Yep, bodywork is very much the next item on the 'to-do' list! Well, one small section of the bodywork, anyway...
As I've mentioned before, I've always felt this project had certain 'make or break' elements - parts such as the engine, gearbox, etc, would be a challenge but not too dissimilar to the 917's or 908, but if I couldn't recreate the original 911 shell that would be a major problem. So, better to find out now, than two years down the line!
The main roof stucture mould started as four 50mm-wide blocks of my trusty blue insulation foam, with the centreline profile used to cut each one to shape. The remains of two of the blocks were used as guides for cutting the outermost two to shape - the starting point for the side window surfaces:
Note how I'm just about at the limit of what my hot-wire can handle - fortunately this shouldn't be a problem for the rest of the bodywork...
To get the taper in the body sides as it moves towards the rear, more cardboard patterns were cut and taped in postion:
At the front, yet more templates were used to cut the curvature of the lower windscreen edge:
...and then I wanted to take the hard corners off the top edges. The final shaping would be done by hand, but there was a lot of material I could still remove with the hot-wire:
With the basic shape just about there, I made more templates to mark the positions of the side and rear windows so that I could hand-shape the body to suit. I've used some of my thin masking tape here to give a better idea of the shape:
I spent a good hour or so hand-shaping the left-hand side, trying to get a smooth transition from the sides into the roof above the doors, and getting a nice flow to the rear. Here you can see a comparison with the un-worked right-hand side:
So after a similar amount of time spent on the other side (plus the insertion of a 4mm spacer in the middle), I have a mould which is certainly looking like the roof of a 911:
No doubt I'll keep fettling and fiddling with the shape for a while, but right now I'm pleased with the result. Like many modelling jobs it has had it's 'that's not looking too good' moments, but I've stuck at it and gradually the shape has started to come out. It's a pain having to make all the templates for using the hot-wire, but it's the only way I can get accurate cuts!
I'm now working on the final shaping around the base of the windscreen - creating a small extension piece which will attach to the main mould and provide the transition to the front bonnet. If I can get this piece finished tomorrow, I'm going to start laying-up some fibreglass - then we'll find out how well it fits!
Oh, and before anyone mentions that the rear bodywork of the Moby Dick isn't the original 911 bodywork - I know! When I've got this section sorted out and made more progress with the project, I'll use the mould again to create the long-tail engine cover and roof extension - which will then be grafted onto the 911 panels. The Tamiya 1/24 kit just has the outer Moby bodywork, but you know me - it's all part of the fun!
More next week!
SB