Italeri Fiat Mefistofele 1/12 scale

[Jamo]

After market parts I have found so far:

1/12 scale spark plugs from RB Motion


http://www.rbmotion.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=55

RB Motion also do a nice range of nuts machined from aluminium in various sizes


http://www.rbmotion.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=77_106


http://www.rbmotion.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=76_97

I found lots of 1/12 scale motor cycle accessories over at Hiroboy
They have photo etched motorcycle chains from Top Studio Detail Master (but  are quite expensive  £33.95  and I would need two sets). They come with a PE jig for assembly and look brilliant.

http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=chain&x=0&y=0





I have found some photo etched hexagonal mesh sets, some from Hasegawa and Crazy Modeler but I am unsure about the hex size, which would need to be fairly large


Hose clips from Hobby Design

[Des]

A great lot of accessories for you magnificent model James. Be prepared for a very long and fiddly job assembling the Top Studio roller chain, if you remember I did one for my scratch Huck starter, but they are a brilliant product.

Des.

[IanB]

I had found some of those while looking for bits for the Bentley, but the hose clips look great! Top Studio also do hose connectors for oil lines et. Re the mesh, take a look at my Bentley build and let me know if the mesh I have used on the radiator is suitable. It's 0.94mm aperture and 0.22mm wire thickness. If it's suitable I'd be more than happy to send you enough to do your rad and anything else you may need - they sent me 2 sheets and I only ordered one so I have plenty to spare!

Ian

[Jamo]

The engine crankcase lacks the supporting brackets for attaching to the engine bearers (actually it lacks the engine bearers as well). I have made the eight supports and the 24 arches from plastic card. Also had to sand off the oil breather tubes as they were the wrong shape and in the wrong place. Haven't added those yet.





The cylinder heads didn't fit particularly well so lots of scrapping and sanding. Its certainly not a WNW kit as far as sinkmarks and seams go. But the engine looks fantastic! So much detailing possible in this large scale.

The camshaft is not glued yet, I also have to replace all the thin valve springs with something more meaty. Parts are only dry fitted to give an impression of overall shape



Sparkplugs and bolt heads have arrived from RB Motion, more photos soon

[Tony Haycock]

Looking great! I think I will be in trouble if I find one in a model shop when I take my group to Le Mans in June...   

[Des]

That is one beautiful (and big) looking engine James, looking forward to you adding all your details, this should be a showpiece by the time you are finished.

Des.

[IanB]

Nice work so far, Jamo. I'm following this one closely...

Ian

[Derrick]

I have never built a model car, but this one appeals to me. However looking at prices it is around $200 Canadian. Not sure what you paid, but if a similar amount, do you think you have gotten good value for the money ? Taking into account how much extra work and aftermarket pieces you need to make an accurate model of the real version

[Jamo]

Value for money is a tricky concept. Depends on your budget and how much you like a particular model compared to the next best alternative. If I take a year to build the kit with all the corrections and after market bits then it will work out as a cheap past-time compared to say playing golf, drinking lots of beer or going to restaurants on a regular basis. I paid NZ$264 including postage, no customs or tax payable. It is certainly a lot cheaper than buying the original Protar kit on ebay, which cost an arm and a leg.

By the way will post some updates after I get home this evening

[uncletony]

Nice work Jamo! Looking forward to seeing the latest.

[Jamo]

I have collected a large number of images after searching the net and the more I look at them, the more I notice areas of the kit that are overly simplified.

They are not especially visible but the inward ends of the magnetos are just wrong:



Here are some images of the real thing:



Still work in progress, I still need to make some toothed wheels to put inside the inner end of the magnetos and other stuff

It is also clear that the crankcase is too long, the water pump is missing and the frame that holds up the magnetos is also missing











Note that Mefistofele's Fiant A.12 engine was modified with two extra spark plugs per cylinder which necessitated two additional magnetos, making a total of four.

Also missing from the crankcase are a set of bolts between the cylinders



I have added the seats for these bolts (white sections in the photo above) but not the bolts themselves yet.

I have also reshaped the cylinder heads to reduce the size of the inlet and outlet manifolds





This photo was very useful



The instructions show the rear suspension springs upside down which is incorrect and will raise the rear of the car by a centimeter





Thanks for looking in
James

[Des]

Fantastic update James, you are very fortunate to have really good reference photos to go by, but like Justin said, this leads to many many hours/days of extra detailing work, it will be all worth it in the end. The engine is a massive kit, adding every tiny bit of detail will prove very rewarding, looking forward to your next steps in the build progress.

Des.

[Verbeek]

Great investigation, and great work so far. Like to see this to the end.

[uncletony]

Great stuff Jamo. Did you buy a second engine sprue?

[Jamo]

Hi Bo: No I borrowed an unstarted kit from a friend at our local IPMS club to help with some comparison photos.

Some more corrections:

The rear chassis frame is overly simplified where the suspension dampers are attached. It needs to be cut away (not quite finished yet, still a bit rough):





Here are the photos that show the issue



Some filling in of the front chassis inner side is needed





Before & after comparison photo of some of the work needed to remove and fill the various screw holes



The bar axle is meant to taper in width in the middle, which means substantial add ons at the bottom corners





The suspension spring leaves need to be wrapped to represent the greased cord bindings. After investigating various threads (which were too furry) and monofilament fishing line (hard to keep in place while wrapping) I used some brass beading wire.



Thanks for looking in



Cheers
James