Bengalensis Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 At the moment I'm halfway through the book from 1952 written by Ludwig Sebastian, who worked at the Auto Union racing department in the 1930's and was Bernd Rosemeyer's race mechanic in those days. This is a very fascinating GP era, and I feel this is a good time to start another build of a GP car of those days. And now it must be a car of Bernd Rosemeyer. I have some in my stash, and I picked Fernando Pinto's (FPPM) 1/24 scale resin kit of the Auto Union Typ C from the German GP 1936, a race that Bernd Rosemeyer won. This is not a simple kit. There are quite a few parts with chassis and engine details, most of which are delicate resin castings requiring a lot of cleaning up and preparation. It will not be an easy build, neither a fast build, but hopefully a rewarding model in the end. Here we have the content of the box. The main casting. The quality looks quite good but there is a lot to clean up and prepare. The larger resin parts. The grille come pre-assembled. The little research I have done so far indicates that the four side vents need to be filled for the German GP '36, but I'm not done there yet. FPPM is often moulding in metal rods in some of his castings, as can been seen in the rear axle. The smaller resin parts. Some of these are very delicate and will be a pain to clean up. There is also the occasional air bubble to deal with. Plenty of work ahead. The wheels, a very important aspect of this era GP car models. FPPM has a rather effective way of making the pre-assembled wire wheels. They are looking very good when fully painted and fitted with their knock off nuts. I have used them before with great result. So that's something to start working on... 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwarz-Brot Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Looks like a nice kit. Did not hear about FPPM before, so will follow closely. Obviously he knows what he is doing as the wheels look great and the molded in metal is a proof of high production experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Very attractive subject, and it looks like there is a nice kit somewhere amidst those parts. You said it: lots of clean up, but good bones seem to be there. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Interesting project, really like the GP cars of the period, mind if I follow along? Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Nice one: had looked at the FPPM Ferrari 375MM Plus and am still toying with the idea of getting one. Will see how your build goes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Oooh, this looks interesting! I have the Matchbox kit (obviously no comparison quality wise) so will be watching for hints and tips on the details! Ian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I will follow this. As you said very interesting period of racing. Today it's just too often forgotten. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 My only reservation (as with the FPPM Ferrari) is that it needs a PE grille. The real thing was slatted rather than mesh, and had some very obvious lightening holes in the vertical slats: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 On 23/03/2020 at 16:10, Sabrejet said: My only reservation (as with the FPPM Ferrari) is that it needs a PE grille. The real thing was slatted rather than mesh, and had some very obvious lightening holes in the vertical slats: Indeed it is a shortcoming. I am well aware of the construction of the grille on the Auto Unions, but to have a true to scale photo etch in such small scale as 1/24 would not be easy I think. It would most likely end up as a compromise anyway, in dimensions and number of ribs. Well, we'll see what can be done with this. I wouldn't mind a Typ C from MFH in 1/12 though... 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I think it'll look fine: didn't want to pick holes because it looks a lovely kit. I love the sound these things make! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 4 minutes ago, Sabrejet said: I think it'll look fine: didn't want to pick holes because it looks a lovely kit. I love the sound these things make! Oh no problem, I think there will be a number of holes to deal with before this one is finished 😎 He does have a photo etched grille included in the W154, but it's one of more scary bend and shaping excursions I have seen... One day I will have to tackle it though. The FPPM kits do require a fair amount of work, but there are so many fascinating subjects he's doing... Yes, the sound during warm up in those days... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted April 4, 2020 Author Share Posted April 4, 2020 Clean up work ongoing, slowly the first pieces starts to come out... