Italeri 1:12 Fiat Mephistophele Finished

dlh

Dashboard looks splendid.  Great work.  What did you use for the shiny brass finish?

Dave

 

Alclad brass.  I put it on directly over the kit plated parts. Brightened it up nicely.  I have also brush painted some small parts with Testors gold enamel.

Proud of my solution- lost a plug the other day.  Had it in tweezers while attaching lead and it launched.  Not able to find it so I had to scratch one.

The plugs are less than 1/4 inch long, max diameter of 80 mils, pins are 40 mil.  I lucked out- had 80 mil plastic rod and 40 mil brass rod on hand.  Biggest grief was drilling a 40 mil hole down middle of 80 mil rod, but I got it done.  Before putting rod through, I chucked the rod in my little adjustable chuck that fits in my battery dremel.  The speed control on it is awesome.  Filed the rod to shape.  Fit the rod through, then painted it.  Got wiring half done now.  Pics soon.

Nice save....

Ben

This is a real treat to watch your work. The kit seems to be pretty darn amazing itself. Like your detailing of the engine wire(s) as well. 

DRUMS01

Nice save....

Agreed.

Looking great. 

This is the cooling manifold connecting to the crankcase.  Neat thing is the decal hoseclamps.  I was worried about how easy they would be to apply.  Indeed they were a bit stiff and setting solution did not soften them enough- they wanted to straighten out and the glue did not hold the end down.  But a little decal solvent did the job.  I think they look pretty good.

Still working on ignition wiring.  I have the wires from the looms to the plugs.  But now I have to do the wires from the distributors (there are four of them) to the looms.  Have the first set of six- only eighteen to go!

They look great. 

I agree, the clamps, your colors, the detail, all look great!

Ben

Finished the ignition wiring. 

Now working on fuel lines.  There is a binary tree of short lengths of line and T-fittings.  The coupling is vinyl tubing- stiff in circumference but bends easily under compression.  With that length of stuff I am pushing against, it is very difficult to push wire into tubes made of bits of spagetti!

Photographed in the right setting this would look very real. 

Wow, I'd like the engine alone for my shelf.  Fantastic 

Got the fuel lines and part of the throttle linkage on.  It is ready for installation into chassis now.

Putting those fuel lines on was very much like nailing jello to the wall.

Wow!

Got the engine in the frame Saturday evening.  Got some lines hooked up but more yet to do.

Also got the first wheel finished- four planes of spokes.  Thought it would be hard but was very easy.  The four planes of spokes and a hub piece go together with screws.  Very easy and it looks real nice.

Beautiful. 

Got the exhaust manifold and pipe on, and completed the throttle and ignition controls.  Also got the very nice decals on, and the windshield on.

Started working on the drive chains.  The chains have individual links.  The instructions imply that the sprues will act as jigs.  Not sure how hard it is going to be.  I think I got a bad start, and trying to back up knocked a couple of links out of the sprue.  It looks like one has to follow directions exactly, but the drawings are not the best and one needs to keep exact sides of links up, but the drawings are not real good about showing which side is which.

Hi Don:

 Now I see why they called it that!. That is one mean looking antique Automobile!!

Does the exhaust need to be painted yet? 

Nope, the manifold is grey, with what looks like some leaks at joints, the pipe is a steel color wrapped with a long piece of rope for burn protection.  I am going to add a bit more soot to the end with a drybrush.

Looks great!

Dave

WOW - WHAT A BEAST. The car with the engine in it looks like it was a huge automobile.

I think the right person got ahold of this kit.

Your engine work is superb, and the engine looks 1 to 1, not like a model kit engine at all.

I'll continue to follow along and enjoy your skills and patience. Great job so far .

Dave

I see. Looking great. 

Really nice looking.

Well, I got the first chain done and installed.

There are five sprues of chain pieces- part of the sprue acts as a jig for assembly- do NOT cut any parts free before reading and thoroughly understanding the process.  Each sprue makes up an eighteen link section of chain.  Two full pieces swaged together make up one of two 36 link chains.  Then, two four link sections are added to each 36 link sections creating two 40 link chains.  They should have recommended using the fifth sprue to make it in two sections of four links each, with the rest of the pieces as squares.  It is extremely hard to take apart a section to make shorter segments!  Prying the outer links off risks damaging the swagged links.  I can see that now, but not before I finished that fifth section.  Fortunately there are a few extra links, but I have had to redo so many I may run out and have to scratch build some.  Took me pver a week to make the first chain- we'll see how long to do the second (I took the best sections to make the first chain, leaving me with crudier pieces to do the second.

Well, it took me almost two weeks to put the left side chain together.  By the way, I made a little jig to make the final assembly of the chain easier.  I drilled  two holes in a block of particle board, the distance between the rear axle and the drive sprocket.  I put little rods in the holes so the drive sprocket and the rear sprocket/brake drum are the right distance appart for final chain makeup- big help.

On the right side chain I used my best strips to create the chain.  I knew I would have a harder time on the left chain because the strips of links were not as great, and links kept failing.  It was okay at first- I was fixing two breaks for every break that happened.  But I got into the situation where one new break would happen for every link I repaired :-(

The kit does provide a few extra chain links, both of the outer and inner links.  I was running out of links though.  The outer links were so fragile- being made from 020 mil plastic, about a hundred mils wide and about three-eighths long, with a 050 mil hole in each end.  I dispaired when I thought of having to make some links from scratch.  I ended up with one spare, though maybe I should have replaced some of those outer links instead of repairing them. Anyway, I got the chain and rear wheel on.

Just finished reading your build. Really sorry I didn't follow it but I will be now. Outstanding job Don! 

Had one of those kits a long time ago. Didn't get very far before I totally gave up and sold it to a friend at 1/2 what I paid  for it. It was a bear to build and I just wasn't up to the challenge back then. Have 2 of the 1/8 Pocher Ferrari Testarossa V-12 engines. Built 1 with the plan to put it in the rear of a 1/8 '32 Ford. Been working on it off and on for years. Might get it done some day. The other V-12 has parts missing and the rubber(?) wires are all melted. Probably why I got them both so cheap. 

Jim 

Stay Safe.

That looks great. 

Thank you Don for providing such a detailed and clear "tutorial" on building this amazing kit. It looks like an excellent alternative to one of the old Pocher kits for a lot less $. The straight 6 looks almost identical to me to some of the Mercedes engines that are included in the 1/32 Wingnut Wing WWI aircraft kits. I have never built any car kits larger than 1/18 and generally avoid them due to cost and space but might make an exception for this kit. The injection molded heavy gage wire wheels just look right to me - wheels are so important IMO for a scale car model. I was reading on one of the kit retailer web sites that this car was clocked at 146 mph in 1924. If so, that's really incredible for the time (and crazy dangerous on those tires!!)

John

Well, I finally got it on its wheels.

Now all I have to do is mount the hood, a radiator overflow tube, and- the base!  This thing is fragile, reasonably heavy, impossible to pick up without risking damage, so I think I need to mount it on a base.  That will probably take more time than other things, but at least I am confident I can make a base without major problems.