Stage 1 almost completed - trial assembly......
Many hours of filing, scraping, drilling, Tapping, etc went on before I was game enouigh to assemble this much.
Another view of test fit
I noticed after I test fitted the steering wheel, that the column was pointing toward the centre of the car, which is wrong. These things had a driver & a navigator.. - see 5 photos on for the correction
Same on this side - Also the "slots" on the bottom of the gearbox that are supposed to line up with the mounting points on the gearbox mounts....THEY DON'T - have to figure out a solution to this - this could be where a 3D printer might be useful - but I only have a 2D one!!...LOL
There was too much detail on the steering box, like 2 bolt heads under the linkage intake, which was mis-aligning the steering box, as described earlier. So, out with the file.........several times.... until it seemed better
The final fit of the steering box on the chassis rail, now the steering column presents to the drivers side of the car. It was at least 1cm to the centre, which would have made it impossible to pass it through the dash.
Addressing the troublesome finish on my radiator....
After much filing, I think what I had what a pretty s&^%%y chrome finish - anyway, it's all file away now - still needs a little grinding, maybe with some Dremel grinding paste, but I like this finish more than the poxy chrome - it was too shiny
I received this book on the marque this week - fantastic reference, and the last 20 or so pages are dedicated to models of this car!!
* Amalgam Collection in 1/8
* Art Auto Collection in 1/8
* Monogram USA in 1/24
* Revival Italy in 1/20 (This One!!)
and some more too..
Lower front view (upside down) of the gearbox......
What can I say.... You could be forgiven for thinking this was a different part, from a different kit, in a different scale!!! It's that bad!
Top Arrow is where I chiselled across some of the leading edge of the cast so that it sits against the chassis cross-piece.
lower arrows show where I widened the slots which are supposed to match the chassis .
Lower rear view (updside down) of the gearbox....
Top Arrow is where I chiselled across some of the leading edge of the cast so that it sits against the chassis cross-piece.
lower arrows show where I widened the slots which are supposed to match the chassis . (This is a deliberate copy & paste from the previous step!)
Out with some thick superglue & clamps.
very delicate placement to get it in the right (?!?!) place.
The circles showing where the widened slots match (ha ha ha !!) with the chassis cross piece.
Lower Front suspension beam in place with 2 screws -I had previously attached each of the leaf springs with SuperGlue (front & rear), however, the installation of this lower beam makes it all very rigid!!
Just when you start to feel good about this kit......
The instructions suggest that the rear pin on the damper is HIGH on the damper, however, no matter how much you think you can trim the damper, it doesn't sit between the chassis rail & the leaf spring........ Refer to some pictures of the real car - Aha!! - the damper sits HIGH on the chassis rail. So, the dampers in the kit are wrongly made.
Decided to cut the mounting "piece" off the damper bracket, and after the mounting error dawned on me, I was able to install each of the "pieces" I had removed, onto the opposite damper.
So the damper now sits HIGH on the chassis rail........ which means that...... all the above angst and surgery..........was necessary!!
(could have done without the angst & erroneous instructions!!)
Onto the rear suspension....
Note the different aspect of the side-mounted diff brace!?!?! Hmmm??
The instructions show it with the end bracket pointing down - This would need the brace to somehow pass through the cockpit floor!!
I went ahead and tapped a thread into the diff (had to drill an extra ~4mm into the diff.) and mounted the brace, which HAS to point UP because of the brace's alignment with the diff shape (previous pic). - A test fit shows how the brace fits in the side of the drive-shaft tunnel and then points UP to the back of the gearbox - but there's no hole (or instruction) to allow it to be attached - I think I'll drill a wee hole & attach it!!. (WHEW)
So, here's the complete test fit of the rear axle/suspension.
It's a couple of mm too wide to really tie together properley, so some adjustment will be required.
By the way, I've polished up all the whitemetal parts with a mini wire brush on the Dremel, so that's how I'll be leaving them.
Workshop Clean condition!!! I'm happy about this kit, again!!
