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Post by Aurora on Oct 12, 2012 11:46:48 GMT -5
This is the 1963 Stebro MkIV Formula 1 car. The Stebro team contested a single Grand Prix, the 1963 US GP at Watkins Glen. I wanted to participate in the Vintage Race Across America (VRAA), a proxy series that features the 1.5 liter cars that ran through the 1961-1965 F1 seasons, and this was one of the cars that hasn't yet been built for that series. I think this is a fairly obscure car and couldn't find much technical information. So this project is my own liberal interpretation based upon the few photos I could find. I didn't know where to start with this project, having little experience with scratchbuilding. From seeing the work of others, I thought I should try to cast a body from resin. So the first step was to carve a wood buck to make the mold. This was a failure. I carved a couple of bodies from an axe handle. The wood was extremely hard and difficult to carve. But that wasn't the biggest problem. After finally shaping a buck that wasn't too bad, I couldn't find the casting materials, so the project stalled. So next, I thought I'll try to form a body from sheet aluminum. This was a total failure, as I couldn't even get close to forming a body shell. I still have absolutely no idea how to form a slot car body from aluminum sheet. Annealing, forming, hammering - all these metalworking skills are beyond me. So the next attempt involved plastic. I've modified some RTR bodies with plastic, so thought that perhaps I could make the body entirely out of various plastics. I started with a Scalextric body shell to use it as a skeleton framework, thinking I could hang various structural materials on it and then shape the body. This ended up being the successful method, but it was a lot of work. Almost none of the original shell remains, as it has all been ground away or hacked off entirely. This is an early iteration More to come...
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Post by Peter Seager-Thomas on Oct 12, 2012 17:50:23 GMT -5
A good start to a thread. I have sympathies!
I honestly like working with plastic, especially polystyrene where a solvent adhesive can be used. Add bits on or remove them as required. Puttys can be used to add bulk here and there, though I will normally add a 'lump'. Old bits of kits can be good.
If there is an adaptable shape to use as a starting point, why not use this method.
Well done also with opting to model a relatively unknown car.
Oh yes, welcome to the forum.
Peter.
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Post by f143 on Oct 12, 2012 21:53:12 GMT -5
Hi Matt that looks like a good effort you show, but try carving out of balsa wood, I have carved a few bodies and it is comparatively easy to get a shape representative of what you want, each time you carve one it gets better. It is surprisingly strong when you have the hollowed out shell, I need to post some pictures of what I mean, but I followed a David Lawson how to from sf. They are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I was surprised by my efforts. Balsa is easy to come by and inexpensive, give it a go. Regards Nigel
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Post by Aurora on Oct 13, 2012 3:48:23 GMT -5
Thank you gentlemen for the encouragement. The project has been a challenge, but that has only made it more interesting. Peter, I also enjoy working with plastic, and yes, especially styrene and good old fashioned styrene cement. As you say, the method works, so it's one I'll use again. And Nigel, I'd like to try balsa but I haven't been able to find it in sizes large enough. I've considered gluing pieces of balsa together, but I haven't worked up the courage yet. And I haven't found a supply of other common carving woods such as juletong, basswood, or even pine. Sometimes I have difficulty finding materials, so that's why I like to use odds and ends that I find laying about, and make them work. In addition to a few remaining bits of that tough scalextric tupperware plastic, the shell contains styrene, nylon, electrical conduit tubing, Chuppa Chup lollipop handles, steel filled epoxy, urethane epoxy putty, and cyanoacrylate. More than 40 pieces of plastic, because I made so many mistakes! Here's a view of the engine cowl being re-done. The original cowl was too small. Even in this larger cowl, the motor/gearbox barely fits. Once the body was formed, on to a chassis design. Using what was available in the local hardware store, the chassis is printed circuit board. Motor bracket, front axle mounts, and guide mount are brass. This is a second attempt motor bracket with tabs that insert into the PCB, similar to a mortise and tenon arrangement. The upper edges had to be radiused to fit into the engine cowl. Motor is countersunk into the PCB to be flush with the underside surface. Front end more to come...
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Post by Mark Huber on Oct 13, 2012 4:23:39 GMT -5
You realize you HAVE to finish this car now don't you? In the meantime, after viewing your posts I feel a little bit like Charlie Brown, when I think about the trivial things I do to complete a car: Keep 'em coming! Cheers.
