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FPPMODELOS 1/24 scale resin kit of the Auto-Union C made by Fernando Pinto Portugal, of the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup Race winner. WIP: Auto Union C - Vanderbilt Cup 1937 Bought the book Auto Union V16 Supercharged a technical appraisal hoping there would be good photos or illustrations, but found the best reference on the web, lucky to have downloaded a cutaway before the site disappeared. The car was ground-breaking in many ways, mid engine, aerodynamics, limited slip differential, use of aluminum, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche designed the car that challenged Mercedes Benz before WW2. The book described the evolution during the program, