[gunpilot]

Ken I certainly did spend a lot of time on it. I should have the master and first casting done in about two weeks. Then we'll find out if my effort paid off. Jeez, I'm already thinking about doing a Bobsy SR2 or maybe a Lotus 23, but, one thing at a time. I do know that as soon as I'm satisfied with the Delage castings I will start another project.

Jim

 

[zagato]

Great work.

G.

 

[Nuvolare]

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the tutorial, very inspiring. Looking forward to the progress of moulding keep us into detail.
Cheers,
Danny

 

[Slots-O-Fun]

Sweet!

 

[gunpilot]

OK, I'm back after a year and a half after my last post. Life happened-in the form a new granddaughter and travel. I finally got around to making my first cast last week using Smooth-On products. Overall I was pleased with the result. I used the slush-casting method which needs some work to master to get good results. I failed to get resin all the way into the back end of the side frame rails and had to extend the rails with bits of scrape resin. There is some pitting and I allowed to much resin to set up on one side of the body which had to be ground down. I will use this body to design a chassis, although Penelope Pitlane sells a 13mm wide chassis which will just fit inside the body-yes, it's that narrow.

The body looks a little rougher in the images than it really is, and once I get some of the pitting corrected and the body primed it should look pretty decent.
Jim

 

[driver#8]

Lovely work, Jim. I've got one of Jerome's Delage's from France but yours has the edge on finesse I'd say.

 

[David Lawson]

Excellent work and nice to see you've made some progress.

Like you I have masters several years old that I still haven't got round to making moulds of yet. As you said life gets in the way.

David

 

[gunpilot]

Thanks for the encouragement. My next step is to polish the body and spray on a coat of primer and see how it looks. Then I start the task of building the chassis. Looking ahead, though, the biggest problem is going to be finding tires and wire wheels. To be true to scale(or close to it) I need tires measuring about 24mm x 4mm and wheels to match. So far no luck and I can't start the chassis without the wheels and tires. I'm pretty sure Ortmann makes what I want, but I haven't found a dealer with a complete range of tires to choose from. I have a pair of hard or hardened tires which are the size I need, and, if need be, I'll make my own using the tires as masters. The wire wheels I'm not so sure about. Lots of work ahead to finish up the prototype.
Jim

 

[Gripping Pneus]

I have been following this thread with interest as I have been thinking of making a Delage myself. Great work! This will make a very attractive slot car when done.

I was curious about the seating height difference and have looked at all the books I have to see if any light could be shed.

It appears to be a combination of Dick Seaman being very tall, and the rebuild of Seaman's car by Ramponi, which was extensive. In Prince Chula's book on Seaman he describes a new radiator being fitted which was 62 lb lighter than the original for instance. In the tail he also fitted a single oil tank (in place of two) and a lighter fuel tank, and it appears that this area was re-profiled slightly, although it does not seem that the top of the bodywork was lowered. A gearbox from a V12 2 litre car was also fitted so this may have affected the driving position too.

Here are two photos from the same angle of the re-built and original cars which show the different radiator angles, seating heights and tail shape.

Cheers,

Keith

 

[gunpilot]

My Delage is mastered after the Ramponi version. I didn't research, much, in the history of the 1.5L GP Delage so was unaware of the changes by Ramponi. I did find drawings of the earlier (original?) version, and a small, poor white line drawing of what must be the Ramponi rebuild. I extensively used images of restored Delage's which were a big help in clarifying details. I'm developing the chassis using a slimline motor, which is small enough to fit inside a body with only 13mm of interior width at it's narrowest. I haven't decided to whether to mount the motor front engined with a shaft extension or use the simpler mount at the rear. If I mount the motor in front I can install a detailed cockpit with full driver, otherwise a simplified cockpit will have to suffice. I'm still trying to find wheels and tires. My tire issue may be solved by cutting down the width of a tire of suitable diameter.
Jim

 

[Gripping Pneus]

Hi Jim,

Yes, I am having problems sourcing wheels and tyres for vintage sizes too. Penelope Pitlane products look interesting and I have some on order from Pendles at present. We shall see . .

I would love a few sets of MRRC hard diamonds, to get the proper cornering stance. All the modern tyre materials seem far too grippy, and also distort with the high profiles used, plus they can roll off the rims with a heavier car. they might be ideal though for a front engined car with little weight on the rear.

Cheers,

Keith

 

[gunpilot]

Keith,
I've looked at Penelope Pitlane's tires and could get the correct tire width by cutting them narrower, as mentioned before. The problem then is finding a narrow wheel, 4mm in this case, of the correct diameter. I don't like the idea of going to the wrong size as that would ruin the scale look, although it wouldn't hurt in setting up the chassis and getting things running smoothly.
Jim