Making Models From Scratch

[Cycleops]

You can get 'foam friendly' superglue now which should be fume free.
Deluxe materials are very good and they have a glue chart which might be helpful:
https://deluxematerials.co.uk/collections/glue-charts

 

[Reynard]

I often use superglue for making card hard and drillable; does Roket glue have the same effect without the nasty fumes?

No, it doesn't. I did mention that in my post.

The Rocket card glue bonds well but stays flexible when dry. It's fine for detail work and for gluing pre-made parts together, but it's not doing what I really bought it for i.e. laminating card for things that are structural / load-bearing.

Fortunately I won't need to use superglue for the next bits on the agenda, so I can take a bit of a break from the nasties.

 

[Andy in Germany]

No, it doesn't. I did mention that in my post.

The Rocket card glue bonds well but stays flexible when dry. It's fine for detail work and for gluing pre-made parts together, but it's not doing what I really bought it for i.e. laminating card for things that are structural / load-bearing.

Fortunately I won't need to use superglue for the next bits on the agenda, so I can take a bit of a break from the nasties.

Sorry, you did, I saw that it didn't work exactly like superglue but was holding out hope it maybe it would work a bit like Shellac.

 

[Reynard]

Sorry, you did, I saw that it didn't work exactly like superglue but was holding out hope it maybe it would work a bit like Shellac.

No, it's somewhat reminiscent of the craft glue we used to use at school back in the day - the white stuff that came in a big squeezy bottle, and then the teacher would give you a small pot of it along with one of those white plastic spatula things to spread it.

Although it's far, far superior to that kind of glue. It really does STICK, and you only need a tiddly bit at a time, so you'll get good mileage out of a bottle. It helps to have a toothpick or something to spread it.

I haven't really drenched any card in the stuff to see how it fares that way, but I'm not certain that using more more glue will change its properties when dry.

 

[Jameshow]

Tempted by Freeman 22 model boat plans!!

https://www.freemancruisers.com/boatsales/224/freeman22mk1

 

[Reynard]

Right, a picture update... (warning, pic heavy)

To start, the rear wing, which other than the mounting struts, is now complete. First, under the skin - it does look rather like an aircraft wing, doesn't it?

Which translated into this:

The end plates just slot into place, although they'll need to be glued. Although first I'll need to paint and do the signwriting on the wing and end plates prior to assembly, else it will be a much fiddlier job.

The steering wheel and all the peripheries was a challenge. My original iteration (let's call it a prototype to be charitable) didn't work terribly well, but I learned a lot from it. The goal was to produce something that approximates the steering wheel from a Mk2 Ford Cortina, a column and a method of fixing to the rest of the model. In the end, I plumped for the time-honoured superglue laminated card, with wood filler to smooth off the edges for the wheel itself.

A piece of wooden knitting needle made a decent steering column - originally it was meant to be the propshaft, but waste not, want not. That fits into a flange on the back of the steering wheel made from a piece of drilled out dowelling. There is a hole drilled in the centre of the steering wheel boss and a corresponding one in the end of the steering column to take the upholstery tack which corresponds to the "bolt" on the real car.

The other end of the steering column sits in a socket about 3/4 of an inch long made of the remainder of the drilled out piece of dowelling. To achieve the rake on the column, the engine end of the socket has been cut at an angle (and sanded to fine tune). It's glued to the construction that forms the bonnet / engine, although for additional security, there's a deep slot (about 5mm) cut into the end, and which fits snugly over one of the internal flanges.

Nothing is glued in place yet, because I still need to sort out the seat and dashboard and a few other gubbins in the drivers' cab, although I do have to say that it's a fairly sturdy construction without glue.

And lastly, a more up to date global view of the model above the waterline including the bulkhead at the rear of the cab and the sections of box section at the front with the wires feeding through them. I've yet to sand the angles on the ends and bond the wire in place. When the roof rails are ready to be fixed in place, I'll glue the whole lot down and just fold the excess wire along the length. It'll add some extra strength to the structure before all the bodywork goes over the top.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Great work, I'm glad to see this project is back...

 

[Reynard]

Thanks

I did promise to someone that I'd finish it, and it's a promise I fully intend to uphold. Still got a few potential headaches ahead when it comes to finishing off the suspension, but I'll take each step as it comes.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Love it - absolutely fascinating!

 

[Jameshow]

Thanks

I did promise to someone that I'd finish it, and it's a promise I fully intend to uphold. Still got a few potential headaches ahead when it comes to finishing off the suspension, but I'll take each step as it comes.

