Mr B Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Hi folks I have embarked on a journey to rebuild a die-cast 1/24 Alfasud T.I details are not bad for a die-cast and I am doing this purely for fun ......as I am not used or really experienced in building model cars. I used to thinker and own quite a few real Alfa's before mainly the 105 series and two sud sprints...and really enjoyed driving them...... Anyways this is what I got so far.... stripped the awful tan colors in the interior and also experimented with the red and black as per the original ti interior stripped the blue and reprimed and sprayed it Italian Red..... A slow project to fill time in between other builds......next is to mask the black spots off.....and paint the interior.... Anyone have ideas on how to get the headlights scratch built ? I managed a boo boo in stripping the paint process and they have all clouded up...... thanks for dropping by rgds mr b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Hi, who made the car? Im afters a Sud for my Dad who is restoring a 1:1 one! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Magic refurb, we had one of these back in the late 70's drove it like the wind but what a rot box!!!! The workshop manager at the garage we bought it from had the 1500 Ti which he raced, four Webbers, one for each cylinder, he got whellspin in all four/five gears. we should have bought another when we came down to South Africa with no rust problems in Johannesburg. Looking forward to seeing this one finished, ours was metallic green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmonk Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Nice little fill in project, the only Alfa I had was a 156, great car to drive but ate front tyres and starter motors. If you contact Paul at Little Cars, see vendor section, he sells a nice range of lenses. Cheers, Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Now this is an interesting subject, looking forward to see how this develops! If I may add a few thoughts, I have to say that for someone born in late '60s Italy, the Alfasud has a special place in the history of the country ! From a technical point of view it was actually a very fine car, with powerful engines and good handling. No surprise many were raced with good results. The cars however were built in a situation that could not bring to anything approaching any definition of "quality". Alfa was then State owned and in order to boost employment in Southern Italy it was decided to open a plant not far from Naples. The idea was good but the execution was a disaster... the workforce was mainly recruited by local politicians in exchange for votes and being a State owned plant many considered a position there as a way to get a salary without really having to work. Absenteeism was constantly high, strikes were frequent and the construction quality was awful. In addition Alfa was cash stripped and decided to use the cheapest materials they could find and this, together with the terrible build quality, resulted in cars that were appalling. But the car was loved by many ! And the quality of the competition was not that high anyway, with Fiats, Austins and Renaults of similar vintage rotting almost as fast. The high performances meant that the car was a big hit with anyone with a "sporty" character and this being the '70s I'll let you imagine what kind of characters these could have been... Being built in the South of the country also meant that it became the dream of many from the area and for a kid growing in Northern Italy in those days the Alfasud became a trademark of Southerners, particularly those who had moved North to find a job, with all the stereotypes this involved. For many like myself this car was the symbol of a world full of guys wearing stringvests, shorts, white socks and sandals, with big golden medallions over hairy chests. The typical driver could be found so attired on the motorways travelling south for summer holidays, queing for miles and miles under the hottest sun on the year, sweating and swearing while a usually overweight wife tried to keep quiet 2 or 3 kids in the back seat. Today very few survive, Alfa is not State owned anymore but the plant near Naples still exist and is still a troublesome spot. Now I realize I've hijacked the thread a bit, hope the original poster does not mind this trip down nostalgia lane and that someone might find my recollections somewhat funny 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panoz Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 If I may add a few thoughts, I have to say that for someone born in late '60s Italy, the Alfasud has a special place in the history of the country ! From a technical point of view it was actually a very fine car, with powerful engines and good handling. The cars however were built in a situation that could not bring to anything approaching any definition of "quality". Alfa was then State owned and in order to boost employment in Southern Italy it was decided to open a plant not far from Naples. The idea was good but the execution was a disaster... the workforce was mainly recruited by local politicians in exchange for votes and being a State owned plant many considered a position there as a way to get a salary without really having to work. Absenteeism was constantly high, strikes were frequent and the construction quality was awful. In addition Alfa was cash stripped and decided to use the cheapest materials they could find and this, together with the terrible build quality, resulted in cars that were appalling. But the car was loved by many ! A cousin of my mother bought a brand new four door Italian Red Alfasud in 1978. The car was scrapped in 1986 since terminal rust made it unsafe to drive; mind you the rear wheel arches started to rust six months after he bought it... These eight years were nothing but a continuous nightmare; in fact he once told me that he never imagined that a new car would have so many breakdowns. His next car was a new 1986 Nissan Sunny B11 (with the ground pounding 60hp 1.3 litre engine). He has been buying Japanese cars ever since... