A few things to try and show the process, and trials this thing has been through.

The over sized wheels I mentioned were going to be SWEET, had they turned out correctly. The centers had the look I was after, though after the sleeves got machined, they turned out to be 23" in scale I think, and once I mocked them up, they were entirely too large.

The process:

I drew up the wheel centers, printed some test pieces, and like the look, though I felt they needed to be a bit bigger, the original spokes were too narrow and I felt the wheel was a tad too small. Upon re-design I printed new pieces and then ended up stalling because I couldn't find anyone to machine the wheel sleeves. I finally came across a group of modellers who had a Facebook group dedicated to big scale modelling (1/16th-1/8th). It was there I got hooked up with a guy who could do what I was looking for. So, I set out to get the wheels finished, one of the major hang ups of this project.

This is how big they turned out:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...sulsmpdfm.jpeg

You can also see here that the guy machined the wheel sleeves for the center to be rear mount, I was looking for front mount, to replicate a 3 piece wheel. They were also machined with a "stepped" lip and I was looking for a smooth transition from the lip to the center. So, we talked it over and I sent them back to have him separate the sleeve and the mounting ring so that I could adjust the centers to the depth and mounting orientation that suited the build.

Here is what I got back:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...pshlt4ulmz.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps6tedhk7s.jpg

Unfortunately when doing that, I was left with sleeves that did not have a smooth inner diameter, and mounting rings that did not fit snugly inside of the centers. Leaving me with parts that were all but useless. In the midst of all of that I thought about the lack of tires for the build, and once tires were on it, they wheel/tire combo was going to be ENTIRELY too large and look like a Donk.

Fast forward a few months and I got bored and started digging thought my box of parts. I found some tire casts that a guy in California sent me to mess around with, my original prototype wheels, and found that everything fit together almost perfectly:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psp0l2hxrw.jpg

They also looked right at home on the rear of the Camaro (notice the body was still black with hockey stripes at this point)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psxifa50cf.jpg

So, that set the wheels in motion to start trying to source parts, and reinvigorated the build.

It was at this point I came across some old reference photos as well as photos of the body when it was painted Sunset Orange Metallic in the beginning. This set me on a course to strip the body, which took about a month of soaking in various chemicals, and prepping to re-paint it SOM. This time around I used a mail order auto refinishing site and picked up some SOM in a spray can and got the finish I was after, minus the tiger stripes.

So, where does this leave me you may wonder?

The wheels need some work. The centers are a little loose in the sleeves, not so loose that they aren't usable, but loose enough to make getting them mated together square and looking right could be an issue. Ideally, they need drawn with a "stop" for the wheel center at the proper depth for the offset I'm looking for, problem there is, I don't know what offset I'm after! These aren't necessary, but would definitely help. In addition to that, I would like the spokes on the wheels just a bit "beefier" as the look anemic as they sit. The brakes that I designed need to be scaled down, as they were designed to fit the larger wheels, and now that I'm going with the smaller ones, they will not clear. Then, once all of the adjustments are made, I need to "group the parts" in a Solid Works file and upload them to be printed.

Anyone familiar with solid works? lol

There are some guys doing some pretty cool things. 3D printing has REALLY opened up the 1/12th scale and larger stuff. There is a guy replicating Big Red, he commented earlier in this thread. He did a 3D model of the tires and is working on casting them in rubber.

Wheels are a whole different story, if you don't have CNC abilities to work in small scale, you are out some major coin. I'm still working with my 3D renderings and hopefully can order some test prints mid July to see if it is going to work. I haven't completely given up on getting wheel sleeves machined, though I am prepared to work with the printed sleeves and try to give them a finish that I like and gives the look I am after.

EDIT:

I ordered about $60 worth of 3D parts last night. I should have all of the major components for the drive train now. Whipple charged LS3 with a TKO 5spd

Not a huge update, but figured I would chronicle some of the growing pains.

Moving to the smaller wheel means I need to change the size of the brakes that I drew up in Solid Works. I'm hoping to be able to accomplish this in the shapeways terminal and not have to completely re-draw parts.

Here are a couple of shots of the wheel size that I will be using. The aluminum ring has the same ID and OD as the printed sleeves, and of course a shot with the brakes behind the current wheels.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps7q7xeyjg.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ps7nsamuxe.jpg

Hopefully I can find the time to scale the brakes this weekend and order some test prints to make sure that everything fits correctly after the changes.

Well, a box of goodies showed up today! Whipple, TKO 500, bell housing, and other misc goodies. I should have consulted with Ron on the bell housing. The mounting flange on the T5 doesn't match the bell housing, but that is an easy fix! The whipple is a very nice piece and the conical air filter mates right up. I will probably remove the fuel rails and injectors and create my own. I need to pull a few refence photos, it looks like the way the whipple is going to sit, I may need to scratch up a valley cover for the LS. Time to start counting for machined bolts and goodies!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psn16kq3pn.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psifaj59nv.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psskgfcexy.jpg

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This is so cool.

Thanks. I've been working on getting my work bench cleaned up and a spot to do some airbrushing.

I dug out all of my machined aluminum bolts this morning. I also compared the TKO 500 to the kit bell housing from the original motor. It looks like it should mate up pretty good, I need to compare it to the back of the LS3 block and see how it matches.

I'm hoping I can get some time this week to get these parts cleaned up, bolt heads removed, and primed. Then I can start on shift linkages, fuel injectors and rails, etc.

Put some color on the whipple this evening. The color on the body is burnt iron, magnesium on the TB and the backplate, semi gloss black on the pullies. I added some machined aluminum bolts the the back plate. Lots of detail still to add, but it is a start.

Due to this being a single unit, the fuel rails, injectors, and TB will be used and detailed. The only way to really super detail this thing would be for it to be printed in multiple pieces, or to cut it up. I feel that with some wiring, fittings, and paint it will ve convincing once it is nestled into its home. I will be adding some more detail to the TB to look like a DBW unit.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psyxpjjznd.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...psmpcipbfk.jpg

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