Dutchy's AC six, Part 1

Hello everyone.  This is part one of my blog on building the AC Six pattern by Dutchy.  In October, 2024, I contacted Jan and asked him if he had every considered drawing up plans for the AC Six roadster that was featured in the original Downton Abbey series and I sent him the still photos of Lady Mary and her husband Mathew sitting in the auto.  I really like the lines and style of the old cars and this one just really peaked my interest. 

  Jan wrote back saying that he appreciated the inquiry and that he had a number of things on his plate but he would consider it.  A couple of months later, I received a note from Jan asking me if I could provide him with any additional information on the AC line of vehicles.  I was able to find a number of photos of the 1925-1929 era models as well as some definitely specs regarding wheel base, general dimensions and other specifics.  Thus began Jan's journey toward a new addition to his collection of models.  Throughout the process, he would send me insight into where the design was going and ask that I review the work to date to see if I could possibly catch any omissions or miscues.   The model was taking shape nicely and in February, the plan was available and he posted his completed version on Craftisian.  I meant to get the plan and start a build as quickly as I could but a knee replacement in mid-February impacted my shop time and so I have just recently started work on the plan.  I truly appreciated Jan's interest and his invitation for me to be a part of the design work.  While I truly didn't  contribute a whole lot to the end result, just having someone to discuss aspects of the plan was a help to Jan.


Recently I started working on building two version of the AC Six:  One will be natural wood and one will be a painted version.  I know there are purists who only like the natural wood creations and I would agree.  I also like to build into the models level of detail that are consistent with the actual colors, accessories, gauges, and other items that were unique to the particular model so I decided to start building two of them.  That is a bit more work than I anticipated but I am happy in the time I spend in the shop.  Also as a side note, when I build one of Jan's plans (and this will be my 5th) I incorporate both Metric and Imperial dimensions.  The imperial comes into play for the dowels/holes.  All else is metric.  

So far I have completed the chassis platform and the axel mounts.  These parts are straight forward and really created no concern with the complexity or fabrication.  I decided to glue up the blocks for the Front end and while those were setting up, I started facrication of the rear rumble seat section.  This was where I first came into looking into the best way to fabricate the part.  While Jan's plans provide plenty of of measurement and templates and drawings, there are still times when proceeding forward without some degree of thought and problem solving can lead to a less than desired outcome.  That was the case with the rear section.  There are definitely a few of the pieces that to fabricate and then try to fit together will take the patience of Job to do.  So here is my approach.

Here is the template for the rear section that houses the rumble seat and in addition to the two side pieces, there are only 4 other pieces to fabricate.   The piece highlighted with the arrow is the most tricky (for me anyway) to try to fabricate and then get to precisely fit into the construction.  So, I took another route to get to the finished framework.

I constructed the entire backend out of square stock.  I also cut the angle, pointed out with the arrow, but left the rest of the  stock square and did the initial glue up.

Parts 1 and 2 are the side panels before final shaping and so it is just basically a square box that I will run through the bandsaw to cut to final shape and size.

Here is the side taper marked out and ready for the bandsaw.

The first taper cut and ready to go to the second.  Keep track of the piece just removed because you will need to reattach it using double stick tape so that you have square footing to rest on as the final shape gets run though the bandsaw, following the  out line shown below. You can see the double stick tape on the interior surface (above) and the oval outline on the outer cut off (above).

The side shape marked out and ready to be sent through the bandsaw.  Making the piece this way insures that the lid will meet the sides as it should and that any contrary pieces will be cut from larger stock thus all fitting together.

This is one completed rear section with the second to be fabricated the same way.  Make sure the lid closes and sets agains the stop properly.  Keep the lid tightly closed during final shaping using blue tape. 

The completed rear section.    

While I am sure there are other ways to make this particular piece, I found that by going the route I did, the rear section is fabricated cleanly and everything fits as it should.

I hope this will help anyone who is planning on making this model.  Please send me your thoughts and comments.  I'd appreciate your insights.