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Old 10-02-2023, 10:18 PM   #151
PhilMacCracin
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

I been following your work for years, finally joined site.
Wanted to say, what you have done on all these build is just beyond words. Outstanding, fabulous, etc... dont even come close.
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Old 11-13-2023, 02:48 PM   #152
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

Hello again...

There is much progress to report tonight! My plan since the last update was to push-on with getting the cockpit area assembled, before I start fitting the roll-cage structure. So, this meant getting the dashboard ready, fitting the radiator support frames, adding detailing to the cockpit rear bulkhead, and adding the top panel to the front of the tub. Sounds simple, but there's much more to it!

First up, the main dashboard panel was primered, sprayed semi-gloss black, then had all the dials and switches fitted:



The cloth covering on top is salvaged from one of my old work shirts (again!), and is simply wrapped over a piece of 0.4mm styrene sheet and taped in place. I still have to finalise the exact layering of the various dashboard-top components, but I'll work on this soon.

Next, the radiator side frames. I had to be careful to get the assembly sequence correct with these, as there's a lot going on in a small space! I installed the two small oil coolers before fitting the main frames to the the side of the tub. I reinforced the connection between the front end of each frame and the back of the sill structure with various pieces of 0.75mm plate and strip:



This area was then brush-painted black to tidy it all up - it'll barely be seen after final assembly, so I wasn't worried about airbrushing it. The main water rads are simply pinned into place on the side of the tub, and will be trapped by the other ducts, etc, so there was no need to glue these. Before fitting, I had to trim the two fibreglass turbo inlet trumpets to partially fit around the side of the main rads, and added an inner panel to split the airflow:





I've added another panel across the front of the radiator frame which provides the transition between the back edge of the door duct, and into the rads. I've re-trimmed the sill panels slightly to suit - these will be finished and fitted later.

The main ducts for the two intercoolers are a combination of panels fitted to the side of the tub, a curved horizontal panel across the middle, another plate fitted to the side of the oil cooler, and a closing panel attached to the underside of the top part of the frame:



To get all this to fit together required a lot of test-fitting with cardboard patterns! I've added a pair of black closing panels to each side of the back bulkhead - these extend the plane of the bulkhead into the sidepod area and - in time - will provide a location for the door latches. I added some 1/8" box-section to the back of these to provide a more secure location for the duct panels on the tub.

The front edge of the vertical part of the duct is a sandwich of styrene and fibreglass (hence the white line). Later, this will have a small strip added to finish it off, and to provide a face to match the rear edge of the doors.



From the rear-3/4 position you get another view of how little space there is. Above the main water rad you can see the back part of the intercooler ducting, with the curved cut-out to match the end-tank. The turbo inlet is simply plugged into the bracket on the frame, and is ready to be connected to the turbo itself. The water rad doesn't have an exit duct on the underside - the air simply flows into the engine bay then out ahead of the rear wheels. The exit ducting for the oil coolers and intercoolers is fitted to the underside of the tail section, and is a job for another time...

Getting all the rads and ducting sorted out has occupied most of the last few weeks. This last weekend I've been able to return to adding more of the cockpit detailing, starting with the fire bottles:



I've added a pair of extinguisher nozzles and piping to the underside of the dashboard structure, and the red wires for the pull cables have been secured - theses will be hidden once the fibreglass instrument panel is fitted. The other pipe disappears into the tub and will re-appear in the engine bay with another pair of nozzles aimed at the engine.

Next, the footwell top panel. With the fire system in place, there wasn't much more to do before this panel could be fitted. I've glued the pedals in place so they sit at an appropriate angle, and that's about it. You can see where I've scraped-off some of the paintwork on the rear edge - this is preparation for fitting the main roll-cage.



Finally, another view of the rear bulkhead:



You can see the two closing panels each side of the bulkhead, with a notch in one to clear the rear support for the gearshift. The wiring to the Motronic pack is basically complete - there's a couple of small details to be added to the upper part of the black panel (mixture control and some sort of diagnostic port?) - these will be fitted in the next few days.

I'm now at the stage where I can fit the seat and belts, then continue with the dashboard and main roll-cage. The gearshift and steering wheel will be left off for now - too easy to knock or break! I'm taking a couple of weeks from work starting this weekend, so there's plenty I can be getting on with. In addition to the cockpit and roll-cage stuff I'd like to get the intercoolers fitted and the pipework connected, then maybe start adding the turbos. If that works, I could re-fit the engine and finalise the exhaust pipes. I think there'll be lots of things that will snowball from that point...

