Bandai 1/16 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost 1908 - "Balloon Car"

[Jim R]

Cheers Tony

I primed all the various bits with MRP black primer, checked everything for problems and then primed again where needed. All going tickety-boo .......


....... so I thought I'd have a look at the rear axle while the primer was drying. I thought I had very carefully checked the kit for missing parts but I had missed B36 and B37, searched everywhere but no, they were missing!




I had little to go on but I carefully measured the space between the nibs on the sprue where the parts had been and measured the axle around which the parts fitted and came up with something hopefully near the missing parts.




I'll have to fit the rear suspension to the chassis and dry fit the axle to figure out where to drill the two little holes in the scratched parts. As you can see those holes are for rods/lever thingies (2xA17 and B42 and B41) so I'll need to dry fit before I drill.


I'm making progress but very slowly

 

[stillp]

The 'rod/lever thingies' are friction dampers Jim, early shock absorbers.
Pete

 

[Waspie]

The 'rod/lever thingies' are friction dampers Jim, early shock absorbers.
Pete

Is that a bit like torsion bars Pete?

 

[stillp]

No Doug, torsion bars are a kind of spring - they twist under load then return to the untwisted state when the load is reduced, just like the coil springs in your car compress under load then return to the uncompressed state. Shock absorbers also known as dampers stop the car from bouncing uncontrollably every time it hits a bump.
Pete

 

[Waspie]

No Doug, torsion bars are a kind of spring - they twist under load then return to the untwisted state when the load is reduced, just like the coil springs in your car compress under load then return to the uncompressed state. Shock absorbers also known as dampers stop the car from bouncing uncontrollably every time it hits a bump.
Pete

Thanks Pete. I'm ok with dampers, (oleo's on aircraft), and springs after that!! I'm a 'Numpty'.

 

[JR]

All ways neat when you show your bench Jim .
Very smart .

 

[yak face]

Great scratching jim , cheers tony

 

[Jim R]

Thanks guys for your posts. Thanks to Pete I now know those rod/lever thingies are friction dampers . I know absolutely nothing about cars. I can put in fuel and check tyre pressures but if a bulb goes or a wiper blade splits I'm off to the garage. I've had my current car from new for a few years and I've never opened the bonnet

The scratched bits came out OK and the friction damper parts fitted fine. Working out where the holes went was tricky but not too bad. The differential is not fixed on the axle as I'm not yet sure of the angle of the prop shaft. (the only reason I know those names are because there are written instructions alongside the diagrams )

 

[Jim R]

The usual excuses. Not a lot to show for quite a lot of hours spent. The main difficulty is that the fit of many parts is very sloppy and loose. Many parts have no actual location points. This results in looking ahead in the instruction to see what is supposed to fit to what.
The front axle is a case in point. They reckon to have it steerable. The moving parts are so loose that the wheels would wobble everywhere. Anyway I decided to glue it all solid with the axles slightly turned.


I then turned my attention to the engine. Very imprecise location points for many parts and the wiring instruction were not very clear. Anyway, here it is, warts an' all, dry fitted into the chassis.










Hopefully it will join to the gearbox, the bulkhead and the radiator OK. There were no colour call outs in the instructions so it was 50% research and 50% guess work.

A very happy Christmas to everyone on the forum. You're a great bunch of characters

 

[yak face]

Great work jim , the engine looks fantastic , a far cry from the glue splattered semi assembled original. Cheers tony

 

[Waspie]

Even RR would be chuffed with that engine Jim. Cracking job.

 

[Andy T]

You say there's not a lot to show, but what you have is fabulous.

 

[Tworrs]

Amazing Jim, really looks the part.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks splendid to me.

 

[Jim R]

Thanks guys for your encouraging posts. They always give my mojo a boost.
Off tomorrow to spend Christmas with my daughter and family.

 

[Jim R]

So Christmas is over, the decorations are back in the attic and the New Year has begun. A bit more progress has been made. Clean up of parts is very slow and many parts and sub assemblies have to be pre-painted which is a bind.

Chassis, engine, gearbox, drive train etc are 90% done.
Underside


Topside


Fuel tank and radiator


Started on the mudguards/fenders


May 2024 bring you all health, wealth and mogglin' joy.

 

[wotan]

Jim that looks very neat and beautifully painted.

John

 

[Jim R]

Thanks John. Appreciated

I've been beavering away. Fitted the rear light and number plate to the fuel tank and the tank to the chassis. Photo from the underside


The lamp was difficult to put together. Poor fit. Interesting to see the white light illuminates the number plate and the red lamp/reflector? faces back


The wooden running boards were slightly too short so styrene strips were fitted to each end. The moulded wood grain is good and should paint up OK.


Started on the bonnet. Edging strips and hinge needed a lot of fettling to get a decent fit


I'm working on the main headlights and side lights at the moment. They need a lot of bad language, cups of tea, biscuits and calming music to get a reasonable result.

 

[Jim R]

Slow but steady like the old tortoise but making progress.

Using the radiator and the bulkhead to get everything nice and square I assembled the bonnet.


Which is removable for painting and to see the engine.


The front side lights are moulded in two halves which are hollow. This meant that the reflector would have holes. I filled the holes and assembled the lights. A lot of clean up was needed.






I've had a quick look at the floor and the two main body parts. After clean up they dry fit together pretty well and the wood floor is very nicely done.




Thanks again guys for your support and patience.

 

[yak face]

Beautiful work jim , its looking superb , cheers tony