1/20 Revival 1936-37 Auto Union Tipo C Grand Prix Racer

Before moving forward into Step 3, I wanted to talk about the amazing technology found in the Auto Union V16. Without any doubt, the powerful rear engine Auto Unions were ahead of their time. Their sheer “Leistung” or power was absolutely legendary. Through my research for model building authenticity I was taken back by the design and charastics of a V16 engine designed for auto racing actually back around 1930. 

Though he never completed any formal engineering training, Porsche’s résumé was already long before he set upon the task with the Auto union race cars. He had built the first hybrid-electric car, in 1901, fitted superchargers to Mercedes-Benz SSK race cars in the 1920s, and drew the first sketch of the original VW Beetle on the back of an envelope. He was also a brilliant organizer, harnessing the talents of those working in his engineering consultancy such as chassis specialist Karl Rabe and Josef Kales, an aircraft-engine designer whom Porsche put to work on the Auto Union. The jewel at the center of Porsche’s mid-engine P-Wagen was racing’s first purposed designed V-16 engine. Instead of chasing horsepower with a soprano redline like Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, and Masarati, Porsche sought tire-melting torque for the Auto Union delivered at a lower, more basso profundo rpm.

Rather than use fewer but larger cylinders, as were some of Auto Union’s competitors, more cylinders with smaller bores kept the engine’s length reasonable. A major benefit of the novel mid-engine layout was the integration of the engine, transmission, and differential components, thereby saving the weight of a driveshaft. Indeed, everything about the Auto Union V-16 was revolutionary. A 45-degree V-angle provided even firing intervals and narrow width. Common practice in the 1930s to forestall sealing issues was an integrated head-and-block assembly made of welded iron and steel bolted to an aluminum crankcase. Instead, to save weight over that construction, Kales tapped his aircraft-engine experience to cast the crankcase, block, and heads all in aluminum. Forged-steel bore liners, so-called “wet liners” as they were surrounded with coolant, were retained by the cylinder heads.

Since the redline was a modest 5500 rpm, dual overhead cams were deemed unnecessary. Instead, to further save weight, a single camshaft supported by nine bearings operated all 32 valves. Finger followers nudged the intakes, while each exhaust valve was opened by a cam follower moving a horizontal pushrod in touch with an outboard rocker arm. This clever arrangement had never been used before the Auto Union V-16, nor has it been seen since.

A 45-degree V-angle for the cylinders (4) provided even firing intervals and kept the engine narrow. One central camshaft (5) operated the intake valves (6) via finger followers and the exhaust valves (7) via horizontal pushrods and rocker arms. The two valves at the top of each cylinder were spread 90 degrees apart inside each hemispherical combustion chamber.

To spare the weight of an intake manifold, a semicircular channel ran the length of the engine between the heads. Fed at its aft end by a Roots-type supercharger, this passage delivered the fuel-air mix prepared by a side-draft two-barrel Solex carburetor to the cylinders via short intake ports. Backfires were a real danger, requiring a novel solution. In those days, they were caused by the carburetor’s inability to respond promptly to abrupt changes in throttle position, such as a quick lift to arrest a sliding tail out of a bend (the Auto Union was notoriously squirrelly). Air and fuel mixtures momentarily went out of whack, causing the engine to stutter, a pop you can hear in many carbureted cars from either the exhaust or the intake. When the Auto Union’s cylinders misfired, it sent flame from the combustion chamber back up the intake and ignited the fuel-air mixture within, to potentially disastrous results, especially for the supercharger. Thus, a simple spring-loaded plate was added at the channel’s forward end to vent the excess pressure of the misfire to the atmosphere before it could do damage. It also served as a wastegate to limit the peak boost reaching the cylinders. One bad side effect was venting toxic fuel to the atmosphere, which sent a trail out the back of the car and into the face of anyone attempting to pass.

