Doyusha Lancia Stratos

[FG2Si]

I've stalled out on the Scammell so decided to work on something different. I started this a few years ago and figured it would be the ideal choice to fit that bill. 

 

Anyways, this is the old Doyusha Lancia Stratos in 1/12. 

 

 

I'm not sure what happened when I last looked at the kit, but some parts were a bit of a mess and covered in some art of residue. 

 

 

I started with the engine and had to clean up the engine block and some of the join lines. 

 

 

It's still not perfect but much better than it was before. 

 

 

For the cylinder heads, I've used Tru-color paint which I'll be using for the body as well.

 

 

Here's the centre section with a start on the paint colour. 

 

 

The rims came in red so I've done them in titanium gold. I'm still undecided and may use rims from a 934. 

 

 

More to come as I get it done. 

 

Carl

[Vesa Jussila]

Nice project I will follow this.

[Codger]

Having built a 30+ year old Doyusha Countach, I give you this stern warning; forget paint for a while - TEST FIT everything you can. Their moldings are excellent but complex areas of suspension/drivetrain interface are poorly engineered. Every aspect of construction should be checked and don't be afraid to modify what won't be seen. There is no way to mount the glass areas without making flanges for instance....

[FG2Si]

4 hours ago, Codger said:

Having built a 30+ year old Doyusha Countach, I give you this stern warning; forget paint for a while - TEST FIT everything you can. Their moldings are excellent but complex areas of suspension/drivetrain interface are poorly engineered. Every aspect of construction should be checked and don't be afraid to modify what won't be seen. There is no way to mount the glass areas without making flanges for instance....

 

Thanks Codger! I've got the Countach in the stash and built one probably 25-30 years ago so it's definitely not the most perfect in terms of fit. I have been doing test fits and dry runs as I go. The front suspension is an interesting breakdown to say the least.  I haven't tried the windshield yet. Could make for some fun times. 

[Codger]

18 minutes ago, FG2Si said:

 

Thanks Codger! I've got the Countach in the stash and built one probably 25-30 years ago so it's definitely not the most perfect in terms of fit.

Boy you picked 2 winners...If you wish when you build the C, I'll give you a run down of the horrors.

For instance, the beautifully cast engine/gearbox had to have the snot ground off it so the cockpit tub would fit over the sides of it. And the gearbox rear mounts hang in mid air. And the side window frames and glass fit was horrendous....and more.......Just managed to get this out of it;

[FG2Si]

48 minutes ago, Codger said:

Boy you picked 2 winners...If you wish when you build the C, I'll give you a run down of the horrors.

 

I saw your build and it came fantastic. I tries to make my own version of your wheels at the time by grinding off the lips around the holes but made a complete mess of it.

 

I do have the Tamiya Carrera GT to even things out a bit down the road. 

[Codger]

12 hours ago, FG2Si said:

 

I saw your build and it came fantastic. I tries to make my own version of your wheels at the time by grinding off the lips around the holes but made a complete mess of it.

 

I do have the Tamiya Carrera GT to even things out a bit down the road. 

So did I !  Those are 3- D printed.

[FG2Si]

On 12/21/2020 at 8:41 AM, Codger said:

So did I !  Those are 3- D printed.

 

Might have to ask you for more details on them when I get around to the Countach. 

[FG2Si]

So the front of the chassis is a bunch of parts. Some of the fit is a bit vague as Codger noted. 

 

 

Doing a dry run, I taped it all together to check the overall fit. It's not bad but there's going to be some shimming and filling needed. 

 

 

I decided to start with the sides as they seemed to have the most positive fit to the chassis.

 

 

The firewall is covered in ejector pin marks so I've started filling those in. 

 

 

 

[FG2Si]

Happy new year folks. I took a bit of a break from building over the Christmas break but I am back at it. Not that means there's been a lot of progress or anything. 

 

Anyways, I continued on the front chassis and installed the suspension bulkheads.

 

 

 

At this point I finally took a look at how the windshield fits. The good news is it fits fairly decently. The bad news is it looks like there's some something had bonded itself to the inside of the windshield. You can just make out three black spots near the middle. 

 

 

It got worse though as they have melted into the plastic for want of a better description. So there were three sizable pits in the plastic. I'm in the midst of trying to sand them out as best as I can. It sort of looks like there's some frost on the windshield. 

 

 

I've been taking my time polishing it back to clear. It may be for naught as the outs are still in it. I guess I'll find out soon enough. 

 

Meantime, I finished getting the firewall pin marks filled in. I also worked on the gap at the bottom where it meets the chassis. I used strip styrene to fill the gap in. 

 

 

 

I also fitted the rear window frame to the chassis. 

I used the body shell and firewall to make sure the alignment was good. 

 

 

[FG2Si]

Digging through my spares box, I found some wheels and seats that I might use.

 

Here's a mockup with the kit wheels. 

 

 

I found these leftover from a binned 934 and thought they might look good on the Stratos. 

 

 

If I use them, I'll repaint the centres in gold. I'd also need to section the front rim and reduce its width as it's a bit too wide for the tire currently. 

 

Another possiblity is rims and tires from an NSX but I think they're a bit too bland, not to mention modern. 

