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Post by arcticwolf on Nov 21, 2021 22:10:00 GMT -5
An Italeri ( AKA Protar I assume) kit, brand new fresh from Italy (saved $100.00 and 3 weeks delivery, yaay). I was going to build a Bentley but Brian asked for a FIAT and since he's my friend.........OK, the real reason is I am fresh out of BRG paint and Italian Red I have 4 cans of. Here's what you get:
A big box:
24 pages of instructions, body parts, and a box full of tubes, wires, nuts and bolts, and a wrench just in case you don't own one:
Oh yeah, 4 rubber tires and a very cool sheet of PE, including a wood grain floor no less.
There's 6 parts sprues I think:
There's some of that vinyl/rubbery whatever - same stuff Accurate Miniatures used - that nothing known to mankind will actually glue together.
Kit looks great. Now I get to embarrass myself by screwing it up - sorry, building it- live in front of you all.
Total departure for me but I'll give it a shot.
Paul
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Post by kyledehart5 on Nov 22, 2021 6:04:49 GMT -5
Oh wow, this looks awesome. Look forward to watching you build it!
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Post by indy on Nov 22, 2021 9:31:13 GMT -5
Looking forward to this one getting built. I saw the kit and was impressed.
What is the best tactic for the rubbery vinyl? Pin it? Bin it? LOL
Jordan
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Post by hurtubise56 on Nov 22, 2021 9:52:46 GMT -5
Well, that looks like a lot of fun! Gee, Paul, I didn't expect my vote to sway you THAT much (I know, it was really the paint situation)!
I hate that vinyl stuff, too. Tough to glue, tough to paint. I usually replace it with Pro-Tech or similar materials.
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Post by Gary Davis on Nov 22, 2021 13:05:47 GMT -5
This is going to be a good one to watch, for sure.
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Post by arcticwolf on Nov 23, 2021 15:26:46 GMT -5
A beautiful piece of photo etch brass, which they want you to paint "wood". Whatever "wood" is. Seems like a crime, but I gave it one very light mist of brown. Looks like wood.
There are no paint instructions to speak of, and I paint everything. No colour reference photos from 1927, the car doesn't exist (it was raced once and then scrapped), so just best guess what they would have done or used back in '27. Most of the parts are screwed together which bothers me not as I build bikes. A lot will also get glued because I don't like my models falling apart while I'm building them.
So that's step 4, now put back in box until step 18. If you said it was the deck of a North Sea tug boat I'd believe you. Painted satin black, red, and a semi gloss clear over the chrome. Alclad for the brass bits.
Very simple and nice fitting so far.
Now I have to snowblow the driveway.
Paul
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Post by hurtubise56 on Nov 23, 2021 15:39:09 GMT -5
Nice start, Paul! I like what you did with the floor "wood", looks great. Sometimes it's nice to build something where you aren't trying to replicate something exactly. I enjoy researching race cars and making them look "real", but it can get tiring after a while, that's why I've been doing the figures and show rods I mentioned before. Just make it up as you go!
We got about 4 inches today, but it should melt by Thanksgiving. Spent the day finishing filling the woodshed by the house, we have to bring the wood from the splitting shed behind the garage, about 200 feet from the house.
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Post by kyledehart5 on Nov 23, 2021 16:15:30 GMT -5
And with that one sub assembly I’m already hooked. This will look great. I agree, sometimes it’s nice to not have to worry about reference photos or recommended colors. Heck, I’m not good enough at building where I get to hung up on that anyway. Lol!
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Post by arcticwolf on Nov 23, 2021 19:12:33 GMT -5
I'm doing some research on "cars from that period", just as a guideline. But you guys are right, having a bit of artistic license is a nice treat. That was the best part of building the Gerhardt, I was building "my car", not trying to replicate somebody else's.
