Still Rambling: Scratchbuilding Details - Misc. Part 2

[mikevillena]

Hey gang,

More stuff that you might be able to use:

1. Dashboards - I had a 1/24th scale Tamiya kit to measure and

scale up from when I built the dash on my Alfa Giulia GTA. I used

various thicknesses of styrene sheets to make the two pieces. The

top was a thin sheet that was curled by stretching or drawing the

plastic between my thumb and a piece of brass tubing.

[mikevillena]

2. On the Miata, I didn't have a model or drawings so I had to

"eyeball" everything from a dozen reference pictures. The bulk of the

dashboard is comprised of six pieces of sheets and strips that were

cut, glued and sanded to shape.

[mikevillena]

3. On the center console, the face is made up of a sheet and the

side is a single lenght of strip. Here, I had one end of the strip and

the top curve already glued. I allowed the glue joints to fully harden

before I finished the curve and glued the free end down. If I had

tried to glue all the way around in one pass, the sides will pop out of

location because of the memory of the plastic at the curve.

[mikevillena]

4. I located where the two side vents were on the dash and bored

out holes using high speed bits on my mototool. I used my mouse

tail file and sanding stick to size and finish the holes. I used a piece

of tubing closest to the scale size I needed as a gage for the holes.

[mikevillena]

5. Here, the dash is begining to take shape. I made the instrument

binnacle with curled strips of various thicknesses. I then glued the

binnacle in place and faired in the front area (closest to the

windshield) with some Bondo Lightweight filler (blue area). I glued

the center console (note the vent holes) into position on the dash.

[mikevillena]

6. With my driver figure in place, I laid the dashboard on the top

platform of the interior tub that I had built earlier. I then slipped the

bodyshell on and checked the angle of the dashboard. I trimmed

and shimmed as needed. I also noted the distance from the binnacle

face to the projected position of the driver figure's hands so that I

can begin building the steering column.

[mikevillena]

7. The steering column is made up of several strips of .100 x .100

strips that were glued together and shaped as needed. I made the

little nest for the ignition lock and faired it into the column. I then

shaved a thin section from plastic rod (still stuck on my hobby knife

tip in the photo) to make the ignition lock

[mikevillena]

8. I made the key, key snap ring, fob and the keyring mace bottle

(the lady who owns the car lives in Chicago) out of plastic and a

little bit of soft wire. A little bit of detail painting makes things look

convincing. I also used spot putty to fill in the gaps in the dashboard

assembly. The vents were each finished off by glueing three pieces

of strip styrene into the short pieces of tubing that were press fit into

the vent holes on the dash and console. A tiny piece of plastic rod

was glued onto the center of each vent to make the adjustment

handle.

[mikevillena]

9. NOTE: This next step is potentially hazardous. Take all

precautions! (12 yrs or younger MUST HAVE adult supervision).

To replicate the steering wheel, I first took a full lenght of plastic rod

and wrapped it several times around a small EMPTY glass jar (that

had the correct diameter) and dipped the whole thing into a pot of

boiling water. There is no hard and fast rule about how long since

this will vary greatly. You'll have to experiment to find what works

best for you. Alternatively, you can use a new type of styrene rod

and tubing that allows cold bending and skip the boiling water/heat

altogether. I believe it's made by Midwest (R/C planes) and have

yet to try it.

After the plastic coil cooled, I slipped off the jar and cut the

cleanest 181 degree section from the coil. I twisted and massaged

this section so that it lay flat on a piece of glass. I then trimmed and

sanded off the 1 degree and glued the free ends to make a clean

and smooth plastic ring. This takes a lot of patience and pratice. I

then cut square strips to lenght and with a mousetail file, I mitered

the ends that get glued to the wheel rim. I built up the streering

wheel spokes in pieces.

[mikevillena]

10. This shows an earlier wheel (on the right) that melted when I

hung it over my baseboard heater to speed up the curing of the spot

putty. As my old engineering manager used to say "Hurry up and

do it all over". Oh well..on the left is the second wheel in progress.

[mikevillena]

11. Some more details in progress. The brake pedal was made

from a piece of railroad car siding stock with the grooves oriented

vertically (just as on the real car) and glued onto a piece of strip that

had been filed and sanded to shape. I generally hold off trimming to

the correct lenght to make shaping and painting easier. The ignition

tray and undrhood fuse box base are built up with strips, channel

and tubing. When you encounter complex shapes, simply break

everything down to the simplest shapes and start from there.