The next update should show how successful (or not) I've been with this plan!

All the best,

SB
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Old 12-05-2023, 04:36 AM   #153
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

AMAZING work !!
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Old 12-18-2023, 02:55 PM   #154
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

Hello folks,

I originally planned to do this update a week or so ago, but - you know how things go: I was pushing to get various things done, and it didn't happen. I'll do my usual end-of-year post, so this one is about recent progress.

In mid-November I was working towards being able to get the roll-cage structure fitted. With the radiator frames and most of the rear bulkhead detailing in place, the next job was to fit the seat and harness:



I'd deliberately left the mounting straps of the belts on the long side, as I knew it would be tricky to get the main shoulder belts fixed if the seat was being held close to the bulkhead. The lap straps and crotch-belts were fed through the seat and the brackets glued and pinned in place on the tub floor, and then I could put the pins through the main belt brackets on the rear bulkhead.



The ali tube on the back of the seat fits into the slot in the central tub spine, and a small support bracket on the right-hand side. I added some nut and washer detailing to finish it all off.

In the photo above you can also see that I'd fitted the lower ends of the roll-cage at this point. The upper mountings at the top of the dashboard structure were revised slightly from my original layout - careful examination of various photos and the reference drawings confirmed that the horizontal tubes should attach to the sides of the bracket, rather than to the front (as I originally had them). These tubes were reinforced with some Greenstuff and would later be glued to the main upper section of the rollcage. On the left-hand side of the cockpit I fitted a triangular panel to close-off the underside of the dashboard area from the outside.

Another job was to fit this fibreglass structure onto the top of the front of the tub:



This had to be fitted before the fibreglass dashboard panel could go in, and the dash had to go in before I added the roll-cage - very easy to forget something and get the sequence wrong! Luckily, I had no major problems.

I added a layer of sheet styrene to the underside of the dash panel, then glued this in place. The main hoop plugged into the lower sections, and the two short top curved tubes were added:



I filled the gaps in the top tubes with Greenstuff, tidied it all up, touched-in the paintwork, and that's the roll-cage fitted - a job that in itself was barely a couple of hour's work, but was only possible after several weeks of preparation of all the other things that needed doing first!



While fitting the dashboard it was also the best time to add the indicator box to the steering column and the turbo boost control-knob. In the photo above you can also see the seat support bracket and the main gear linkage tube disappearing into the rear of the tub. The shifter itself was painted, detailed, and glued in place:



I've also added the mixture control dial and a diagnostic socket to the back bulkhead, plus a small chassis plate - not shown in these photos, but I'm sure there'll be more shots of the interior another time!

Getting to this stage took most of the first week of my November break, and after this I felt it was time to shift my attention elsewhere. During the summer I'd been building my stash of braided line from various sources in different sizes, so it was a good opportunity to start making some of the assorted fuel lines, oil lines, etc, that would need to be threaded throughout the engine bay. Here's an example:



The larger oil lines to the cooler are 2mm Tamiya hose, and the upper hose from the turbo is 1.5mm hose by Top Studio. The fittings were all made by me months ago, then painted using a mix of Tamiya and Citadel colours. I've also made smaller lines for the water breathers, etc, in 1mm hose from Yamamoto, and some of the larger oil lines are 2.6mm Tamiya. I've added sections of heat-shrink to tidy the ends.

There's still plenty more of these lines to make - I haven't done any of the brake lines yet, plus there's hoses for the oil cooler, connections for the rear air-jack, the clutch cylinder, etc. Combine this with all the various electrical lines, etc, and there's a lot of plumbing around this car! At some point I'll have to add some labels, as it'll be easy to lose track of what's what...

Another November job was to magnetise the fixing of the two intercoolers to the top of the radiator support frames. This wasn't something I'd planned to do, but while trying to decide the best assembly sequence I realised it would give me the chance to have a bit of flexibility with the final positioning, and the ability to fit the intercoolers after the bodywork (if necessary). I added some styrene strip, etc, to the recesses in the top of the rad frames to create two pockets for the 5mm magnets:



Some more magnets were fitted to the the frames on the intercoolers, and the end result is two intercoolers that click into place rather nicely (with no drooping), and still allow me to move them about a little.

