Finally opened the box for my build, 1/20 Revival multi media model of the 1936/37 Tipo "C". Here is a brief history about the pre-war Auto Unions (Wikipedia):
The Auto Union Grand Prix Racing cars, types A to D, were developed and built by a specialist racing department of Auto Union's Horch works in Zwickau, Germany, between 1933 and 1939, after the company bought a design by Dr. Porsche in 1933.
Of the 4 Auto Union racing cars, the Types A, B and C, used from 1934 to 1937 had supercharged V16 engines that developed almost 620 horsepower. All of the designs were difficult to handle due to extreme power/weight ratios (wheelspin could be induced at over 100 mph (160 km/h)), and marked oversteer due to uneven weight distribution (all models were tail heavy). The Type D was easier to drive because of its smaller, lower mass engine that was better positioned toward the vehicle's center of mass.
Between 1935 and 1937, Auto Unions won 25 races. Auto Union proved particularly successful in the 1936 and 1937 seasons. Their main competition came from the Mercedes Benz team, which also raced sleek, silver cars. Known as the "Silver Arrows", the cars of the two German teams dominated Grand Prix racing until the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939.
For 1936, the engine had grown to the full 6 litres, and was now producing 620 bhp (460 kW); and reaching 258 mph (415 km/h) in the hands of Rosemeyer and his teammates, the Auto Union Type C dominated the racing world. Rosemeyer won the Eifelrennen, German, Swiss and Italian Grands Prix and the Coppa Acerbo (as well as second in the Hungarian Grand Prix). He was crowned European Champion (Auto Union's only win of the driver's championship), and for good measure also took the European Mountain Championship. Varzi won the Tripoli Grand Prix (and took second at the Monaco, Milan and Swiss Grands Prix). Stuck placed second in the Tripoli and German Grands Prix, and Ernst Von Delius took second in the Coppa Acerbo. In 1937, the car was basically unchanged and did surprisingly well against the new Mercedes W125, winning 5 races to the 7 of Mercedes-Benz.
My build will represent the dual rear wheeled 1936 car championed my Hans Stuk during the hill climbing events.
For those not knowledgible of the Revival brand of model kits, they make a economy level kit with plastic wheels and bodies, and a high end kit with metal pre-painted bodies, full metal chassis and running gear, and beautiful metal spoked wire wheels; the kit I'm building is the latter.
The box comes with a nice photo of the completed model on the top:
After taking the cardboard box top off, you see this (covered in a plastic shell):
While the large instruction book is nice, underneath the instructions is better:
Here are the little parts:
The large metal bags of parts:
Plastic:
Dually wheels and decals:
The four major complaints with the Revival kits are (a) the lack of accurate details, (b) many large mold or casting lines and flash on all metal parts, (c) many instances where the applied paint on the bodies bubble or flake off, and (d) extreme difficulty putting the rubber wheels over the metal inner liners. Oh!, and one other thing with the Revival kit line is the inconsistant engineering quality from kit to kit. While some build beautifully, some are much more difficult to fit correctly. Other than the mold lines and flash I hope to not run into any of the other issues during the Auto Union build, but at least it will not be a surprise if I do.
The instructions sheet is laid out in typical Revival manner, meaning if you are expecting part by part arrow and written instructions and paint call outs you will be disappointed:
I've built several Revival Grand Prix kits over the years, so I think I know what to expect. Up next, the build starts....
Ben / DRUMS01