[mikevillena]

12. The dash, steering wheel and turn signal/wiper stalks were

sprayed with PlastiKote Bumper paint (semi-gloss black). I added

the hazard and auxillary buttons on the center console with pieces of

plastic rod and some paint. The stalks were made of conical

sections (see my notes in Part 1), some soft wire and Dupli-color

Filler and Primer (in the small touch-up bottle) that has been

allowed to thicken. The instrument faces were photo-reduced from

the actual car, glued in place and coated with high gloss clear.

[mikevillena]

13. Here is another approach to building a steering wheel. On my

Alfa, I had a 1/24th scale kit to measure and copy from. To

duplicate the classic 60's Nardi type wheel, I had to use two rings

(made from half round plastic stock and shaped as described in no.

9) and a piece of sheet plastic sandwiched in between. I sketched

in the centerline and laid in the spokes as accurately as I could.

[mikevillena]

14. It took me several tries but I finally nailed it. The horn button and

mounting bolts are pieces of rod. I drilled out the spokes and

painted them Metalizer Stainless steel. The wood parts were

painted with burnt sienna watercolor and I applied some super

narrow chrome tape around the circumference to replicate the

classic wood and steel Nardi wheel. Some detail painting with tiny

dots of chrome silver enamel to simulate the rivets that held the

wood rim halves together and several coats of high gloss finished

things off.

[mikevillena]

15. When building racing seats, I measure and scale up from a

1/24th scale Tamiya "Recaro" seat that I got from my spares box.
I build up the seat in sections that are glued together and shaped

after the glue joints harden. I even added the support ribs on the

seat back with strip plastic. After painting, I applied some 1/12th.

scale Kevlar decal and several coats of gloss on the bare "kevlar"

sections after the decal had fully dried. (I'm sorry that I don't have

pics of the finished seat).

[mikevillena]

16. The Miata seats required a different approach since I didn't

have any dimensions. I started off with a flat piece of plastic sheet.

[mikevillena]

17. With the figure located in place on the interior tub, I trimmed

and fitted the seat back several times while constantly checking my

reference photos. I bent the seat back at the headrest area and

added the seat bottom. NOTE: To make it easier to get the shape

of the finished seatback smooth and symetrical, I worked with just a

half section. After I was satisfied with the contour, I flipped the

seatback over and traced the outline onto another piece of sheet

plastic. I then cut out the other half and then glued the halves

together to complete the seatback.

[mikevillena]

18. I constantly checked how the seat fitted and related to the

driver figure.

[mikevillena]

19. With my reference photos handy, I began the upholstery by

rolling wads of tissue to the approximate shapes and then covering

them with pieces of an old t-shirt trimmed and glued with white craft

glue. I then glued the individual shapes onto the seat back and

bottom using my photos to guide me. I then sealed all the cloth

surfaces with several coats of thinned white craft glue. This helped

the upholstery keep it's shape and made painting the seat easier.

[mikevillena]

20. After the upholstery dried fully (two days), I added the trim

where the cloth met the vinyl seatback covering.

[mikevillena]

21. I painted the cloth areas flat black, and the vinyl areas

semi-gloss black. After I glued the seat in place, I added the

adjustment levers on the side and the seatbelts. This is the only

picture that I have of the finished seat.

[mikevillena]

22. For the left side headliner of the removable hardtop on the

Miata, I started with a piece of computer print paper that I trimmed

to fit.

[mikevillena]

23. I did the headliner in three sections (one top and two

sides). The paper sections were sprayed with gloss black paint,

frocked with Ken's Fuzzy Fur and then glued into place after they

dried.

[mikevillena]

24. For the rearview mirror, I shaped a thick piece of plastic sheet

and glued a plastic strip around it. I trimmed away the strip until I

had a tiny lip aound the mirror glass area.

[mikevillena]

25. I made the mirror post out of a bent piece of rod and a piece of

strip. To finish the mirror, I masked off the glass area, sprayed it

with semi-gloss black and applied BareMetal chrome foil to

simulate the mirror. (sorry, I didn't have close-ups of the finished

mirror)

[mikevillena]

26. The Alfa wipers were made from pieces of square rod and

strips. I had the accurate Tamiya 1/24th scale parts to measure and

copy from.