I'll finish this update with two more recent jobs. I've been wanting to finalise the angle of the engine and gearbox for some time, so I've extended the inner edges of the wheelarch closing panels to fit under the engine A-frames:



This sets the angle of the powertrain, and also provides much-needed support. Without them, everything would be hanging on the A-frames, and pulling on the upper joints - fine in real-life with parts made from metal with welded joints, not so fine in 1/8 scale when you've only got a small glued joint! I've also added some strip to the undertray fibreglass panel to locate the wheelarch panels securely in place.

With the powertrain at the desired angle, I returned to the oil tank. I'd made the main parts for this some time ago, but didn't want to finalise it until I was sure of the positioning. I've adjusted the overall height slightly, and added a magnetised mounting plate to the undertray - the oil tank now clicks into place but can still be moved and adjusted to suit.



Since this photo was taken I've added a reinforcing bar between the two pipe outlets, and some weld-seam detailing. The bracing tube that runs through the tank has been detailed where it attaches to the top of the gearbox spacer beam, and the upper end will eventually mate-up with the top of the right-hand A-frame. The oil pipe here is the largest 2.6mm Tamiya line, and plugs into the bottom of the engine; the other outlet will connect to the left-hand oil cooler.

That's it for tonight. I'm currently working on getting the exhaust primary pipes into shape, and finalising the connections for the turbos, etc. The oil tank detailing is 'in-progress'. and then it's a case of deciding what to tackle during the Christmas break - I should have at least four or five solid days where I can do as much modelling as I want, so hopefully there will be more to show by New Year's Eve!

All the best for Christmas,

SB
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Old 12-22-2023, 05:59 PM   #155
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

Great Stuff!
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Old 12-31-2023, 07:04 AM   #156
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

Hello again!

A few bits and pieces to wrap-up since the last post. I mentioned that I was working on finalising the positioning of the exhaust primaries - all of the pipes had at least one unglued joint to allow a bit of adjustment, so everything was assembled with the turbos in place, and these joints were glued.

Until this point I had allowed for the exhaust pipes to be pinned into the six sockets underneath the engine; this is fine in theory, but with the undertray fitted you can't see where you're trying to put the pipes, let alone get the pins into the holes! Plan B: drill out the sockets, fit some magnets into the heads, and the pipes are secure but free to move:



Since this photo I have filled the open joints with Greenstuff, so the pipes are pretty much ready for primer and painting.

My main focus for the last week or so has been assembling the engine. Until now the two cam-box pieces have been left separate, but these have now been glued in place; I can now start adding more of the detail elements!

The main water pumps on the back of the engine needed more work before they could be painted, so I added the triple-lobed adjustment plates around the centre, made a couple of hose pieces to connect to the lower water rails, and tidied-up the two curved outlet pipes:



The pumps have been painted and fitted - photo coming up below!

At the front of the engine I've added the alternator, drive belts, the throttle mechanism and the two short pieces of hose for the turbo oil feeds:





The six plugleads have been fitted into the distributor cap, and the lines routed over the engine to the left-hand cylinder bank. The right-hand lines had already been semi-fitted, but were now given a final trim to length.

Underneath, you can see the magnets in the six exhaust sockets, the lower water rails connecting to the pumps, and the solid oil line running to the front of the engine:



At the back, another view of the water pumps and distributor cap. I've also made a start on adding some more of the wires and hoses to the top of the engine, and trimming the connecting tube between the two intake plenums to the correct length:



This morning's task has been to set everything out for the end-of-year 'kit shot'. Other than a handful of obscure small pieces that even I'm struggling to remember what they are, the following is 99.9% of what I've made since the end of 2018:







A smaller spread than last year, but this is always the point where I realise how much I've done in twelve months! 2023 has been a year of painting, engine assembly, tub assembly, and adding details. No, I haven't done anything with the wheels or main bodywork parts this year, but I don't think I ever planned to. I can't finalise the wheel spacing until I have the suspension assembled, and although there's plenty of things to be done with the bodywork, I'm still undecided about the livery. All jobs for 2024, I think!

Although I don't have a specific deadline for completing this project, I'm optimistic that by the end of 2024 it should be nearly there. I don't intend to do any bodywork painting until at least March or April, so maybe I'll spend some of the next couple of months getting the body into shape - I still have to make the exit ducting under the tail, for example, and headlight pods, doors, etc. There's still plenty of work in building-up the gearbox and adaptor bellhousing, and all four suspension corners need to be put together. As always, some of these jobs can be done in isolation, others are part of a larger sequence.

