Cheers mate, thanks for the encouragement.

I really rely quite heavily on Kev, Warthog and Senna94. Those guys are doing some great work and there pictures, commentary, tips and advice is invaluable. It's fantastic to have those guys giving as much as they do on the forum.

I think I will wait a few weeks to post some progress photos because quite obviously, Kev does an immaculate job and also some of the parts from the past week or so are waiting to be fixed so there is very little to see. In saying that though I still can't help but put on whatever I can, then just sit there and marvel at my work. Even though we just fixed a small part to the underside, it was still worth it.

I also spend a bit of time hunting down pictures of the areas that we are currently building, just so I can understand how it actually looks while ambitiously considering adding some of my own detail. But that's quickly being sidelined purely by ability rather than ambition. I'd rather do a good standard car than a sh**#y modified one.

I don't know how some people can be just buying the kits each week and then leaving it aside. I'm so excited recieving my issue and the most I can stand doing is putting it down for a day or two while I wait for Kev or others hints and tips to be posted (not that I want to rush them ). Sometimes they see things I wouldn't, so as a newbie I really need to slow down and be patient. But it is simply really exciting week after week.

Don't know what's going to happen over the Christmas period if like me you get your issues from the news agent. Perhaps someone could let me know from experience.

Cheers for now.

Hello Jack,

Thanks for the frequent compliments in your post, much appreciated. As Danny has said in the post above, I too am a perfectionist, which is why my build looks neat and tidy I suppose, I'm just not happy unless everything is perfect !! A good way to be though, as the search for perfection and taking as long as it takes to get it right, are two qualities that will always bring good results ??

Your build looks equally neat and tidy Jack, so well done to you mate !!

Kev

Good stuff Jack, great build

Hello Jack,

Nice to see your progress and looking very neat and tidy, well done, thanks for posting the photos and yes, I had noticed the toothpicks !!

Re your point about the two pin fixing being quite slack, I haven't had a chance to look at it properly yet, but I presume you are talking about the pins being smaller than their receiving holes, which thus gives the sloppy fit ?? If that is the case you could always try snipping off the plastic pins then using a short length of steel pin (such as a cut down sowing needle or dress pin) and a Micro Drill bit in a pin vice, just drill a hole the same size as the steel pin about 2-3mm to the side of where the snipped off plastic pin was, then a corresponding hole in the opposite place where the part fits to the underbody. Make sure the holes line up properly then superglue the steel pin into both parts as you mate them together and not forgetting to add a bit of glue on therest of the mating surfaces and that should give a nicer, tighter fit, but you will need to be accurate with the drilling. You could instead try filling the original hole, waiting for it to harden properly and then drilling it out again to the same size as the plastic pin, but why bother with filler and the original plastic pin, when it is easier to drill new holes and use a stronger metal pin ?? Hope I haven't made that too difficult to understand what I am getting at ??

Hadn't noticed the slight size difference in the two skirt parts but I do remember mentally noting that the top of the left skirt did sit slightly higher and more towards the rain light housing than the opposite side. Will definitely be checking the sizes when I get round to building it, so thanks for pointing that one out, it is much appreciated.

Cheers Jack.

Kev

Here is my week 39 progress.

In this weeks assembly I used some very valuable advice from Kev and I think the results are brilliant.

Although the assembly is quite simply putting two halves together, it could be an absolute disaster to get glue on the highly polished surfaces.

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This is the finished product from week 39. Sorry for my reflection but I don't have the photography skills of others.

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Fixing the panel covers was not a difficult task. A small amount of glue on a toothpick (thank you Kev) to each fixing point was all I allowed. I started placing it from the thinnest end to front because in the dry test it fell into place nicely this way.

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Once the covers were set I looked at the floor tray assembly. What I found was that as I applied pressure to one side, the other would pop out of alignment. So, my decision was to fit the sections together dry and then glue fix it in three stages - middle, right and then left. I also decided to glue it from the rear and allow the glue to cover the pins by capilary action.
By doing it in sections I was able to place adequate pressure on that section while the glue set. I allowed each section to fully dry before glueing the next area so that it didn't pop apart and cause problems. Patience and time are the true test with this build.

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I'm really pleased with the outcome because I have achieve neat, aligned edges and consistant, flat and clean undertray. I'll be happy if we get a break from shiny parts for a while....they're quite unnerving.