One pump scavenged oil from the pan for cooling and containment in a reservoir, while a second pump delivered lubricant to the V-16’s moving parts. Block skirts extended well below the main-bearing bulkheads to enhance the engine’s stiffness. The lower edge of this casting dropped at a 7-degree angle below horizontal to provide extra material at the rear where the engine was bolted to a five-speed transaxle. A forged alloy-steel crankshaft supported by 10 main bearings provided one throw for each pair of I-section forged-steel connecting rods. The engine could have gotten by with nine main bearings, but an extra main bearing was added to support the clutch and flywheel, located aft of a gear-driven vertical shaft that spun the overhead camshaft, supercharger, oil pumps, and pair of Bosch magnetos. Flat-topped pistons fitted with three rings were held to the rods by full-floating wrist pins.

A 7.0:1 compression ratio with 9 psi of boost yielded 295 horsepower at 4500 rpm and a mighty 391 lb-ft of torque at only 2700 rpm. A table-flat torque curve allowed lapping most tracks using only two gears, and tight courses such as Monaco could be driven entirely without shifting. Mercedes drivers revved their 3360-cc W25 straight-eights a full 1200 rpm higher to achieve a peak output of 314 horsepower, but they fell 10 percent below Auto Union in torque production. 

Gasoline in the 1930s lacked the octane necessary to forestall detonation, so a witch’s brew of fuel was used consisting of 60 percent alcohol, 20 percent benzol, 10 percent diethyl ether, 8 percent gasoline, and traces of toluene and castor oil. Since that concoction’s energy density was lower than gasoline’s, the Auto Union’s 55-gallon fuel tank required at least one refill per race.

Car and driver eventually gelled for the 1936 and ’37 seasons, as Auto Union punched its V-16’s bore out to 75.0 millimeters, yielding a total capacity of 6006 cc, the largest piston displacement used by any manufacturer in this era. At the time, displacement was unlimited, there being no caps until the 1938 season. Wisely, Porsche had entrusted his engine man, Josef Kales, to engineer the V-16 with future displacements bumps in mind, so bore spacing and cylinder-wall thickness were not issues. This new Type C had a 9.2:1 compression ratio fed by 14 psi of boost and pumped out 520 horsepower at 5000 rpm and a potent 630 lb-ft of torque at 2500 rpm. Rosemeyer won the 1936 championship. (The majority of this posting was previously written by Donald Sherman, 2021), for Hagerty Media)

I felt the need to post this is for several reasons:

- 1st V16 race specific engine ever produced.

- One of the 1st automotive race engines to be entirely cast from aluminum.

- even firing 45 degres design.

- Forged steel bore "wet" liner technology in a 1930 race car engine.

- one cam operated 32 valves through a central location.

- no intake manifold, roots supercharger fed a central chamber of force induction.

- two oil pumps.

- 10 main bearings for the crankshaft.

- My explanation of the water intake tubes on top of the engine as fuel injector tubes was wrong. In fact there was no fuel injection, instead it was forced induction through a central chamber.

- My initial guess of the "Doo-Dad" in the front of the engine as a pump was wrong. It is the dump / wategate for the fuel blow back during backfires and boost settings.

- I initially posted a speed of nearly 250 mph but retracted it to 250 kph, again I was wrong, it reached over 270 MPH, WOW!!

This is a demon engine spawned in hades during the era. Now if it just the chassis and tires that could handle the power, could you imagine the capabilities of this beast!?

Next, finishing Step 3 of the Auto Union build. 

Ben / DRUMS01

The more I research the real cars, the more I find errors in the Revival molds. There are also plenty of omissions, details simply missing (?). I am just trying to make a very basic model look a little better than an OOB build. In this case it just happens to be on a metal model that was engineered in the 70's and without a lot or $$ behind the tooling. 

It really is not an awesome kit, it is a simple kit made complex with every surface, hole, or other type connection needing a complete de-bur, filing, leveling, polishing, etc. Now if this would come out looking like a top of the line Ebbro kit, then the work would be worth it. Still, if you want a model kit with a little detail, in metal, and don't want to spend over $300.00 USD for it (CMC), then this is really the only game in town for the modeling subject.

