Scratch Building TE Gemini 1/24 th scale

17.09.2013
Hi guys, a first time poster, just getting back into the hobby after 15 years out due to the usual stuff young kids, work, house renos etc.

Anyway I stumbled across this forum via Modal Car Magazine, and read and re read Shawn's incredible Falcon build. After spending days looking at it, and drooling, I re read his section that talks about simple tools, and that the process is just breaking it down into shapes and going from there.I was inspired by his approach and thought bugger it I'm going to give it a go.

So I started to research via the interent and got a whole bunch of pictures and measurements, and have started down the path way to madness. I don;t know how far I'll get, or even if I can keep up, but I am using a bunch of Shawn's techniques to develop it up.

So I started by cutting out side shapes, and experimented with different approaches to shape the cuves into the side panels.


As you can see it was a harsh lesson.


And a few examples of my various attempts learning how to get to a reasonable outline 



And now I have a reasonable starting set of side panels, with some more work to do to get them to a good enough standard to use.



It kind of even looks a little bit like a gemini

Nice start! It does look like a Gemmi. Good luck with it and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

WOW thats a pretty ambitious start into the hobby, rekon u r in for a lot of trial and error as well as a fair bit of frustration but keep at it when its finished u will have a very unique model to be proud of

 ...will be following this with interest.

Looks good so far, keep up the good work  

You've got no idea how happy this makes me, please,please,please tell me you will be casting this??!!??

That's a promising start and it looks very good. I just hope you get it done before your motivation runs out. (i'm convinced shawn is some kind of robot or zombie).

VintageJDM, if you REALLY want a 1/24 gemini, you could do what bodgeybro did and buy a Opel Kadett and modify it.
http://www.thepartsbox.com/BB/viewtopic.php?f=284&t=3952&start=0&hilit=gemini

aussie muscle wrote:That's a promising start and it looks very good. I just hope you get it done before your motivation runs out. (i'm convinced shawn is some kind of robot or zombie).

VintageJDM, if you REALLY want a 1/24 gemini, you could do what bodgeybro did and buy a Opel Kadett and modify it.
http://www.thepartsbox.com/BB/viewtopic.php?f=284&t=3952&start=0&hilit=gemini

Hey A.M,

I had seen them before and do plan to build a coupe but i need the late model sedan so i can replicate my daily, seen here:

https://ozautobuilders.forumotion.com/t6505p165-good-day-or-bad-day

Thanks everyone.

dv8v8, I'm a long term modeller with a very long children rearing sabbatical. Been building models since the old revell plastic kit 1/72 aircraft days when you could buy a kit in a plastic bag for $2.99 from Coles.

Yes I hope not to run out of steam, and I guess I work on the therory that this project makes me very excited just thinking about it and the frustrations so far have just made me think a bit harder about how to go about it.

Aussie Muscle, Yep I just stare in wonder at Shawn, and Shoey and others for that matter. It is like some kind of black art that these guys perform. I just hope that I can continue to gain inspiration from his work, and apply it to mine.

Vintage JDM, I hope to do it justice and would be really pleased if I get it to the stage that I can offer a cast of it. Long way to go, but seeing as you asked , if it ever happens you get the first one after me....... Esepcially if I ask dumb arse questions, and maybe seek the occasional measurement.

Thanks to everyone, this is an awesome forum with lots of skills, talent and good will. I hope to be a long term part of it.

More to follow shortly.

codea wrote:
Vintage JDM, I hope to do it justice and would be really pleased if I get it to the stage that I can offer a cast of it. Long way to go, but seeing as you asked , if it ever happens you get the first one after me....... Esepcially if I ask dumb arse questions, and maybe seek the occasional measurement.

Thanks to everyone, this is an awesome forum with lots of skills, talent and good will. I hope to be a long term part of it.

More to follow shortly.

I have no doubt in my mind you will, I appreciate you taking the dive. I had thought about it since Shawn's Falcon, there probably is a smallish market for them as well.

If i can help in anyway regarding measurements or reference photo's let me know.

aussie muscle wrote:(i'm convinced shawn is some kind of robot or zombie).

I'm in zombie mode at the moment but I think this build may help snap me out of it before you guys get the shotguns and chain saws out.

You're off to a banging start codea, I'm glad to have been part of the inspiration and I hope you can stick at it all the way 'til the end. I'll be following this one.

CheersSS

Bring it on!

Can't wait to see this develop having owned several Gemi's over the years it'd be cool to be able to build a resin one up if you cast them.

