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

[Namabiiru]

Francois, if you won't be offended by a suggestion, it occurs to me that a length of tubing between and on either side of the bonnet hinges through which the hinge pin could run would fill the gap between bonnet halves and give the whole thing a cleaner look. If the tube were fixed to only one bonnet half (although in theory it might not need to be fixed at all), it would still allow you to open and close the bonnet.

 

[François]

Namabiiru, not offended at all, it's a great idea. I have to say that it's been the plan from the start, I'm waiting for final assy since these tubing have a very small diameter and are very fragile.

 

[rshousha]

Hi Francois,

Where is it going to go when finished? Do you know any good restaurants in the area that might want to have it? What about at Tremblant? I have a nephew who is in the CGI business. Perhaps I can reach out to him and see if there's an office in Montreal that might want it.

 

[François]

I want to contact Daniel Simon who is the original designer of the Hydra Coupe for the movie but not an easy thing to do. Contacting your nephew is a good idea!

 

[François]

The body is slowly coming together, and the fit is surprisingly good. The doors open and close easily as does the trunk lid. I still have a lot of fitting and sanding/puttying to do. I'll ve applying a sandable primer before paint. Here are some shots as of today. I also took a few shots of the undercarriage.

View attachment 20250502_140340.mp4
Door sill, will be chromed with black lettres

Trunk lid prop bar added

aluminium micro tubing over brass pivot rod

Leather trial, it's a nice reddish brown that I think should look pretty good with the gun ship gray of the body. (Thank you Rick for the leather)

Undercarriage

Close up of the wired starter

 

[François]

The fenders on this project were among the hardest to 3d model and they prove to be just as difficult to print. They are also very big so they need to be printed in 2 parts. My first try didn't come out so good. I printed the left side fender and althought it has good dimensions and fits as it should, the front amd middle were badly printed. I'm hoping the second try will do better. It wasn't easy to properly locate it again the body so I made a hook up rail that fits perfectly against the body and is glued there. The inside edge of the feeder can then be hooked on the rail in order to be in the correct spot.

Hook up rail glued to body

Fender edge near rail

Front of fender badly printed

But it's promissing

 

[François]

The second fender print did the trick. The fit is pretty good althought I'll have to wait till the final assy to properly align everything.

 

[François]

Did a bit more work on the Hydra Coupe today, both under-fender cases are printed, as is the fender step mats. I also did the fender step ladders and wired the rear brake lights. I'm almost done with pre-primer sanding and should be ready to prime pretty soon. I still need to print the rear wheels side covers but not a big deal.

Side case

Step mats and ladder

Wired brake lights

Body parts ready for primer

 

[Namabiiru]

I can't wait to see this bad-boy painted. Are those magnets you're using for the doors on the saddlebags?

 

[François]

Namabiiru, yes they are little magnets. I use them thru out the model to hold different things in place like the rocker covers, sump cover, hood, sideboxes covers and rear wheel covers. Not very strong but just enough to hold and make a nice little click sounds.

 

[François]

With the rear wheel covers done, that concludes the body printing phase of this project. I think I'll do the rear seat before priming the body.

 

[Ted Robinson]

This I call a "PROJECT"

I second that!

 

[François]

I did the rear seat today. Here's how it was done.

I first made a paper template of the back rest.

Which was then transfered to a .015" thick plasticard

I 3d printed a bunch of domed strip to create the back cushion shape

Which were glued to the plasticard

Next came the leather

And once glued

I then cut a piece of white foam for the seat cushion

And covered it with leather

But I didn't like the gap between the back cushion and the body so glued a 1/16" dia styrene rod to create a lip that will hide the gap. The rod will be painted the same color as the bodywork.

I'm very happy with the result even though it's not final since I have to remove the seat for painting.

And the last project for today was to make a new bigger spray booth. The hydra body didn't fit in the old one. At 28" wide x 14" deep, it will accomodate bigger parts.

 

[Namabiiru]

Wonderful-looking seat!

You might also consider extending the rod along the seatback forward on the tops of the doors.

 

[François]

All body parts have been primed, wet sanded and primed again. They are now ready for final color.

 

[rshousha]

Is that the hood of your TR6? Nice workbench!

 

[François]

Yeah, it is!!! 15 years ago, I would't even breather near it. Now it's a workbench... either I'm losing interest with age or losing workspace.