Roger's handcrafted 1:12 scale models

[Buicknutty]

Beautiful!

[Roger Zimmermann]

For two days, I intended to cast the last tire. After 8 hours, it was time to open the molds; the result was another perfect tire. I sanded the parting line, and, after cleaning, I noticed that the tread was damaged at three places. Like two or three other tires, the missing bit of rubber was at the rear half. Strange...Why nothing is missing at the front half? By looking at the workplace, I saw two tiny black things with teeth! Effectively, those small rubber elements could be placed into two holes. Why? The answer is at the hard mold: when I began to cast the positive flexible molds, some rubber went under the brass bands. This "characteristic" went 1 to 1 to the hard mold, and, at those places, the tread is not attached to the root of the tire. With rough movements like with sanding, the rubber got thorn.
As I could rescue two elements, the sole way to put them in place is to prepare some more rubber. No chance to have the right proportions for a tiny quantity, so I decided to eliminate as well as I could the flaws from the mold and do another tire which was done today. I will now be very careful by sanding the parting line...
Anyway, I could not resist to take a picture with the product under vacuum. The volume for the product is about 4.5 cm3. The available volume from both containers is about 60 cm3. As you can see, the level rose almost to the top of both containers...Incredible!
Now, I have 8 tires; each has some small failures...The really bad ones will be used as spare tires as they are covered with a nice cover, so the tire itself cannot be seen, + 2 tires, just in case. There is another one for Gary (the Studebaker guy), when I have his home address!

 

I began the tie rod ends; for the moment I have 4 pivots. They are made with mild steel and a ball is silver soldered on one end.

[Roger Zimmermann]

With the tire saga behind me, I continued with the tie rod ends. They are not done like modern ones: there is a cap; inside the cap there is a strong spring pushing at the lower pivot seat. I did the same, with the exception of the internal spring. By adjusting the cover with some precision, I'm getting a pivot without play and I can add some grease after the final paint.
The tie rod was one of the easiest parts to do: just a straight rod with threaded ends...As I don't have LH taps, I did RH threads at both ends, like my other models. The adjusting for the toe-in is just a bit different than in real life.
I noticed that the tie rod is lower than the front axle. Not very good...According to the drawing in the shop manual, the front axle should be a tad lower than the tie rod. I will bend the knuckle arms to reduce this inconvenient.

[Randiego]

Roger,

 

What an amazing and beautiful chassis you have created, Roger. I have a feeling that this will eclipse your previous creations.  I am partial to the 30's automobiles as they were unfettered by the "bean counters" squeezing the engineering and manufacturing for more profitiable bottom lines.  This era was all about quality and beauty.  All one has to do to appreciate those times is to go to a Concourse auto show and see a 1930- 

31 Cadillac V 16 in it's splendor. 

 

At our show here in San Diego, we had three sitting side by side.  A roadster and two sedans.  They glistened in the sun and had more of the crowd's attention than the rest of the cars.  Just beautiful.

 

It's a damn shame that most of the beautiful detail work will be covered up and out of sight.  But the chassis will be able to be seen if you set the model on a mirror! Anyone following the threads will know and see your amazing work.  I am just baffled by how realistic this chassis is.  

 

Work constraints has not allowed me to travel to the Nethercutt to photograph their RR chassis.  But I plan to travel this week to get that done and finally post those pics.  

 

Again, Roger, you set the bar for what finite modeling is all about.  No detail too small to tackle and incorporate into your work.  We all await the next posting for the new "element" that you create. 

 

Bravo, Maistro.

 

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

Thanks Randy! Yes, the frame and associated elements are quite different than the models I did before. It takes also an awful more time to add those details!

[Pat Hollingsworth]

Roger, if you were over here in the States, I'd nominate you for a ''Yankee Know-How" award. Whenever some glitch occurs, you work it out in a patient and logical way. We would be fortunate, indeed, if we could teach your traits to our grand children. Wonderful work as always. We do eagerly await the next 'element', but also the commentary that accompanies the part and its photos. 

(and the photos are always really well done!)  

[Roger Zimmermann]

Thanks Pat! My "traits", as you wrote, is getting rare. People now want to have something finished before the beginning... I'm writing about glitches just to tell the people that nobody is perfect and usually (but not always) there is a way for a correction. Time and will are the key for success (sometimes money too) for all kind of projects.