What scale is it?

Does it have independent springs and shocks?

 

[Reynard]

What scale is it?

Does it have independent springs and shocks?

1:10 scale - so easy on the numbers. It's about 14 inches long in real terms.

Springs and shocks on all four corners; rear is a modified Escort / Cortina axle, front is double wishbone setup. I've already made the springs and shocks, but they'll just be bonded in place when I come to that point, they don't "work" as such.

 

[Reynard]

I've been busy tinkering again. I put my big girl pants on and glued all the pieces for the rear half of the roll cage together - that's the main rear roll protection, the section behind it that in real life would take the fuel tank, and the internal bulkhead behind the driver. Plus I drilled two holes in the top of the main section to take the wires that hold down the roof rails. So it now looks like this:

I sanded down the rough edges as best I could, and smoothed the remainder off with some wood filler. And then, when all was nice and dry, gave it all a coat of primer.

Really happy with that, as there was a lot of potential for things to go wrong. As it is, everything fits together rather nicely. I also made the fire extinguisher that fits onto that rear bulkhead - it's a small confection made out of rolled paper and then sanded to shape, but it's safely in the box of parts in its own little ziploc bag for now.

As I'm busy working on the driver's cab, the next bit was the seat. Not as straightforward as I'd have liked, purely down to the fact that I don't really have that many photos which show it in any great detail. I have a decent enough view of the side wings at the level of the driver's ribs and the top of the seat, but nothing below that. So I did the next best thing and guesstimated.

I've seen my fair share of racing seats over the years, so I knew more or less where I needed to be, but oval racing seats are a little bit different to those used for circuit racing. It's more true of the modern ones, but it's not too difficult to extrapolate backwards somewhat - especially thanks to some useful input from the guys over on the Old Skool Superstox group on Facebook and the website for Kirkey Race Seats.

I used the dimensions on the website to make my template, but then when I folded the seat into shape, it was clear that the Kirkey seats are made for American backsides, and not one to fit a 15 year old Hampshire beanpole...

A bit of jiggery pokery got something that matched what I could see on the photos, and I ended up with the basic structure for a seat to take a 4-point harness as it would have been back in 1984...

Then, of course, I had to make it look more realistic, so cue a bit of fun with some printer paper, a little more card and the inside of a packet of Petit Beurre biscuits...

I'm really happy with that. Bought some binding from the haberdashers to make the belts with, but that's for another day...

 

[Reynard]

One of the other cul-de-sacs I'd gotten myself into due to modelling inexperience was how to fit the rear wing onto the car. I should have thought of that when I made the rear of the roll cage - but didn't, and then I compounded the problem by building the mount points onto the underside of the rear wing during that build, rather than making them separately. I'd also been too realistic with those, which posed problems at this scale which you don't see on a full-sized car. And then there was the question of the struts themselves.

I just started playing around with a few ideas, and realised that the plastic box section I'd picked up in the model shop previous week would make a mighty fine socket if I blanked one end off with card. Which means that I could make the struts with wire covered in rolled paper, use an interference fit to make the ends fit snugly, and simply bend the struts to shape.

Inevitably a few iterations were needed to get things where I needed to be, and yes, I did have to make some compromises with the mounting points on the roll cage, but the solution a) works and b) looks realistic enough. Of course, I had to take the drastic step of taking a hacksaw to the original mounts on the rear wing - not nice when you've spent ages making them from fiddly little pieces. But if they aren't right, they've got to go, and go they did, to be replaced by a spiffy new pair of sockets.

So an overhead-ish view of the mounting points bonded to the car - a little higher on the rollcage than they ought to be, but I opted for the extra security of a second contact point when it came to the glue...

And a view of the modified underside of the wing. I had to re-do these, because the first time, I put the sockets on the wrong way round... Doh!

And now a global view of the car above the waterline as she stands. She's really starting to look like a proper Colin Higman-built Superstox now, although those rear wing endplates have gone, as they are much too thick. I have already made a pair of replacements that look a LOT better. I'm also not entirely happy with the roof rails - you can see from these photos that they're a fraction too narrow and don't sit flush against the back of the roll cage as a result. So I'll be making a replacement for that too. No point putting the effort in if you aren't going to get it right...

 

[AndyRM]

That's amazing @Reynard!

 

[Cycleops]

Looks good, not easy to do in wood.
Is there any reason you picked that rather than plastic card and plastic sections?