Austin Maestro - CAD & 3D printing project

[Burkitt]

A while ago I started working on a Sketchup model of an Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 bus, with the intention of having it printed by Shapeways. Unfortunately after a lot of work I came to the conclusion that the complexity of the bus surpassed what I was capable of doing with Sketchup, and decided I would have to learn to use Blender, a more advanced CAD program.

The bus being rather complex, I thought I would choose a simpler project to learn the program with. A while ago Jim S-W asked me about the possibility of doing a few 80s cars for 3D printing, so I picked the Austin Maestro, which I remember seeing around a lot in the 90s and has a very basic boxy shape (well that's what I thought at first anyway!)

 

 

 

These two images show my progress on the Blender model so far. What looked like a simple shape at first glance has of course turned out to be a bit more complicated than that, but it makes for good practice.

At the moment the model is just an outer layer, I still need to add the thickness of the plastic to make it printable. There is also a bit of work left to do on the detailing, making the curved surfaces round rather than angular, and of course the chassis and interior need to be made.

 

Paul

[PhilJ W]

Would the van version be a bit easier? They were used by both BR and BT and would be a popular subject. (On the subject of vans, a Ford Transit Connect would be nice. )

[Burkitt]

32a, laser scanning the Scalectrix Maestro would be possible... if I had a Scalectrix Maestro (££), and a laser scanner (£££££). Also, though it would be faster and probably more accurate, I wouldn't learn Blender, which is the main aim of the project.

 

Phil J W, I think I actually used to have a toy BT Maestro van. I might have a go at one after the car.

 

The Transit Connect is probably to recent to do for 3D printing - while no-one is likely to care about the design rights etc around a twenty-something year old car made by a defunct company, Ford is more likely to be protective of a current model.

 

Paul

[f1_mw]

Interesting stuff... in another life I'm secretary of the Maestro and Montego Owners Club, so am very interested in seeing how you progress with this!

[backofanenvelope]

Paul, how do you go about managing the thickness of the model one you have built the shell? Nice work btw..

Tom

[jonhall]

Interesting stuff... in another life I'm secretary of the Maestro and Montego Owners Club, so am very interested in seeing how you progress with this!

 

 

Oh dear! My Maestro had so many problems that I ended up doing a DIY mechanic course at night school, whenever the tutor would say 'of course, I've never had one of those go wrong' I would put up my hand 'cos mine had!!!

 

My Montego on the other hand might have been the best car I will ever own, It was bought for £300 (because the Rover 200 I had had seized the engine) and lasted 6000 miles/6 months, broke down only the once (fuel pump) and i sold it for £800 having changed the engine in the 200!

 

Its a great shame that they were built in a factory that only had Friday afternoon shifts, from crap specification nparts, because they were actually quite comfortable and reasonably well designed.

 

Jon

[BernardTPM]

The thing with car bodies (having built a few in model form) is that they very rarely use straight lines and even where they do, they are almost never straight in more than one plane (the original Fiat Panda excepting ). Good luck with this!

 

One feature of the Maestro are the front wings that are wider on their top surface at the front than the back by a wide margin, unusual on an '80s design.

[Black Sheep]

if you're after something simple and 80's, the vehicles I learnt 3D modelling on were old land rovers and mk2 escorts.

[AMJ]

You might think that it's a defunct company but many of the rights to produce models (mass market) passed through to BMW (IIRC) with certain others held by Gaydon.

[009matt]

You might think that it's a defunct company but many of the rights to produce models (mass market) passed through to BMW (IIRC) with certain others held by Gaydon.

 

I think BMW just kept the Mini and landrover (which was sold on) and sold the rest back to MG Rover. When they went bust, Shanghai Automotive took ownership of most of the branding, apart from the City Rover - which was owned by TATA and the Rover 45 shape which was owned by Honda. If you look at the MG website, you will see this info and more

[jbg06003]

Very interesting work Paul. I've some experience of ProE so can appreciate your work so far.

 

My first car was one of the 2 litre EFI MG variants - a really underrated car - I had virtually no problems with it and it was quick, comfortable and really practical. I'm sure that I still have some Kodachromes of it so if you need more pics just drop me a PM.

 

Look forward to seeing the model develop.

 

Bruce

[m0rris]

As 009matt has pointed out the rights situation is a bit of a mess. Tata, "MG" and Mini all have claims to parts of the BL pie. When you then factor in that the Maestro is, or at least was until recently, in production in China: http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/06/faw-lubao-ca6410/ you have a hell of a rights screw up. Apologies for the massive thread diversion there.

 

How are you getting along with the maestro? I'd certainly be interested in one if the oppportunity to get one arose! How would you go about production of a little batch... repeated copies from shapeways or resin copies?

 

Good luck,

 

m0rris

[AMJ]

I had a look and found an interesting laser scanner from Leica Geosystem's which got me thinking if rather than drawing a car by hand it might be feasible to 3D scan it. (Sorry about the detour above.) This what various makers are doing to get drawings for some locos. Nearly sent an email to a previous employer asking about borrowing the kit and a tripod but they specialise in survey gear.