OK, enough whining about the ill temperament of the kit, after all I knew what I was getting into (sort of). For example, here are just some of the rubber parts provided in the kit that were replaced with metal, plastic, wire, solder, and guitar string. 



Since the last update I managed to mostly complete the detailing of the motor. On thing that surprised me was the design of the plugs on top of the supercharger. Specifically, by design, they were too tall to allow the engine cover to fit properly to the body (test fitting). That reminds me of the 1939 Revival Mercedes kit as it also had a problem with the engine cover fitting properly after the engine was installed. Anyway, my solution was to remove the long cast prongs and the fittings and replaced them with a representation of the turned ends of where the internal bearings raced on the blower drives (see below)

(Before)


(photo of real car but similar to my modifications on top the supercharger)


Other additions included more wiring where appropriate, transmission details, and painting. For example, I painted the water injection lines and bolts on the cam/rocker covers using a Molotow chrome marker; detail painted various bolt heads, wiring, etc. Here is how I plan to replicate the line from the fuel take to the engine (guitar string, solder, and hollow aluminum tube).



The only items remaining for me to scratch build are the oil filters with attach points (two), details for the shifting linkage, and the oil fill tube. (MORE ENGINE PHOTO'S SOON).

Step 2 begins work on the tube chassis. Part of the handling issues of the 36-37 Auto Union cars was the flex of the chassis when dealing with the power (torque) of the V16 engine. It appear that Revival got the tube chassis mostly correct. Now if the small details would be just as good. The instructions require very close attention to the details:



Did you notice the very small information concerning the cutting of a small coiled spring into four pieces? (two for the front and two for the back). Did you catch how they are installed in a perfectly shaped and fitted set of parts (much filing and fitting)? The front uses 5 parts for each side and the end result is very, very little movement once the suspension and tire rod are added. For the back they use four parts on each side. When they are completed, the movement is around 1/4 inch but decreases to less than 1/16 once the full suspension is added to the rear of the car. Did I say that every part has to be filed, sanded, and polished just perfect for them to work? Here is the difference of two parts; one still on the tree and the other finished/polished.



The front suspension is a small scale torsion bar type with ball ends attaching to the wheel. Here is another issue I found with the instructions versus the parts themselves. In the instructions, the thin brass disc on the face of the wheel spindle indicates it has three holes i it. The ones provided in the kit only had one hole that is out on the edge, see below. Pay no attention to the other items I've assembled, they will be described following this.



What this means is that while it will hold the ball joints and tie-rod end to the wheel, it does not allow you to use the screwdriver to tighten the tie-rod ends to the tie-rod. The tie-rod is not assembled to the car until the body is attached as it goes through the body; this will be a problem I will resolve later. 

The front suspension sub-assembly is inserted into the torsion tubes but first are inserted into a brass sleeve and then into the tubes. The back of the front wheels show good molded details, but the front by using the thin brass disc are severely lacking. In order to get the smooth wheel hub look through those pretty metal spoked wheels, I will have to add a thin plastic cover being the same size as the wheel. I will then smooth the external wheel circumference and paint it. From my calibrated eye, it should not effect the wheel mounting. And yes, the torsion bars are not in the correct positions in the photo below. They should be angled to the rear not front. I just set them together to give you an idea of what it will look like.



The rear drive line is assembled in this step, as a sub-assembly. They are not added to the frame until the upper body is mounted. I found another area of concern regarding the attaching of the half shafts to the transaxle in this configuration. Specifically, the half shafts are threaded tight to the wheel spindle which is through the wheel hub, suspension link and trail link. The only way those assemblies can be attached at the right trail and toe is to be threaded into the transaxle screws, meaning the hole rear axle assembly must be turned to thread the half shaft into the transaxle, while simultaneously feeding the leading suspension link through its hole in the body and have it screwed through the tube chassis. I think it could've been done better by assembling the axle half shaft to the transaxle and then insert the leading suspension link through the body for attachment separately. Last would've been the assembly of the remaining suspension link, wheel hub, and spindle. My problem is that I not only screwed them together, but I also glued them with CA cement too. Now they will not come apart without destroying them. This will be another thing for me to solve later. Perhaps I'm making something out of nothing, we will see.