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Post by Aurora on Oct 13, 2012 11:59:27 GMT -5
If Charlie Brown were an F1 driver, he'd probably drive the Stebro. Here are some shocks, I think these are the fronts. They won't be filled with the "special" 40 year old oil until they are installed. Unfortunately I can make neither suspension linkages nor universal joints, so they will just sit there and weep fluids onto the track. Any idea what this will be? I'm not quite sure myself, as I don't know if if such a thing, as I've built it, exists. Gear shifter An attempt to drill two holes at the same angle. This may have actually worked - I'll know when I install the roll bar. Notice the beautiful bodywork in the background.
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Post by nuvolari on Oct 13, 2012 13:13:13 GMT -5
This is a build up to my hart, I will follow this with great interest. Although these models are not my area of interest, I still love the techniques implemented and find them very learn full. Thanks for showing your build in a tutorial, this is something I wish everybody would do here on this forum. So keep us informed on the progress, you got an original and rare build and I'm sure this model will end up super.
Cheers, Danny
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Post by old23 on Oct 13, 2012 19:36:59 GMT -5
So happy to see a model of this obscure racer from my home town finally taking shape. Keep at it!
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Post by Aurora on Oct 14, 2012 9:27:59 GMT -5
old23, do you know anything else about the Mk IV? I wonder where it is these days? Apparently the Stebro company is still in business in Ottawa. Their website has some history of the company's racing program. Every once in a while, I have to stop work to clean and organize my bench. But 10 minutes later, it looks like this again. Painting is always an adventure - I'm never sure if things are going to go well. No decals for this car, so I'll have to paint everything. I still don't know how I'm going to do the lettering.
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Post by Phil Kalbfell on Oct 14, 2012 15:33:01 GMT -5
Advertising was still not allowed in F1 racing in 1963 so the Stebro would not have had all the advertising on it at the US Grand Prix, that should save some work. The pics of the car on the auction site appears to be slightly different from the pic of the car as it raced in 1963. Higher roll bar and the car appears Blue in 1963? Might just be my old eyes or crap pics!
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Post by Mark Huber on Oct 14, 2012 16:02:27 GMT -5
Not a lot of pictures of this car.. (I wonder why... ) In any event, perhaps this is how the car looked at the 1963 US Grand Prix?
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Post by Aurora on Oct 15, 2012 0:15:35 GMT -5
I think you guys are correct in that the car in its current state is different, and maybe more than slightly, from when it raced at Watkins Glen. In fact, although it is the Mk IV, it was changed significantly in 1965, with different bodywork, wheels, engine, etc. Perhaps it should be called a 1965 Stebro Formula Libre car. But most of the pictures of the car back in '63 are so low-res that I wasn't quite sure what I would be modeling. So I just used the auction photos as they were the clearest. Even they are pretty bad. I use this as an excuse to explain any inaccuracies. Phil, can you direct me to the images in which the car appears blue? Between heartbeats, I'm trying to hand-letter the logos.
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Post by f143 on Oct 15, 2012 3:37:41 GMT -5
Matt, no1, the bench looks clear to me, no2 the car looks like its shaping up very well indeed, no3 this may upset the purists, but it doesn't matter if it is actual colours or details as the original, as long as the desire is there to show something representing the original is intended, and it sure looks that way to me, a splendid effort. Regards Nigel
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Post by Aurora on Oct 15, 2012 7:27:35 GMT -5
Question: In front of the windscreen, there is a green Canadian flag. (oops - it's not actually the Canadian flag, it's a maple leaf styled like the one on the flag) Superimposed over the flag (leaf) is a green pos/neg script "Canada". Does anybody know if that is a stock logo, or is it just something that Stebro might have made up?
Also, what is that red "Ryan...something...something" logo on the engine cowl. I can't make out what it says.
Lastly, does anybody recognize the logo near the mirror stalk on the side of the cockpit?
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Post by old23 on Oct 15, 2012 11:52:52 GMT -5
The green maple leaf/Canada logo was probably on the 1963 car (I can see a white band on the 1963 USGP pics), and as such predates the adoption of the red and white Canadian Maple Leaf flag in 1964. Before the commercial era, Canada's international racing colours were green and white, so Broeker probably created a patriotic logo using the iconic maple leaf and the official colours. The Canadian Comstock Racing Team did something similar on their sports racing cars during those years.
The red "Ryan Formula (?) *** Challenge" logo on the engine cover is most likely a modern vintage racing series, though I have been unable to confirm that.
The roundish red logo just aft of the mirror stalk is for Armstrong shock absorbers. I have a closer picture but cannot post it under the terms of this sites "Attachment Agreement". I can e-mail it to you if you send a message with your address.
Old23
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