Hope you like my photos this week.

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to all forum friends and readers!

Great Build Jack

Hi everyone,

Happy to be back guys. I hope you all had a great christmas.
I've been on a kind of forced break from my build due to problems with delivery of issue 40, which I now know has absolutely nothing to do with issues 41, 42 & 43 - of which the photo's below will show.

As Mr T wrote in my last post, the rear damper unit has certainly had some intricate work away from previously nerve racking shiny black - good call Mr. T ! But that said, the rear damper has some really small and thin parts that could quickly ruin your day with just a small slip of the knife or clippers.

But, as the photos show, I have made it through with some pretty pleasing results if I do say so myself.

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Most of this went together quite well. I took a lot of time assembling the torsion bar set (left hand end of the photo). Getting the two halves of the torsion bar fixed together without over splilling glue onto other parts without it being visible at all I found to be quite tricky. I used tape as they suggested in the instructions and after a number (probably 10 or so) of dry runs had everything fixed in place enough to easily slide the torsion bar into place with a really small line of glue applied straight down the middle of the torsion bar half using the tip of a tooth pick.

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One little detail I found that needed some extra attention was fitting the rotational damper (part number 6). Its the blurry bit right at the end of the spring on the right hand side. A quick fit on the dry run showed that the part didn't sit as flush with its corresponding edges as it probably could. It just didn't seem to sit far enough back. So I slowly sanded off some of fixing area until it was flush on both edges. I think it ended up better and as a part that seems to have quite a bit of detail and tends to catch your eye even in the promo photos, I think it was worth the extra attention.

Some people may not agree with this approach, but I haven't glued together any of the parts on the crank linkages (main piece in the centre of the photo). Screws fix everything together from each end and you can construct the whole thing without glue and it holds together as good as with. I decided that because its an independant piece, I can always take it out later and glue it if need be.

Issues 41, 42 & 43 has been really good fun while being quite trying and fiddly. I hope to have issue 40 and 44 by Wednesday so I'll be looking forward to that. Hope you like my progress photos.

Cheers.

Thanks for your kind comments Mike.
Interstingly, know-one has posted photos of their steering wheel . I'm not getting my parts by subscription so I won't be getting the steering wheel or other promo gifts so it would be intersting to see - if anyones up to it. Dont worry about the magazine binder or cap - I think I can live without seeing those !

Anyways, my newsagent still hasn't obtained a copy of issue 40 but hopefully it will arrive soon. Otherwise I'll just organise a copy directly through de ag.

Although ther isn't much to "put together" in issue 40, you still feel like you do a lot because the drivers cockpit base is just so big and it makes a huge difference. It was also good to put some of the rear damper unit in place.

There's no real problems doing either of these. The rear damper requires a bit of manouvering, but the parts are fairly solid and simply slide and clip into place.
You'll probably notice that the joints at the end of the suspension arms that screw in on each side of the damper piece don't really align with the angle of the damper as in this photo.

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Because the parts are cast I didn't want to risk snapping off the rod end trying to twist it to properly align. I thought it might be a problem, but in the end the screws actually went through easily.

The rest of issue 44 is quite simple and the cockpit tub went together easily. Take Kev's advice again and go easy with the glue on the locating pins. There quite big in relation to other pins done in other areas and you could quite easily fall into a trap of over applying glue. The finishes are shiny black again and any over runs will be visible. I'm happy to say I had no over spills. It's so good to have the advice from others go through your head at every step.

The tub is just sitting in place without being fixed, but its really impressive and starts to fill the floor pan out nicely. There's not a lot to photograph, but I hope you like these.

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The cockpit tub in place on the floor pan. Those who have built his will know that it is quite impressive and bigger than expected.

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The first part of the rear damper is in place and connected to the suspension arms. The rear end is quite stiff now and the rear section of the car is looking really detailed. Can't wait to see what it will look like with the rest of the damper components in place.

My last note for this week is that I finally got some lint free gloves. Again, another one of Kev's suggestions . I was getting pretty tired of polishing off the finger prints from the shiny black areas and with some silver finishes coming along soon I dont want to experience finger print stains like others have reported in earlier issues.

Cheers.

Hi Jack Great build Great photos I will post a photo of the steering wheel tomorrow for you Regards Mike

Jack, Here are the pictures of the steering wheel I promised you Regards Mike