224 replies to this topic

[endbelldrive]

I thought I would start a balsa proxy thread...

I'm resurrecting an old 1/32 balsa body I started carving about ten years ago. It is the #54 Auto World 1955 Ferrari 857 Sport that was also used as a logo on bottom left corner of the cover of the 1963 catalogue.



I originally only had plans and some blurry black and white photos in an old issue of Car Model magazine. It's a little rough after sitting in a box for the last decade. I gave up on it because of the fenders overhang slightly which wouldn't have left it with much meat...



... but I took a chance today and shaved the insides of the fenders and reinforced it with a thin layer of epoxy.



Coincidently, Jairus posted a photo of the recently restored Auto World Car 54.



There is also a clip of the restoration which has some shots of Car 54 at the 1:36 mark.



OK, anybody else got wood?

[Jairus]

Still collating data as they say.

Actually, I have a bunch of customers cars to finish paint on before I can start carving. But looks like you have a huge jump on the rest of us. Very nice job with that Ferrari!

[n9949y]

Now that's impressive. For us at Pelican Park that's a very fine model with the model maker working in a medium we're unfamiliar with.

Am wondering if anyone has a balsa wood 1/24 scale body of a '50s era sports car like the Ferrari pictured here to sell. I'm keenly interested in checking how a balsa body would work in our model world.

Jairus, you got anything?

[Jairus]

Nope, Todd, this is a completely new medium to me and quite exciting. Why don't you carve one yourself?

[endbelldrive]

It's a lot of fun hacking away at balsa. The Ferrari was shaped with a box cutter, cheapo files, dry wall sanding blocks, and a couple pieces of sandpaper glued to objects like wine bottle corks.

It's old school but I've been sealing balsa with either Tamiya grey putty thinned with methyl hydrate and/or Green Squadron putty thinned lacquer thinner brushed like paint. Both puttys can be sanded to a smooth finish but I'm not sure how many crashes they can take.



The late great Rocky Russo suggested an old RC plane trick for protecting balsa... a woman's nylon stocking can be stretched over the outside and painted with lacquer thinner. It melts into the balsa and forms a lightweight protective coating.

[n9949y]

Nope, Todd, this is a completely new medium to me and quite exciting. Why don't you carve one yourself?

Wish I could!

[don.siegel]

Bob,

Thanks for all the tips! Are you carving free form from drawings, or do you do any kind of templates? That's the part that scares me more than the carving itself!

The Ferrari looks very nice!

Don

[endbelldrive]

I'm not picky about symmetry so 90% of the carving is free form. Pretty much everything is eyeballed once the wheelbase, overall length, width and height are marked out. No problem if too much gets hacked off...glue another chunk of wood back on.

I did some technical illustration the previous century and learned to trust my eye.

Edit: There is one exception. I'll cut templates if I'm working with Bob Clidinst's Indy Roadster drawings which are meticulous and accurate.

[Brad Korando]

Hey, Bob, the Ferrari is looking great!

I use Bondo to build up larger areas. I like how hard it cures and also how well it takes detail, particularly around wheel arches. I also use green Squadron putty to fill in the grain of the wood and any slight imperfections before shooting primer.

Again, terrific start, Bob - really looking forward to seeing it progress! Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Brad

[endbelldrive]

Thanks, Brad! I just got back front the Auto Supply store and picked up bondo, sandpaper, bunch of different primers and a big tube of surfacing putty...woohoo! I don't have enough balsa for a 1/24 car so I'm going to try carving this car in red cedar.

[dc-65x]

Really nice, Bob.

[endbelldrive]

Thanks, Rick! I started hacking out that silver Abarth Ferrari from 2 chunks of 1.5" red cedar picket glued together. I was up until 4 am. Good thing I'm retired!

[endbelldrive]

Finished the rough carving on one side of the body...



... still have to fine-tune the contours on the lower half.

[Jairus]

Excellent!

[Howmet TX]

Gorgeous!

[endbelldrive]

Thanks, gents. The car has so many curves and angles that I don't think anyone will notice if I miss a few.

[endbelldrive]

Removed more material and fine sanded the surface...



... body is quite a bit lighter...



... might clear-coat the wood and run it like that...



... time to hack away at the other side...

[Regis4446]

Very nice work, Bob, because the car is dificult.

But you go too fast, I have not yet purchased the wood.

[Jairus]

Régis, do you think some of the builders on FOLM might be interested in entering?

I could convert the rules to French and post them in the Scratchbuilding section.

[Regis4446]

I do not know, but we must speak out FOLM.
No need to translate, google translation ago.
There will be some nice cars, and French is interested.

[Jairus]

Cool! I will have time to do that Saturday morning and been a while since I posted there anyway. Thank you my friend!

[Howmet TX]

Ahh - the international brotherhood of BALSA!

Does Milan in the Czech Republic read this? He does fantastic work. What a pleasure it would be to have him join in!

[slotbaker]

Very nice, Bob. It will be a shame to hide that beautiful grain with paint.

[Jairus]

Time to show some progress from the Jairus Studio.

Maserati is now blocked up and glue dried. Took a week to assemble using basswood and balsa to build up this shape.



With exception for the two bulkheads, the body is hollow so no inside carving required other than axle clearance. (And maybe rear gear clearance.)

Now it's time to start some serious sanding.

The nose will be a piece of model aircraft plywood to keep its shape and strengthen it just in case of a wall hit. But also considering installing an oval of aluminum...

[Bruce Wayne]

This is as far as I've gotten so far. I laminated three sheets of 1/2" x 3" balsa to form the basic rectangle.

The two bottom sheets had holes cut in the center so it won't need as much hollowing out.

The block gets attached to a base of 1/2" plywood that will serve as a body jig.

The jig will have all the dimensions laid out on it to serve as a reference once the carving starts.

Hope to rough it out and make some sawdust this weekend