While working on the adjacent rear suspension, the superglue holding the gearbox in place let go!!!
Sought advice & research about gluing Whitemetal to whitemetal.
Found and used this Selleys Araldyte Clear.
Drivetrain bushes & spaces painted Titanium (SMS Advance) - The paint adhered really well to the odd-ball plastic, after rejecting the inital attempt with Tamiya Acrylic.. This view from above doesn't do any justice to the juggling required to get all 6 mounting points in place at once.
Lower view. Still have to install the rear chassis joiner, which then holds the rear of the 1/2 leaf springs. This will squeeze together the chassis rails, however, the bolt supplied is wrong. needs to be 1.3mm by 9mm plus nut width - Off to Ringwood "Float A Boat" on Tuesday.
The gearbox is supposed to have a pin on the LHS where you can "hook" on the Diff Brace - not on my gearbox, and the screwmount I made was in the wrong place, distorting the bracket........I figure you're gonna hafta look REAL hard to find this.......so it'll do!!
Step 3 parts cleaned up - must have spent a couple of hours doing this....
also cleaned up plastic steering wheel, handbrake & gear lever, flash & seamlines
Don't you just hate it when the instructions don't match the parts - here they cleartly show the driveshaft mounting on the pin on the engine block, which could then be slid in with the rear end of the driveshaft going on the gearbox................wrong
With all of the "imprecision" of the gearbox mount, the alignment of the gearbox 'tube' was a few mm out - so I had to chiselaway some of the mounting arm, and then gently bend the mount further toward the rear - I then discarded the crazy tubes supplied in the kit, replacing them with a single brass tube. enlarged the hole for the handbrake & glued the gearstick on the end - needs some paint but looks OK!! A step FORWARD!!
Started applying some SMS "Advance" Copper to parts on the engine block, according to some internet photos of the real beast, using a micro-brush! LHS here
An expression comes to mind - "trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" - no disrepect to the sow!
The instructions show this as straight-forward, but the dash & firewall are NOT connected - time to fix that before installing them into the body.
I used 1/16th 2-sided tape to temporarily glue the dash in place - the dash mounts to 3 side in the body, so it's a good place to start.
On the reverse, I'll use the same 2-sided to temporarily hold the firewall in place.
There's one insertion "lug" on the back of the dash for fuel pressure pump handle, so I drilled it out a tad & inserted a brass pipe. This is my first joiner between dash & firewall.
Trimmed & drilled ignition-carrying-tube test fitting beside the engine block. I've drilled out the 7 spark plug lead holes & will have to manufacture something at the open end to carry the 8th spark plug lead. and some sort of bracket to attach it to the block........well..... this is only 1/20 scale.....
My previous attempts at providing a sturdy enough joint between dash & firewall weren't working so I cut & filed 2 additional brass pipe joiners.
Spent way too much time configuring a suitable clamp to hold all this together, and then allow me to remove it from the body.......way too much.....here's the final soltution!!
You can see the crazy clamp that I had to build & aint it crazy that you have to go this extreme to make it work.
More Araldyte applied whilst out in the open - left it another day......
Trying to trim the 1.8mm radiator tubing (aftermarket) into the 1.4mm holes got the better of me - so I carefully drilled out the holes to 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, & then 1.8mm - Solved! - also had to re-open the 3 holes in the radiator - there's that backward step!!
as an alternative to using the rubber radiator hose, I tried bending some 2mm PVC rod. Lots of "finger-heating" and holding in position to get it to maintain shape......hmmmm , we'll see? not sure about this idea??
That's enough stress for one night!!!
Fragile decals which HAVE to be trimmed to 4.3mm & 3.1mm diameters to fit inside the frames! Tried to re-glue one sliver of the oil gauge decal - just a dab of Mr Setter - ??? where is it? - the sliver stayed with the brush.....now somewhere in the Mr Setter bottle - WTF!?!?!?!
How to do & attache the spark plug leads?
I found this "Spring Unit" that I bought years ago as 'a-round-tu-it' - Well, finally getting around to use it!