Now we come to the control pedals in the cockpit. Plain and simple, the ones provided in the kit are terrible. The do not offer any kind of detail or are scale correct to the ones found on the actual car. In addition, the levers attached to the pedals in the instructions do not exist in the kit. Instead, they provided five pedals (?). Even if you cut the pedal off to use the stem of the pedal, they are junk. My solution was to create them from thin plastic. I also added pedal faces to better replicate the size of pedal on the real car.

Next was the radiator assembly. Oops! I'm jumping ahead to Step 3.... Anyway, the radiator is made up of three main parts; the main body, the top, and what looks like an oil or transmission cooler towards the bottom front of the radiator. The first thing was to make the radiator body and top one piece, then shape it to look like one piece. Careful inspection of source photos show that the radiator is missing other fittings, so I added them by drilling and scratch building using various extruded metal and solder parts. Here's the front suspension with the modified radiator attached.



The transmission cooler is a simple single part but the source photos show it needs fittings for processing the flow of fluid through it. While most of it will not be seen I am creating the fittings for the hoses to be added later. After finishing the metal part I used extruded plastic to create the nut or head of the fitting, drilled it, and then used some hollow core aluminum rod with solder inserted to avoid crimping it (see below). You can also see it attached to the front of the radiator in the chassis photos above. 



To close step 2 I also need to talk about the locations of the gear selector and brake lever to the chassis. Why does the instructions have a measurement from the second chassis cross member to the selector box but the actual model has a pin and the selector a corresponding hole; meaning there is no measurement? Also, why did Revival decide to attach the brake lever using a metal strap and screw threaded into the lever and not just a simple pin like the gear selector? I ask this because it was the devil to bend and flex the metal strap around the tube chassis while inserting a micro screw, while also holding the brake lever. Some how I managed to assemble it with only two hands after several attempts. Like I said, I think the pin or a hole threaded through the tube chassis would've been easier, cheaper, and look just a good. 

I will discuss the Radiatormore along with other chassis and interior bits in my next update (Step 3). I'm also going to talk more about the V16 marvel of an engine in the next update. Soon I hope to add paint to the assembled chassis parts. Thanks for following along and remember, feedback is encouraged! If you have any ideas that could help me with the build, please share them. Be safe, live, laugh, and love well; above all MODEL SOMETHING!

Ben / DRUMS01

Jumpin GeWillikers!

        Now that is some out of the Box thinking for sure!! Great final effect!

Just a quick update to show the progress I've achieved on the engine detailing.

In a previous posting I was challenging myself to come up with a solution to the large rubber ignition wire set-up. The one to the left is from the kit and shows how thick and unrealistic the plug wires look. The hybrid part on the right is the magneto top and wires that lead to the metal wire conduit. In my mind what better was to replace a rubber part that is suppose to be metal than with metal, right?



And now the big question; how do I make the individual plug wires come out of the metal tube, between the fuel injection tubes, and over and down to the spark plug? By studying the real photos I came up with a solution using a hollow aluminum rod and solder. 





The hollow aluminum rod will be the plug boot. It will lay over the plug and allow the solder to act as the plug wire (more to scale).



As far as how would they go into the metal conduit, well, they will not. As you see in the photos, you cannot tell where the plug wire goes after it feed beneath the fuel injection piping. My thought is as long as they lead to the conduit, it is assumed that they feed into it. 

Here's the engine to this point:

- exhaust headers added
- some of the painted details applied
- the spark plug boots and wires added 
- each conduit and magneto cap are attached above the right and left cam covers
- the supercharger is added with custom fitting details
- brass fuel lines also added to the carbs.
- the rear transaxle hoses, couplings, and half shaft boots were added
- the fuel injection plumbing has also been added. 





I still need to add clamps to the axle boots and hose clamps between the right and left injection lines; finish the detail painting of the nuts and bolts; add a couple more external lines on the engine block, etc. 

So, thanks for following along, let me know what you think or if you have any ideas to apply to the build.

