One of the things I'm most looking forward to in this project is a category I will call "conceits." These are things that aren't really necessary and don't contribute to the function of the car - but make it more fun. After all, this is a toy car. It should have some fun stuff.
Some of the other Replicars I've seen have included a two- or three- watch rally timing set on the dashboard. First picture I saw of that, I knew I had to steal that idea. Hunted eBay for some cheap stopwatches. And snuck in a regular pocket watch, you know, for actually telling the time. This isn't the final version but gives the idea. In the background of this picture, to the right, you can see an amplifier that I made with a machine-turned (aka engine-turned) finish. A piece of aluminum plate like this in a prominent location begs for a machine-turned finish.
Now this would be a conceit on top of a conceit - building a multi sequence actuator arm. A complex unnecessary addition to an already unnecessarily complex conceit. Ray and Dad are both encouraging this... as if I need any encouragement to go from sublime to ridiculous.
I am not trying to make his a replica Aston Martin - it doesn't have to look exactly like a DBR-1 - but I do want to ensure that everything on it has a "period correct" appearance. In other words, nothing screams "I DON'T BELONG ON A 1956 BRITISH SPORTS CAR" from 50 yards away. In this vein, one thing that was going to drive me insane was looking at an instrument cluster labeled "Unleaded Fuel Only" in an obvious 1990s font.
This isn't going to fool anyone on close inspection, but it should at least pass the "glance test" as something that might conceivably be found on an old British sports car. I ordered a print of these on Duratrans so they might work with the original Miata backlighting scheme. The other part of this idea is to make some 3D printed gauge casings, so I can move the three smaller gauges away from the two big ones.
Still not sure I've hit on the right color. Or maybe I should say, the exact shade of the right color. Like a lot of British manufacturers, Aston Martin's traditional racing livery is green... but Aston Martin's has usually had a hint of aqua or turquoise, and has generally been metallic. Below are some examples that dance around, if not directly hit, the color I'm looking for.
Both Aston Martins - both green. The color I want is somewhere between these.
And lastly of course, the wheels.
Ideally I would like to put center cap knock off wire spoke wheels on this thing. Other than being heavy, insanely expensive, difficult to maintain, and possibly presenting backspacing or hub compatibility problems, wire wheels are just awesome. Main supplier choices would be Dayton Wire Wheels next door in Ohio or MWS in the UK (they actually made a most of the wheels on classic British sports cars).
Another option would be to go for the look of the old style Dunlop alloy wheels. Although the originals were in fact alloy castings, it would be possible to get very close to the same look using inexpensive stamped steel wheels - and then find a fake knock off spinner to fit them. They would be cheaper and lighter and easy to fit... but there is just something about real wire wheels.
And of course you have to have a grill badge. This one seemed apropos.
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