This is how I made the nose mold for my Chevy II Midget. This is a blend of High tech and lo Tech. There are many ways to accomplish the same thing, This is just how I did it. First I modeled the space frame in 3D on the computer. This is the plan I used to build the actual frame. I then modeled the nose and hood to get the shape I wanted. I then CNC'd out some 1/8 scale models in Blue foam to get a better idea of the styling. After many subtle changes I ended up with the shape I wanted. Now That I had the shape I wanted I cut the nose in the computer into 22 pieces so the pieces would fit on my small cnc machine. I then started cutting out all the pieces. LOTS of foam chips to vacuum!!! Once all the pieces were cut out I cut a piece of 1/4" mdf board the shape of the back of the nose to give me something stable to glue to and to handle and then starting using spray glue to glue all the pieces together and ended up with this. Once the nose was all glued together in one piece I gave it a sanding using a fine rasp to smooth all the joints together. I found that the Pink foam actually sands and machines much nicer than the blue. I then coated the whole thing with 3 layers with a mixture of wood glue and water letting each coat dry before the next. This did 2 things. It made the surface hard enough that you can sand and handle it without poking a dent in the foam and more importantly it sealed the foam so you can spray primer on it without the primer eating the foam. Once the wood glue was good and hard it was time for a nice thick coat of drywall mud. Let it sit overnight and sand away the next day. I did this several times until I got it nice and smooth. I forgot to take pictures of the next step but it is easy to imagine. Once The drywall mud was sanded smooth I sealed it with a layer of shellac. I don't know if this was necessary or not but I thought it might help to keep the primer from soaking into the drywall mud and give one last layer of protection over the foam before primer. I the primed and sanded until it was ready for mold making. I have made a few molds before and it is a big messy job that I really don't have the setup for. So once my buck was made I took it to The Glass Hand hear in Cincinnati. They do great work and the price was not that much more than if I bought all the materials myself. Here is the mold and nose made off of the foam buck. Here it is trimmed and fitted to the midget. And with the hole cut and grill mounted. I am going to make the hood for this car the same way. Hope this is useful for some one.
I never would have got that far in modeling it in Cad , great idea cutting it in so many pieces , it came out nice , Beaulieu
Very nice. Where did you get the tail section. I have been looking for someone who sells one for some time. Gibbs
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