Ben / DRUMS01

missleman2000: Like I mentioned in the first post, some of Revival kits are nice and other not so nice (as far as fit and accuracy, etc). While it is unfortunate the Mercedes is not "nice" in those regards, it can be built into something nice with a little effort. With your skills it should be a museum piece (I enjoyed the challenge an was satisfied with the results, you should be too).  

I am sharing this build on a couple other forums and was asked about Hans Stuk. Specifically, why didn't the Revival Model Company make the car for Rosemeyer, or one of the other 36-37 racers versus Stuk? Not having a solid answer I did some investigating and have this biography concerning Stuk. I think it fully explains why:

HANS STUK (King of the Mountains 1900 - 1978):

Hans Stuck was known as the 'King of the Mountains'. His forte was hill-climbing-or mountain races - but he was also an accomplished Grand Prix driver and record breaker. He competed until the early 1960s, collecting trophies and championships before finally retiring from motor sport to coach his son Hans-Joachim, who by the 1970s was one of Germany's leading racing drivers. Born in Warsaw (his parents were in business in Poland) on 7 December 1900, Hans Stuck enlisted in the artillery during World War 1. Afterwards he studied agriculture and engineering before settling down to help manage his parents' estates. His first car was a Diirkopp, little known outside Germany it was both fast and well-constructed. Hans soon set his engineering knowledge to good use modifying it for competition.

A quick road driver, his friends suggested he should compete in the Baden-Baden hill-climb in 1925, and bet him a crate of champagne he could not survive the distance! He did, and won his class. The following winter, Stuck tried his hand at ice racing while on holiday at Garmisch and won again. Then he decided to try some more famous events in 1926, entering his 2-liter Diirkopp P8B in the Salzberg and Latisbon hill-climbs and the Solitude races for fun. Again, he won his class each time. In 1927, Stuck was approached by Austro-Daimler to race one of their sports cars. Later, he graduated to a special, short-wheelbase 3-liter racing version. He won seven events in 1927, fourteen in 1928, nine in 1929 and twelve in 1930. In 1928, he was Swiss Mountain Champion, in 1929 and 1930 he was acclaimed as Austrian Mountain Champion and in 1930 he was European Mountain Champion. He was known as the 'King of the Mountains'. The crowds loved the spectacular driving style of the 6 ft 2 in blond extrovert.

In 1930, he visited Britain, and set a new course record at Shelsley Walsh. In 1931, Stuck was approached by Mercedes- Benz to drive their 7-liter SSK cars, and he won the Lemberg Grand Prix. The following year, when Mercedes withdrew, he bought his own SSK and took it to South America where he won the Brazilian Mountain Grand Prix. Upon his return to Europe, he repeated his win in the European Mountain Championship once more. In 1934, Stuck was chosen to lead the new Auto Union Grand Prix team, and soon learned how to handle the difficult, sixteen cylinder, rear-engined machines. After establishing new records for one-hour, 100 miles and 200 km on the banked Avus track in Berlin, Stuck won the German, Swiss and Czechoslovakian Grands Prix, was second in Italy and fourth in Spain. With four hill-climb victories to add to this list of achievements, he was undisputed German Champion (had there been a World Championship in pre-war times, Stuck would almost certainly have won this, too). He concluded his most successful season by taking a streamlined Auto Union to a 201 mph flying-mile record.

In 1957, Stuck joined BMW as a demonstration and racing driver. Driving a 3-liter BMW 507, he won the GT class in many hill-climbs. Later, he switched to the 700CC BMW saloon; in 1960, he won a twelve-hour race at Hockenheim with the little BMW, co-driving with Sepp Greger. In 1963, Stuck finally retired at the age of 62. He had participated behind the wheel in over 700 events during the 38 years, and won 427 times.

So, in that span of racing (more than one of the early era's), to survive let alone thrive is quite remarkable in itself. For him to create his legend in motor racing that has endured even today is exceptional. This is the drivers car I'm attempting to replicate.





