Italeri Fiat Mefistofele 1/12 scale

[Jamo]

I have never built a car model before but I couldn't resist this beauty. Here is the box alongside a Wingnut Wings Sopwith Triplane for comparison



Bought it on ebay from an Italian modelshop for 134 Euro plus postage of 36 Euro, which came to $264 NZD. The kit derives from an old Protar kit, but moulded in plastic not white metal.



Love the engine, a WWI Fiat A12 22 litre straight six aero engine modified to produce approximately 320 hp. Here is the crankcase alongside a 1/32 Benz engine:



The car was nicknamed Mefistofele due to the loud noise from the exhaust. No reverse gear, and apparently no brakes if you believe the internet(?) fuel consumption 1.4mpg, Brit Sir Ernest Eldridge drove it to a world land speed record of 234.98 kph at Arpajon in France on 12 July, 1924, a record it held for only 32 days.  In 1969, the Mefistofele was purchased from Sir Eldridge's heirs by Fiat's boss Giovanni Agnelli. It was then shipped to Italy, where it was treated to a major restoration and added to the company's historic collection. It currently resides in the Centro Storico Fiat in Turin.

[Des]

What a great find Jamo, it certainly looks to be a pretty good kit of a very impressive vehicle, just imagine the detailing you will be able to add, looking forward to seeing you start this one.

Des.

[Ssasho0]

This thing looks terrific, I was having the box in my hands few weeks ago, but it was not possible to open it and check the contents. Unfortunately the price of this thing stops me to get it Otherwise I love the cars from 1920s up to ~1960s. Which reminds me, that Tamiya will release this March a new mould 1/24 Mercedes 300 SL Gulwing

Best regards,
Sasho

PS: Please, please, please open a WiP thread, so we can live hte build together with you

[Tony Haycock]

Very envious! I have been lusting after this model since it was released... I can see me doing something rash if I come across it when I am Europe in June.
Mefistofele was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed when I was there in 2013. Somewhere I think I have photos...I will see if I can find them

I am looking forward to seeing your progress on this

Cheers

Tony 

[Tony Haycock]

The real thing. Of course if I knew there was going to be a model of the thing I would have taken many more

 

[uncletony]

Awesome, Jamo. You just can't beat those Italian prewar cars for cool. I might have to add this kit to my wish list. I hope you do a build log, I'd love to follow along.

[IanB]

Damn it Jamo, I was hoping that the Airfix Bentley I'm building was going to be the only car I did, but this is........tempting...and in the same scale too....

Ian

[Michael Scarborough]

This is indeed very cool....not a word I use a lot but it certainly fits here.

Just from an aesthetic point of view there are so many cars from that era that really appeal to me.....just like the Schneider Cup racers.

Yes indeed, please run a build log, Jamo. (Especially if it includes a wake of your incredible water.....not really sure how that would work but if anyone can pull it off, you are the magician to do it.)

Cheers from frigid NYC,
Michael

[Michael Scarborough]

PS....I think we should all do an intervention and make sure Bo does NOT get his hands on one of these kits. I mean...can you imagine?

[Jamo]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Here are a few more shots of the kit contents

A nice little plastic box with the tubing, screws, exhaust wrap and faux leather (which will probably get replaced)



Spark plug leads and carburettors


Fuel lead connectors and priming cups


Valve gear covers and rocker arms


Clear parts for instrument faces, windscreen and the big Fiat mask for painting the radiator marking


Decals (the strips are intended to be the hose clamps but I think I can improve on those)


Close up on the instrument dials


The data plate should have been in brass




Tyres are vinyl


Wooden floors have raised panel lines and grain which will need to be sanded back, but nice screw head detail to be kept


I have started cleaning up and opening the louvres using a strip of sandpaper fitted into a thin PE saw blade.


I gave up sanding the engine covers to a more realistic thickness and switched to scraping using a scalpel. Lot of plastic to remove


Thanks for looking in
Cheers
James

[IanB]

This is what Airfix could have done.....very impressive detail parts. I almost always pare down thick parts with a blade, then sand smooth. It's much quicker, but the shaved pieces stick to everything!

Ian

[Des]

This is going to be a real treat watching you build this kit Jamo, thanks for doing the build log here.

Des.

[kornbeef]

I saw the real deal at Goodwood festival.

Also saw this being released by Italeri and salivated for some time before sanity grbbed me by the **lls and said keep the dosh for your WNW addiction.

I'll follow what you do with great interest though, but it would have been nice if Italeri had updated the kit a little with some PE chain drives etc.

I'm sure yo'll build a real gem from it none the less.

Maybe that dataplate started out painted but got lovingly polished by someone?

Keith

[15badcats]

It's a great kit I hope there is some aftermarket for it I'd love a real brass radiater and some metal springs like the ones in the Protar Fiat 806 Its an awesome car If you look it up on You Tube there is a video of it being started and ran I think it would be a real beast to drive

[Ssasho0]

Great, you started it I will thoroughly enjoy this build log!
Removing the raised wood grain without loosing the bolt heads will be tedious job. I was also wondering if there are aftermarket parts for this beaty

Looking to the next update

Best regards,
Sasho