Unreal Roller wip

[showrodjohn]

Wow this is great. I like the drink can for the wheels idea. I have used cans for a few projects as well but would never have thought of your idea great work

[patw]

Jan 5, 2022 19:49:33 GMT -6 rocketeer said:

I got one of these for Christmas and was going to build it, but now I think I'll just slowly put the box back on the shelf...

No now you've got it you really must build it!

[farmboy]

I agree with Pat, Rocketeer... build it! And on that note....

Though not completely finished with the rear end I'm anxious to get it up on all three wheels, so let's go forward.  I've already done the heavy lifting on this area by giving the roller an aluminum skin but it seems...lacking.  I did a bit of research and decided a scraper is just the ticket so here's how I'm going about it.

The scraper system on some older units was a two part affair consisting of a 'shroud' type of assembly where the water misters were, and the scraper(s) that would help to spread the water over the roller and dislodge anything stuck to it as it went around.  Two scrapers per roller. Suits me, so I began with a strip of aluminum that I cut to fit between the two legsof the roller frame.



To add some interest to a blank piece of aluminum, I rolled a ponce wheel used in fabric work on the back side to simulate rivets or bolt heads.  If one wishes to emphasize them a bit more, pushing over them with small diameter tubing or the empty barrel in a mechanical pencil will do the trick. I curved the shroud over an xacto knife handle till it suited me.  This will be cemented between the roller and frame and painted body color.



Here is a rough presentation of the order of construction.  The shroud as mentioned gets cemented between the roller and frame.  I bought these tiny little fittings in a fabric shop.  They're hook and eye pieces used in women's bras and other things.  I'll only be using the double eye pieces as scraper mounts.  One end super glued to the edge of the shroud, the other to a black piece of plastic (scraper) that hangs down and rides on the cylinder.  A small piece of rod will cover the eye on both pieces.  Four pieces each should look tuff enuff.



Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

A few changes about the scraper assembly

I had planned to have the shroud body color but believe it or not, I ran out of paint!  I thought I had part of an ounce in the bottom, but nada. I wasn't going to leave it aluminum as it would disappear against the roller so Chrome it is.  Notice the riveting running parallel to the roller frame, and 4 holes at the leading edge.



Found these mounts in a craft section of some long forgotten store.  I'm only going with a scraper on the front side of the roller.  I think it was bordering on overkill with two.  Oh, the tacky glue bottle is for focusing, just forgot to move it.



It's a tough go to have these small parts say cheese for the camera so I left one mount on the shroud so it makes sense.  The rod with the two mounts and scraper arm show how it all will go together eg:  four mounts, three arms.  I've rotated one of the arm rings 90 degrees so it will sit flat on the actual scraper



Here's the condensed mock up.  I'll cap the ring with a pin head.  The scraper itself is a piece of black plastic bent a little shy of 90 degrees.  I cut s strip of aluminum, did two rows of rivets, sprayed it gray primer and will be cementing it to the top of the black piece.


A quick thingie on rivets.  I rolled two rows on the back side of a strip of aluminum with a ponce wheel.  This is the good side, the bottom row shows how they appear with just using the wheel, totally presentable.  I went over each rivet bump in the top row with an empty mechanical pencil.  It does lightly modify them into more of a pill shape.  The bigger the rivet the more pronounced the effect.



Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

And here's the finished piece;

Front view shows the full assembly.  I haven't tweaked this to final position it's merely for the shot.  Instead of cementing the black arms directly to the scraper, I drilled holes in scraper, used straight pins so the heads held the black pieces in place, and on the backside slid a small bead on the pin up against the backside of the scraper then used gel super glue to make sure everything (bead/pin/backing) got gooed.  I then cut the pins flush with the bead with side cutters.



as mentioned, this is not permanently placed, note the scraper section is a bit away from the roller



...and here is the rear view.  Two of these scraper units would have been way over the top so a black flap to delineate the end of the shroud adds enough detail. 




One thing I've noticed in photos of other Unreal Roller builds I've looked at, including this one, is the front fork assembly.  It just doesn't sit right and seems more a design flaw than a styling cue at least in my humble opinion.   I'll either saw a small wedge to put the post angle forward or heat and bend it.  That's later.  

