Hardtop

More work on the convertible over the weekend. The idea of offering a model with interchangeable parts was quite appealing, but getting everything to fit correctly and in the right place took some fathoming out. In the end I settled on building on a base that fitted inside the car. The base sits on two ledges that run along the inside of the doors. The base is made up from three layers of obechi, with a slot running lengthwise. The winscreen former is fixed to a tongue which slides into the slot, thus keeping it at the correct angle. On top of the base are fixed two upright supports to carry both hard and soft tops. As long as these two items can be held in place, then the shaping can take place. The hardtop is the easier of the two as it's a fairly simple shape, but the soft top is much more demanding. The taughtness and slack of the fabric needs to be pretty convincing and i'm not totally sure i've captured it yet. Further work methinks. Graham.