0.5mm coated wire & springs cut to 2mm lengths.
The spring is readily available from T2M (Tuner Model Manufactory - T2M-2015C)
8 spark plugs done - I think I will follow up with a touch os superglue to ensure none fall off..
also re-installed top top of engine oil pipe, putting in the appropriate "kink" so it can run along the edge of engine.
Here's a slightly different version of this kit to the one I'm working on - Zac Christofas came upon this version as part of a "lot" he purchased, but later found that the kit was largely incomplete. Whoever had started it had used all the chassis & suspension components.....but not kept them with the box. Seeing as what's left was basically useless - Zac then gave it to me!!! Thank you, Zac!!
Some of these bits will get used in a future diorama, but not in time for Expo 2023!!
Back to real life, after my good fortune, and time to mix up the Araldyte - here gluing in the assembled Dash/Firewall, and the Seat back.
We'll just sit that aside for a day.....
In the meantime I attacked the joined fuel tank from the 2nd kit, with some grinding & polishing.
Just the fuel tank has an air of Bugatti flair about it.
Caught up in the fuel fumes...... !;^)}........ I glued up the original fuel tank and polished that too.
Just to see which would be best to display in a future diorama - Looks to me like the new one (on the right) came up the best.
Time for a Body Sandwich, meaning that nearly all of that chassis get hidden - especially the Fuel tank - it just adds weight to quite a heavy little car. No motor yet.
Awaiting an engine - I found it easier to sandwich top and bottom without the engine, carbies & wires getting in the way. Had to drill and tap the rear mount hole & then find a suitable tiny bolt - and even more fiddling for the front - there's a wee bolt that holds a bracket to the underside of the front fairing, then the fairing clamps the top & bottom bodies around the chassis - very crude - but above my engineering grade to better it....
Engine block installed & joined the camshaft drive to the magneto - Now I need to create a belt to drive the tachometer - the silver pulley at the top-left corner of this shot - I'm not really mad......am I...??
All 8 spark plugs connected to the wiring system - Note that the No.1 Cylinder Spark Plug lead comes from the end of the "wiring bearer". Honest, it does!!
The wheels are just another example of how poor the moulds were for these kits - they're ROUGH!
Flash, pin marks, incomplete holes & non-flat mating surfaces
Time to rivet the wheels pieces together....and fit them to the car.......
Front suspension problems - when trying to mount the wheels I've managed to strip the threads on the mounts behind the stub axles!
The brass bolt holds the stub axle onto the axle hub - which has stripped thread. It is a very inferior item - will have to source something more robust
In the meantime I've successfully managed to buff all the tyre treads, getting rid of the centre seam - There's no tread visible on these tyres, but I don't think they ran slicks back then?? - I'm NOT going to start cutting the tread into them!!!!
The imbedded wheel nuts won't pull the wheels fully onto the axles, so that the back of the drum brake mounts flush with the drum.
I suspect that the rivetted construction might be the problem....
Not a simple problem - the depth of the drum brake backing plate was too thick by about 2mm - filed that away!
The shoulder on the axle-pin impeded the entry of the axle-pin into the wheel - filed that away!
The rivet-back inside the wheel impede the axle-pin insertion - ground that away!
All of this took several hours, many test fits, grinding, filing scraping, test fit.......
This process was delayed when I broke the bolt holding the brake baxk to the axle-pin, when I was trying to add thread depth to the axle-pin.
Of course it would break, you clutz!!
Thought I'd try my hand at drilling it out - with a 1mm drill bit, in a 1.4mm hole - fortunately the broken bolt was much softer that the axle-pin!
Success!!!! - Quick! take out a lotto ticket!
Cabin interior is now complete - I can't take the credit for the steering wheel as it was in the box from Zac, but it's a ripper - Actually metal framed and then sandwiched with veneer - just like the real thing! Note co-drivers fuel pump lever, also with laminated handle.......well, painted to look that way!
I always wanted to properly hinge the bonnet...................................so I started to do just that.