Comments and observations welcome

[TooOld]

Lots of great detailing going on here , the front scraper is excellent !
I agree the front fork is angled all wrong , it should lean back like a bicycle fork does , good luck if you try to fix it now after everything is painted .

[farmboy]

Jan 18, 2022 4:33:54 GMT -6 TooOld said:

, good luck if you try to fix it now after everything is painted .

   Shouldn't be too big a deal.  A cut half way-ish thru the bottom of the pivot post widened with a triangle file to make a notch (like felling a tree) and some super glue should do it.  It'll be fit and adjust till the angle is correct.  The work will end up hidden inside the body or underneath out of sight. 

[farmboy]

Done.



Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

Those coach lights gotta go. Never did like them.  What to do for a replacement?

I found some dog dish hubcaps from a Pontiac Catalina in the parts box.  No branding on them and they have a shallow convex back, just right for my needs.  How to mount them?  I got lucky on this part.  The staples from the staple gun fit perfect after creating a small flat surface for the staple sides to rest on.  I set the backs face down so the staples would sit evenly with the front side. A dot of superglue to each staple leg and we're good to go.

This is the back view


This is the front, or, inside face



I needed a bit more detail.  A pack of sequins to the rescue.  Yellow, copper, red, blue, I chose chrome.... and they fit the inside of the light 'housing' to a tee.



For the lens, googly eyes fit the bill.  An Xacto blade does a nice job of separating the lens from the backing, and, again, the lens fits like it was made for the Pontiac part, gripping the outside ridge where a light coat of Future will work to hold them permanently.



And here's how it looks.  I may smooth the ends of the staples or leave them rectangular and simulate pivot bolts on top and bottom.  I'll also be adding something to represent a light inside of the piece. This mockup pic was taken out of sequence so there is no sequin in it.  It'll have them in the finished piece.  I'll mount two lights per side one above the other where the coach lights used to live



I'm also thinking of doing a chop to the roof supports just to bring the roof down a bit.

Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

Got a couple more things done...

Firstly, and I don't even know if it's still available this way but it's by K&S.  It's all cut offs and the like, and the majority of what's in the bag is brass.  There's a small amount of copper tube and and a good share of aluminum.  Shapes are in rod, tube, rectangles, squares.  I don't work for them but I think it's a bag o' stuff everyone should have on the shelf.




I decided to make an hydraulic steering assist piston just for some visual interest.  Parts are made from the above mentioned bag of bits and a couple of small sections of styrene and craft beads for pivots.  On the left is the triangle body mount for the pivot, next to that is the cylinder with pivot mounted.  Third piece is the piston shaft with a piece of styrene, and a small u-shaped mount for the front fork assembly.



Here's how it all goes together.  Only one would be needed.   I also made a hydraulic hose assembly from brass bits and wire.  One hose would cause the piston to extend making for a left turn, while the other hose would cause it to retract for a right turn.  Old machinery used to be controlled basically the same way but by using chains on both sides with mechanical works.



Another view.  Note the lights constructed earlier.  I think they look better there than on the uprights.



Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

A couple of other shots

Found a fire extinguisher in the parts box.  Added a hose by drilling a hole in the headpiece for it to anchor in and used a narrow strip of ribbon as a retainer strap.  It was all chrome, simply left a square chrome patch and painted the rest red except for the mount.  it's simply cemented to the side of the homemade dash.

    

Found a pack of ribbon clamps at the dollar store.  I seem to have misplaced it so I don't have a pic to show you what they look like.  Think of a staple remover.  I kept bending the middle section till it broke off and I had two identical pieces.  Using only 1 piece, I cemented a small square of styrene to the underside (unseen, but painted silver just in case) so there was something to glue to the side of the body.  I didn't bother with white reverse lights.  Yellow lights seem more practical.