About the pictures: I'm using a very old pocket camera; year ago, I bought a reflex camera to get better pictures...It was a bad move: I'm still using the pocket camera!

[Paulie9fingers]

That really is amazing, I don't have the words to describe it

[Randiego]

Forum Members,  

 

For those who have been following Roger's build of the Cadillac V16 engine and chassis, I was touting the RR chassis that the Nethercutt Museum has on display in Sylmar, CA (north of Los Angeles).  WIth the covid and all the shutting down of the museums over the last two years, I was waiting for them to reopen.  Finally, I was able to get up there this last Saturday and shoot the RR chassis that I had been telling you all  about.  I have 44 pics but I cannot attach them all here.  I have selected a few to give you an idea of how magnificent (and rare) it is to see one in all of it's spelendor before a body is attached.

 

Here is the story on this chassis.  In the mid 50's, a prominent race car driver heard from sources that there was a RR chassis that was still intact in East Germany.  This was to be sent to a prominent coach builder before the war broke out.  The car was put into a storage shed at a munitions plant and the wall was bricked up.  Amazingly, from all the bombing the small building was not damaged, however, it was burried in a lot of rubble from them bombing the plant next door. 

 

The race car driver was injured in a crash and was in the hospital in London.  He was always talking about this chassis and wanted to get his hands on it.  Well, his crew members (since they were idle during his recovery) started the quest to see if this chassis existed or was just a "story".  They did the research and found the guy who was touting this story.  Still alive.  They contacted him and he took them to the site where he said the chassis was.  They got through the rubble and got enough of it away from the building.  They were able to peer through a slit between the bricks and to their amazement, saw the chassis.

 

Now the real issue was;  How the hell are they going to get it out of East Germany and through the Brandenberg gate?   Well, they got a flatbed truck and in the middle of the night, tore down the wall and loaded the chassis onto the flatbed.  They then "burried" the RR under a load of cabbages and the next day drove to the produce market on the West Berlin side of the border.  (vegetables and produce were allowed to cross to the markets to sell their produce at the markets in West Berlin). 

 

They got across the border and the chassis was unloaded and shipped to England.  Mr. Nethercutt heard about this chassis and made the deal to purchase it.  He had it shipped to Los Angeles.   It sat in the warehouse wating for them to find a body and commence the work.  The chassis was intact, all original but missing the radiator surround.  What you see here is how the Nethercutt team cleaned, polished and painted the chassis as when it was delivered to the coach builders back in the day.  Notice the dash.  That was temporarily attached to the cast aluminum bulkhead holding the instruments until the coach builder could put them in the custom dash that they would fabricate, along with the body.   

 

The curator and management of the Nethercutt Museum have decided to not to find and install a body on this chassis.  Instead they are displaying it as it is.  It is a work of art and indicative of how the manufacturers meticulously designed and build their automobiles back in the day.  Roger's chassis is along these lines.  This is a late 30's chassis and Roger's is an early 30's chassis.  There is a lot of differences between a Cadillac and a RR but the underpinnings of these beautiful works of art are similar in their fit and finish, albiet some of the functions of the two are different.

 

Randy

 

I have a total of 44 pics of this masterpiece  

[Roger Zimmermann]

Thanks for those pictures. I'm glad I choose a Cadillac and not a RR! That's really the typical complexity from England with a myriad of nuts and bolts. I'm also surprised that this'39 frame still has a mechanical actuation of the brakes.

The story behind this frame is also very interesting, thanks for sharing it!

[Roger Zimmermann]

With the shock absorber bodies done, it was time to link them to the suspension. This was done the last few days. The long screw at the arms is temporary. It must be that way till I'm ready to install the O-ring at the shaft. Once the arms are permanently attached to the arms, the O-ring cannot be installed or replaced.

[Paulie9fingers]

Incredible work as always, Roger every time you post new creations I find myself scanning the entire photos and being completely amazed all over again.

[keiser31]

FANTASTIC!

[Luv2Wrench]

It really doesn't seem possible.  Simply incredible!

[jpage]

Beautiful work, Roger! Did I miss the part where you built the wheels?