Bonnet halves are taped together so that they maintain the correct "closed" fit..... don't know how much "hinge movement" I'll get.....
Other end, same deal.
Then I inserted the correct length of 0.8mm bronzed rod, plus a couple of mm. Then I used a clamp to cautiously squeeze them into position, slowly.... - All went well, so I was able to file the ends away.
The halves can fold "together" ok, but folding the other "open" way will impact on the paintwork, so I wont try that.
It means that the bonnet will sit on the car OK, but be displayed off the car entirely - I can boast that it's hinged, at least!
now to the steering - yeah, problems there too!
The supplied tie-rod is to short!! In order to fit with the wheels facing straight, you would have to used the last piece of thread at each end, which would never stay in place - so I had to scratch build a new, longer piece. Here, the kit part is taped to the body to show the comparison
Also, the wheel caps - all the reference books & images I have show the same Bugatti wheel cap - the ones supplied in the kit are brass.
Out with the Molotow pen, and some SMS Black - might need another coat, but getting there!!!
Disaster - the weak metal used in the steering horn gave way, so now i've lost the 2 tabs that are supposed to connect to the steering rods.
Found that Revival have a web-site - left a message for help.........
As a destraction from the doom & gloom, I started on the spare wheel carriers, bending the carrier strips around the tyres.
You have to make buckles for these, and the bonnet strap, out of wire...................my first 2 attempts aren't worth a photo.......what to do???
As a further distraction, I decided I WOULD make an idler shaft & install the tachometer drive belt off the camshaft pulley.
Pretty sill attempting this so late in the build, so access was less than perfect - anyway, I did!
Back to the steering horn - the best advice I had (Thanks Dave Tinker!) was to drill out the horns & insert bent dress pins. That's putting a 0.5mm hole in a 1.2mm bearer......hmmm
More work on the spare tyre carriers - made the ring from an appropriately sized aluminium tube - leather straps clamped into place & superglued - These SMS small tweezers are just the best!!
Steering fully assembled! Yay! - the steering tie rod really should have 'left-hand-thread' on one to ease installation, however, i solve this by threading it to the right place with the RH wheel/hub off the model - Tricky, but worked!
References show that the drum is integral to the wheel assembly - when you take the wheel off, you get to check the brake shoes - OK
Reattached to wheel for each spare.
Refernces also show that the "piano hinge" is not painted, and although the hinge in this kit is disproportionate, I decided to mask it off & chip away the paint..........................
I dont have a photo of the mask removal - suffice to say that the original paint didn't stay stuck as well as I had hoped........ there was some cursing!!!
Out with the dremel & wire brush - I wanted to take the paint off any.....but only off the INSIDE of the bonnet!!
Right side - BIG THANKYOU here to Chris for the primer & paint, Dave & John for the advice, Harry for the handholding and support.
I think we're still heading for EXPO - on Friday after it sets completely!!
Judging completed, and found that my Bugatti was awarded "Commended" & labelled so on Saturday afternoon.
Pretty happy with that, as this was never intended as a competitive entry.
WOW!! Really Blown Away by this! Toward the end of the Model Expo, some prestigious awards are also handed out, on top of the traditional "First", "Second" and "Third" in each section.
In this case, I won the Bill Hamer Memorial - Automotive Modelling Excellence Award!!! This is the very same award that My good mate Harry Edmond achieved in 2017 for his Ford GT40 - I am truly flattered to be in his modelling company!!! Wow!!!
Revival - mainly metal kit
Much like all Italian Cars, this kit will be hard work - definitely not a "Tamiya"
Certainly is a challenge!! (18/3/23)
Like Scratchbuilding? - You'll love THAT part of this kit!!!!! !;^)}
** Now a combination of 1 1/2 kits, thanks to Zac's half-kit donation **
Sandwich time (15/05/23)
We have Ignition!! (16/05/23)
Getting Wheely close! (20/5/23)
Only a week to Melbourne EXPO (last entry time 16th June 3PM) - Can I make it in time??
(14/6/23) We're gonna get there.............Just!!! will submit her on the Friday morning