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Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, Monaco GP '32


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On 2/10/2021 at 7:07 PM, Bengalensis said:

Cars like this are always nice to work on.

The real ones aren't. I'm doing all the metalwork on the 29 Mussolini 6C farina bodied one, finding propper detailed information on it is a nightmare, everyone has the wrong drawings argh!!! The chassis has had MAJOR work done on it due to years of mods and to get the exact specs has been tiresome to say the least and the body was a one off and we will have to work from pictures to get it right...ish. I wish I could post some pics to give inspiration for you but I can't, it's being filmed for Netflix :(

 

After that Citroen, I'm so glad you have decided to build another big kit, you are doing an absolutely incredible job as always and I look forward to seeing it progress :)

 

Andy 

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22 hours ago, ElectricLightAndy said:

The real ones aren't. I'm doing all the metalwork on the 29 Mussolini 6C farina bodied one, finding propper detailed information on it is a nightmare, everyone has the wrong drawings argh!!! The chassis has had MAJOR work done on it due to years of mods and to get the exact specs has been tiresome to say the least and the body was a one off and we will have to work from pictures to get it right...ish. I wish I could post some pics to give inspiration for you but I can't, it's being filmed for Netflix :(

 

After that Citroen, I'm so glad you have decided to build another big kit, you are doing an absolutely incredible job as always and I look forward to seeing it progress :)

Thanks a lot Andy for the kind praise. I'm not usually into larger scales so much, but it's enjoyable as a change, and the Citroën was much more enjoyable than expected, so I go with the flow right now.

I remember you mentioning the work on the 6C Farina, a lot of work for sure, I hope it's going well. Please give us a note when something can be seen on Netflix or wherever, I'm looking forward to it.

 

22 hours ago, Vesa Jussila said:

Nice progress.

Thanks a lot Vesa.

 

3 hours ago, PROPELLER said:

Beautiful job Jörgen! But...

Be careful, as Pocher models this bracket is missing!

And very useful to fasten the steering gear properly...

Many thanks Dan, and thanks for the heads up on the support bearing.

Italeri did catch that detail, so it's coming in where it should be. It will hopefully be seen in place before too long.

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After some more spraying the engine and gearbox is ready for some washing and dry brushing.

 

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It's a nice touch of Italeri to supply pre cut masks for all race numbers. They even survived a check against reference photos! I choose a greyish colour instead of pure white.

 

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The radiator mask performed very well. They are a nice low tack film, I just hope they will stay down well on the curved body parts later on.

 

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Trial fitting of the floor, seat and main body part looks promising. I will fill the three screw holes on each side

 

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I can see many different types of aluminium floor sections in various restored or preserved cars of today, but none with a pattern like moulded in here. There are also some sink marks on the left side panel.

 

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The underside needed a good deal of cleaning up and removal of several ejector pin marks.

 

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The pattern had to go. It was a boring work carefully scraping and sanding it off without making too much damage to other details, but it just had to be endured and get done with.

 

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Base paint coats on the floor and seat was sprayed.

 

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With the race number well dried the radiator parts could be glued together.

 

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A quick look of how it will appear. That red plastic is rather garish in naked form...

 

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3 hours ago, Brandy said:

That radiator looks much better for your extra attention. Mesh is such a simple way of adding a lot of visual interest.

Thanks a lot Ian.

Indeed adding some real mesh in a size more appropriate usually pays off well.

Your SSKL is progressing lovely. I need to do one in 1/24 some day.

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Here is the engine and gearbox after more work, a coat of semi gloss varnish and unmasking the gear lever. It's now ready for more parts to be added.

 

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I have messed around some more with the floor section and it's close to something I can install on the frame.

 

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I have also been messing away with the seat. I hope it actually was a brown seat when Nuvolari spent a few good hours in it, pressing on around the Monaco circuit in 1932, and not black or something...

