Totally Mad Olivier Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 As you know, on the main photo of the box-art, a "nice" Photoshop job has been done, doubling the number of rods (on the sides of the box, no Photoshop). Notice that, as for the tyres (no Pirelli decals), the model showed does not follow the instructions (rods to paint mat black).... All that does not reveal a big consideration from Italeri regarding its customers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharknose156 Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 Dear Olivier, although i understand your frustration, i think we should be very grateful to Italeri for having produced 2 exceptional 1/12 scale models; the Fiat Mefisto and the Fiat 806... better than nothing and as for what ism missing, its part of the fun of modeling to improve the model... hopefully Italeri will produce an Alfa 1/12 or other ? i am now changing the wheels on the Mef. to add the spokes, where did you order your soft metal spokes from please ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 Dear Sam, first of all, I want to say I don't feel frustrated at all, and I am the first to say bravo to Italeri for the great idea to offer us the opportunity to make such a model. I would give a 19,5/20 for that (not to give 20) But as Beaumarchais said: "sans la liberté de blâmer, il n'est pas d'éloge flatteur". And that is why I will not change my mind about the tyres, the instructions, the Photoshop on the box-art and the "model unique in terms of technology and accuracy" etc. My criticisms are constructive. If no one says to Italeri all that is not acceptable from such a famous brand, it is not a favor that we do to them... On the other hand, I am less severe about the spokes and the thick rods of the grille, because I admit it was nearly impossible to provide 0,4 mm plastic rods, they would be too fragile. To answer your question, I used Aber 0,4 mm steel rods, that are not soft at all, you can go on p. 29 of the Gangshow for more details. I ordered them from Oupsmodel. If you need anything, just ask me. P.S: I would be very pleased too if Italeri or another brand could offer us an Alfa, or another Fiat, or a Delage, a Bugatti, a Mercedes, if possible... with new moulds! Pity, the vintage race cars are still the poor parents of static model making, particularly in big scales. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 Step 22 over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.e.charles Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 to add to the positive spin of this OOB build, I think it encourages the less experienced modeler to try something like this with pointers where, with a little more care and effort, the kit can be improved upon. show of hands for everyone that tried to use all of the decals on the sheet from their first model... who knew you only needed a few? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 Step 23 over. I had to cut the front rod, remove 2 mm and glue it because it was bended by the tension (still bending a bit). I put a shim while the polystyrene cement dries: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Steps 24, 25, 26 over. The exclamation points ! show bended arms (despite corrections) and the absurd idea to provide the thick spring (1,43 mm diameter!) to represent the brake cables. As Robin Lous suggested, I used the 0,38 mm braided wire, that is a very good choice. P.S: CrazyCrank! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Thanks for my Birthday, Olivier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Steps 27 and 28 over. The radiator case is very narrow, I don't like that shape at all. And the front and rear axle are too short too, without speaking of the not cambered front wheels. Combined with the long tail, the big tyres, the thick spokes, all that is so wrong, so wrong... I look forward this OOB to be over, the comparison photos will be very enlightening! Dry fit assembly of the body: of course, I will leave the "louvres" as they are... and with the engine (dry fit too): my OOB should be over in a few days, less than 1 week definitely. I began this OOB 15 days ago, to compare with the nearly 13 months I needed to get a convincing model. Of course, if I had to do it again, I would spend much less time, as the pioneer work is done. I spent a lot of time on the thread and photos too... I suppose it would not take me not more than 6 months. But of course I won't do a 3rd build. I would still dream of writing a book about this construction. But more probably I will do a You Tube presentation. One more word: I will represent the left bonnet opened, exactly as I did before, so that the comparison will be more telling. The main difference will be the driver missing on this one. