Mark Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 During the early 1970s, the Alpine A110 was a dominant force in the new World Rally Championship series, with 6 outright victories in the 1973 competition. In fact, the Alpine A110 won most races where it was entered, including the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally but the A110s were soon outclassed on the rally scene by the new Lancia Stratos, after its introduction to competition racing in 1974. The A110s success was almost entirely due to the work's team, in the familiar blue livery. In fact I only ever thought that the A110 raced in that livery until, during a recent visit to the local model shop here in Lyon, I saw a die-cast Alpine A110 in a very colourful red and pink scheme, the main sponsor being Aseptogyl, a brand of toothpaste. The dental connection does not end there as the team was originally the idea of Bob Neyret, a French dentist and former rally driver. A quick search on-line revealed that the drivers of Team Aseptogyl were allegedly primarily chosen for their 'promotion value' (read 'aesthetic features!') and the team went on to race not only in Rallies, but at many other events, including Le Mans. For this 'French Fancy' group build, I have chosen the Tamiya 1/24 scale Alpine A110, with Studio 27's decals representing the number 73 car driven by Marianne Hoepfner and Yveline Vanoni. Well, they almost represent that car, the main error on the sheet being a total mis-spelling of the driver's names! The model kit is typical of the Tamiya 1/24th series of historic cars. Some lovely detail and beautifully moulded bodywork, combined with just enough to allow the modeller to create a lovely out of the box build, with plenty of scope for the more adventurous and super-detailers. So, here are the raw ingredients: The kit contains sprues in grey, blue, clear and chrome as well as rubber tyres. Detail is very nice indeed, as we would expect from Tamiya. The engine block and gearbox were painted using various shades of Alclad metallics A quick dry-fit shows that the engine bay could do with some extra-detailing. Certainly ignition leads will really bring this to life. From the stash of after-market bits and pieces, I chose to use Hobby Design's tiny turned aluminium air valves. Using a very small drill bit, holes were made in the wheel rim and at the risk of the air valves pinging off into the Stratosphere, I carefully dropped a small dot of cyano-acrylate glue in the drilled hole with a length of guitar string before placing the valves in situ with a fine tweezer. Heart-stopping moments, but all four made it! The body was sprayed first using Tamiya's pink primer. the drivetrain was sprayed straight from the can using TS-29, semi-matt black. After the primer had cured, it was rubbed down and then the body sprayed with a home-mixed pink using Zero Paints. Ferrari's Rosso Corsa, again from Zero Paints, was used for the red areas. Two pack gloss coat gives the final finish and the car body was left for the varnish to fully dry and harden before handling the model again. I left it for a total of four days. And this is where I am with my 'French Fancy' today! A two hour session of decalling combined with a couple of coffee breaks and I'm happy about the way she's looking. The decals proved difficult to settle, even with Daco's strongest softener, so I used Tamiya's X-20A acrylic paint thinner after reading somewhere on this site that it is good for stubborn decals. A light application of hot air from the hairdryer also helped the decals to settle. I'll leave the bodywork now and start getting the interior painted and engine detailed. I think this one will also get the seatbelts from the after-market stash too, as well as etched wiper blades, a Hobby Design generic 4 cylinder distributor and some ignition cables. Overall, this has been a really satisfying build and I'm delighted at having the push I needed, in the shape of this group build, to get my little red and pink A110 onto the cutting mat. More to follow... 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 Another afternoon at the bench and she's standing on her wheels! Next will be the glazing, lights and some detail painting. But that will have to wait until next week, work has got in the way! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Mark, You've made cracking progress and the Alpine (a car I've always liked), is looking pretty in pink! Having concentrated mostly on aircraft I was ignorant of the fact there was a kit of the Alpine and that there were after-market accessories for cars, had I thought about it, there's no reason why there shouldn't be, thanks for enlightening me on this. Wez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Looks great! If you can lay your hands on one of these: With a bit of mix 'n' match you can probably recreate the drivers, too! bestest, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Cheers Wez, she certainly is a great looking car and one that I wish I'd brought when they were around the £3000 mark back in the 1980s! They are over ten times that now! Matthew, I know where to get that set! The local shop has one on the back shelf, I only ever thought of getting it for the Vespa! But great idea!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iJones Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Wow. That was fast. Looking good too. It would be great if Studio27 designers would use 5 minutes to check the drivers names. I once had a sheet for a car driven by J. Kakunnen (Kankkunen). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Great looking model of a great looking car. The Alpine 110 has always been one of my favourites, nice to see one in some very unusual colours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Wow. That was fast. Cheers all! Fast? That's because I haven't spent hours taking photos this time. Sometimes the WIP threads take up more time to create than the models themselves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 A great choice Mark! I built the Bandai version a few years ago but, somewhat predictably, painted it metallic blue. Respect for choosing a more imaginative option Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 Easter holidays are now nearly over and it's back to the workbench! A nicely turned aluminium and etched metal distributor set arrived over the holiday, along with some ignition leads. A bit of plumbing around the radiator and she'll be almost in the ready for inspection section! Pics to come soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Looks great Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicarage Vee Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 It would be great if Studio27 designers would use 5 minutes to check the drivers names. I once had a sheet for a car driven by J. Kakunnen (Kankkunen). Seconded. And Fujimi, your BMW M3, who was Roberto Ravelli (or some such. Not only did they get Ravaglia wrong they also spelt poor Roland Ratzenberger's name wrong too)??? But worst of all the sponsor decals on the Wave Benetton B193: "Rollerbrade"??? ( I know, more fool me for buying it). Seriously, how hard is it to get these things right, it's not as if there aren't hundreds of pictures and references, even pre-internet as these were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 I am not into car models, really, but the Alpine Renault is in a class of her own and is such a good looker! Your model is absolutely brilliant! It brings back memories going back a few decades, when a mate of mine was the driver of the local Prefet. His hobby was rallying and he had an Alpine to play with (without the bimbos of the Aseptogyl photos, I am sorry to say). He took me once for a training session on some winding alpine roads and the nightmares are still with me... But what a fantastic car! Great work! JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 Merci a tout! Here are some photos of the finished distributor and wiring. It's a small engine bay and gets filled up quite quickly with the small Renault engine, so just the ignition leads and a radiator hose is all that has been added. The engine received some weathering from various MiG Products washes and stains and the engine is now finished. Next stop is the interior; just after market seat belts will be added there. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 That engine looks good Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 Bonsoir à tous! Amongst other things, some car related, some airplane related, I have been continuing on with the petit Alpine A110. A little bit of work on the cabin and I've decided to use some Model Factory Hiro aftermarket seatbelts to add some interest in the rather black interior. I have seen some photos that show red seatbelts and they look better than black but it's been difficult to source some interior shots of the original car, so please forgive some artistic licence. Anyway, here are the latest shots from this evening. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobster Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Hi Mark, The Renualt-Alpine looks superb! The detailing of the engine looks good and the paint scheme/decals look silky smooth. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniele0865 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Wonderful! Those were fabulous cars and rallies were still legendary races! keep on with the good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 This sadly did not get finished for the French Fancy GB, but she is now finished and the RFI thread is here Thanks for the support along the way and hope you like the finished result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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