1/10th scale model of my Austin Seven car

[A7er]

I started to build four 1/10th scale models of my 1930 Austin Seven special several weeks ago. This is my progress so far.

Image called "side" is a side view of one of the cars. All the green parts are resin 3D prints, the grey bits are pla. The wheels have the correct number of spokes and the spokes are in the right place. I have used a bit of plasticine to hold the front side light on the front wing, just for the photo you understand. All the lights will work and will be fitted with very small LEd's. The woodgrain is printed onto photo paper and is a scan of part of the body on the real car. I did think of using real wood veneer, but at the moment I prefer the photo.

Image "front" shows the radiator shell and headlights which will be painted with a chrome type paint made by Allclad which looks like real chrome, almost. The wings and temperature gauge on top of the rad is a separate print and will be painted with a brass or gold paint also by Allclad. The headlights will have LED's. I bought some clear casting resin today and I have cast the lenses for the headlights, not set yet.

Image "all4" is a general view of all four cars with a few bits at the front of the image. A 50p is used for scale.

Two photos of the real thing. pic1 and pic2.

I hope to start getting some paint soon. The bonnet and wings will be painted in DAF (the car maker, not the van) marina blue, the same as the real car.

[Admiral_dk]

A good amount of work went into making those parts - both the CAD design and 3D Slicing 

But what amazes me the most are the Spokes - are they done in Metal and if so - mounted how (to ensure concentricity) ?

Per               

[bent]

Those are looking great.   

[Vixen]

They look superb, especially the spoked wheels.
You can put my name down for one.

Mike

[Kim]

Very nice!  I this your own design?  It's quite amazing!

Kim

[Davyboy]

Very nice work.  I love it when a plan comes together.

[A7er]

The first four images are screen shots from my cad programme showing the rim and hub, wheel 1. The wheel and hub in cross section showing the angle of the spoke holes, wheel 2. The tyre with tread and AVON (tyre manufacturer) tyre 1. And the tyre in cross section, tyre 2. I drew the entire car full size as it is easier to tell the slicer programme to reduce everything to 10% of the full size than it is to draw everything to scale. I hope that makes sense! The spoke holes are 6mm dia, which when the wheel is scaled down the hole is 0.6mm dia. Steel mig welding wire of 0.6mm dia was used for the spokes. I straightened the wire by putting a small hook in my battery drill, another hook in the vice and a length of the mig wire twisted around each hook. A few seconds on slow speed straightens out the wire. Each wheel takes nearly 800mm, yes that's 800mm, or thirty one and a half inches per wheel. Four cars, four wheels each. No spare wheel made, it can't be seen.

The next two images are the best close-ups I can get with my camera. They show the wheel and assembly jig. The hub and rim are placed in the jig and starting with the outer spokes, a pair of spokes are cut to length, a slight bend put in one end and the spokes fed into the correct holes. It is obvious by eye if they are right, if they are, a small dab of super glue on the end of the spoke (which shouldn't protrude past the outer surface of the rim, in should sit in the trough) the glue is pulled into the spoke hole by capillary action. By the time I have the next pair of spokes cut, the glue has set. Fit all the front spokes, rotating the wheel slightly to make sure no glue has got between the jig and rim, then remove the wheel from the jig and do the same to the back spokes. I gave the glue plenty of time to set before glueing the tyre on. I did make a mould to make the tyres in rubber, but it seemed to be too much work for a display model behind glass, so I 3D printed them instead. The wheels will be painted gloss black and the tyres satin or semi-gloss black. Or would matt black be better? Any thoughts?

[Admiral_dk]

Thank you very much for describing the process 

It never occured to me that the Tyres are a seperate unit - but I see how this helps with the Spoke assembly    and that also makes the Jig work easier 

Per

[RReid]

The wheels will be painted gloss black and the tyres satin or semi-gloss black. Or would matt black be better? Any thoughts?

Those are great looking wheels/tires. Personally, I would vote for matte for the tires. Tires may come from the store shiny, but they don't stay that way long. If possible add some white to the black. Under indoor lighting, I find that a very dark gray tends to look much better than pure black, especially if there are any surface details to be seen.

[A7er]

I had two of my sisters staying with me recently. They didn't know about the model of my car that I would be giving to them, one day! I put as many parts together as I could with sticky tape and white tack so I could show them. They like them, so I had better get a move on.
Three pictures with a 50p for scale.

[Admiral_dk]

Still making good progress 

Looking forward to see them painted up 

Per

[A7er]

Thanks per.

I had several weeks of no progress because I couldn't work out the next step. I created a spreadsheet on the computer and listed all the things I had done, and the things I still had to do. This made it a lot easier to work out the next stage.

I bought a fairly cheap airbrush kit, and I am now looking at finding the best paint match, unless I can get a tin of the original paint from somewhere. Daf Marina blue. I will always remember the name of the paint. Daf the car maker, not LDV/DAF the commercial vehicle.

[crueby]

Exquisite little car!