With the wheel project having achieved all which was required and is now able to tick-over as and when, attention is now slowly being concentrated on the mass of projects on the go.

The latest car back on the table is the Delage 2LCV, started last year, but partially shelved due to other commitments.

A recent burst of enthusiasm saw the front axle completed in prototype form.

The axle is in steel, the drums, hubs and backplates are in aluminium.

The 'brake drums' are mounted on ball bearings which in turn are mounted on hubs attached to the streering knuckles, which are etched stainless steel.

 



The internals are pretty closely packed with minimal clearances, but all semms to have worked out pretty well. The rear axle is well on its way, whilst the chassis has recently been started.

 

 

Peter

Wheels. Out with the old, in with the new.

Things have been a bit hectic of recent with rather more wheel sales than I really want, though things are now settling down. One set a week suits me fine!
A lot of the old wheels are now done with with just a few of the slower moving or over produced wheel types remaining.

A new etching company has done some good work for me, a few hiccups but now hopefully a more consistent part will now be forthcoming.
All new parts now will be low volume compared to earlier efforts, with rarely more than 10 car sets made.

The latest wheels to be made are these, for the Mercedes SSKL. Not strictly correct, they should be 20" but are actually a scale 21".

As with most wheels, the 21" range are slowly being both refined and expanded. Originally made only for the advanced modeller to be built in 'open' form, solid centres have been introduced (which are fine for the cars with big brakes) and the standard 4mm rims are to be complimented by a small number of 5mm rims.

Another recently introduced wheel is one of the many fitted to the P3 Alfa Romeo. These are a later version as with the 1935 German GP car though seen a little earlier.

Consideration is being given making a few more 60 and 72 spoke x 19" Borrani wheels in a simplified form and thus at a slightly reduced price.

New wheels for both Mercedes and Auto Union with large rear wheels are soon to be available, whilst suitable wheels for early Auto Union, pre-war Delahaye, Delage and Talbot are now on the cards. In addition, wheels to suit circa 1930 Indy cars will be made, with a very small number of FWD Miller wheels available.

More in the not too distant future.

Peter.

The wheel project is continuing to shrink, with the last stock of 16" wheels slowly going. Small batches will appear from time to time, since most frets contain several wheels, so for example if I need 19" Borrani or some other wheel, I also get ERA and Austin TC.

The project also expands in other ways. The range of 19" wheels continues to expand, together with new 18" and 21" wheels. To join these, further 17" wheels are planned.

Most of the new stuff will be very low volume, thereby costing a little more and of course easing my workload. It is meant to be a hobby, after all...

Pictures in due course once the first 'production' wheels are built up.

Peter.

The wheel project has now passed its peak and is settling down to a somewhat reduced range. The 15" wheels are now effectively history and most 16" wheels will shortly follow.

Larger sized wheels will progress, with new wheels for bothEuropean and Indy cars with a pleasing increase in accuracy.

Plenty going on otherwise. A modest interest in racing has led to an improved George Turner MGC, as per the pictures. 

 

I did one of these cars a while back, but for a car I much admire, it needed a little more. A conversion was thus decided upon, and as one who is pleased with the Slot it productions, I went for a Slot it chassis, complete but slightly modified. GT is of course doing a Clubman version now, this car will be raced against such a car rnext month.

 

 

No great changes made except for the rear axle. The 312PB chassis used was just a little wide, so special wheels were in order. 

All is now looking good. The first tests are over and are satisfactory, the body now has colour, more in due course. 

Peter.

It's been a while since I posted anything on here due to numerous issues, but I think it's about time I showed something new. A selection of DB4 and DB4 GT shots below. The GT kit is available in very limited numbers as is the DB4. Eventually kits will be phased out completely as they have me running around like a madman for not much return. I'll be concentrating on RTRs as I love to build them up and putting kits together really doesn't do much for me. Add to that the fact that the weather and the lack of suitable space makes casting shells more of a chore than anything, i'll be glad to see the back of them.

The model above is being built for a client who asked if it was possible to put together a specific car. This is chassis no. DB4GT/0120/L which is the only GT ever to run in the Tour de France. The colour is Elusive blue.

A standard DB4 above finished in California Sage with clear lacquer.

A rear shot of a road going GT.

Another road version of the GT.

And a competition version.

Graham.

No posts, so a little chat.

I see that the old 'Slot forum' is under new management/ownership. We will see if any changes are made, and live in hope.

Spotted on eBay today was a GP Miniatures DB4GT, which hopefully means that Graham has completed the kit and it is now available. The GP miniatures site link can be found on this site.
Obviously not a model built by Graham.

The F1 Scratchbuild site approaches 100 members, though alas a full 30% have failed to make a post.

This scratchbuilder cannot find enough time, with countless projects on the go. The wheel project is at last on on the easy side of its peak.

No obvious means to post pictures now, so that is that.

Peter

The echo in here is amazing!

Some folks may wonder where all the entries have gone, others will already know. Two situations occurred at a similar time; A slight lack of contribution as has happened, will lead to a slight lack of followers, and so on. The second situation is perhaps the more important.

This new forum has created a great interest from scratchbuilders.

http://f-one-thirty-two.proboards.com/index.cgi

This forum is one which is specialised however. Originally created to cater for mid-60's GP cars, the list has expanded to both earlier and later times, with the following criteria.

Accepted cars are;

                            GP cars
                            F1 cars
                            Open wheeler cars
                            Indy cars

The periods covered include, well, all areas. as one who encourages pre-war contributions, potential contributors are reminded that;

                           Many pre-39 GP cars were 2-seaters
                           Some pre-war GP races were run as sports car races

Those who view this blog are invited to view the site, and join if it suits them.

The old Slot Forum International is under new ownership. The next few months will see if any changes are made. Methinks it tries to cater for too many areas, and specialises in none...

Peter.