Marvel's Hydra Coupe 1/12 scale full scratch build

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Hi all,

I finaly started my next project. As mentionned in my Pocher Rolls Royce restoration wip, I wanted to transform the Rolls into the Hydra Coupe. But the Rolls being a 1/8 scale model, the would make the Hydra at over 36 inches long. A bit much. So I decided to leave the Rolls and it's restoration for later and will be making the Hydra in a more reasonable 1/12 scale. A scale that I know and like very much. It will still be a huge model at a little over 24 inches long and 8 inches wide. But it should be more manageable. Another plus is that I can use some parts from my bentley project as references since it's also 1/12.

This model will be 100% scratch built or rather 3d printed. Some aluminium and brass will be used here and there along with leather for the seats but otherwise, it will be made of printable resin.

Like on the Bentley, I would like to have a working engine and drive train. The difficulty will be to find the info since this car doesn't really exist other then as a movie prop. All I have are a few pictures. I also know that the rear drive train is based on the 1940 (or about) Mercedes G4. I did find some info on that. But otherwise, I'll be using some major 'modelers leeway ' to create most parts. I don't intent to do as much details as I did on the Bentley but, then again, I might get carried away.

So the first step is to design the 3d model before printing anything. So far, I've got the tires and wheels done plus I started the rear drive. Being a 6 wheeler, it has 2 differentiels and 2 drive shafts. Plus a pretty funky suspension system.

For those of you that have no idea what the Hydra coupe is and as a reminder for the others, here's what I'm aiming for

geru482m21z91.jpg.7a71900d47e94f87a6749eafdd44c9af.jpg


Here's the G4 drive train

207735318.jpg.9c0695e307d2df89e0bdfb2d80eb7e4d.jpg


and here's what been done so far



boy, do l have a long ways to go!
 
good luck François
as usual promising start, I will keep following with great curiosity
 
I did a bit more work on the drive train and aside from a few bolts, fittings and brackets, it's pretty much done. I should be able to drive all 4 wheels from the drive shaft. I inserted a top and side view of the complete car so I can better see if the parts I'll draw up have the right shape and proportions. Like I said yesterday, this car is a movie prop, it doesn't really exist so no dimensions to be found. All I have are 2 printed artist drawings that I can mesure off. Last thing I did today was to insert the Bentley in the Hydra assembly just to better see how big this model will be. Both car are the same scale !!





 
I started work on the frame. At close to 24 inches long, it will need to be printed in at least 3 sections. Printing will definatly be a challenge unless I get a bigger printer. I also modeled the blower and front bumper. And started the rear suspension. The rear end is based on the 1930's Mercedes G4. It's a complicated suspension system to reproduce when all you have are 2 pictures.

Frame





Blower and bumper





Real blower and bumper

captain-america-car-captain-america-the-first-avenger-premiere-hollywood-C5HNN4.jpg.501de06afccbc74ca96ec6b3b557b999.jpg




rear suspension embryo





G4 rear suspension

REARFRAME.jpg.6968acd4f8ada49599e8968cfb08e577.jpg


G4REARHUBANDSUSPENSION.jpg.b3382cfd029bff1fa55420b727739538.jpg
 
Those look like air cooled Volkswagen jugs on either side of the "blower". On second inspection, maybe not. A twin cylinder motorcycle part?
 
Pebbleworm, it's the air intake on the left side and the carbs on the right. The guy who designed this car used the Bentley's blower as a reference, he just made it bigger like everything else on the car. Everything is supersized except for seats, dash, steering wheel and other controls. Here's a picture of the blower mounted on a bentley, you can clearly see the origines.
Blower Car Zero - 6.jpg
 
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Hi all,

I finaly started my next project. As mentionned in my Pocher Rolls Royce restoration wip, I wanted to transform the Rolls into the Hydra Coupe. But the Rolls being a 1/8 scale model, the would make the Hydra at over 36 inches long. A bit much. So I decided to leave the Rolls and it's restoration for later and will be making the Hydra in a more reasonable 1/12 scale. A scale that I know and like very much. It will still be a huge model at a little over 24 inches long and 8 inches wide. But it should be more manageable. Another plus is that I can use some parts from my bentley project as references since it's also 1/12.