An overall pic.  Some touch up needed on a few things.  Notice the lights on the front roller frame, the scratchbuilt First Aid kit on the side of the dash, the carriage lights gone and the curve removed from both supports with judicious use of a little sharp language and a heat gun.  I then removed a quarter inch from the rear supports, and 3/16ths from the front pair.   It's a subtle drop and removes a bit of the tilt from the roof.  The supports being straight also lessens what I felt was an overly cartoony toy look.  Perhaps I've missed Mr. Daniel's point.



Once I finish with the scratchbuilt fuel tank it's on to the engine. 
Thanks for looking,


Comments and observations welcome.

[patw]

Pity we don't get those bag of bits here in the UK!

[farmboy]

Maybe a peek on the K&S website would net some info on that. As I mentioned I picked this up a couple of years ago on PEI while on a weekend holiday.

[farmboy]

The bag says www.ksmetals.com. 773-586-8503. Stock # 707

[farmboy]

Ready for the final phase. Engine work.

These shots are in progress mockups.  The hat is cemented to a rectangular styrene piece matching the blower top.   This acts as the fuel distribution plate for the fuel lines from the fuel distribution block on the rear of the hat as seen here.  I fabbed another plate to do the same thing for the bottom of the blower.  It sits on the manifold plate.  Both fuel blocks at the back will be connected to fuel lines coming from a homemade barrel valve (not made yet) that connects to the bottom front left corner of the blower hat.  I also have to drill and wire the magneto.



Note that the blower hat is not the kit supplied monster.  This is from the spares box.  I also eliminated the super tall injector tubes, and have cut the belt away from the pulleys to be replaced with a separate piece belt and tensioner.  I only noticed the front timing cover missing after the fact.  I've drilled a hole in it above the bottom pulley to accept a scratchbuilt fuel pump.



The biggest problem I foresee is adding ignition wires.  The header assembly isn't plug wire friendly so I'm considering cutting them apart or doing something else.  What that is I don't know, yet.

Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

The front office basically done.  Three nozzles at the front of the barrel valve that will hook an idle check hose, fuel-in hose, and a fuel bypass/drain hose, and one nozzle just below the bottom metal line that is also a return line. I have to make a fuel pump for the front of the engine to hang everything fuel related hang as a cohesive unit.  There are a couple of blemishes on the hat that need covering up.  Fortunately  butterfly linkage will be added to both front sides of the hat to cover them.  The hat is at least a couple of decades old but has survived the parts box all these years.





Comments and observations welcome

[farmboy]

I gave a lot of thought about how i was going to add spark plugs.  I've seen a photo of this model with plug wires put in behind the chrome joiner piece of the header assembly, I saw one in a show that had holes drilled in that same chrome piece with a wire stuck in it.  I was going to separate the pipes and mount each one separately via a hole drilled in the block to receive a wire drilled in to the end of each header pipe, but I decided on that as a last recourse.  Out comes the dremel, razor saw, and a couple of files and here's the result.  The green sections will either be BMF'd or sprayed chrome.





Enough plastic was removed to create rectangular openings  for spark plug boots between the header pipes.  Looks rough up close -- but what doesn't?  A bit of filing and I'll be good to go. Now to try my luck drilling 8 holes in the magneto. 

Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

Horizon's in sight. The engine is just about done. I'm not putting it in the chassis/body yet as I would probably bang into the headers doing a bit of finish work.

Added a tension bar/roller to the front of the timing cover and a blower belt from textured ribbon that was blackened with a sharpie.  Note the plug boots.

Even though it may be hard to see on the finished model, I made a fuel dump gang block for the three drain lines to attach to.  The right side of the pump will have the fuel in and fuel out lines connected to them and will simply venture off inside the body







I still have throttle linkage and return spring to add on the right side of the hat, and the barrel valve linkage on the left.
As far as the headers go, I have a bit of detailing to do before installation.

Comments and observations welcome.

[patw]

Neat motor!

[farmboy]

Thanx Pat....gettin' closer! Was able to stuff the whole thing in to the front.  Only the butterfly linkage and headers to do.





The gas tank isn't a stock part, it's from the amt re-issue of the Surf Woody....what a great parts pack!  The base in the photo is another bakery packaging item from one of large grocery stores.  Cost me a Chocolate Log cake to get it but all's well.  The clear top isn't in the photo but it's a super part too.  I have a diorama in mind.  Anyway, hope to be back with the headers and everything else finished soon.