And thanks to everybody who commented on that build, it's nice to get the feedback.
cheers
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Post by Chris on Nov 24, 2021 8:20:55 GMT -5
Paul this going to be a very cool build, Thanks for sharing. Funny you mention Artistic License, my Mom who was a professional artist in many mediums, saw about 6 of my models at a family gathering and she made a comment that made My life! "She said "Your Models are Truly a Piece of Art and You have become a Great Artist" My Mom always spoke her mind and that day she made me feel like all my devotion to little model cars was worth it.. Yay for "Artistic License! " Keep it up! Chris
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Post by arcticwolf on Nov 28, 2021 5:49:51 GMT -5
I should have known. It's really a Protar kit, meaning everything looks great and nothing fits. I'm not joking, even 2 flat parts with pins and holes that mate together, don't! Anyway, this beast has a unique engine. Looks like a V12, but it's not. It's a U12. 2 inline 6 cylinders, 2 crankshafts in a common crankcase, I presume geared together somewhere. In this photo, the red part is the intake manifold. If I ever build another, I'll just leave them out - they will never be seen and they interfere with putting the blocks together properly. However, this one has them:
This shot shows the U configuration, and the "not quite right" fit of the various bits.
Just to be really weird, the two blocks have individual exhaust cams, but share a common intake camshaft. I wouldn't want to be the poor bugger trying to set the valve timing on this thing:
So that's the basic engine, now on to the fun part.  |
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Post by arcticwolf on Nov 28, 2021 6:12:00 GMT -5
To get to this required quite a bit of modifications, and scratch built a couple of little bits, but I think it'll work out OK - the obvious mistakes will (I hope) be buried later. A lot of what was chrome got stripped and painted. That "loop" at the top is the coolant manifold, and I figured if I was building it in 1927 I'd be a plumber and use copper. The brass lines are I believe part of the oil supply system.
The colours are various Tamiya gunmetals, AK satin black, Model Master aluminum, Alclad brass with a Microscale clearcoat, Testors copper enamel - whatever works!!
This pic shows the terrifying aspect of the car. The left pedal is the clutch, the right pedal is, best I can determine, a transmission brake, and the round "button" is the gas pedal - it pushes a rod which activates the throttle butterflies beside the supercharger. The drum brakes on the wheels are cable activated by pulling on a big handle on the outside of the car with your right hand.
So picture yourself braking with your right foot, right hand, shifting with your left while double clutching and turning the steering wheel into Lesmo at 100+ mph.........
Better him than me!
Later
Paul
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jj66
Podium Finisher
Posts: 363
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Post by jj66 on Nov 28, 2021 6:34:18 GMT -5
Great start!
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Post by hurtubise56 on Nov 28, 2021 7:36:32 GMT -5
People in normal life have phobias: Heights; spiders; snakes, etc. Modelers have them, too: Protar; MPC; IMC, etc. Great looking engine, your metallic colors look perfect! This is going to be one awesome model!
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Post by arcticwolf on Nov 28, 2021 10:57:55 GMT -5
People in normal life have phobias: Heights; spiders; snakes, etc. Modelers have them, too: Protar; MPC; IMC, etc. Great looking engine, your metallic colors look perfect! This is going to be one awesome model! OK, that was good for my morning laff.
IMC is a four letter word around my place.
Thx.
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Post by Gary Davis on Nov 28, 2021 15:00:51 GMT -5
Man Paul...great information about that engine. I used to sit at the BACK of the class...now I'm upfront for sure. That engine sure looks good!
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Post by indy on Nov 29, 2021 10:13:58 GMT -5
A U12 - wow!! Love the work and the sympathy for the drivers. This car fits the Hemingway quote about auto racing being one of the three true sports.
Jordan
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Post by kyledehart5 on Nov 29, 2021 16:23:31 GMT -5
I built a Protar kit once. 😳😳 You’ve got that looking great!! Such a wild engine design too
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Post by arcticwolf on Dec 2, 2021 17:41:45 GMT -5
Progress report. To be honest, this is ceasing to be fun at times. I don't mind screws, but the older I get the harder they are to handle, and a lot of what Protar did is totally not needed at all. I have resorted to drilling out and dowelling, like the rear spring shown below:
That white part is supposed to be a nut and bolt. When I'm done I'll cut off the dowel.  This has the added benefit of making up for some of the screws I've dropped, never to be seen again.