This model will be 100% scratch built or rather 3d printed. Some aluminium and brass will be used here and there along with leather for the seats but otherwise, it will be made of printable resin.

Like on the Bentley, I would like to have a working engine and drive train. The difficulty will be to find the info since this car doesn't really exist other then as a movie prop. All I have are a few pictures. I also know that the rear drive train is based on the 1940 (or about) Mercedes G4. I did find some info on that. But otherwise, I'll be using some major 'modelers leeway ' to create most parts. I don't intent to do as much details as I did on the Bentley but, then again, I might get carried away.

So the first step is to design the 3d model before printing anything. So far, I've got the tires and wheels done plus I started the rear drive. Being a 6 wheeler, it has 2 differentiels and 2 drive shafts. Plus a pretty funky suspension system.

For those of you that have no idea what the Hydra coupe is and as a reminder for the others, here's what I'm aiming for

geru482m21z91.jpg.7a71900d47e94f87a6749eafdd44c9af.jpg


Here's the G4 drive train

207735318.jpg.9c0695e307d2df89e0bdfb2d80eb7e4d.jpg


and here's what been done so far



boy, do l have a long ways to go!
Just saw the start of your new build-log of this great project, François. I sat my chair and will follow it with great interest.
Regards, Peter
 
Made a little more progress on the rear suspension today. Started the central pivot assy on which the rear bogie is attached. I have to say that I'm really enjoying this. I have very little info to base my design on so I'm basically winging it as a go along. I was a machine designer for over 35 years so designing stuff from the ground up was pretty much my way of life. But what's so refreshing with model making and this projet in particular is that contrary to the machines a used to design, this doesn't have to make sense or work. It just needs to look good. And the best thing of all, it just needs to please me (and you). So nice...

REARSUSPENSION_3.jpg.4cb5cb30063887f47794f33ee5a03ed8.jpg


REARSUSPENSION_1.jpg.f231693235cc9d7310d808154bcfa1fe.jpg


REARSUSPENSION_2.jpg.388dd4f5ee7c268be903e8c9cab31328.jpg
 
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A bit more done on the rear end. I added what I think are torq arms, all the ubolts for the leafsprings are there as are the 4 hanger posts with the hanger brackets. I believe that the 4 hanger brackets should be made out of a flexible material or maybe even a strap so that the complete bogie assembly can pivot by it's center. I'll figure something out.

REARSUSPENSION_4.jpg.9a5b48bc658614c6b8728a29542c4405.jpg


Torq arms

REARSUSPENSION_5.jpg.ddee55d6a1ce565f8c6d4705f4256280.jpg


Hangers

REARSUSPENSION_6.jpg.6f7ddd8db6f144d8e8a7a31d256d571b.jpg


With tires and wheels

REARSUSPENSION_7.jpg.f8fa4ede4e50bb6f571a5eb09e00aaff.jpg
 
I assembled the differentiel I printed and so far so good. I had to tweak a few things like adding a compression spring to maintain a proper contact between the crown gear and pinion and modifying a few parts for better printing but aside from that, everything went together as planned and the diff works well. I also decided to design proper universal joints for the drive shafts.





You can see the compression spring on the left side of the crown gear



View attachment 20240808_220653.mp4

And the u-joints

 
Dear François
you are doing wonderful work it's great pleasure to see your beautiful artOkay:)
 
I started the ground work on the cockpit. I inserted 3 bentley seats ( I'll eventually model new ones with the correct shape and upholstery pattern) and the Bentley's steering column. The idea is to position these items correctly so I can continue with the transmission, firewall and eventually the engine. After a few minutes of web search, I found a 16 cylinder motor but it's too modern and the proportions are wrong. I need a very long v16, I'll probably end up modeling it myself. I might use some parts from the v16 I found such as pistons, con rods, crank... it's extremely detailed.





 
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