Continuation of scratchbuilt Olds Rocket.

[BrassBuilder]

The detail in that is amazing! Now if I could only figure out how to do stuff like that in metal. :)
Mike

[hot ford coupe]

Durn it. I was going to say that the nail was a 1 1/4" wore nail and that was the size of the piece. I was also supposed to say that you can really see how small I really am. That one was for Harry. Well, the cat's already out of the bag. Nertz.

[Don Garrett]

Jeff....how'd you do the casting numbers?

[Deuces-wild]

Yep!! That's the first thing that crossed my mind also. Tell us Jeff... Inquiering minds wanna know.

[hot ford coupe]

I forgot all about that. Thanks for the reminder. The numbers are actually made of wax. This is where the dental instruments come in. The wax I use is a hard dental wax. There are a number of different types of wax from really sticky and soft to almost plastic hard for things like inlay castings. The type I use is 3/4 the way to the hard side. It's solid enough to hold itself stable but it's soft enough not to be too brittle when you try to cut or score it. What I'm about to tell you is a technique that's difficult to describe and much easier to show. I can always do that after I've healed a bit more.

It's all about control of your heat. You drip a section onto the plastic and let it cool. You then gently trim the area with a small chisel until it's a defined rectangle. Next, you lower the height of the rectangle to about the height of your numbers. Then with a sharp dental explorer, you cut away everything but the numbers thus leaving them on the plastic. Prime and color is next. That's it. What I'll do is make up a tutorial on wax dripping and cutting. It sounds like a strange technique but it's very useful in adding ridiculously small parts and contours you might not be able to do any other way. You'll be surprised how useful it really is. I'll make you experts at it.

[Don Garrett]

Jeff...how 'bout a separate tute on how to use the dental wax and where to get it? I can think of lots of uses for the stuff but like most of the other members it's something we are not familiar with.
Video tutorial Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?

BTW...How come with a screen name like Hot Ford Coupe your avatar is a roadster?

[hot ford coupe]

Tutorial's already in the works. A video tut right now may be a bit difficult for me but I think I can do the subject justice with a static picture set. It's not that difficult, I just have to be able to waddle downstairs and get it done.

[hot ford coupe]

The reason why I put the roadster in was because------oops.

[slingshot]

Wow! That’s some awesome scratchbuilding! So the trick is time?? Now if I can just figure out how to master that…

[EstebanLoco]

Here are some of the pictures of the water pump and timing chain cover and whatever else is stuck on there. It's basically carved out of a 12 mm thick styrene block that was made from laminating 4 sheets of 3 mm thick stock. There are add ons however. The bulk of the carving was done with a drill press to remove some thickness in strategic areas. The rest was hand carved with a variety of sharp wood carving chisels. The parts sticking out of the basic shape were the add ons.

Now for the secrets of making the part. The whole trick is that there really is no trick to speak of. It's a matter of time and taking each section of the part one by one. Don't look at the part as a whole because it's like looking at a forest of 1000 trees. All you have in your hand is an axe. If you look at the whole forest at one time, the job seems virtually impossible. The idea is to take one tree at a time without regard to the rest of them. As long as measurements are correct, you won't run into other sections of the part. You start with the basic shape and good reference photos. Then, take each aspect as if it's the only one you need. Check your proportions and measurements frequently and take your time. Then when you think you've got it, check it against your research. You can even photograph it and correct the defects as you go.

Very, very nice work Jeff. And your analogy is right on.

[hot ford coupe]

Thanks Steve. When I finish the engine, I'll take some pics outside and hopefully it will look fairly good. I'm my most severe critic and it drives me crazy.

[ScaleMotorcars]

Jeff. When your better and have the time I really could use a Tut on those casting #'s. I just cant seem to picture how your doing it. Ive always just carved them out of plastic and that drives me nuts.

[hot ford coupe]

No problem, Dan. I'm working on it as I speak. Since I don't have my camera with me at the hospital (see announcements) I'll see what I can do with Microsoft paint. It's really not that difficult. You just need some really good magnifiers.

[hot ford coupe]

Here's an update on the engine progress. It's been a bit slow but I'm starting to heal up better than before so I can do a little more each day.

I've made one of the heads for the Rocket and started the internal details. The head is removable so you'll be able to see the details on all sides of the head. This is just one rocker assembly. The spring is made from thin beading wire as pen springs were way too stiff to get it stay in place. I'm in the middle of making more rockers, springs valves and pushrods. The final steps will involve making the sockets for the spark plugs, requisite nuts and bolts and the weathering . Here's two pics to show what I've done so far. I think when I'm done, it will look pretty good. Hope you like.