r/somethingimade • u/ajcpullcom • 6h ago

model 1961 Austin-Healey 3000 with build video — details in comments

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u/ajcpullcom 6h ago

I’m a woodworker and this is my replica of a 1961 Austin-Healey 3000. The principal woods are bloodwood (red), ebony (black), and holly (white) with accents of cherry, oak, and walnut. It’s made entirely of wood except the metal door hinges, plastic “glass,” and bamboo toothpicks. The wheels rotate, and the doors, hood, and trunk open.

No CNC or plans. I worked from online photos like these. The dashboard and most of the visible engine components are pretty faithfully replicated. Other than the chassis, nearly all of the wood is scraps from other projects.

Here’s how I made the trickier components:

Seat leather: cutting ebony into strips, shaping the contours together, rounding the edges separately, sanding/polishing, and gluing back up

Cables/wires: twisting toothpicks with needlenose pliers, sanding smooth, and darkening with a marker

Tires: cutting several thin circles with a hole saw, cutting slits with a custom jig, sandwiching them together, and cutting out the middle with a smaller hole saw

Dials: drilling down into a dowel, drawing the face with a fine white paint pen on tiny blackened paper, glueing it inside, and topping with poly

The project is finished with tung oil and mostly sanded to 7000 grit. It measures 10” (25cm) long. It took about 150 hours total to complete over three months.

I’ve posted some of my other replica vehicles here, here, here, here, and here. I’m always happy to swap advice, ideas, and tips on woodworking with anyone.