Turbine Project part II

After the turbine engine was assembled, came the suspension system for
the front and back. The actual Turbine had a special front suspension design so the
whole engine and transmission can be removed all at once for service.
The model's wheels and axles have a special assembly designed to make the tires turn freely and still be connected to the steering spindles firmly.
The front "K" frame had to be
joined, top to bottom, with some play to allow the spindles to move freely, and have
the springs positioned.
The original kit had styrene springs for the front suspension.I've seen coil springs for models, but this is crazy...it's an actual working spring. Since the kit had only one (the other might have been digested by a dog), I decided to use actual scale springs that matched.
After placing the spindles and springs between the top frame and bottom, I glued it at strategic places and held it with a clothes pin until dry. Here you can actually see the coil spring in place and looking like an actual suspension system.
The rear suspension was simple...just an axle glued to two springs. The tricky part was to glue the "retaining pins" through the backing plate of each wheel and into the spindle shafts on the brakes...trying not to get any glue on the backing plate. This was done old school, by applying the Testors styrene glue inside the spindles with a toothpick. With the "retaining pins" glued in place, and not the backing plates, this allows the wheel to spin but keep the brake drum stationary. Make sense? No? Here's a diagram from the instructions:
It even suggests a drop of oil between the brake discs and the wheel plates!! Actual oil in a model car! That's detail!
The same "gimmick" had to be done on the front wheels, except they had to fit on the steering spindles. After that was done, I attached the tie rods to link the two spindles and glued on the tires.

If you noticed everything has been painted flat black, then glued together. When gluing styrene, the paint isn't a barrier. The glue melts the paint right along with the plastic, then they both dry and bond. Trying that with super glue would not work. Super glue will melt the paint, but never cure, leaving you with a sticky mess. FYI.

Next time...the interior.