Scratch Building
Finding 1/32 Plans

by

Daniel J. Dyke

 

Getting blueprints to work from is a task. But finding them in 1/32 is a task -- not really.  Blueprints are blueprints, but the have to be properly scaled.  I have built six bodies from scratch and sold not a one.  Does this make me an expert?  No, but I learned a lot from an expert Victor Fergusson of True Scale Products (TSP) which is different from TSRF.

Here are some places to look for blueprints:

• http://www.smcars.net/ (You have to register but it is free)
• http://jpracing.racerplanet.com/modules/myalbum/viewcat.php?op=&cid=1
• http://www.mgussin.freeuk.com/00Plans.htm
• http://vsrnonline.com/Mags/MC/MC_Plans.html
• http://www.suurland.com/blueprints_archive.php

If you know of more please tell me and I will add it to the list.

You will have to have as many views as possible:  front, side, back, and top are necessary.  Also get pictures from various angles.  Once you have your plans here is what you need to do to get good 1/32 blueprints:

1. Find the wheelbase of the real car but don't get it from the plans even if the say they are 1/32 plans.
2. Divide the real wheelbase measured in inches by 32.  The result is the wheelbase of a 1/32 car.  We will call this value X.
3. Measure the wheelbase on the plans when printed out.  Sometimes printers don't print exactly what you want.  We will call this value Y.
4. Divide X by Y and multiply by 100.  Round the number to the nearest whole number. We will call this Z
5. Take the printout to a reduction copier and set the reduction percentage to value Z.  Copy the thing and the copier will convert whatever scale the original plans were to 1/32 plans.

Say I want to do a McLaren Mk 1b in 1/32.  I got this off the web a long time ago from one of the sites.  It is a side view of the Charlie Hayes McLaren Chevrolet.  It was one of the cars nicknamed "Nickey's Nouse."  Here is the line drawing of the side view.

It prints out like it is 1/24th scale but it is actually 1/22.  The print has a wheelbase of 4.125".  The real car had a 91" wheelbase and so if we divide by 32 I need plans that make the wheelbase 2.844."  So when we do the math we find that we want to set the reduction to 69%.  Here is what the car will look like after the reduction.

How it appears on your screen is unimportant, but how it prints is.  When it is printed go back and measure the wheelbase.  If it is off change the setting on the copier (they can be wrong) until you get the wheelbase.  Now use the same setting for each view.

Simple way to get 1/32 plans isn't it?

 

 

Dan