[Roger Zimmermann]

Thanks jpage! You have to go to page 64 to see how the wheels were done. A long time ago!

[Pat Hollingsworth]

For anyone interested that hasn't seen it, there is a episode of Leno's Garage that showcases a 1930 Cadillac V-16 from the Nethercutt collection. I just happened to discover it an hour ago and thrilled at the thing.  I don't know how to link it to here, but I suppose a search on Google for Leno and Cadillac V-16 might get ya there. It's a pretty entertaining half hour that puts some of Roger's work into a new perspective for me. Seeing the vehicle heading down the highway and being more able to visualize what is there out of view is pretty nice. 

Of course, now I can also see the one we are watching here with a fine, dual cowl body. And, such a spotlight.

 

 

 

 

[keiser31]

19 minutes ago, Pat Hollingsworth said:

For anyone interested that hasn't seen it, there is a episode of Leno's Garage that showcases a 1930 Cadillac V-16 from the Nethercutt collection. I just happened to discover it an hour ago and thrilled at the thing.  I don't know how to link it to here, but I suppose a search on Google for Leno and Cadillac V-16 might get ya there. It's a pretty entertaining half hour that puts some of Roger's work into a new perspective for me. Seeing the vehicle heading down the highway and being more able to visualize what is there out of view is pretty nice. 

Of course, now I can also see the one we are watching here with a fine, dual cowl body. And, such a spotlight.

 

 

 

 

Here you go....

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

Thanks for that video; Randy sent me the link by email.

For an external viewer (and I was one of those three years ago), this 1930 car is looking almost the same as a 1932 one. However, there are many, many different parts: another frame, parts for the brakes are different, idem for the shock absorbers, and so on. The engine is mostly the same, the transmission not. According to the man who restore the '32 frame I could take pictures, the cars for 1932 are more agreeable to drive thanks to many improvements. As I have no experience in that aspect, I believe him...

[Roger Zimmermann]

When a sub-system is finished, the question is always the same: and now, with what I do continue? This time, the answer was: gas tank. I have no dimensions from it, but enough picture to have a good estimation.
I did first a dummy tank with cardboard to see if it would find its place. After that, I did the profile with heavy stock. This allowed me to shape the ends as well as the baffles to be soldered inside the tank. Their purpose is not to avoid heavy movements from the fuel, but to avoid crushing the tank by lifting the model by the gas tank. 
The real fuel tank has two creases at each end; I was not sure how I would replicate them. Then was the choice of the material: 0.1 or 0.2mm thick brass? By trying with waste material, I came to the conclusion that the 0.2mm was better suited for all the operations to be performed on the main parts from the tank. 
I did first the creases with a 0.8 mm wire pushed on the brass, then rolling the plate to get the correct shape. The last picture is better explaining the task.

[Roger Zimmermann]

The gas tank is now almost ready; the side plates were not flat but to simplify the stamping, I just soldered a convex smaller element. Missing are the tiny details: the three brackets to attach it to the frame, the draining plug and the filler tube which will not be easy to shape.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Ah! Summertime...Not the best season to build scale models! Anyway, I added some details to the tank, like the draining plug and the fuel outlet. Then I began doing 3 attaching points to be soldered on the tank. I evaluated their dimensions according to the pictures I have from Johan; I'm sure they are similar to the real thing but inexact dimension wise. I added also fake rivets to the straps.
Two minor pieces must be added to the tank: the fuel sender and next to it, another round cover I have no idea about his function.

[Paulie9fingers]

Looks very nice

[Pat Hollingsworth]

Roger, I have to say that those Cadillacs even have classy fuel tanks, and you are capturing, in scale, all the things that made that so. What a super model this is becoming. Hey, I thought that the wire wheels were a major display of skill, but you were just warming up. 

[Randiego]

Roger,

The fuel tank looks great !  What did GM use for a fuel filter back in the day?   Just a strainer and settlement bowl?  Or ? ?  The gas back in the late 20's early thirties was nothing to write home about.  And only one grade.  But that was the simplicity of life back then, eh?

[ericmac]

On 8/2/2022 at 5:43 AM, Roger Zimmermann said:

Thanks for those pictures. I'm glad I choose a Cadillac and not a RR! That's really the typical complexity from England with a myriad of nuts and bolts. I'm also surprised that this'39 frame still has a mechanical actuation of the brakes.

