1929 Lea Francis Hyper

Richard Lea and Graham Francis entered into partnership in August 1895 to make advanced and relatively expensive cycles in Lower Ford Street, Coventry. These bicycles swiftly gained a reputation for quality and reliability. Less successful was Lea & Francis' first attempt at motor cars 1903, which had a strange three-cylinder underfloor engine, and did not sell at all well.

The company did much better with motorcycles, which were built from 1912 to 1924. By the end of motorcycle production Lea & Francis had moved on to their first successful light cars powered, on the whole, by engines from Meadows of Wolverhampton. These cars enjoyed some success in competition, but higher power necessitated a stronger chassis and transmission, which came in 1927 and was used both for the popular 12/40 and the exciting Hyper, Britain's first supercharged production car.

This did well in racing, winning the 1928 TT, but the effects of the depression, exacerbated by an unsuccessful attempt to move upmarket with a twin ohc six-cylinder car, resulted in receivership in the early 30s.

Building the Model

For this model I ventured into a whole new technology (for me), 3D printing and the 3D CAD modelling required for it's operation. The parts that I wanted to create with this were the wheels and tyres, the bonnet louvres, and the radiator surround. It took me a couple of months to familiarize myself with the technology and I finally produced parts to my satisfaction.

My printer is a Sovol SV06, and the software I use is Autodesk Fusion. The material I print with is PLA, a low melting point plastic that is easy for a beginner to work with and which is easily filed, sanded, and painted.

For the wheels, the rims and hubs were 3D printed and both had to be drilled to receive the spokes which were steel music wire cut and assembled as I had always done. The tyres were printed in two halves, glued together, and press fit on to the rims.

The remainder of the model was built using my regular techniques:

Manual drafting to 1/18th scale.

Chassis built from soft-soldered brass.

Bodywork from 0.5mm polystyrene thermoformed over a wooden pattern made from laminated clear poplar.

Windscreen frame, steering wheel, handbrake lever, and other small parts hand fabricated from brass.

Headlamps moulded with automotive bodyfiller in a silicon mould.

Dashboard instrumentation using gloss photos of gauges mounted behind drilled and painted plastic panel.

wooden pattern for forming body panels

wheel parts from 3D printer

wooden pattern and mould for headlamps

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