Tommy Ivo Showboat wip

[farmboy]

Moving to the fuel tank.  It's an odd 2-piece assembly.  Not much will be seen.
In the side view below I've added the fuel in/out collars to the back

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And this is what it looks like from the front.  The wound 4th string from my 5 string makes up the spring hold down like on the real car.  Front view below.  Sorry for the poor quality photos.


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Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

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Here's a mock up view from the front. Doesn't look like I'll be installing a balanced behind the tank as I've got no room. Oh well, maybe I'll get lucky.

Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

Attempt #2!  The more I looked at the gas tank I had detailed the more it looked like it didn't fit.  I hadn't really tried to copy the 1:1 tank but now I thought I should.  Incidentally I don't know how the "like" appeared.  Ha!

Here's the tank stripped of the oversize D string hold-down, sanded, some painstakingly small strips applied to the top to resemble the original and sprayed flat black.  It's tough taking pics super close up cause things appear that one's normal vision doesn't see lol.

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Here's the finished product, closer to how the real one looks.  The raised strips have been painted silver, the fuel cap moved forward, and the hold down 'spring' replicated with serrated pliers impressed on a piece of small diameter solder.  I believe the strips are indentations on the real tank but the strips won't be questioned I'm sure.

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...and here it is mocked up

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Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

Got a start on the 16 additional header pipes. Here's the stock I've been using and a few of the pipes I made with it

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It's a two step operation.  First, make a master pipe for the others to get their shape from, then make a jig so the opening is the width and height of the master pipe.  From then on it's a fairly simple matter of making them fit in the jig.

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As you proceed some tweaking will be required.  As you check and adjust the bend, always follow only the inside or outside curve of your master.   

It's also inevitable some pipes will be longer than others.  On the shorter end that's not too much of a problem. To square them up for length and minor bend adjustments make another jig .  This was made from stuff at hand but it worked.  Look close and you'll see two matched up as a sample.  When you've done 15 of the 16 pieces needed, your master will need to be adjusted too.  If you do a couple more than needed it's not an issue.

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And this is what you get

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Comments an observations welcome.

[farmboy]

The Porcupine lives! Whew!
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I also added a black disk representing the harmonic balancer right behind the fuel tank.

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Comments and observations welcome

[TooOld]

Porcupine heck that's a real MONSTER ! Looks better all the time !!

[farmboy]

Thanks tooold. 32 pipe installs later, I've overcome any fear I may have had of kits with individual headers lol! Next are brakes, seatbelts, dash, and bodywork.

[farmboy]

Seatbelts. I went my own way on these.  I did a simple version of strap/tongue and may well go back to it, but I thought I'd try the adjustable doubled strap.  

I started with some square tubing by sawing off a slice

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Here are 4 adjusters filed and painted, still attached to a piece of painters tape

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This is a prototype I built to see if actually putting a pin across the middle would make a difference.  

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I decided that I could get the same effect by using ca to make a permanent fold in the belt to achieve the same result

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Still a bit of filing to narrow the width of the adjuster, but I think it's going to work.  I did use photoetch tongues for the belts.

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Comments and observations welcome

[farmboy]

Belts and their adjusters for the seat back.  Seat belts to come.

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Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

And here are the for belts with the associated accoutrements cleaned up and installed.



Comments and observations welcome

[rodsnracin]

Looks pretty real...and uncomfortable!

[farmboy]

Thanks r&r, nice stuff to hear. Incidentally, this vehicle is a hardtail (no rear suspension) and story has it that Ivo did seriously hurt his back when accidentally going over a hump while driving it a number of years ago. Yowza.

[farmboy]

On to the brakes. Pretty simple but for a few bends to make and a little filing to the rear side body panels to allow the lines into the cockpit. However, I did have a couple of issues with the rear axle and disc assemblies.

Issue #1:
Built with no mods, the rear right side axle piece stuck out noticeably farther than the left. I carefully removed enough from that piece to have the discs sit equidistant on both sides like the 1:1.

Issue #2:
Quite by accident I noticed the backing ring (it fits over the end of the axle) of one disc is deeper than the other. Not enough to correct anything to do with the axle discrepancy, just odd. I made sure to use the deeper one for the axle I had altered.

After these things were done, the metal insert axle was shortened to suit.

The front assembly built up without a hitch

Comments and observations welcome

[farmboy]

Brake lever.

In the shot below I've separated the one piece kit part in to separate lever and cylinder to make working with it a bit easier.  This car is the usual hand-operated-rear-brakes-only setup.  I'll install the lever after the dash and cowl are cemented in place.



The mock-up shows the cylinder with an added 90 degree line ending in a tee.  The horizontal outlet goes to the right wheel.  The line from the down nozzle will allow the line to go to the axle and follow it across to the left wheel.  I have no doubt this is detail that will never be seen but so what, I'll know it's there....till I forget about it lol.

Comments and observations welcome

[farmboy]

Here is the brake cylinder and the two brake lines mounted in place.  Again, I doubt any of this will be seen, but chalk it up as good practice for the next model where it might



Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

...and the external lines left right.  They are weensy lines, but it's another texture that catches the eye instead of the empty tire/axle/body fit on so many fed and other drag car models.   Make sure if you do this to test fit the wheel/tire and side panels before things solidify so your line doesn't give you problems, as well, gel ca is great for this.

  

Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

Clutch linkage was something I thought about during the build but didn't get around to till now. Believe me it would have been a whole lot easier after the first bank of engines were installed and there was room to work. But anyway....