Here's the wheel instructions, and the parts tree:
So there are 6 parts per wheel, plus 8 screws and a tire. 2 screws thread through all 6 parts. Yeah, sure they do. After about 2 hrs, I concluded this would be sheer luck, if at all, especially as if you don't get all the discs lined up exactly right, the register on the spokes is wrong. So once again, some drilling so I could rotate them smoothly, and some temporary dowels:
Once aligned, I cut an index mark on the edge of the rims, glued all the hubs together and installed the 4 screws at the rim edges. Times 4, at least it didn't have 2 spare tires! But you get this, which I think is a very nice accurate wire wheel:
They could have accomplished the same thing just by molding in some pins and holes and letting us just glue it! Yep, Protar!
My whine for the evening. Cheers.
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Post by arcticwolf on Dec 2, 2021 17:47:04 GMT -5
To relieve stress I did some painting. The rad shroud is Tamiya TS8 over grey primer, the body is over red oxide primer. Now I know how to get a real Italian Red! I resprayed the rad shroud to match afterwards.
Later gentlemen.
Paul.
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Post by indy on Dec 3, 2021 9:46:42 GMT -5
Great work, Paul. Enjoying your creative problem solving.
Jordan
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Post by kyledehart5 on Dec 3, 2021 10:25:34 GMT -5
Looking great. And I’m pulling my hair out in sympathy looking at those tire parts and instructions.
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Post by Gary Davis on Dec 3, 2021 11:35:11 GMT -5
Way to stick with it Paul. The tire looks damn good, and the body paint is spot on...
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Post by arcticwolf on Dec 3, 2021 12:40:55 GMT -5
Looking great. And I’m pulling my hair out in sympathy looking at those tire parts and instructions. Thanks.
They could have made it easy. Once I gave up on their idea and did it my way, it takes maybe 15 minutes per wheel. I had the same problem building Hailwood's bike. I used the detail up kit for the wheels and chain, I'll never do that again! I was about ready to check myself in to the local loony bin.
cheers mate.
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Post by arcticwolf on Dec 3, 2021 12:45:58 GMT -5
Way to stick with it Paul. The tire looks damn good, and the body paint is spot on... Thank you. Just shows how transparent those reds really are, but I think it's a proper "Italian Racing Red" now.
I might try it over black primer just as an experiment on something later.
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Post by arcticwolf on Dec 3, 2021 12:54:36 GMT -5
A U12 - wow!! Love the work and the sympathy for the drivers. This car fits the Hemingway quote about auto racing being one of the three true sports. Jordan Hemingway, so I'm guessing bullfighting is another one. Damned if I can think of the third! 
I'm watching FP2 from the new track in Saudi Arabia, somebody is going to get seriously hurt at that place.
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Post by hurtubise56 on Dec 3, 2021 13:50:11 GMT -5
Third one is mountain climbing.
Excellent progress, Paul. The color looks perfect! Wire wheels are a pain, no matter how you do it. Michael's new P/E method seems pretty straightforward, but I haven't actually assembled one yet!
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Post by arcticwolf on Dec 3, 2021 16:00:56 GMT -5
I'm looking at this:
A test fit shows that the engine, well, it doesn't fit. That I can fix, with a bit of adjustment. But it's a fight to get it in, and they want a whole lot of bits hung off the chassis which look very delicate and breakable to me. So I'm ditching the assembly order completely. Next the engine goes in and then I'll worry about the rest of it.
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Post by kyledehart5 on Dec 3, 2021 22:07:44 GMT -5
Well, I for one, am looking forward to the continued progress. Sometimes I wonder about those assembly orders. Not unusual for me to throw those out the window myself.
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Post by Gary Davis on Dec 4, 2021 13:00:14 GMT -5
That chassis looks GREAT Paul. As far as the assembly order...I look at the sheet and do it the way it will fit. I don't really toss it as sometimes I'll cut a part off the tree and forget what the number was..LOL or where it was suppose to go. Sooo, I keep it just in case.
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This has the added benefit of making up for some of the screws I've dropped, never to be seen again.