 

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While paint is drying I'm preparing parts further ahead. Today some work on the fuel tank and tail cone. I have made a couple of changes from what Italeri provided. They have done sort of flat floor section between the frame rails, with the fuel tank on top, becoming flat bottomed. In reality the fuel tank has a somewhat more rounded bottom below, and there are triangular (sort of) panels on each side of the tank. So I reworked the pieces a little and glued them together. Later on I will scribe along the tank, to imitate two separate panels, and scratch a shaped bottom underneath. I hope it will be an OK compromise. I'm also re-routing the fuel lines into a slot beside the tank. The tail cone and side panels were also drilled for the wire locking bolts.

 

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With a lot of parts painted and ready I took the opportunity to relax with some assembly work today. First the engine was completed to be ready for installation. The parts are now falling together without much trouble.

 

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Soon the complete engine and gearbox was lowered into the frame. That was followed with the completion of the steering and brake linkage.

 

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I had to put the chassis on wheels for a look. I'm doing a little washing and paint touching up as I go on.

 

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It sums up the important aspects of a proper motor car; first a large powerful engine, second the necessary transmission, suspension and brakes, third and last some space for the fuel tank, the driver and possibly one passenger.

 

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The brake linkage needed a little care during installation. It's important to adjust all holes where the parts fit into each other just that little bit to give some play to avoid any tension that would result in bent linkage parts, as they are so delicate.

 

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Then it was time for the finished radiator to go in.

 

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Followed by the pipes connecting to the engine.

 

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Then I finished off the day with the floor panels and the seat. I just love how Alfa Romeo made the sides of the cast gearbox casing to support the floor panels. What more would be needed in here? Nothing.

 

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I've been working away on body parts and associated small detail parts. I have decided to finish all inside surfaces in plain aluminium. The inside of the main body section needed a lot of work to remove some rather heavy ejector pin marks and mould lines.

 

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I also filled the screw holes with glued Evergreen rod and drilled a lot of small holes for rivet heads and locking wire bolts.

 

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As I have worked on all body parts drilling holes for a lot of locking wire bolts I have also looked at their size. In the end I reached the conclusion that I need smaller parts than the 3D-prints I have. If that is possible... The ones I have will be pretty perfect for a friend who is currently working on a Pocher 1/8 Targa Florio version. So I drew up a new locking wire bolt in 3D, and while I was at it also a rivet head for the row in front of the cockpit opening.

 

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I then made a pattern of them to give me a good number of spares and added a frame. This was sent to Shapeways for printing this morning. They will of course, as so often, reject it due to a number of dimensions being "too small", to which I will answer with the usual "print it anyway" option that usually works fine. We'll see what I will receive later on though.

 

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I'm still considering exactly how to shape the underside of the fuel tank.

 

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The exhaust parts have also been cleaned up and glued. A beautiful design. Again; what more could possibly have to be added to an exhaust system?

 

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With glue firmly dried I made the joint smooth and nice. Then I removed the moulded in socket joint between the two header sections and scribed a new one. A second joint was scribed further back.

 

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The oil tank was finished and readied for paint.

 

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I have made a new bottom section for the fuel tank, building it up from Evergreen strips, sheet styrene and 2K automotive filler. This is not to be regarded as the correct shape, but it gives me a shape below the two side panels that is much closer to what little I have seen in photos of real cars. Very much a compromise, but it should do the job for me.

 

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Clean up of the bonnet sections have also started, a bit time consuming work. Right now I'm also not sure if the works team or Enzo Ferrari's cars really made use of the second lower hinges? Some photos suggest perhaps they didn't. I need to study this a bit more, and more importantly I have consulted higher knowledge to perhaps give me some input. I have modified and improved the small air scoop a little, gluing in the down pipe section from a piece of sprue, and hollowing the whole thing out down through the pipe.

 

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Cleaning out all the vents in the bonnet pieces is tedious, but it looks much better when done.