 

Welcome back to the hobby! What a fantastic effort so far, great stuff, keep at it . 

You know what guys the funny thing is researching this project, there are a number of sites of poeple restoring real Gemini's and I have a spare shed.......and well the itch is getting bigger to go 1:1 scale as well..... Must be a mid life crisis.   

Have always thought small Holdens were great cars, Geminis, Toranas, and owned an RB gemini for a while, with an absolute bullet proof Isuzu motor. Couldn't fault it for thousands of kilometres. So it was easy once I had the inspiration to choose a car to try out my sealegs in scratchbuilding with.

Really appreciate the positive comments, it's a great incentive to keep going. Will post more photos shortly.

Hahaha Do it mate, plenty of fb pages set up for gems for sale as well as a melbourne isuzu enthusiasts page thatll help you track down parts or whole cars.

Hey guys a brief update. I've been looking again at the next step bringing the boot and bonnet into play. I did try once to re create Shawns wooden jig, and realised that my wood working is much worse than my plastic work hence the idea to use plastic sheet.



I also used post it notes to get the correct width of the base of the chassis, and then added the two sides, sticky taping them in.



I've added the bonnet, including the very subtle bonnet lines and have glued first with superglue to get the bonnet to follow the panel lines, and then added plastic liquid glue to weld the pieces together.



Now for the boot

Can't wait to see this one progress. Owned a few gemi's over the years so very interested to this finished. Depending on price I'd be interested in a cast version as well. I might then be able to modify the front and rear to make my first car which was a TD sedan.

Would love to get my hands on one of the opel coupes to make the TC gemi that shouldn't have gotten away, but it did.

After seeing Shawn's Falcon build I seriously thought about scratching a gemi as well, then I remembered that I don't have that sort of talent yet (or patience for that matter). 

I think you're mad for even trying this.  But good on ya for giving it a go.
When it's finished you can wave the body in my face and go "ner ner ner ner ner".

Zenrat, noting where you are from, I am an old Tanti Park boy, so we don't ner ner ne ner ner........
Actually I just lived in Tanti Park in Mornington, wasn't a Tanti boy.....

I guess I am mad, but I was just so inspired by Shawn and watching him create something from nothing that I just had to give it a go. I had thought about it constantly for a few weeks reading over his posts againa and again, and finally I just had to do it.

I struggle at times, but I enjoy finding ways to do things - like the jig set up, and I would like to have a 1:1 version handy like Shawn does to measure, but it is all part of the challenge.

JDM has already helped me out with a measurement, poor bugger doesn;t know how often I will bug him.

I have to learn how to cast in resin yet......

ChevyFan, If I can ever get this happeneing then I would probably do a TC and TD as well. The floor pans, interiors and the remainder of the cars are fairly similar, and I'd like to keep going, once I've worked out this one.

Again I see Shawn creating a curbisde and fully detailed version with some side by side modifcations so here's hoping I can apply a similiar principle.

However my brother has already put in an order for a HQ panel van, so not sure how long this will take. I still have to work sixty to seventy hours a week.....

codea wrote:
 and I would like to have a 1:1 version handy like Shawn does to measure, but it is all part of the challenge.

I don't have a 1:1 available to me. The only measurements that I used were some bonnet and boot widths that a member gave me (thanks again Glenn) and some wheelbase and track width dimensions that I found on the net. The closest thing I have to a 1:1 XE is a Gregory's manual.  Most of it is done by eye with lots of reference pics.  

You're doing well so far, keep up the good work.

Sorry Shawn, I assumed from your earlier posts that you had one, or your parents kept theirs......

And that makes what you are doing incredible.
 
Cheers

The Tanti way would be to pinch one to measure...   
You should come along to an AMCC meeting.

Yep, I should go back to Tanti Park, probably find half a dozen on blocks in driveways throughout the estate!  

Brilliant! Can't wait to see more!!!

You're off to a brilliant start from what I can see so far codea. Hope you can keep it going and stay inspired.

Would be awesome to have a chance to build a TD if you do get around to it (if not, I might have to give it a crack myself (at some point)). There are some anomalies/robots (they can't possibly be human) on here that I'm sure would be able to help you if you do get stuck with anything plastic related. If I can think of anything that'll help you, I certainly will pass it along, as I'd love to see a gemi model.

Got a mate with a TF shell that I may be able to get pics of/measurements from if you need any more. If I didn't have a 1:1 project on the go already, I'd see if he would sell it to me.