1/8 Porsche 908/03

[Slash.Snakepit]

...OOO000ooo...almost missed this one...

..damn...I open a bottle of wine when I started the thread....

...now I'm drunk

All has been said already...but I will say it anyway - I am drunk...hic-hic-up

Superb work, Taqa-Q said it all!

Thanks for taking your valuable time to share this with us.

[Slash.Snakepit]

Originally Posted by rhb

Yes
Look here
http://hackedgadgets.com/2008/03/15/...ewing-machine/

mvgrijk

And that my friends is the Brazilian way of getting around !



hic hic hic up

[tuned.by.twenty]

This is pure, raw inspiration.

[ScratchBuilt]

Hello!

Just a few shots to prove I have been working on the 908 during these last few weeks (although it seems to be one of those stages where I'm putting the hours in, but don't have much to show for it!)

First, I needed to lay-up another couple of small pieces of the top-section to make the transition section between the tail and the doors: whilst I had the resin out, I made the seat (using the same pattern as the 917-10):



This will eventually be trimmed in size to suit the 908's cockpit. I'm also tempted to try some sort of fabric or textured covering, rather than just painting the bare fibreglass. We'll see.

The other major job has been adding the top layer of chassis tubes around the footwell area, to support the nose:







The curved tubes have 1mm wires running inside to provide support whilst I gently warmed them over a candle. Everything is pinned to provide extra stength, although the panel-work will also tie everything together. I've started making cardboard patterns for some of the panels, some of which are visible in the photos.

I don't want to cut out the front wheel-arches just yet, as it will make the rear edges vulnerable (although it is very tempting). I really want to get the bodywork fitting just right, so I'm spending lots of time checking, then re-checking, before actually doing anything! The sills, for example, are trimmed to within about 1mm from where they should be on the front edge - but won't be finished until the closing panels are made too (currently card patterns).

This weekend's project is to start fibreglassing the rear cockpit bulkhead - it has ducting built-in to allow the cooling fan to draw air down from over the driver's left shoulder. I'll also lay-up a curved section to go inside the tail - the rear channel has to be opened out, so this will hold everything together whilst I make the mods.

Cinqster - good to hear from a fellow LM-er! I've never been to the Festival Of Speed, but I'll have to make the effort one day. Have a good time!

More next week.

ScratchBuilt

[keefr22]

More great work there Scratchbuilt! That mass of tubing in the front spaceframe is amazing! Did you draw a plan for that or just do it by eye? I know whichever way, if I tried to do it, it would end up a hideous mess of misaligned tubes, bent & covered in glue!!

The Festival of Speed is an absolutely fantastic event. I really miss not being able to go any more

Still, watching builds like this goes a long way to make up for it, so please keep the updates coming!

Keef

[John18d]

Your work is truly amazing - I am in awe of your skills - this is by far one of the best scratch built's I've ever seen - John

[cinqster]

Originally Posted by ScratchBuilt

Hello!





This will eventually be trimmed in size to suit the 908's cockpit. I'm also tempted to try some sort of fabric or textured covering, rather than just painting the bare fibreglass. We'll see.



ScratchBuilt

Really inspiring work for some scratchbuilding. Only three more weeks before I can get back into the RS60 project...yay!

Maroon Alcantara may be a good candidate for the seats as I'm guessing it would simulate the good old Porsche brush nylon material in 1/8th well. You could try Boyriven for some samples, but don't say I sent you!

Telephone: 020 8902 9581

If you go for that square perforated leather look (just about phased out by the 908) let me know how you get on - recreating that is presently stopping my build!

[mvaneersel]

Wow, this is an amazing build!! Someone asked it before but I didn't see it answered: Are you using blueprints of the actual car or what? Your reference library must be great. The accuracy is stunning!

[ScratchBuilt]

Hello!

I've been able to get four layers of cloth on the two panels I'm making this weekend, so things are going well. Two or three more tomorrow and that should be it.

Cinqster - thanks for the contact for the seat covering - worth thinking about. I bought some micro balloons as a possible texturing option, but maybe they'll be too fine to give a 'suede' finish...?

Keef - I used the card templates I'd made to cut the foam blocks to create the nose mould; this gave me the curve of the inside of the fibreglass, and I could then bend the tubes to match. The straight sections are aligned with the diagonals below using the 'old faithful' - Lego.

Mvaneersel - until recently, the only chassis drawing I'd seen of the 908-03 was in 'Excellence Was Expected', but there's now a (better) copy of it in 'White Racers From Zuffenhausen' too. There's also a couple of good photos of the chassis in Paul Frere's 'The Racing Porsches'. However, there are a few small differences between the prototype and the actual race cars, so there's always going to be a bit of guesswork involved. Of course, a visit to the new Porsche Museum might help to clear things up...

ScratchBuilt

[keefr22]

With regard to your seat covering SB, have you seen this Model Factory Hiro stuff? IMO it's too coarse for seats in 1/24th (but it's great for carpets!), but could be just right in your BIG scale?! Lots of different colours too!

http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/produ...roducts_id=649

Keef

[cinqster]

Hi Scratchbuild,

Just read through your page on making the sills, which I'd previously missed. A good tip for getting grp to release from a flat surface is to use engineers polyester drawing film, which is available in rolls or pads from art shops. The film has a smooth and an etched side. If you lay up on the smooth side, the grp comes out like glass! You can tape it or use photomount adhesive to attach it to the mold shape.

Saves lots of time and hassle messing around with release agents!

[ScratchBuilt]

It's all been about fibreglass this week...

I've started turning the cardboard patterns for the various chassis panels into fibreglass, as you can see here:



For the door sill panels I made a quick mould built up from card and a length of 4mm tube - this produced a neatly rounded edge to the panel which will curve over the chassis tube when it is fitted. It doesn't show in the photos, but it's there! I only used two layers of the thinner cloth for this, so the panels are only about 0.22mm thick. I can reinforce them underneath, if necessary.

Another small mould was made to produce the curved shell for the oil cooler duct:



Again, it's only a couple of layers of cloth but the end plates are thicker and help to keep it in shape. It's a tight fit into the front of the chassis, so a bit of flexibility is a good thing.

Finally, here's the cockpit upper bulkhead panel I mentioned a couple of posts ago:





I hot-wired the pattern for the duct from the blue foam, taped it to a small sheet of aluminium and laid fibreglass over the top. There should also be a second panel which fits over the front of the cooling fan, but I'll worry about this later when the engine position is finalised. This one could be a bit fiddly, though.

So, that's it for now. Once the duct is trimmed I can get back to cutting plastic and make the oil cooler itself. I've added a couple more tubes to the engine bay so the oil tank is also coming up. More panels are required around the cockpit and footwell area, plus I need to start on adding the central channel to the tail section - so that's the next few weeks accounted for...

ScratchBuilt

[keefr22]

Brilliant stuff SB - it just keeps getting better!

Keef

[jaykay640]

So cool! If only all this fibre glass stuff could be done in smaller scales ( in a realistic way ) :-)

[klutz_100]

I have to admit that I am confused as hell about this mold making (due to my limitations, not your explanations!) but that doesn't hinder my enjoyment one iota!