Finally, thank you to everyone who's had a look at this build, whether you've been following from the beginning or have only stumbled across it recently. I continue to enjoy the creative process that scratch-building requires, and I hope that my attempts to 'freshen up' certain aspects of my work keep things interesting after five years.

Let's see what 2024 brings...

SB
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Old 01-05-2024, 04:27 AM   #157
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

Amazing!!
Happy new year!!
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Old 02-29-2024, 02:45 PM   #158
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

First post of the year!

When I started this project, I always knew that having to make eight brake calipers was going to be - not surprisingly - twice as much 'fun' as normal. As things turned out, making the calipers wasn't really a problem...

Getting them painted and assembled, however, has been a long haul!

Most of my time since the start of the year has been spent working on getting the calipers, pads, uprights and discs ready for assembly, and sorting out the connections for the brakelines. Time consuming? Oh yes.

I won't show you stage-by-stage details - I'll move straight to how they are now. Here's the rears:





First job was to work through the drybrushing to get the colouring of both the uprights and the calipers more life-like, rather than just the basic grey. Again, the exact colouring varies from car to car, year to year, so I've gone for a slightly off-brown for the uprights, and grey-with-a-hint-of-metallic for the calipers.

Making and fitting the pad retaining wires wasn't a five-minute job. They're not as complex as some of the real ones, but I'm happy with them. I then had to add the little stud and block pieces that help to hold the wires in place.

Drilling and making the two mounting pins for each caliper was another lengthy-job - always surprising how holes that seemed to have lined up a year ago suddenly need to be fettled. Or maybe I just didn't have the correct calipers matched-up with the correct uprights (despite marking all the parts to suit). Either way, everything fits together now.

The disc rotors and mounting bells were painted a while ago, so were ready for assembly. I did some checks to make sure the centrelock pin would be long enough, and drilled and fitted six locating pegs to each bell:



The 1/4 UNF capscrews for the centrelock pins are captive inside the hub, so these we're CA'd into place before adding the outer cap of the bell:



The white 'telephone dial' spacer will eventually be glued permanently into the back of the wheel, and gives me the correct backspace. Here's the front uprights:



Same process as the rears - just need to add the top block / steering arm section, and the brake cooling duct in the centre.

Sorting out the connections and fittings for the brake lines has been a headache, not helped by the lack of one good photo that shows exactly how it was done in reality! Each caliper uses a solid connector pipe at the bottom to link the two halves, but you also have a short flexible hose between the first caliper and the second on each corner. You then also have the main line connecting to the master cylinder, so on four of the calipers you effectively have three pipes coming together at one point. I've made various fittings, put it all together, adjusted the fittings, tried again, etc, and now have something plausible. You can see where I've added the short pieces of braided line to link each pair of calipers, and 0.9mm lead wire for the solid line between the two halves.

I'm now at the stage where I can put the four corners aside for a while - they're basically ready to connect to the suspension arms. I'm also slightly fed up with working on them for so long, so I'm happy to spend some time doing something different!

These last few photos are actually from early January, before I got into the calipers. I'd done some work on the oil tank at the end of last year, so wanted to prepare some of the pipes. The oil breather lines from the engine to the tank to the catch-bottle and the overflow are quite distinctive on the real 956's, with a ribbed outer surface. I could have just used wire sheathing of an appropriate size, but maybe I could still get the ribbed effect? Yes - wrap some thin wire around the core, then add some heat-shrink tubing and apply heat:





Yep, that works!

Still on the oil tank, I spent several hours making these parts for the filler cap detail:



Not the best photo, but fiddly parts to make. Once the weather improves and I can do some more spraying I'll be spending some more time on the oil tank.

Finally, I've made a start on dressing the gearbox bellhousing / mounting. I felt it would be easier to do some of this work now, rather than when it's fitted into the chassis. So, I've assembled and fitted the starter motor, added the ignition coil, and the slave cylinder:



I just need to make and fit some of the wiring and pipework for these bits, and that's it; maybe a job for this weekend while I'm watching the WEC.

That's it for tonight - I'm up-to-date! Next task is to work out some targets for March, with a four-day weekend for Easter at the end of the month. Must spend some time on bodywork prep, get the doors looking more like doors, and maybe return to the headlight pods...

All the best,

SB
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Old 03-05-2024, 11:17 PM   #159
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Re: 1/8 Porsche 956

This model is getting better and better. I'm jealous about you're skills. Amazing job!
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