 

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Today I sprayed the surfacer on all body parts, except the bonnet pieces. The decision has been made that the bonnet will be built up with only the centre hinge; the lower sections will be fixed to the upper sections and those hinges removed. This means I must wait and build up the bonnet halves after the other body sections have been fitted more permanently to the frame, to get the best fit possible. A little bit reminding of how I did the 1/8 Citroën. And before I can paint any red I must receive the 3D printed rivet heads...

 

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Painting of the other remaining parts has also been started. The exhaust will need a lot more work of course. After studying the few photos that I know of from Monaco 32, I will not fit any kind of heat shield or insulation to the exhaust pipe.

 

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Yesterday the instrument decals were placed and left to dry, and this morning I finished off the dashboard.

 

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I have been discussing various research details with my friend with the greater Italian interest over the last few days. One thing being the pipes and fittings on top of the fuel tank. Italeri supplies material for two vent pipes, one going down each side of the tank. That arrangement can be seen on the occasional car, but mostly it's only one pipe down the right side and some sort of valve in the other hole. It's pretty hopeless to make anything definite out of the few photos from Monaco -32 we have found, but in the end the judgement was made that much points to only one pipe and a valve. So I scratched a valve for the left hole.

 

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Another detail we have been debating is the rear panels on each side of the tank. On the works GP cars, were they really reaching all the way back to cover the rear tube of the frame like this? Much pointed to this not being the case, but no photos clearly showing the rear from Monaco -32 has been found.

 

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However, while going back and forth between photos today I noted this little detail; a glimpse of daylight under the forward rear shock absorber. I placed the fuel tank with side panels on my finished frame and studied the whole thing from the same angle as we see Nuvolari cornering here. No daylight could be seen, as it was blocked by the long side panels... In the photo it seems we're looking under the rear shock absorber, under the frame kink above the rear axle, and out above the rear tubular cross member. With shorter side panels, as seen on other works cars, I would see daylight on the model too. My friend did the same test on his 1/8 project with the same result...

 

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That was it for me. I had to cut down and modify the side panels into what I think they could have been like. Sometimes it's good being forced to wait for parts before the painting process can continue... I cut the side panels to save the vents, as they might be useful later on in the process, and followed the shape seen on several cars that may have a suitable history when cutting 0,5 sheet styrene.

 

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This work also made it clear, more and more as I studied photos, that I had to add some more depth to the rear of fuel tank than I previously had. I also moved the two holes for the fuel lines at the right rear of the tank.

 

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The new look when fitted on the frame.

 

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It also became clear that the rear exhaust bracket has to be rebuilt and moved forward a little. But first I have to tackle the new vents, one way or another...

 

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22 hours ago, silver911 said:

Superb attention to detail and historical accuracy (at least as much as is humanly possible)...it really does capture the spirit of the times :)

 

7 hours ago, Brandy said:

Nice detective work!

 

Thanks a lot guys for you kind praise.

I can never claim this to become correct of course, but hopefully the work brings it a little closer. An the research when building subjects like this is very interesting and half the fun.

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The work on the vents started in the morning. First I measured and marked the five new vents on each side. I then sanded down the backing of the original parts as much as possible, until they almost separated, then cut off the individual pieces and sanded them nice and smooth. The width was good for the rear one, then I had to section them down more and more by cutting them in halves as they were glued in place going forward.

 

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With both sides done and sanded nice on the outside I drilled a small diagonal hole through the bottom at each end, then started a slow work with a #11 knife blade to open them all up. When all done it was suddenly time for lunch. Time flies when having fun...

 

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A new look of the result when placed on the frame.

 

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I then rebuilt the exhaust bracket. From the known photo in the Monaco pits in -32 when they work on the brakes it's just possible to make out that the bolt of the clamp is probably placed on top. The rest of the design I took from a preserved Monza of current times with the same body panel configuration as this one.

 

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With a new coat of surfacer sprayed I'm back to square one, waiting for the rivet heads for the body.

 

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