MDF, G Clamps, Hammers and Steam

[Mark Atkinson]

Hello All,
After all of Timothy's efforts to orientate photos the right way up,  I thought I would have another go at posting some pictures of progress with Slippery Anne

When building something, I like to make up a kit of parts, so that I can fine tune things as I go, it avoids problems breaking down assemblies when you find the inevitable fit issue. My current task is to skin the cars wood frame with ply and aluminium, which is what you see in the following picture. The ply skins are shaped and ready to glue to the frame. to get to this point, I made paper patterns, then cut the ply to those patterns allowing a small margin of error around the edge, they are then soaked in very hot water before being 'formed' around the frame. once they have dried out they become stable ply wood shells. With care, shallow compound curves are possible. Similarly, with the metal panels I am making up all the components before fitting it al together.


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I once again resorted to MDF formers and G Clamps to help me form the curved section of an internal frame for the nose cone out of aluminium. Clamping the annealed metal between the MDF, the edge was shrunk around the former, I then welded the legs onto it, returned it to the MDF to true up and the offered it up to the car:



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In offering up the undressed frame to the car, I discovered that the Ash part of the frame had 'moved' since I made it up a couple of years ago. It is seasoned English Ash with a lovely straight grain, so should be reasonably stable, but it had moved a good 10mm out of true at the top, so adjustment was necessary, to which end I used some localised steaming. I use a standard domestic wall paper stripers steam chamber and a small tin to localise the steam, then wrap the area in old cloths and towels to keep it nice and hot during the steaming. allowing 15 minutes for every half inch of the woods section before applying load in the desired direction.
One of the frustrations of working in wood is that it is that it can move like this component has, I usually make up laminated assemblies to avoid this sort of problem. The other frustration is the time you must allow for the various processes to work it; after steaming and forcing into position, it is important to leave it with the load applied for 90+ hours, that is 4 whole days while it dries out and the set becomes fixed, now what shall I do?


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So, having visited a friends Chummy (thank you Michael) and armed with the knowledge Ian and Ruairidh gave me about early hinges. Whist I wait for the ash to dry out, attention has moved to making the bonnet. 


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It has to be said that given my penchant for making paper and cardboard patterns allied to a recent interest in Irish Linen for covering the wooden body parts, has lead to certain members of my household suggesting that I may like to try dress making!

All the best, Mark.

[Timothy P]

I am truly in awe of your work and attention to detail Mark. It's fascinating to see the planning and process that is going into fabricating each piece. 
I really appreciate you taking the time to post your progress, it's really exciting seeing the car coming together.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Very interesting, thank you for sharing.

[Ian Williams]

Great stuff Mark, this is going to be a car truly worthy the term replica, one question, with your standards being so admirably high will you try to reproduce the hand beaten appearance of the aluminium skin in detail.

[Duncan Grimmond]

I'm suitably impressed. A lovely job altogether.

[Mark Atkinson]

Great stuff Mark, this is going to be a car truly worthy the term replica, one question, with your standards being so admirably high will you try to reproduce the hand beaten appearance of the aluminium skin in detail.

Hello Ian,
You must be reading my thoughts, this has to be about how I interpret the available information and balance that understanding against my personal preferences. A couple of years ago, Octane magazine made much of a Magnesium bodied Bugatti Paris Salon car, which had a modern reproduction of its original body fitted. Which given the difficulties of working that metal was a fabulous piece of work. But, all I could see in the spread of modern pictures was that, when compared to period pictures of the same car, it captured the overall shape of the car quite well, but, it did not replicate the originals finesse of line and had many detail deviations.
I am trying to capture the car as it was in 1925, which was what? Well, I would say that it was a pared down racing car made using the skills of the day, with time and probably tight budget constraints. They probably had little interest in representing it as anything other than a tool to be used on the track. Looking closely at the period pictures, I imagine she was simply thrown together!

I want the car to be durable, its not just for one season of racing and sprints, it needs to last and be consistently reliable with a credible performance. So, as previously discussed on the old forum, I have engineered the wooden frame to be as strong as I can without making it over heavy or looking wrong (to my eye that is). When it comes to the metal body panels I find myself wanting to do a neat and tidy job. But, unlike the woodwork, making the metal body panels 'scruffy' will not impair the cars structural integrity.

To illustrate, I am just about to cut aluminium for the side bonnet on the drivers side of the car, if I follow the following picture, It will look just as bad as the original did, with a radius for the cutout around the body bulge, when in fact it really needs to be an almost straight line. So what what will I do?


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Well, looking ahead a few months, no doubt every time someone speaks to me about the car when its at an event, the conversation will go along the lines of, 'So, you made it yourself, couldn't you make the bits fit properly then?' And to answer your question about the beaten finish on the bulges, If its within my skill set, then yes, a planished finish with visible welds around the radiuses, ripples in the skin etc, just like in the above picture is how I intend to do it.

I guess this prompts the question, what would you, do? Indeed widening the question to all, and I do not think their is a right or wrong answer because it has to be about personal preference; which way would each of you go, as the scruffy original or neat and tidy laser cut perfection?

All the best, Mark.

[Steve Jones]

If you're going to produce a copy of the original (and I know that's your intention, Mark) then it has to be the former. Anything else would be something different. But, there again, you know the way I think on such issues and either option is correct depending on where you're coming from. We all have our views and personal preferences and are fully entitled to them.

Incidentally, as Barry Clarke is constantly telling me, it can only be a copy, not a replica, as a replica can only be produced by the original constructor or under his/their supervision!

Looking forward to seeing the finished car.

Steve

[Colin Reed]

Hi Mark, 
I would be inclined to do a neat and tidy job for your own benefit , but allow the body to scruff up with use.
a less than perfect paint job will help with the look.
This seems wrong to suggest doing a less than perfect job.
the build is looking great
 Cheers Colin

[Ian Williams]

Mark, personally I am in the same camp as Steve, if feel it is the true skill of a restorer to recreate the original as exactly as one can, getting the car perfect in my eyes is recreating every "flaw" in the original construction. If you can do that then you really will have reproduced the car, copy, replica whatever we call it, you will be representing the original authentically. As you say there are some excellent period pictures of this particular car, I believe your version needs to stand scrutiny alongside then.

[stuartu]

Mark, if you have evidence for how the car appeared it seems logical to me to reproduce it. If there is no evidence then your familiarity with the source material will produce a well - considered interpretation.
It seems to me that refurbishment of a surviving car is, somehow. a different matter. Had my daughter not given me some Glenmorangie for my birthday I might be less gnomic!

I think you are doing a commendable job and I really look forward to its completion.

All the best,
Stuart