Ben / DRUMS01

I looked in my stash yesterday, and confirmed I have the Mercedes from the same series.  My friends have said it is a terrible kit- I should just junk it.  But seeing what Ben has done with his kit, I am very encouraged, and I'm moving the kit into the queue.

Looking great so far. You have alot of work ahead of you. But with your talents and expertise I believe you will do a great job on it.

Well!

     It does look like you have a good handle on things though. I agree with you on Flash removal BEFORE Painting. But who am I to comment? I haven't built that kind of kit for years. 

Well Jim, while I've done several, this one is already becoming a challenge. 

Moving on with part 2 or phase 2 of Step 1. I managed to get some photos for the parts I'm going to replicate:





Perhaps I should've done a step-by-step picture shoot on how I made the parts:

- FRONT OF BLOCK PUMP(?) It started as an extruded plastic rod cut to the proper length. The center was drilled and small extruded plastic rod was added around the outside of the main part to replicate the contours where the bolts ran through the part. Next was adding the steps or features of the casting where I used solder for the facing and filed to shape. I still need to detail paint the bolt heads. The tube coming out of the pump is make of hollow aluminum simply cut and bent to shape with a spares fitting added to the end. 

- SIDE WATER PUMP(?): This part was a little more complex. It started as a larger size hollow plastic extruded tube. I cut and filed two holes across from each other. A similar sized hollow aluminum rod was bent to the approximate angle shown in the instructions and photo then inserted through both holes. Next was more solder built up and shaped for the external fitting. The face and rear of the pump was covered with a die round stamping of sheet plastic that was glued to main part, The facing was then drilled and a brass rode added to represent the shaft for the fully to go on. The I added the same diameter small plastic rod outside the body of the pump to replicate the contours and bolts that run through the assembly. Last a very fine precision solder was wound around a same brass rod that was used as the pull shaft. It was cut with a razor knife thus creating very fine circles. One of this circles was added to the base of the shaft for a spacer for the pully. 

Anyway, here is what I ended up with to create the three missing parts:





All this scratch work has got me thinking of how I can improve other elements of the engine or simply add more detail. One of the first things that came to mind was the replacement of the rubber ignition lines and conduit. The kist hat a rather thick ignition line leading into a rubber conduit that is suppose to be metal. The kit part looks terrible, but I may use part 9or none) of the rubber along with a polished aluminum conduit replacement. At this point I'm still brain storming.



As you can tell by the last engine photo, I've also began painting the engine. There is still much to do with the ignition lines, file injection assembly, other hoses, the entire supercharger, the exhaust headers, detail painting, etc. Here are some detail images of the real engine to give you an idea what I'm working towards:







And here is a photo of the interior body reinforcements I may replicate after filling in the ejection pin marks and seams:



I've also been cleaning up the tube chassis and its corresponding supports and brackets while the paint dries on the engine. 





It's hard to believe there were men willing to sit on this chassis with zero safety standards and half their body exposed going over 250 MPH. I can only imagine that the braking points with those skinny tires were W-A-Y longer that what we see today. Thank goodness they had that large windscreen to protect them (just kidding... that was a joke):



I should have more to show tomorrow.

Ben / DRUMS01

You've got a lot of work to do on that model Ben. I've never done a metal model so this will be a learning experience watching you build it. 

Jim 

Stay Safe. 

Moving to phase 2 of part 1 in the instructions problems occurred right away. 



Specifically, the casting sprue that contained the fuel pump (the item in front of the engine block), the fuel pick-up tube (the item attaching to the fuel pump, and the water pump (the item that inserts in the left front of the engine block that also has a fully with belts), are all missing from the kit. This is now the third Revival kit in a row that has one or more parts missing (?), so I question the quality control of Revival in general. Now I am researching the details of the real parts so I can scratch build them.

So at this point I am stuck in phase2 of part 1 until I can find detailed images or drawings of those parts. That gave me time to start looking at other parts a little closer; here is what I found out:

(a) The main body has a heavy seam through the top center running the entire length front to back.





(b) Every body part will need attention to remove ejection pin marks, tabs, etc.





