DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Well Barry and I spent a thoroughly enjoyable day measuring and recording numbers last week. It was nice to see the Special dusted off and ready for work after so long



Barry measuring the model three-dimensionally. we obviously needed to be as accurate as possible in taking height, depth and length all measured off the rear axle line as a reference point.



Which I then wrote down on a large bit of paper, along with notes and reference points. Oddly I began to see the shape in the numbers, reminding me of the movie Matrix!



Which doesn't seem like a lot but there's a total of 8 hours work there. it will get a whole lot quicker as it took us a while to figure out a method. perhaps it would've been quicker to just put it through a 3D scanner and have a set of stations for the buck cut on a 3D cutter. But they didn't have that back in the late 1950's or early 60's so it seemed wrong to cheat

Do I spy the industry standard opened out paperclip taped to the end of the precision rig?

gets confusing with all those numbers, I find. Glad to see it's all making sense.

I like the fact you are using the current buck as a table to measure the model off. Some sort of fractal?

Al

Well the Okrasa Special has moved forward significantly in the past few weeks. When I last wrote we had finished the model and had started translating the model dimensions onto paper and then we were going to transcribe them from the paper onto plywood stations, that would then be assembled into a wooden buck.

Progress was slow but steady, but it meant it was going to be a long old winter of measurement and noting! So I decided to shortcut the process - some might argue it's cheating but this project has been running for seven years and I'm desperate to now finish the car. So I called in 3D Engineers who do this sort of thing for a living - check out their website and have a good rummage around the site, it's wonderful. Aside from being a thoroughly nice bloke who seemed very knowledgeable, Stuart (the owner) had some impressive credentials, having done scanning and buck work for Ferrari 250GTO, Jaguar XJ13, AM DBR2, etc. http://3dengineers.co.uk

Stuart turned up with his bespoke 3D scanning equipment and spent a day scanning the model. He was thoroughly impressed with the model, remarking that it's the furthest progressed design work that he's come across since setting the company up. Stuart also scanned the chassis and roof, to ensure the model would line up with the existing reference points. Fortunately they matched almost perfectly.

After a few calls with Barry to clarify details such as the model rising above the existing rear window line on the chassis itself being correct, Stuart supplied a series of images that are being sent to the CNC machine shop this week. If we've got a slot early enough in the week Stuart will be up later this coming week to assemble the buck on the car, and Barry can start rolling ally! Enjoy the images.

When you told me about this last weekend, I was gobsmacked. Now I'm speechless!

Definitely the right approach, you'll gain the cost of doing it back ten fold by reducing the hours spent trying to make a symmetrical buck by hand.

Can't wait to see some alloy

It's impressive what can be done on a computer, for sure, and I don't doubt it's benefits in terms of visualising things in advance. I would point out though that (unlike several other projects 3D engineers have undertaken) to me this is purely a mechanisation of a 'donkey work' stage. They have merely translated the model to scale it up, and not had any real design input as such.

Barry and Steve could have produced this info from the model albeit slowly. This is shown by just how well Barry's model scaled up in the scan to fit the 'real thing'.

Looking forward to Barry cracking on with the outer skin. Then Steve / Barry will have to take a brave pill when the time comes to cut up the lovely buck to work out the door reveals.......

Al

Hey Al! You're right, it's a pretty straightforward translation effort on the part of 3D Engineers, but it's still a significant acceleration of the project forwards, and for me it's more than just production of images. In a few days we'll see a glorious model that the three of us designed become a reality in life-size. Stuart hasn't had any input on the design for sure, but he's still provided a crucial step forward. I simply couldn't bear to see the next six months spent measuring and cutting out MDF - as I pointed out to Barry, I'd rather he spent time rolling ally!

Absolutely. Just didn't want anyone to think you and Barry had fallen at the final hurdle and that there was any shortcoming in the system you'd been using.

I completely understand the urge to move it onto the exciting stage where real progress can be seen to be made.

I'm looking forward to seeing the buck.



Al

Feels like we're beginning to accelerate up through the gears now and really getting some pace to this project now. Yesterday Stuart turned up from 3D Engineers in a little Mercedes car and like the Tardis proceeded to unpack more than it seemed possible to contain in such a little car. It did really look like a giant jigsaw puzzle, except this one came with a handy man who knew how to piece it all together!

It took a couple of hours to construct but it all went together first time with little fettling.


Meanwhile Barry had stripped the Okrasa Special back to a bare chassis, reminding me how purposeful and beautifully designed and constructed the chassis is.




And then the big moment arrived, installing it on the car. Barry and I crossed our fingers a bit I think, praying it went on okay. Stuart on the other hand, having done this many a time before, jiggled, tweaked and fettled, knowing the thing would slot together like a pre-cut jigsaw.



And I must say it's a beautifully made jigsaw. The beauty of a CNC-machined buck created using the latest 3D scanning equipment means it's amazing accurate and smooth. The joints are all press-fit, the radius on curves perfect, and the angles all exact to the degree.

We'll start with her best side then…


Here we're still fiddling to get the height of the buck sorted on the chassis so it looks a little like the car has too much rake going on.


Rather annoyingly, in fact it's REALLY annoying, but the photos don't do the buck any justice whatsoever. I don't know if it's the flat light, my iPhone, or the fact that the buck is made up of a host of stations that don't work with the human eye very well (or a combination of all three things) but it works a whole lot better with a cover thrown over it.




Barry and I have a day or so worth of fettling to get the buck to sit 100% accurately on the chassis, and then it's onto wheeling ally. Hoping to have the body finished next week

I must thank Stuart, who owns 3D Engineers - lovely chap and hugely knowledgeable. It's businesses like his that allow for historic racing and classic car restoration to continue to flourish in this country and make it world class. His story is a typical one: he decided to roll the dice and leave corporate life after he saw a niche in the car restoration world. It took him five years rather than the planned one to establish the business but after tentative steps he's now carved himself a solid place as an integral part of the coach-building world. Well done Stuart.

Lovely work. Get mix of tech and classic. Can't wait to see it in aluminium.

Reminds me of the piece I read on Morgan the other day. A perfect balance of traditional techniques and technology.

Good work chaps, give it another couple of years and you'll be able to print the body out in aluminium without the need for this metal bashing

Nige wrote: give it another couple of years and you'll be able to print the body out in aluminium without the need for this metal bashing

Noooooooo

Next you'll be telling us we will be able to pleasure ourselves without the assistance of another.

Metal bashing not monkey spanking!

That really is amazing.

The end result is going to be very interesting and it seems to me like the process has been more important to you? However, I really wonder how the end car will fit into your current stable? You already have quite a number of period, non kit, cars which are very nice. Your racing 356, your Karman and soon a pre A. Not forgetting your 911 and lovely Van when will this be taken out for spin over those? Ducks for cover.