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 My dad found one in very good nick, living in Suffolk there is less rain, so he says, and it was a rarely used car, garaged in a garage attached to a house so was warm and dry. Its still had a solid 2 weeks of welding and new parts in a specialist garage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Hi, who made the car? Im afters a Sud for my Dad who is restoring a 1:1 one! Thanks Hi ...it says Leo models on the underside. If you use ebay, just to a search for alfasud in 1/24 you will get a few hits........there is also a 4 door version....of the 1st series ....not too bad prices....HTH Thanks and good to hear that there is a following for this little Italian car......yeah they are mostly plagued with rust ......and hard to keep them rust free .....as well as dodgy electrical.......but they are fun cars when they work well.....and I had loads of fun with my suds and 105's berlina 2000 and 1600 GT Junior the sound and the no frills approach to motoring is something which is just sweet..... No worries on thread highjack.... it's nice to hear and share others and their views on Alfas..... Thanks madmonk - I have been in contact with Paul and hopefully my headache of scratch building the headlights are over and done with..... best regards mr b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 These 1/24 Leomodels Alfasuds were sold here together with a publication dedicated to the Centenary of Alfa. They can be found easily on ebay or at the local flea markets. Years ago, an Italian company by the name of Politoys, later Polistil, had a 1/25 TI. Polistil for a while also did plastic models (I have a terrible Spitfire I) but they were mainly known for their die cast car models. The company was later bought by Tonka. These models can still be found in Italy at specialised shows or flea markets. A different local company called Mebetoys had the Sud in 1/43 scale but also had a Sprint in 1/25. Now I know the Sprint is a variant different enough to be a separate car, but it's still in the end 99% an Alfasud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I had a girl friend many years ago whose mother had a Sud, that I was trusted to take the daughter out in, daughter not being licenced then. My recollection of it is a wonderfully nimble & pretty rapid wee motor. I didn't stay with the girl to see how long it lasted but they did get the nickname of "disprins" the way their panels dissolved. I'll be keen to see this come together. I've fond memories of that car. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panoz Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 These 1/24 Leomodels Alfasuds were sold here together with a publication dedicated to the Centenary of Alfa. They can be found easily on ebay or at the local flea markets. Years ago, an Italian company by the name of Politoys, later Polistil, had a 1/25 TI. Polistil for a while also did plastic models (I have a terrible Spitfire I) but they were mainly known for their die cast car models. The company was later bought by Tonka. These models can still be found in Italy at specialised shows or flea markets. A different local company called Mebetoys had the Sud in 1/43 scale but also had a Sprint in 1/25. Now I know the Sprint is a variant different enough to be a separate car, but it's still in the end 99% an Alfasud Well you forgot this: I built it when I was eight or so (together with the other Heller 1/43 scale modern autos). I do remember that it actually was a very good representation of the real car. Back in those days those Heller auto kits could be easily found everywhere (toy-stores, bookshops, etc...) I wonder where the tooling is nowadays... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Yea, Ive been after one for a while, Thanks on the info, I found a 1:24 Brera so I have one on order to do some work to to make a model of my Dads. Looking forward to seein this build progress though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Well you forgot this: I was mainly thinking 1/24 or similar. I remember the 1/43 Heller kit, but never built any. There were also several 1/43 diecasts from various toy companies, many painted in the colours of local police forces. I'm sure there are today a number of high quality die-casts available as I remember having seen them recently at a model show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 Yeah i also had the mebatoys sprint.....it had a funky gold yellow color.....brings back alot of memories....... Anyways got some progress.....Could not replicate the interior 100 as the seat inlays had the words ti all over it in red.....so just painted them black.....which is plausible....... One of the notable feature on the TI apart from the words on the seat is the read carpet..... Done the rims also gunmetal as opposed to silver as how it came with the kit. Rgds mR b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Looks good, my dads 33 sportwagen has the red carpets too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Thanks rich.... anyways got some update .........put it back together .......now will be taking a pause for a bit to figure out the door handles and decals.....and some other bits......which includes that small fog on the windscreen ... happy modeling rgds mr b 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richellis Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Oh, that looks nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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