Short WIP of 1/24 Marussia B2

[hirofkd]

As requested in the completed B2 thread, here's a brief WIP.



This project is almost entirely scratchbuilt. "Almost" because tires were 3D-printed and copied in urethane rubber.
I thought of making tires myself, but I couldn't get fine tip scribers (like 0.1, 0.15 mm) because of limited time and budget.


My favorite style of scratch-building is vacuum forming, using balsa wood as a master. Balsa wood is easy to cut and sand,
and vacuum-formed plastic parts are friendly to ordinary glue and other modeling materials.

I cut out a lot of plastic templates, in order to make symmetrical master parts.


This gif animation shows how the body is segmented.


I used blue dye to color the wood glue when putting layers of balsa wood sheets together. When a block of balsa is cut and sanded,
the glue appears as contour lines (much like a topographic map), that are used to achieve symmetry.
If these lines aren't identical between left and right parts, you know they are not symmetrical.


My vacuum forming machine has a limited work area, so I have to make large parts in pieces and put them together later.
Vacuum forming masters have to be smaller than the desired size in order to take the thickness of plastic into account.


The core balsa block was frequently used to align both the balsa master and vacuum-formed parts.


I used a lot of masking take to get symmetry right. The rear bumper and diffuser are made with styrene sheets.


In-progress exterior is shown here. In this early stage, I prefer applying primer with a brush, then sand and smooth until all
imperfections are corrected. Then I use spray primer for the final inspection and even surface.


Here's a unique way of making a wheel. I don't have a working lathe, so I had to be creative by having Shapeways print this handy rim maker.
It's a 10cm-thick jig with four holes, 20, 21, 22 and 23 mm, to get the approximate wheel sizes of 17, 18, 19, and 20 inch.
While a piece of plastic is held in a hole, two more layers of styrene are glued to reinforce the part.
Once I get the thickness of 1.5mm or so, the part retains its circular shape, and it's strong enough for resin casting.
Wheels' center part is Evergreen plastic pipe, and the spokes are made with ten pieces of plastic.


Rotors and calipers were made with layers of styrene, and the calipers were copied in Tamiya Light-Curing putty (UV putty).
UV putty cures in 2 minutes, and it instantly became my favorite material. The down side is the relatively expensive price,
but I only use a small amount each time.


This picture was taken on September 14th (3 weeks before the Austin contest). Almost all exterior parts were ready, but no interior yet.


One of the most irritating things is when your trusted tool breaks right in the middle of a project. In my case, OLFA hobby knife's
metal holder snapped. Lucky, I had not just one but two new ones in my tool box, so I didn't have to use my backup X-acto.


Another trick I found was to use masking tape to obtain symmetry. Mark the center line and top and bottom locations
precisely on both sides of the plastic sheet, and cut one half, then apply the masking tape on the other side to cut the other half.
This is simple and easy to do, so I'll be using this method more often.


Most of the interior parts, including the center and driver-side display shrouds, are vacuum formed. Steering components are made with
layers of plastic and plastic rods.


Back of the seat was vacuum formed, and the front cushion was made with pieces of plastic, which were curled and bent to get rid of
the flat appearance as much as possible. Then the side was filled with Tamiya Epoxy Putty. Finished seat was copied with
thermoplastic clay (aka. Oyumaru) and polyester putty (Bondo Body Filler).


These are templates for the inner door panels. Top two pieces are used to shape the front and back sides of a balsa sheet for
the top 2/3 of the door. The bottom template is just the outline of the entire inner door panel. The handle and arm rest (not pictured) are laminar styrene.


Because the deadline was getting close, I had make compromises. One of them was the ventilator outlet on the dashboard.
I just couldn't find any easy solution to make the little dividers. In 1/12 scale, those can be cut out from styrene sheet, but in 1/24...
I didn't want to glue pieces of heat-stretched plastic rod. Any alternative ideas?


A lot of masking tape was used to make window masks.


IIRC, the last component I fabricated was the wiper, which was made with thin strips of styrene.


Almost all parts are ready. It's not pictured here, but the master for the LED turn indicators and stop lights was made with styrene.
I used Creos rivet marker to simulate eight outer LEDs on a piece of plastic, then used a drill bit to make an indentation in
the center. The part was cut out from the sheet, and copied with clear resin. (I hope you can see it in the rear view photo of
the finished model.)
Oh, and the engine room...? I put a piece of black plastic, and used tinted plastic for the window, so no one would pay attention.


Here are brighter pictures of the finished model. Body color is actually a lot darker in person because it's Tamiya TS-51 Racing Blue.
I tried to custom mix my own blue, but I just couldn't get the desired color, so ended up with an easy solution. (I had to finish the model!)
TS-51 was coated with Testors Wet Look Clear lacquer splay.




So, that's how I made my B2 model. As you can see, there aren't very many parts because this is a simple curbside-plus with separate doors.

I don't say scratch-building is easy, but it's not something so difficult that only master craftsmen can do. I started scratch-building sci-fi robots
when I was only sixteen. What you need is passion to keep the momentum going, and I encourage everyone to try.

My goal of this project was not only to make this model in time for a contest, but also to find a way to scratch-build a car as quickly as possible,
and I call three month a success. Next is to keep this momentum and get back to a bunch of unfinished projects, like the 333SP and many more!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

[da_ashman]

WOW, thanks an amazing way to build a car!!!
How did you find the Tamiya UV putty to sand? mine always fills the file & seems quite gummy...

[ChristopheB]

Many thanks for taking the time to post this WIP. It is very interesting and motivating.

Amazing work you did here and congratulations for doing it in three months!

[stratos75]

Thank you Hiro for such brief but interesting WIP. You are a MASTER!
Only three month??? I can't believe.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Great model, thanks for sharing

[BVC500]

Amazing job Hiro!

[Umihito]

"Amazing" is not enough to explain my.... oh, I don't have a word. Thank you for sharing your great job!!!

[bejonek]

Amazing work! Thanks for sharing.

[EcosKana]

Fantastic work.

[HondaSan72]

Incredibly impressive talent! Your work is truly inspirational!! Phenomenal job!! KUTGW!!

[sportracer02]

outstanding !!

[dpbeetle]

I don't like the design of the Original, but your work is absolutely amazing.

[avd]

You should go work with Tamiya, Fujimi, or Aoshima because your just too awesome.

[gionc]

Bellissimo job for a very ugly subject!!!!!
Jokes apart, the tip with coloured glue on balsa is awesome to see over sculpting/sanding: congrats.

Warmforming, uh? Fantastic...

[JeremyJon]

Fantastic work Hiro!

I really like the balsa and vacu-form technique ...true that the Mattel vac-u-form machine doesn't allow for very big pieces to be made


For the dash grills, it might be possible to use wire adhered from beneath styrene panel, but if wanted flush then using fine wire bent in center to raise up, or alternately, mildly scratch backside of panel (with scriber) slightly to recess wire closer to top surface