Scratch Building TE Gemini 1/24 th scale

I've got some spare time today so im going to set about to do some drawings of a 1/24th G161-180-200 block, and possibly a twin cam set up so i can scratch and hopefully cast some Isuzu donks.

Codea, your enthusiasm is infectious [in a good way] and im glad to help, its no bother at all.

Vintage JDM, I would like to see those drawings, as I am right in the middle of deciphering pictures of blocks, and trying to work out and have a go at the G161, G181 block myself. So far I've measured out the block from pictures and am just working out the shape at the bottom end to start cutting plastic.

And I think Shawn was ground zero for the infection.  


Cheers

[color=#333366]Here is how I am building this thing. I have been searching the internet for images that I can use.
Then I run a virtual ruler of the pieces, calcutate that and divide by 1/24th......Easy......Pffffttttt


Here is my picture, which I have to take some slanting of the pictire away from the camera into account when measuring. I draft ath into some numbers draft up a small pic below, and attack plastic



After that I wrestle the components into the existing frame



Oh and add the roof, and peg it down with some multi use laundry equipment


Then I added more detail to the rear panel, including the slanted inwards towards the boot number plate panel, featuring the rounded inside corners, that's fun I can tell you.



And now I am sitting looking at something that is getting a bit more like a frame. I've blanked out the side windows to give some strength, and I will add the B pillars next with a couple of additional roof panels to provide the round nature of the Gemini Roof.



All said I am pretty pleased with my first ever effort at scratch building.

Coming along great!

Thanks Checkmate.
I note your avatar. My Brother has a HQ panel van in pieces in his garage and asked me to build a model of that next!

codea wrote:
All said I am pretty pleased with my first ever effort at scratch building.

You should be pleased too. The body looks great so far, just keep chipping away at it and sooner or later you'll look at it and say to yourself 'well bugger me, it's done.'

Thanks Shawn!
I didn;t get a chance to comment on your build but the trailer looks fantastic.
I admire your clean lines.
What's your set up form cutting plastic. Scalpel and ruler?
Wand?

Thanks

yeah just a #11 blade (i've used over 100 of the buggers so far) and a steel ruler do the job for me but on the thick sheets I use a scriber instead of a blade.

I am really impressed by what you are doing here , it is something that I could not ever attempt , so keep up the great work .

Next bit was something a bit three dimensional. I've started on the front, and tried my hand at the grille. I've always thought to myself, that when someone said this "widget" has 55 parts I went to myself, how is that possible?

Well, I used 57 pieces in this grille.  

I started with the individual vanes, and learned how to over the course of about 30 attempts how to cut a reaonsable set of angles giving me enough for a vaguely similiar set of pieces.



Some nifty calculations



Then I built them layer upon layer upon layer (Okay hands up all those remembering the Sara Lee ads? No? It must be just my mental illness then....



And finally I got this result.

Looking great so far. Keep at it and before you know it, you'll have a nice little TE on your shelf (and maybe a few other shelves too ).

Woohoo making some sweet progress there mate

As for the G series if you are going to i dont think ill bother hahaha you have alot more scratch building skill and heaaaaaaaaaaaaaappppppppsssss more patience than I haha. I shall sit back and watch you work your wonders!

This is awesome dude....love your creativity.....keep it up:D 

Nice work. hopefully we'll all soon be able to get our hands on 3D printers and be able to share these parts.

Excellent work and i applaud your efforts...

My first car was a TE Gemini.......as I mentioned before I'm loving watching this develop! Cant wait to see it finished.
Hopefully you'll mould it for the rest of us.  Pro stock TE!

Okay boys, I hit a major hurdle, and it took me a while to figure out. It has all been part of the learning curve.

I appreciate what some of the boys were saying about ambitious, it kinda threw me for a bit, but I persisted, just a little experimenting when I could, rejecting ideas that didn't work, and finally after about two weeks, I figured it out.

Firstly the grille was too chunky, so scratched that and built another one with thinner vanes, looks better now.

Next I turned to the headlights, and boy did I learn something. I tried glueing thin pieces together, twisting shapes, cutting filing, super gluing my damn fingers together twice.....


So then I tried something else.

Firstly I got some pieces and roughed out the shape


Then I glued them all together without my fingers this time



Then used this


To carve out this


And the end result is


Which I kind of think looks a bit like this, which is the aim of the game


Now the trick will be to carve the second one to look like a mirror image of the first......

great job mate,  your doing a great job,  i know its hard scratch building from photos

keep at it u r making progress

Bump, please tell me this project is still on the bench?!

i have had to wrap it up for the time being, as we have bought a new house, have to sell the old one etc, etc. so it is in a box for the time being

All good.

Ben

aussie muscle wrote:Nice work. hopefully we'll all soon be able to get our hands on 3D printers and be able to share these parts.

 
I won't have time for that I'll be too busy making plastic firearms with mine.

Looks great so far, always loved Geminis. My first car was a TX coupe with a TE front.

Hello, and well I'm glad to be back. It's been a long time, and a lot has happened in the last few years. Enough to say that I am very pleased to be back at a workbench. This is hopefully the ressurection of the project I so want to get done. 

As some of you mentioned this was ambitious, and I've dusted it off again. I haven't done any modelling in the last few years, because of various things going on in my life, but I'm trying to get back into it. 

So where am I. 
I have the body largely done. 


I need to add to both the boot and bonnet which are not long enough. I gave too much room for window surrounds, but largely it measures up. 

I have the front grill,


 and now I am starting on the floorpan. 

From a few images such as 




I'm starting to develop the chassis and floor pan





Anyway it is good to be back in the saddle.

Jezz missed this one, good to see you are back at it.