The linkage arm was easily made with a small piece of aluminum tube cemented to a piece of flattened small diameter solder. This will be attached to the side of the front bell housing.

 

I painted a small diameter length of styrene rod silver. I also made sure it wasn't the same diameter as anything else in the area. A slightly larger id piece of aluminum tube was slid over the end acting as the pivot arm attachment. The rod was inserted from the front above the axle till it reached the firewall. It took a few tries till I got it to install between the engine banks in a straight line. It does however have a slow rise from the firewall to it's location on the linkage arm up front.



At this point rather than just have the arm simply glued to the bell housing I sliced a narrow piece of aluminum tab, cut it open in a horse shoe configuration and used it to cover the glue point.  Hard to make out in the photos but it's there.





Comments and observations welcome

[farmboy]

Clutch and gas pedals.

The kit supplies these pedals connected, not just as a sprue join, but as what looks to be a finished piece. This would explain what I read somewhere a couple of years ago that the car had two gas pedals and the pilot used both feet at once to roar on down the strip. Must have been on a model site. No, they should be separate clutch/gas pedals as below.  Note they have 'hooks' that (supposedly) attach to thin rectangular sections that are molded in to the frame.  Paint the extensions black and they won't stand out.



This is another  "why even bother?...." detail.  A short piece of aluminum tube has been cemented to the back of each pedal to hold the linkage from pedal to firewall.  



I made sure the gas pedal is closer to center.  It was slightly askew in this shot but has been corrected.  The pedals chew up a lot of visibility space, but add the dash and the view's pretty well blocked off.  Just a few firewall blemishes to touch up anyway.

And a couple of views of the pedals and linkage.  Apologies for the slight blurr.  Also, you may notice a rough edge to the top of the firewall.  I had gotten ahead of myself early in the build and had to Hulk it apart before the model tube cement dried fully.  It isn't visible as it sits under the edge of the cowling.






Comments and observations welcome

[rodsnracin]

One of the most complete & thorough detailing jobs I've ever seen! Awesome!

[farmboy]

Thanks for the kinds words r&r. It's always good when one can try new techniques with new materials. Better when they turn out! lol!

[farmboy]

Parachute lever. The kit has this mounted inside the frame but on the real car it's mounted on top of the rail with the actual cable disappearing inside of the rail itself.



I replaced the blob of kit chrome with a blob of my own lol. I filed the seam from the lever as well as shortened it by about a 16th. The lever support I made from pop can aluminum bent to a u-shape and drilled 2 holes to cradle the bumps on either side of the lever

_

The no-return point was filing a clearance 'wow' in the body panel to allow the lever assembly to sit in it's new location. I've drilled a shallow hole in the frame rail for the cable to sit in, and a hole in the lever pivot for the other end of the cable. A separate piece of wire will come out along the narrow side of the shute to complete the illusion.



Obviously I haven't added the short section from lever to frame rail yet but this is the general look.


Comments and observations welcome

[farmboy]

And this is the finished cockpit chute release with cable added and side panel trimmed to fit around the install

Comments and observations welcome

[rodsnracin]

Your trim looks "factory"!

[farmboy]

I assume r&r you're referring to the cut out for the chute lever.  Thanx much,  it was all done with half round and round files. Turned out ok.

Only the dash, brake lever, and steering wheel remain to be installed.  The dash is proving a bit tedious as I'm installing simulated chrome gauges made from small silver round things I found in a craft store.  Then, a bit of Novus on the bodywork and pop it in the display case so I won't have to dust it.

[farmboy]

Another item not included in the kit are the magneto kill switches. These are located attached on the lower right side of the dash, mounted to a separate metal panel.  There were 4 of them, one per magneto, removed from a junked WW2 aircraft.  Everyone's seen these in movies, lift the red cover and press the button, but I'm not sure if these ones were just covers or the actual switch.



I made mine in one piece from styrene tubing, making the separator lines in a tube cutter, then cutting the tube in half lengthwise.  The unit was painted red and given a black wash.  For the record, the black lines are not near as thick as they appear in the photo.

Comments and observations welcome

[farmboy]

This is the mockup. While the clutch lever and magneto kill switches are attached to the dash, the dash is only in the car for the shot

The clutch lever is made from my good friend Mr Solder.  I was going to use aluminum but I felt it was just too thin

And the kill switches

A little touching up then it's the brake lever and steering wheel

Comments and observations welcome.

[rodsnracin]

Looks like a fully functional "office"! Seems like you're nearing the finish line, I'm looking forward to seeing it on its wheels.

[farmboy]

The kit supplied dash has a slot on the right side allowing the brake arm to fit properly.  This slot didn't exist on the real thing, and, after rebuilding the dash I intentionally covered it over. Short version; I substituted a piece of rod for the kit part.  The bend is how far the arm had to travel behind the dash to reach the cylinder.



After the install I cut the vertical part of it to approximate length, snipped the ball off the kit part and remounted it on the new piece.





The steering wheel had blobby spokes and lightening holes in it.  I filled the holes to get the solid look, not happy.  I found an identical wheel with lightening holes in the spokes in much much better shape in the parts box and used it.  Happy.

Comments and observations welcome.

[TooOld]

Fantastic details ! As for the "why even bother" question . . . because you can !!! When I was able to work with such small details I loved doing it !

[rodsnracin]

IMO, a nicely done steering wheel is one of the most important (and sometimes neglected) items in an interior. Yours looks great & absolutely period correct!