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Here is what is still in the box: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Maybe some of you noticed a white halo around the white labels on the tyres on the photos above. Even if the build is OOB and completely wrong, I could not leave these unsightly marks. I have used the Vallejo 950 and done the correction with a fine paintbrush. Before: After: Vallejo paints are great, and it is possible to apply them even on a soft material, like these tyres. Usually, paints can't dry on such soft kind of rubbers, no problem with acrylic Vallejo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.e.charles Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 that's beautiful retouch work on the tire sidewall. I always interpreted "out of box" to mean: no additional materials or aftermarket parts except glue & paint but some comments pertaining to this build imply a certain amount of effort should/ should not be applied to make a convincing model. or is it just my misunderstanding. and ( I guess two part question!) if you had built the kit version first, would you view it differently? I ask because I may try large scale this winter and could use help picking the subject (automotive - but not sure which one). thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Dear southpier, your definition of OOB is correct imho: OOB means indeed neither scratch, neither aftermarket parts used for a build. And that is what I am doing for this 2nd build. Except that in this case, I would call it is "strictly OOB", meaning so that I followed strictly (except little initiatives to improve a bit the model) the instructions (painting indications in particular) to show what you get exactly if you follow Italeri to the letter. I would never have built this kit like that first, the first thing I do before beginning a build is to get all documents possible. In this case, the documents showing for example that the radiator grille was not black, I would not have painted it so, and so for the rods too thick and too few. This single example may be applied to a lot of things in this build. The only interest of this "strict OOB" is to show the huge difference between such a build and the one I made helped greatly by all the members of this thread in all aspects. If you intend to build this kit, the thread should be very useful for you (go and see too the 806 Gangshow and Harvey's thread, begun more recently). I don't know yet if I will write something to summarize the huge amount of debates and infos that are in the 179 pages (and not over) of this thread. I didn't get any reply to my mail to the editor in chief of T2M, and anyway, the 7 or 8 pages of an article would be definitely not enough. It would have been a compromise, a "digest" not very helpful (too many aspects to consider in a so little size). If I was sure the subject interests a lot of people, I could be tempted by self editing a little book, in which would be raised the historical context, the documents we got (problems of copyright), the techniques used with the computer to compare and improve the build, and many hints about materials and techniques. Usually, the model making books show a lot of models, I would like to do the contrary, show techniques through the build of this single one, even if most of them can be applied to other ones. And in this context, showing the difference between OOB like I do now would be very interesting and enlightening. More, I am not sure I have enough skills to pretend being legitimate for such a book. So? I still don't know for now. I hope anyway I have replied to your questions... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.e.charles Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 yes; thank you. I think a book would have to be a "labor of love" rather than a profit seeking enterprise. but it would be a great reference source. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 I totally agree, southpier, my intention with writing a book would not be to earn a lot of money (no illusion on this) but if I was sure my efforts could just get awarded a little bit, I would begin it tomorrow. And it would be definitely a "labor of love", love for this car, love for model making and love for the experience it has been to share with everyone on this thread... P.S: step 29 nearly over 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clogged Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Go on write the book. I'm sure it would be a hit! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Thanks for your encouragements, Clogged! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 The decals (very good quality Italeri decals) have been used for the digits on the bonnets. I must say I did not expect a so good result. With the help of Micro Set and Micro Sol, you can get quite easily this, under condition of course you have taken care to cut out correctly each digit. Of course, if you are a purist (as I have been previously), you will see the shape of the digits is not very good, and you'll spend a lot of time to get the right one, but if you are not (what is totally respectable), you can use the Italeri digits decals that will give you quickly a very acceptable result. The main defect of these decals is their brightness. It is possible of course to apply a mat varnish on the digits (what I won't do for this OOB) to get the mat aspect the digits had on the car the 4/9/1927. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Sorry to be ironical again but there is a big problem with the kit's windscreen 2CF, much too small to go in its frame (this has probably ever been noticed and said before me). No choice here, I will have to do it scratch, even on my OOB... Surprising on a "unique model in terms of technology and accuracy"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.e.charles Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 looks like Zanchetti had a little too much chianti! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickD Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Olivier and Southpier, Though I have been very quiet, too many other distractions, I have watched this build closely. At the start it seemed a bit pointless. But I thought Southpiers comment was spot on. The kit is pretty rubbish dimensionally but building it has value. It does a good job of capturing the general mechanical layout. Building it someone will get a reasonable understanding of how the engineers built the car. Seeing it built with such skill, Olivier, will hopefully encourage people daunted by the first build, to have a go at a kit that builds into an impressive if very inaccurate model. All the best Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickD Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 @Black Knight I found your insights in how to keep these engines in tune as the car is raced interesting as usual. It must have been even more impressive when the misfire is on one of two banks of 6 cylinders. One side running well and the other badly must have been intersting. ATB Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 7 hours ago, NickD said: Seeing it built with such skill, Olivier, will hopefully encourage people daunted by the first build, to have a go at a kit that builds into an impressive if very inaccurate model. Yes, Nick, and I will add that, even OOB, the model is quite nice and interesting to build. In my decision of building a kit, the esthetical consideration is the main one, and I prefer to build a amazingly beautiful car like the Fiat 806 even if the kit is poor (and I did not know it was when I bought it) than an excellent and accurate kit of a tank, for example. Of course, these esthetical considerations are totally subjective, and it seems that many modelers prefer to build tanks, as the offer in this category is huge, with great brands as Tamiya, that offers them very good kits. When I have built the Chevy Bel Air, I made it from 2 kits, one from AMT and 1 from Revell. The AMT was very bad, but with a quite good engine, the Revell was just average, but I tried, as with the Fiat 806, to get a convincing model, and I love the final result, just because this convertible car was just beautiful, as the 806 is imho. My regret is that the best brands, like Tamiya, fe, are not interested by offering to modelers beautiful vintage cars, or so few, especially these last 20 years (I built long ago the nice and old Tamiya Mini kit at 1/12, very nice). They are mainly focused on military aircraft and tanks, what makes the happiness of aircraft and tanks modelers, and they do sometimes reissues of their old vintage race cars kits... Imagine Tamiya offers us a 805, or a Delage, or an Alfa today, with the actual technical level they show... the dream!! But no, they prefer to offer the 15th version of the F 15 Tomcat. What a pity... But, if you consider scratchbuild is more fascinating than OOB, you can thank Italeri (and I do it) to offer us the opportunity to build a beautiful model, really unique, as I did, so you will learn many things, improve your modeler technique and this kind of model making will give you a lot of satisfaction, born from the result you get and from the patience you had to show. To come-back to this OOB, I was first myself very sceptical about this idea when Sam suggested it first several months ago, and I finally changed my mind, especially because, my model over, it was frustrating to see people, looking at it, could not realize at all the huge work it had been to get this result. The comparison with the OOB will enhance it a lot, and only this is a very good reason for me to build this OOB version, that is nearly over, done in less than 3 weeks... All the best Olivier 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totally Mad Olivier Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Step 31 over (except the A, B, C PVC tubes coming from the dashboard to connect) and 32 soon over too, meaning the end of this OOB. Photo 1: the set 28B/ 16B (H section p. 19) is uneasy to fix. I recommend to decrease the thickness of the "screw" going through the crescent arm, to add WD 40 oil to help screwing the nut 04, to fix this front part first, to cement (a little drop of cyano) the washer on the screw 11 and finally to screw this screw 11 on the horizontal steering arm. Photo 2: I wonder how to screw 4 screws 11 to fix the body as suggested at the step 32, with the rear wheels and the shock absorbers in the middle... Just another anomaly in this kit instructions. Photo 3: the seat with its fairing has been installed. Notice how the cockpit is roomy, while it was in fact much smaller. The steering wheel , in the context of this long tail and long cockpit, seems quite small while, if you look at our documents, it was very wide. I didn't modify the steering wheel size, it is just all around that makes it smaller... The windscreen is totally wrong too, with these vertical arms (51 and 52E). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.e.charles Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 to my unsophisticated eyes, the model looks fine - until you point out all the discrepancies! who was it, Groucho Marx?, that said "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". modeling is a culmination of experiences in a variety of skills. this would be a far reach for me to produce something of this caliber. despite the label, WD 40 is more a solvent and has dastardly effects on plastic. safer to use a lubricant made for plastic ( https://xiphmont.livejournal.com/55467.html ) - even the WD line now has a silicone https://www.wd40specialist.com/products/silicone-lubricant/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now