(c) The engine cover has a couple tabs molded into one of the sides and the thickness from one side or the panel to the other is grossly inconsistent (see photo). And yes, this does impact the fit of the engine cover on the body.



(d) The front cover not only has ejection pin marks, but also flash inside the vent that needs cleaning. I would've thought the flash should've been removed prior to painting the part (?).





(e) The seam between the upper body and the belly pan is not uniformed, flat, but instead partially rounded which causes gaps between both.



(f) The water, and fuel tanks are made of plastic and have large seam issues when assembled. Also the tube chassis has seams and ejection pin marks to be resolved.





(g) And the rubber / flexible hoses show fittings, junctions, and cylinders molded in within the instructions but they are not on the part or a separate themselves. These fittings and cylinders will need to be scratch built. In addition the instructions do not show where the transaxle hoses join with the axle boot covers (?) or that they show attached to the side of the transaxle but there is no means or direction to do that on the model kit.

(h) There is no molded in details inside the body work but actual source photos show reinforcement ribs and joints that will also need to be scratch built to authentically replicate the real car. 

With all this said, I am locating the detail pictures and will be working those areas before moving forward.

Till next time...

Ben / DRUMS01

Man....this looks like it's gonna be some work!! Great subject though. Will be watching for more.

Now See!

 You guys laugh when I tell you about the small screws in train stuff and why I don't mess with it. Ha! Anyway, one thing I learned is to save every one of those little scudders.They're great for R.C. Boat machinery or just upgrading larger scale Cars and Planes with metal or solid parts.

I love those cars. I will be following this one.

jeffpez; I normally see them on Ebay, but they can be found at some hobby stores and model shows. I think they also have a model site on the web as well (not sure though). For the metal bodiy and wire wheel type of kits, expect to pay over $100.00. With that said, I've seen some go through auction on Ebay for under that.

Well, prior to starting the build I always recommend you study and inventory any Revival kit. Fortunately for me Revival's part 1 to step 1 is rather simple as far as parts counts go. Revival was also thoughtful enough to keep all the small parts needed for part 1 in one small bag which minimized the searching for parts (especially since they are not numbered or marked other than the bag itself). 

Next is to take out the necessary tools needed to complete a Revival kit; files, sandpaper, and various jewelers screwdrivers and pliers and snips (along with the regular modeling stuff). 



Every part in part 1 of step 1 is made in cast metal. This means that every part will need considerable filing and cleaning to remove flash and ejection pin marks. I recommend taking special attention to all mating surfaces and holes or cutouts for future items. While thin flash can be removed by a dull hobby knife, the larger areas and those connected at the sprue point will need filing. 

One neat thing I noticed was the internal axles inserted inside and protruding as screws out of the transaxle are made of brass and they articulate, good job Revival. Here is what I'm referring to.



To attach the engine / transaxle sides together it requires two very small screws. How small you say? Just the typical Revival size screw..... look.



I cannot stress how important it is to test fit and clean and true everything prior to assembly. If you do not there will be gaps or parts laying crooked within assemblies. Both screw holes are then covered with plugs glued in representing an engine or transaxle part. 

Once the halves are assembled, take another look at the engine halves and true the sides to one another by filing, which will also removed the stepped seams in the cast metal. The top part of the engine is attached by a long screw through the bottom of the oil pan and into a joint under the top engine head and intake. The kit does not provide any fill for that screw hole, but I will make an oil drain plug to cover it from spares.

The left, right, and center camshaft covers are attached by glue. Again filing and truing the parts for a flush fit will be necessary. In fact, the center cam cover was bent by at least 1/32 inch so careful pressure and bending was needed for the correct fit.

In the photo below you can see some of the filing done to the transaxle casing. It still needs the file marks removed. Then theres also the need for some scratch detailing on top of the transaxle and perhaps some bolt heads on the intake and other areas; and later on to painting. 



Next update will be paint, then part 2 step 2. Till then, comments or constructive input is welcome.

Ben / DRUMS01

I'm really looking forward to this. Where do you buy their kits from and about how expensive are they?

Oh, Boy!  this   looks  to be a good one.