The MFH Rescue Centre

Finished the wheels today, obviously i stripped the one that had been built with the wrong hub and rim combination. the bike would have had a 21" front and 19" back wheel.
Originality dictates an all black finish which is a shame as they would have looked nice in bare alloy. we tend to forget that the world was in Black and white in the late 1920's

You do such an awesome job on these Paddy!

I would imagine its a bit like building Armour where you think, i will just get the tracks out the way It's a bit of a drawback having to do spoked wheels and motorcycle chains but the result is worth it.

I am now pretty much back to where the last guy left off. Its not a user friendly build because the first step is to fit the tank to the frame because its not possible to get too the tank fixings once the engine is in the frame. The problem here is the tank is the most vulnerable part of the build as even a small scratch will spoil the finish so normally as with all auto builds,, the bodywork would be the last part you would fit

@paddy there is some tape called Drafting tape. It looks like masking tape but is a lot less tacky, more like post it notes tacky. It isn't all that expensive and you could tape off the tank so it doesn't get scratched while you build. Then when ready it is then easy to remove.
It was made to hold paper drawings down to a drawing table and not damage the paper when removed, thus the very low tack.

Thanks Paul
I do have some low tac tape so its a good idea. My only reservation is i did mask off some paint on that e-type i tried to build a while back and i tried several types including Tamiya's own brand and i found it attacked the Tamiya clear coat if you left it on for more than a day or so.

Heavens Eagle said:

@paddy there is some tape called Drafting tape.

Click to expand...

Oh yes! I need to check if I still have some as I found vellum paper in with my drafting supplies on the angled drafting table! I live in a museum it seems! I found inks, Staedler products, soft rubber erasers, a range of drawing pencils in both Hardness and Blackness...

Sharkmouth said:

Oh yes! I need to check if I still have some as I found vellum paper in with my drafting supplies on the angled drafting table! I live in a museum it seems! I found inks, Staedler products, soft rubber erasers, a range of drawing pencils in both Hardness and Blackness...

Click to expand...

Oy! Look what I found! In its case too!

Love the metal work Paddy.

Here in the states I have been able to get the drafting tape at Office Depot locally. It also works well for bulk paint masking where you might be worried about the paint pulling up.

Funny you should mention Office Depot as they just shut down over here. Another victim of online business and Amazon i expect.

Gearbox and linkages added...next up Mag/dynamo and i think a black small wash to pick up some detail if it works on metal..
The pins in the clevise fitments are 0.4mm or 15 thou..

the elephant in the room with all MFH bike builds is the drive chain

I'm still to be convinced that its even possible to build one of these...

You can see here above the idea is you snap the side plates on to the rollers then lightly squash the end of the roller to retain the side plates




the truth is the roller are so badly cast there is no chance of snapping anything anywhere and as you can see above the centre section of the roller has expanded before the end has expanded enough to hold the side plate. ...easy.



its also very hard to get the plates to sit down as they bounce when you tap the end. under 100x magnification the problem is clear but even with my 10x illuminated magnifier you cant see this
I have tried using pliers but because the roller is so far under size its almost imposable to expand the end enough to fill the hole in the side plate...



I have als tried using a small punch and hammer but again the centre section swells before
the end expands enough to hold the side plate., if the centre section swell it no longer fits the sprocket...





If the worst happens i will have to finish this without a drive chain, only part of the bottom run of the chain would be visible as the chain guard covers the top run.

What kind of metal are the chain rollers made from?

Soft as butter white metal :-(

I wonder if a touch of heat on the end pin would work instead of smashing it with a hammer?

Heat does melt the pins bob but its not precise enough, by the time you have an end soft, the whole pin collapses into a puddle These are very small



there is a specialist MFH page on you-tube as well as a motorcycle build page with some very clever guys building and the unanimous opinion is this cant be done to the extent that no one i have encountered even buys these motorcycle kits anymore.

Of course cant be done is like poking me in the eye with a sharp stick but short of machining new accurate pins i am still trying to work it out. I have contacted a guy that contract makes 3D parts for models in fact he made the wheels on my recent Alfa build but he says 3D is too brittle for this, you almost need a hard rubber more than a soft metal. You want the detail of resin/3D and the softness of Tamiya plastic.

This the problem,
The pin is .6mm and the hole in the side plate is .8mm. The plate should be a snap fit over the pin but its 25% to small.



By the time you have 2 plates on a pin there isn't enough left to expand to more than the .8mm required to cover the hole.

Replace it all with brass tube and rod?