[mikevillena]

27. I generally build wipers in two sections; the wiper blade

assembly and the wiper arm. Each section is comprised of several

pieces just like the real item. For example, this wiper blade

assembly is made up of a very thin strip, a small square strip and

three bent rectangular strips. I started with clipping the very thin

strip onto the third hand tool and glued the small square strip onto

the edge of the very thin strip. After that has set, I trim it to the right

lenght. Then I bend the three rectangular strips and glue them on.

This is where my old and battered third hand tool (X-Acto) really

comes in handy (along with a good magnifier lamp!).

[mikevillena]

28. I then glue the wiper blade assembly onto the wiper arm in the

correct angle. For the vintage look of the Alfa, I painted the wiper

with Chrome Silver overall and flat black for the rubber blade.

[mikevillena]

29. On the Miata, I had to use the wiper stickers as a guide.

[mikevillena]

30. I built the wipers up in the same manner as the Alfa's. I also

added the little spoiler on the driver's side wiper.

[mikevillena]

31. I also made the little spring that puts tension on the arm to

hold it tightly against the windshield out of some soft wire that has

been coiled around a tiny drill bit. It is too small and weak to really

work, but at least it's there.

[mikevillena]

32. I drilled a tiny hole through the wiper arm sides and the wiper

shaft. I then pinned these together to make the wiper assembly

pivot up and away from the windshield. To finish things off, I

sprayed the wiper assembly with semi-gloss black and painted the

rubber blade with a very dark flat gray. If you looked at your own

full sized car's wiper blades, the rubber invariably weathers to this

color.

[mikevillena]

33. The CLK's single wiper assembly was huge and was also

hinged to swing up and away from the windshield. It also pivoted to

sweep across the windshield. I chose not to motorize it because I

didn't want to scratch the windshield.

[mikevillena]

34. To replicate the muffler on the Alfa, I used a piece of flattened,

large diameter plastic tubing that has been trimmed to lenght and

capped at both ends with sheet plastic. The exhaust tip was made

from an extrusion (see my notes in Part 1) with an angled cut at the

opening.

[mikevillena]

35. After I glued both pieces together, I sanded and polished prior

to spraying with Metalizer stainless steel. NOTE: Styrene plastic

strips, tubing, shapes and sheets have a slight surface texture that is

very evident if you don't prep prior to painting with Metalizer paints.
I finished things off by buffing with tissue and q-tips and airbrushing

a little Metalizer exhaust in the opening.

[mikevillena]

36. To tackle the door handles on the Miata, I used the kit stickers

as a guide in cutting and shaping the pieces.

[mikevillena]

I also noted in my

reference photos that the handle plate is scooped out behind the

handle to allow you to slip your fingers under the door handle to pry

it forward. I used a small grinding bit on my mototool and a

mousetail file to replicate this feature. I then made the door handle

to fit into the "scooped out" area.

[mikevillena]

37. I then drilled through both the plate and the handle and pinned

them together with some small diameter piano wire. I did this

because I wanted the door handle to work. I then glued on a backing

plate that was sized longer (left to right) than the oblong hole I ground out on the door shell.

[mikevillena]

38. I then cut off the door handle assembly from the strip, mounted

it onto a toothpick and painted it chrome silver. I then put tiny dabs

of CA on the backing plate (a little longer than the opening...read on

and you'll see), held at an angle and carefully slipped the whole assembly through an oblong

opening that I ground out on the door skin (I used the molded lines on the bodyshell to guide me as I did my grinding). I then pulled up on the

toothpick until the assembly was flush to the outer door skin and held the assembly in position until the CA had set.

This seems like a lot of work, but I added this detail AFTER I had

finished the door (sealed up the inside kickpanel). That's because I

didn't like the way the door stickers looked.

[mikevillena]

39. I also scratchbuilt the door handles on the ALFA (sorry about

the blurry image). This shot also shows the dash and wipers.

[mikevillena]

40. For my old Tamiya McLaren F-1, I added some shock

absorbers that would be visible with the access covers removed. I

made the rockers and shocks from tubing, rod and strips. The

spring was made by coiling the appropriate diameter solder around

a drill bit, trimmed to lenght and painted red.

[mikevillena]

This old in-progress shot shows the left side shock, rocker arm and linkage in place.

[mikevillena]

41. Here's an earlier (and cruder) attempt at shocks, carbonfiber,

flexible brake ducting and scratchbuilding in general. Notable was

my use of various materials such as black and silver round garter

(Wal-Mart), copper wire and solder. Also note the crude exhaust

system. God...I'd love to build another CLK-GTR!

