, of course.  I think I will use aliphatic glue instead of CA.  It also dries clear and since I can control its viscosity by diluting with water, it would be more controllable to apply.

I had separated the pedals, but pictures showed they are mounted on a common pivot rod, so I reworked them.

I'll be putting together some master cylinders and reservoirs.  I couldn't find any pictures of the actual setup used in #1046, so I will wing it.

 

[MarkJ]

Looking at all those drilled holes makes my head hurt. Let's see, if it took you 5 hours that would have taken me 15, and there would have been a lot of misshapen holes.

[iBorg]

I'm really enjoying this build. The machine work is great and the pictures explain what you did.

[porschercr]

4 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Looking at all those drilled holes makes my head hurt. Let's see, if it took you 5 hours that would have taken me 15, and there would have been a lot of misshapen holes.

I agree..

[Musclecarbuilder]

On 5/19/2024 at 10:28 AM, kensar said:

Small update, moving into the interior.  I'm basing most details off of the 1046 chassis.

First, a look at the back of the interior wall where the fuel pumps and filter are mounted.

I'm just hoping I don't run into some fit interferences when I put everything together.

Here, I've separated the pedals and need to fab some master cylinders.  I'm guessing the reservoirs were mounted on top of the master cylinders on the 1046 chassis and were accessed  through a removable panel in front of the windshield.  At least that's my plan for this build.

Chassis 1046 had a shifter made from flat bar stock, so I've gone that direction.  Mock up of the shifter parts.

Thanks for looking in.  Comments welcome.

Man this is cool, I have this kit and now I want to build it! The amount of detail is amazing!

[Pierre Rivard]

You are turning these seats from the worst part of the kit to the best part of the kit. In fact everything you are doing is turning into the best part of the kit. Oh oh... we don't have any worst parts left. Head spinning....