The story behind this frame is also very interesting, thanks for sharing it!

According to Rolls engineers, why use four bolts when nine will do?

[drhach]

I just read about that "why use 4 when 9 will do" mentality in a book called "The Perfectionists" by Simon WInchester. Excellent book. A quality car was an "overbuilt" car. 

[Roger Zimmermann]

On 8/30/2022 at 1:46 AM, Randiego said:

Roger,

The fuel tank looks great !  What did GM use for a fuel filter back in the day?   Just a strainer and settlement bowl?  Or ? ?  The gas back in the late 20's early thirties was nothing to write home about.  And only one grade.  But that was the simplicity of life back then, eh?

Thanks Randy! There was a fuel strainer at the pump and another one at each carb. I can imagine that the fuel at that time was looking like what we have now as petrol. Way different than the gasoline used today.

[Roger Zimmermann]

While doing the steering gear arm, I noticed "ears on the side. Suddenly, I found the reason for those ears. Do you have an idea about their purpose?

[keiser31]

12 minutes ago, Roger Zimmermann said:

While doing the steering gear arm, I noticed "ears on the side. Suddenly, I found the reason for those ears. Do you have an idea about their purpose?

Maybe the nubs are limiters on the turning radius of the steering?

[Pat Hollingsworth]

I suppose they prevent the arm from going over center and not being able to return from whence it came. If there was a limitless travel to the internal worm gears, it would have to come from somewhere externally. 

[Roger Zimmermann]

No, it's not what I suppose it to be. My answer tomorrow!

[m.kozlowski]

Maybe ears for puller? Easier to remove for servicing.

[Paulie9fingers]

4 hours ago, m.kozlowski said:

Maybe ears for puller? Easier to remove for servicing.

This is my thought also

[Roger Zimmermann]

7 hours ago, m.kozlowski said:

Maybe ears for puller? Easier to remove for servicing.

It's also what I' thinking. Congratulation!

[Roger Zimmermann]

For different reasons, the steering gear is coming slowly as expected: first, I realized that the worm and sector must be a reverse set. Thanks to a scale model forum, I could order the appropriate set. This was just before our autumn vacation, so I expected to have the gears at my return. They were there, but I came back with Covid's!  Thanks to the vaccine, the illness was not too severe, but I was "out" for a good week.
Anyway, I could begin with the steering gear's partial body, the tube and shaft. I have now to make the sector shaft and its body and connect it to the main body.
The whole will be a tight fit as the exhaust tube is very near from it. I hope that there will be no conflict...

[Paulie9fingers]

Glad the Covid wasn't too bad and you're feeling better

[Roger Zimmermann]

Thanks! It's not yet totally over, but I'm OK now.

[Pat Hollingsworth]

I think we were becoming a bit worried. Turns out that we had some reason for that! Glad you're on the road to recovery. As an aside, I had that and, as suggested to me, lost some of my taste- and how I like my food! Dunno if it'll ever return, since it's been a year.

Anyway, I've been wondering how the steering would be dealt with on your project. Looks like we are about to find out. Glad to have you back and working on our favorite model, Roger. 

Sure hope you had a nice vacation prior to getting ill. 

 

 

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

The steering box is ready and installed on the frame. As I expected, there is a tight fit between the steering column/box and the exhaust pipe; in due time, I will slightly modify the exhaust pipe to have a more comfortable space between both elements.
The various pictures are showing the involved parts; on the right, I installed a rough steering wheel hub. As you can see, there is also a complex part made with two flanges: the one to close the steering box and holding the pitman shaft and another one which is the attaching element from the unit to the frame.
When I was in Germany more than three years ago, I had the good inspiration to measure the steering tube length and the distance at its end to the frame. Those dimensions allowed me to do a temporary fixture for the steering box; with that, I could locate exactly the flange attached to the frame before silver soldering it.
Unfortunately, that steering box will not be without play because the worm's bore is not exactly concentric (Made in USA is definitively not as precise as Made in Switzerland!). The result: some hard spots, but not at the right place and, in between, some play. As its indeed a static model, this unwanted characteristic is not that bad.
Now, I will do the connecting rod to have a functional steering. And then, the steering wheel to complete this chapter.