[mikevillena]

42. It's surprising how a little creative use of materials, imagination,

attention to detail and creative detail painting can really pull things

together to make a very realistic looking ride.

[mikevillena]

43. Here's a shot of the ALFA's engine compartment (note the twin plug cylinder head and the eight spark plugs). To replicate

the battery terminals, I flattened some solder, drilled a hole through

the flattened area, cut a slit to the hole and trimmed off the excess. I

then glued some small flexible vinyl string (Wal-Mart) and painted

the cables with black and red. I left the terminals unpainted to

capture the look of dull pewter.

[mikevillena]

44. The trunk on my Alfa sports a scratchbuilt set of tools and a

spare tire. The wheel was an old and cracked Tamiya mini "mini-lite" whose center has

been ground out and then painted aluminum. I also drilled out the

molded lug nuts and added a valve and a balancing weight.
These details cost next to nothing to make.

[mikevillena]

45. Don't forget the various manufacturer's stickers on the hood

undersurfaces, doors, door jambs, radiator shrouds, trunk lid, etc...
You can photo-reduce these onto paper, trim to size and glued in

place. An extra touch I do is to give each sticker several washes of
weak coffee to dull the bright white of the paper and to give it that

"scale" look.

That's it. I hope some of these ideas can help you in your next project. See you in Part 3

[Piggy89373]

still speechless...mouth is dry from hanging open while reading through your post...now having difficulty saying wow.....whhhiiirrrrooow...

[mikevillena]

still speechless...mouth is dry from hanging open while reading through your post...now having difficulty saying wow.....whhhiiirrrrooow...


C"MON PIGGY...STOP THAT!!!! :o


Hey, did you like the melted steering wheel? :D

[Piggy89373]

Dude, that's awesome man. I smirked at the steering wheel, but got too hung up seeing the scratch built windshield wipers and tool box. The little details you put in really set the car on a whole new level.

I had a thought for one hellacious car, that is to put you in touch with CharlieB. Have him do the paint and you do the detail. I figure between the two of you, there's no Concourse around that'd deny you a first place trophy!

[mikevillena]

Hey Piggy,

Thanks for the gracious comments and idea. I don't think I'm worthy enough to hang with some of the sano painters here. Beside, he's probably already building his ride with working remote outside mirrors and RCADDIKT and AirBoston are installing heated seats in theirs...(well, maybe not Air Boss...I know he's working on his 1/8th scale air-cooled boxer motor right now). Oh well, concourse is a tough and fickle b*tch, but a truckload of fun. :D

Errata: should read "....I know he's working on his 1/8th scale air-cooled (WITH A WORKING FAN) boxer motor right now. ;)

[kitty]

Actually working heated seats? I can't believe you guys get into such super fine details. Wow...

You guys would make a fantastic team to do coach built cars. With the details you guys can do, y'all could build one hell of a fine motoring machine.

I am in awe of what kind of fabrication you do, Mike.

[mikevillena]

Kitty,

I was only teasing about the heated seats....although I wouldn't put it past these guys. As for AirBoston (AirBoss), I wouldn't be surprised if his Porsche's cooling fan worked. Thanks Kitty. Please stop making me blush. Hey guys, what do you think? A little bit of element wire and a single ni-cad can be imbedded in the seat...Hey, didn't Team Losi make electric "Tire Warmers" just like Formula 1? :D

[mikevillena]

Another "bump"

[abraksith]

that's simply amazing work, I'd never think that someone can have that kind of dedication, patience and skill, to pull this off. and I thought it'd be cool if managed to get some mesh onto a body, but now that I see your work.......wow, no more words left, bye now

[mikevillena]

that's simply amazing work, I'd never think that someone can have that kind of dedication, patience and skill, to pull this off. and I thought it'd be cool if managed to get some mesh onto a body, but now that I see your work.......wow, no more words left, bye now
:o :o :o :D

[C0NTENDER]

mikevillena,

Man, talk about some very VERY impressive work. When I started doing show bodies, I got alot of my inspiration from the likes of RallySteve and others that use to battle it out for concourse. For the past year and a half, I started losing interest as this art seemed to be cooling down. I havn't even finished looking at the rest of this thread, but I wanted to let you know that the work that you have done, and are doing is a tribute to concourse. Man, keep up the work, and I have been inspired to step up my game once again. thanks for the inspiration :)

[abraksith]

Well, I don't kow about mikevillena, but I'm glad that there'll be more pictures of show bodies, that is an artform in itself