steam/diesel punk elite project By dryshave (Read 13,715 times)

[dryshave]

additional dash details:
I'm pretty happy on the new look, still lots of hours of shaping left, but I anticipate getting on to blocking for fiberglass within the next three weeks.

[Bong]

Very, Very, Impressive work!!!!!! I'm thinkin this one should go to your grand daughter and NOT put up for sale though. (once it's safe of course).

Personally, I love seeing the development stages. We all know the final product will be beyond excellent!!!!

I beg you to keep doing a GREAT build. I may have missed it but, are ya still planning on a 250cc engine??? Or is that still in the planning phase.....

[dryshave]

Hoping to get my hands on a 250 if I can. I've got the original 150, but feel like jumping it up for this one. Can hold off on that decision until later on as any modifications won't affect the panel design.

[dryshave]

Have pretty much finished off the rough out on the front and tail pieces. A contour gauge replaces the CNC machine, that and many hours of checking and double checking each side for alignment.

I'm pretty happy about the result so far and hope to be able to latex cast the highlight pieces (such as turn signal "eyes" and rear signal light pods) some time this weekend.
Once they are cast I will cut the "cast" pieces out of the plasticine mold and build up the mounting tabs.
I have tried this before, rather than using plaster in the mold. I put the plasticine in a glass bowl and place the bowl directly on the oil heater in the shop and 20 minutes later.... pour liquid plasticine.
After it cools, it's still workable... in case there are any final adjustments to be made with the final fiberglass cast of the panel.
Kind of hard to explain, more pictures in a week or so hopefully will help to explain.
The yellow "eye" shows you where the turn signal lights are going. I plan to vacuum mold those pieces along with the tail lights.

[dryshave]

YAHOO!
A couple of good scores this weekend.
First I was able to source out a great fiberglass material supplier and able to purchase 4 gal of resin w/hardener, 2 gal of PVA and a roll of matt that is enough to complete both male and female castings for $120.00, about a 5th of the cost of retail around here.
But the really cool deal on the weekend, was picking up an 85 elite 250 with regi for $350!!
Have papers in hand and over the next month I will be tearing it down to the bones.
I will post a list of the elite 250 pieces that I will have available.

WORK UPDATE: I've completed the second fiberglass casting on 1/2 of the rear panel. I will post pictures shortly. I expect to have the female castings of the rear panels finished by the end of the weekend, it's been pretty cold in the shop and trying to keep the shop temp warm enough to cure has been a real pain in the arse.

[dryshave]

Rear panel has been fiberglassed... finally! Ready to remove it from the frame and then it's on to finishing the front. Still doing some tinkering, but the front cowl from the CH250 I just picked up gave me an idea to finish the area around the front wheel, will be working on that later.
In between the hardening cycles, I've got to haul the 250 engine out for the once/twice over. No spark, so I'll test all the usual suspects tonite.
More pictures soon... I'm rethinking the gas tank position now that I've seen the battery and tank position on the 250... would be pretty easy to switch over... more on that when I finally get the tank off.

[dryshave]

Pulled the castings off yesterday... Lesson to be learned about how much release to use. There is never such a thing as too much. One side I used 4 coats, the other side I used 6. The side I used 6 on came off a little cleaner, but the other side requires a lot more clean up.
The beauty of using plasticine is that I can just smooth the residue back in to fill the scratches and gaps left from a few air pockets I missed.
Pretty happy about the results so far.
I also turned my brother loose on the 250 tear down, while I worked on removing the mold.
Lots done so far.
I will post pics of the split casings over the next couple of days along with photos of the progress to date.
I plan to start casting the front over the next weekend, still some tweeking to do.

[scooterran]

Greatt Job !!!!!!

[dryshave]

WOO HOO!!
Finally finished the plasticine molding.... I am now able crush walnuts between my thumb and forefinger thanks to hours of working plasticine. I've got the back pieces cast and one section of the front done. 8 coats of PV release seems to be the magic number for quick release coatings.
I will have all the casts completed by the end of the weekend and I can finally take a break and concentrate on some of the mechanical work layout.
Anyone know where I can find a custom rear brake cable (needs to be 18-20" longer). I've got an idea on how to do this with a junction bracket, but one length of cable would be better.
I will start castings for the male mold over the next month or two... then it's identify tab positions etc... etc...

[madcollie]

Design patten pending???



M/C

[Bong]

^^^^ I hope so!!!! I'll buy 2 if I can get on the waiting list.

Fantastic build all around. I may have to contract a second build.... Have you picked a color scheme yet or is it still to early?

[madcollie]

Apr 14, 2012 17:33:30 GMT -6 Bong said:

^^^^ I hope so!!!! I'll buy 2 if I can get on the waiting list.

Fantastic build all around. I may have to contract a second build.... Have you picked a color scheme yet or is it still to early?

I'm looking at the pix of the front on shot showing radiator and can only think lizzard green with scales (like a dragon) and yellow eyes. Maybe even a "tail" type of rear fender? But what do I know, he's WAY out of my league! I'm sure what he has in mind will be mind blowing.

Dryshave, this is outstanding work!

M/C

[justbuggin2]

if you pull a master mold from this you can always make spare parts when the need comes

[dryshave]

Thanks for all your terrific words of support.

The colour scheme will be a candy dark red/brown with cast brass (and paint) details - minimal chrome.
Many of the detail pieces you don't see (dash gauges panel - signal light casing - detail strip running beside seat, as seen in earlier pics) in the final casting, are to be cast in brass, including the custom fuel tank (also modified since earlier pics - more on that later).
I'd like to paint the engine casings in a high heat brass color as well, but haven't done much research.

Madcollie - you can see a better detail the tail section on the first page. The tail end is more like the business end of a jet. I have an old domed style police light that fits into the middle, which I plan to wire up with LEDs for a brake light you can't miss.

Justbuggin2 - You are seeing a couple pieces of the master mold (images of the tail section). I would have finished the front casting yesterday, but ran out of resin - have to wait until tomorrow

I've been toying with the grillwork and will post a few sample ideas I've got going (photoshopped)

I'm taking the 250 engine in for an MRI Actually I'm just having the cylinder honed and having the honda tech, check the tolerance between the crankshaft and piston rod (I think this one's a little slappy).
The goal once the casts are complete are to layout the wiring harness.
then finish up the frame welds and strip the frame for powdercoating.

..... still have to figure out how to build rad access through the front panel.

Close to 300 hours of modelling and casting so far.
I've been logging everything on video and keeping track of material costs as well. I'll post more images when I'm ready to start the positive casts.
There will be plenty of bodywork to be completed on the final casts, but my goal was to get it perfectly matched on each side. Countless hours of measurements and custom templates made.

Cheersh.
If your not having fun, stay out of the garage

[justbuggin2]

great work so farrrr i keeping an eye on this as it is wayyyyy cooooooool