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted April 5, 2020 Author Share Posted April 5, 2020 A little bit of period feeling. Our hero Bernd Rosemeyer looks like a lot more cheerful guy than the rather determined character on the GP program cover. Just as cheerful as he is described by Ludwig Sebastian in his book. For the German GP 1936 the four extra cooling slots are filled according to race photos. The fit of the engine cover must be improved. With added material at the back with the aid of an Evergreen strip and a little sanding the situation is much improved. Dry fitting of the main body parts looks promising. The floor panel also needs material added at each side to get a tight fit against the sides to prevent large gaps to be seen inside the cockpit. Again I'm using Evergreen strips. This is better. Some parts are worse than others. The two front surface patterns on the radiator part are just not possible to clean up and save. Luckily the backside is OK. After cleaning up and filling the rest of the part I shaved of the patterns and replaced them with photo etch mesh from Aber, Evergreen strip and some stretched sprue. Now, the kit I'm building here was produced some five or six years ago, and thankfully some things have improved. The part to the right is from another Typ C, from the Vanderbilt Cup 1937, that I got just a few months ago, and it is much better. The rear axle is test fitted. Then, after more cleaning and filling, the engine and compressor with carburettor is also dry fitted to check the clearance against the engine cover. After thinning it down a bit it fitted nicely on top. After pretty much the better part of a day at the workbench these parts are ready for further dry building and later a coat primer. It's not quick work and definitely a challenge. Yet I think this is the kind of model building I like the best. Having said that there is now this bag of many smaller fragile parts that needs a lot of attention... 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 Beautiful work Jörgen and nice to see your methodical approach. Or so it seems anyway, could be just a very methodical presentation 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 I finished Ludwig Sebastian's book where he told his adventures as the mechanic of Auto Union and Bernd Rosemeyer, so I dug straight into the biography by Elly Beinhorn Rosemeyer and Chris Nixon. It was first written in German by Elly soon after Bernd's fatal crash in 1938, and almost 50 years later, in 1986, published in English with added work by Chris Nixon, supported by Elly herself. It's very good reading. Progress on the model is slow, partly due to work, partly due to every little part needing careful clean up, filler, sometimes repairs or in the odd case rebuilding. The worst offender so far is the branch of water pipes with its sixteen connections to the cylinder heads. Apart from being very crooked there was no way to make it fit well even after straightening. I started cutting it apart... Soon it was in five pieces and fourteen of the feeder pipes discarded. The rebuild took longer, but here is the finished version, not perfect, but working. I have now worked through all the parts to this stage, preparing and dry fitting, apart from the exhaust stacks... The exhaust stacks will be a major challenge on their own. However they most certainly look worse than they are, so I'm going to give them a good work over and see what comes out of it. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted April 11, 2020 Author Share Posted April 11, 2020 Slowly something reminiscent of the exhaust stacks starts to emerge from the resin pieces. There are tiny air bubbles in critical points and it's near the limit of what can be done. But I got something out the work in the end. Far from perfect, but they will do for priming and further work. This fit will be good enough at this stage; they can be tweaked a bit during assembly if necessary. So I now have a complete set of parts ready for a good coat of primer, followed by inspection, minor fillings and sanding. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted April 12, 2020 Author Share Posted April 12, 2020 All parts are now through a first priming session. As expected this revealed a number of pinholes and other minor stuff that needed attention and has now also been filled with the same primer. A lot of fine sanding is now waiting ahead. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Slow progress, but the wheels have been painted. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klubman01 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Those wheels look fabulous! Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCH Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 REALLY enjoying watching this build. Did you buy a new set of files with this kit? JCH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 hour ago, klubman01 said: Those wheels look fabulous! Thanks. That is mostly credited to Fernando Pinto of FPPM. His technique of creating the wheels he supply do work very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 46 minutes ago, JCH said: REALLY enjoying watching this build. Did you buy a new set of files with this kit? Thanks. You do indeed need a good set of files, sanding sticks and paper here, and patience to use them. But it's worth it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Every single part requires careful sanding of the primer to get them ready for paint. It's a major task that I have put off for a while, but I need to get it done. I decided to split the work and do some basic spraying of groups of parts as I get them ready. First are the parts to be sprayed body colour aluminium. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricLightAndy Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 This is going to be stunning 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Tamiya gloss aluminium spray, through an airbrush. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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