 

I'm interested to see how this project progresses.

[Burkitt]

Thanks all.

 

Tom, to add thickness I'll just create another set of faces a suitable distance inwards from the outer shell, then make sure they join up all the way around.

 

Bernard, you are right about the lack of straight edges. Even one that is definitely straight I have realised is not horizontal as it first appears, leading to considerable adjustment to the design.

 

With regards to rights, the Austin brand is now owned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation. Not sure whether they, Tata, or someone else actually owns the Maestro design, but I can't see it ever coming back!

 

 

This view shows progress to date. There haven't been any dramatic changes since last time, but I have done a lot to refine the shape of the body to get it more accurate. There is still a lot to do, the back is proving particularly tricky.

 

Paul

[BernardTPM]

Backs can be difficult, especially on hatchbacks. The Maestro's predecessor, the Maxi, occupied me for some considerable time before I reached this:

Note the actual line of the hatchback door isn't yet scribed (nor any of the door lines, etc.) so the rear pillars look thicker than they will do when those and the rainstrips, window edges, etc. are in place. I found it useful to wet the smoothed surfaces so I could see where the actual edges were, rather than see the changes from plasticard to filler, etc., though you need good light for this, of course, preferably natural.
I suspect you've got a number of things going on there: the roofline may need to fall more from the B pillar backwards and the sides curve in more from the wheel centre-line to the rear lights (proabably the front too, though over a longer distance so less 'angle'). I spent quite some time measuring Maxi's at classic car shows and its sometimes surprising how far out you can be even when all the major dimensions (length, width, height, wheelbase, overhangs) are right, especailly when it comes to the way they curve in both top to bottom and centre to ends.
P.S. that rear bumper is sagging slightly - the Blu-Tack must be going!

[Burkitt]

Thanks Bernard, that master is a very nice bit of modelling. As you suggested, the rear sides curve in quite a bit, which helps resolve the angles, though it's difficult to see. I think the back is pretty much sorted now, though it may need a few tweaks once apply the modifier function to smooth the curves out.

 

 

The Maestro body is mostly done now, with the inner layer giving it some thickness added this evening.

 

 

I still need to tweak the wheel arches a bit, but I think I'll do that once the curves are smoothed.

 

 

Working on a CAD model like this, I do see how errors creep in to RTR models, as getting a complex shape exactly right is very tricky and there is a temptation just to say "it'll do" even when something isn't quite correct.

 

Paul

[BernardTPM]

Thanks for your kind remarks on the Maxi, Paul; I really ought to finish it even if the market for 4mm kit cars is shrinking.

You've done good work on the Maestro. Interesting how relatively small changes can make quite a difference. However, there's one more element that need to be added before you're there: the side windows have curved glass (top to bottom). In fact most all-new design British cars since the mid-'60s (the Vauxhall Victor 101 in 1964 was the first) have had curved glass*. As it happens the Maxi, though introduced in 1969, had flat glass because it used the doors from the earlier Austin 1800 which was late 'old-school'. The curving of the Maestro front pillars is quite obvious in some front 3/4 shots.

Hope this doesn't cause too much gnashing of teeth!

 

Bernard

 

*There are exceptions, such as the Triumph 'Ajax' derivatives and most Jaguars before the mid 1970s.

[Horsetan]

It occurs to me that if you:

 

- lengthen the Maestro's bonnet line

- widen the whole

- add a boot to the rear

 

then you have the basics of a 1970s VW K70.

[Burkitt]

Thanks for pointing out the curve of the windows Bernard, I'd completely missed it 'til now. Comes of paying too much attention to the somewhat rubbish drawings I've got and not enough to the photos.

 

Paul

[BernardTPM]

That's OK Paul. At least it should be easier to correct as a CAD at this stage than if you'd been making it out of styrene or brass!

[Burkitt]

Yep, if it was a real model I may have thrown it out the window when you pointed that out! As it is the window curve should be fairly simple to add, though I've not done it yet as I wanted to get the body smoothing done first - my thinking being it should be easier to judge a curve once it is properly visible.

 

These views show the Maestro with the smoothing applied. Still need to fix the wheel arches and windows as above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul

[BernardTPM]

The smoothing has shown the characteristic 'scallop' in the doors well. I think curving the window area might help resolve the top end of the hatchback.

[Trebor]

It occurs to me that if you:

 

- lengthen the Maestro's bonnet line

- widen the whole

- add a boot to the rear

 

then you have the basics of a 1970s VW K70.

 

 

a little bit of adjustment and you could also have the Austin All Agro (Austin allegro) but is has to be either mustard yellow or rustic brown...... hehehe

[Burkitt]

Nearly there now, I think I've got the body sorted and the chassis and interior are done too. Just the wheels left to go.

 

 

 

 

 

Paul

[Adam1701D]

That is really starting to look the part. I always felt the Maestro was quite a handsome vehicle, compared to the prevailing "jelly-mould" design of the times.

 

Now, if you were able to shrink the CAD to N gauge, you would make a lot of sectorisation-era modellers very happy!!