Progress

Well it's been a while since I posted anything new on here, in fact it's been months since I posted anything at all. One of the main reasons is that I had a fairly large order from Germany for twenty RTR Zagatos which of course takes time to complete. The order was for nine competition cars with the remainder being road versions. This meant that the rear arch flares that took four attempts to get right, have had to be removed. Not as easy a task as it sounds. Anyway things are progressing nicely .

As far as new stuff goes I have posted some photographs here of an unusual subject. Maybe not to everybodies taste but the 1964 Maserati Mistral is a striking shape. The body is based on an old Stabocar shell that I obtained from a dealer In Essen, Germany. Being of German manufacture the dimensions are pretty much on the button, but it did seem to suffer from shrinkage in one or two areas. The bonnet area being particularly poor.

So after stripping down the shell and a thoroughly good roughing up with an abrasive paper. the usual filling and flatting eventually produced a shape that i'm quite pleased with. With just minor details to attend to now, such as the blending of the waistline and a further build up of the bonnet bulge, hopefully I can get the master ready for moulding.

Graham.

A bit more Austin Twin Cam

Whilst efforts are still being concentrated on trying to complete work on the latest wheels, some time is found to work on cars.

The first ERA is now running, but this post is concerned with the GTM Austin Seven Twin Cam.

(All ERA wheels are now spoken for).

Much progress has been made with a running car likely within the next few days. I have two cars under construction, one using the original motor arrangement, the other using a fabricated brass chassis and a small Mabuchi SA 030 motor in an effort to permit more driver detail.

The image below shows the car with the front axle nearing completion. The brake backplates are a first for me, as one who has only embraced GP etc 'open wheelers' since I started making wheels for them. The backplates should actually be almost flush with the inner edge of the wheel, but a now abandoned thought of using the same wheel centres as the ERA made this impossible. The A7 will now have a dedicated wheel centre to permit flush fitting. No rear backplates have been attempted.

The picture below gives an idea of the completed wheels. Those for the real cars were made by Borrani. The wheels are a three row type, with each row comprising 18 spokes.

This is the second wheel type to be made with brake drums. The drums are pierced and as such would provide three benefits. additional cooling would be provided, the unsprung weight would be reduced and the rotating mass would be reduced, improving both accelaration and braking.

The drums are made in the same 0.006" stainless steel as the spokes. The tyres are G.P.Miniature urethane types. These wheels, together with those for the Alfa are the most involved to date with each wheel comprising 4 x turned aluminium parts, 4 x etched parts and one cast part, together with the two etched backplates and a pair of fixing screws.

It is expected that the cost will be held down to £24 per set. Contact through Slot Forum and the present thread on ERA, Austin Seven Twin Cam and Talbot Lago, scratchbuild section.

Peter.

Painted.

The finished prototype parts.

The format of the wheels is much the same as the earlier 15" and 18" wheels, insomuch as they are quite simple, consisting of just rim, wheel centre, 2 x etches and a conical hub.

Production has been speeded up with the manufacture of modified tooling reducing the time taken to form the etches, and thus unless the cost of turned parts has increased greatly over the last year, a cost of just £20 per set in kit form is hoped for.

These wheels are built up in what has now become a standard procedure. all parts are painter prior to assembly, then to ensure true running, the parts are assembled using a drill press to apply pressure to the parts prior to and during gluing.

Front and rear wheels are pretty well identical except that the wider rear wheels have outer rims 1mm wider than those on the front. The rear wheel centres on this car have standard grub screw fitting, whereas the fronts, which incorporate brake drum detail, as designed to be glued in place.

Centres are interchangable.

Wheels for the Austin Twin Cam are now being painted, whilst machining on the Talbot Lago wheels will be completed over the weekend.

Next up will be more Borrani wheels, this time pricipally for the Alfetta.

Peter

More wheels.....

On occasion I feel the work I do is of a lower quality to that which I know I can manage. The latest effort however, apart from a few slight detail errors, comes close to what I would wish for.

The above picture is of course an ERA wheel, as used on the 'A' and 'B' types, front and rear. Both are 16" diameter. No wheel widths are available, though tyre sizes are, fronts being 5.25", rears 6.60".

The front wheels are 5mm wide, the rears 6mm wide, the intention being to attain an acceptable compromise between accuracy and practicality.

Painted wheels on the next post.

Peter.

Progress has advanced at an increasing pace, alas with a detrimental effect on other projects. Never mind.

As a compliment to the Mercedes wheels shown in the last post are those for the Auto Union, in particular the 'D'Type. It appears however that all cars used similar types, the main variation being diameter.

The image above shows a front R/H wheel from a restored 'D' type. These cars have the distinctive knock-ons, with the black (?) ears and aluminium centres. I have tried to replicate these as shown in the images below.

All wheels of this type are now spoken for. Apologies to those who have missed out.

Also using the same basic rims are the wheels for the Alfa 8C. this is a 72 spoke version of the 60 spoke 6C wheel made earlier. Wheels of both types are still available.

Work is now progressing swiftly on other wheel types with orders for parts shortly to be made.

ERA 'B' Type. One set not yet spoken for.

Talbot Lago. 13 sets spoken for, 13 sets available. These come with brake drums with either 6 or 8 holes.

Alfetta, with brake drums. plenty left.

Austin Twin Cam, brake drums and front backplates, picture soon? Plenty left.

BRM V16. Alas sold out immediately.

Peter