 

 

@Codger, I also found the Countach rim I tried to modify years ago. It's not as bad as I remember but useless since I only have the one. 

 

 

[klubman01]

The kit wheels (i.e. proper Stratos wheels) look best, IMHO.  The only Stratos I saw with different wheels was the Chequered Flag rally car which had gold coloured Minilites.  They also looked good.

Trevor

[Malc2]

What he ^ said.

The association between Lancia Stratos' (Stratii?) and coffin spoke Campagnolos is so strong that anything else just looks wrong.

But its your model, your choice!

Good work so far BTW.

 

M.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Malc2
spelang

[Flintstone]

I am also building one of these at the moment, well on and off!

 

I see your model had red wheels, so is yours the Pirelli kit and if so is that the scheme you are going to do?

My kit was a rebuild special off of ebay and did not have decals, so I am thinking about a blue or red Chardonnnet car or a Marlboro racer. I quite fancy doing the front air dam nose.

 

Take car with aligning the chassis parts as it does fit together quite well if you are careful.

I think the oil cooler cannot fit in the place against the alternator. The real cars sometimes ran an alternator off of the camshaft at the other end of the cylinder head, so perhaps there was a mix of vehicles used to inspire the kit design.

There are no coolant pipes from the engine on the kit. Both come from the middle of the engine vee, one to the water pump and one from the two cylinder heads. The pipes run down the bulkhead to go to the front radiator.

The rally cars also often had a fabric (nomex?) heatshield on the cockpit side of the bulkhead, which can be used to cover up the gaps between the bulkhead and the body.

Regards

K

[FG2Si]

Thanks for the info @Flintstone! Very appreciative. Yes, mine is the Pirelli version. I'm planning to do mine as a road car rather than a racer. I'm not sure how usable the decals are but if you want them, they're yours. 

 

[FG2Si]

So after settling on using the 934 rims, I worked to narrow them to fit the kit tires. The front rims needed two sections removed to get a suitable width. 

 

 

The rears needed just a single section removed. 

 

 

I then dipped the rims in some Castrol Super Clean and that stripped the chrome and paint off in 10 minutes. 

 

 

At this point I added a new inner lip to the front rims. 

 

 

I then started on the paint using AK Polished Aluminum for the rim and Gunze Mr Metal Color gold for the centre. 

 

 

 

Tucked under the body.

 

 

[FG2Si]

On 1/2/2021 at 4:32 AM, Malc2 said:

What he ^ said.

The association between Lancia Stratos' (Stratii?) and coffin spoke Campagnolos is so strong that anything else just looks wrong.

But its your model, your choice!

Good work so far BTW.

 

M.

 

The Campagnolos are the default rim for the Stratos I agree but the box art for my kit had the BBS style rims which is where my idea to use the 934 rims came from. 

[silver911]

Nice job on the rims ...although from a personal perspective...just look out of place on the Stratos...but respect your personal choice.

 

Ron

[Collectible Cars]

I also agree a no no on the BBS. You just can't beat a Stratos on it's original rims!

[Flintstone]

Good progress with the Stratos.

The gold and silver wheels will look great against the red! The works cars used a variety of wheels early on, particularly with the Marlboro liveried racers in the Targa Florio.

 

As you are doing a road car are you going to include the rear spoiler and roof wing? On road cars these were often black regardless of body colour, if fitted at all.

 

 

[FG2Si]

Thanks folks for the feedback. 

 

Kevin, I'm still undecided on the spoiler and wing. They'll be black if I use them. The good thing is I can add them at the end.

 

Carl

[FG2Si]

Time for a  short update. Previously I mentioned that I had some kits in the windshield. I tried sanding them out and was left with a frosted glass look.

 

 

Not the most ideal for seeing out of. The problem was as much as I polished it, I couldn't seem to get it back to clear. This was putting a real damper on things. I finally decided to start over and work my way up through the various grits of Micromesh and finishing off with polishing compound. That seemed to do the trick. 

 

 

The pits are still there but much diminished.  I'm not going to mess with it any further. 

 

The kit seats are a soft vinyl. Rather than try to mess with those, I've raided the 934 again and swiped the seats from it. I've given them a coat of semi-gloss black and they're ready to go. Here they are next to the kit seat.

 

 

 

[FG2Si]

I managed to get some free time this afternoon and worked on the Stratos a bit more. I finally worked on the shocks. The shock body is  split vertically so it doesn't make for the easiest assembly much less painting. 

 

 

The box shows red coloured springs so I painted the kit ones to match. 

 

 

Here's the shocks assembled and almost ready for installation.

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Impressive stuff. Despite the odds, you seem to be beating this one into shape. 

I quite like the BBS wheels on it. If you could afford a Stratos as a road car back then, who was going to criticize your choice of wheels?

The shockers look good, and you seem to be getting plenty of help along the way, so it should be a winner.

[Flintstone]

Carl,

The Stratos is coming along nicely!

A number of Stratos cars used in historic rallying at the moment seem to be using modern seats that look a lot like the 934 ones.

 

I hope to restart my model shortly. I am in the information gathering stage!

Regards

Kevin