Comments and observations welcome.

[flounder]

Wow- That really takes the cartoon out that one and puts a very cool spin on it! Excellent work!

[farmboy]

Thank you much Scott. The wheels were the start of things, thinking there's no way a chrome finish would be practical in reality, and it kind of took on a life of it's own. It was still a fun kit of something that never was, but is now my simplified version of what the real functioning show car could have looked like, or as close as I was reasonably able to get it. Glad you enjoyed.

[chromecop]

Awesome! Looks more "distinct" and heavier this way!

[farmboy]

Many thanks for the kind words Chromecop!

[farmboy]

No headers yet as I'm still working on them, but the engine is finished up to that point.

The butterfly linkage is done on the left side of the hat/blower



The throttle rod and spring return is finished on the right side.



As mentioned, in the process of doing the headers and also painting the steering wheel.

Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

Just this and another post for this build. 

The exhaust was a real pita and had me spending a lot of time on it just trying different ideas.  This was the first thing I did though

There were 4 indentations in a row (one per pipe) just beggin' for a stabilizer bar.  I found a couple of pieces of chrome trim from the parts box that fit just perfectly.  I added a dot of gel ca glue and it became a single cohesive unit.  It made the part easier to work on as the pipes didn't wander when working on the ends. 



First attempt was with a paper punch.  Punch extra's too.



They were a bit oversize but no worries the plan was to stack them together using white glue so a soak in water would separate them when the work was done.  As you can see in the photo below, there's a black shape glued to the top.  This is the actual outline of the end of one of the header pipes.  My plan was to hold this up against the circular sander and shape the column to match.  The process worked for a nano- second.  I picked up three pieces.  The 5 others are.....somewhere.



Comments and observations welcome

[farmboy]

...good things do happen.  After trying or thinking of a number of ways to avoid attempting drilling out the ends of the header pipes, I got lucky!  Luck is a steel hollow punch and a piece of softwood.  The softwood played an important part in making the end covers.



The aluminum cooperated quite well in the punch process.  Over half of the pieces punched out were useable...with a bonus




As you can see in the photo below, the discs have a convex finish to them.  I had been resigned to having flat discs but luck is where you find it.  Seems the softwood was easily indented by the punch so that the edges put a soft curve in the metal.  What's more, the metal separated from the sheet on the outside diameter of the cutting edge leaving an even flat flange on the perimeter.  A couple of nice surprise details.

 

These were cemented to the end of the pipes with Aleen's Tacky glue as I didn't want to run the risk of ruining the chrome with ca or other aggressive adhesive...and so far it's working.  The hinge was going to be a metal piece from a craft store but again, over the top, so I resolved to cut short pieces of plastic rod shaved flat on one side.  A touch of silver with a micro brush finished the job.

That's it for the build.  Thanks for the observations throughout, all were appreciated.  Completed photos are in the finished showrod forum.\

Cheers!

[farmboy]

and the last of the last.  It needed a diorama of some sort, so, following the kiss principle a simple base was devised.  The actual case itself once contained a chocolate log cake and comes with a clear cover that clears the model in all directions.  I cut a small sheet of pvc to suit the base and sprayed flack black.  I then set the roller on a piece of construction paper and penciled in marks where the fronts of the three rollers ended.  From these measurements the lines joined up and formed a 'T", as seen below.  



The template was held against the flat back base and sprayed with adhesive and quickly sprinkled with coffee grounds.  I had saved the grounds from the coffee maker -- used of course, and had spread them on a paper towel to dry for a couple of days.  I sprayed areas that were a little thin and applied more grounds to cover.  When satisfied with the coverage, the template was again held over it's original place and the ground sprayed with black, and a misting of clear gloss.  When dry it was cemented to the case base. The flat/clear effect shows up better than in the photo.



And here's the result. The two buckets are, luckily, just things I had kicking around 'cause when I took the measurements, silly me didn't factor the wheelie roller into the template so it came out a bit left of center.  The lumber is a split stir stick broken to length.  





Comments and observations welcome.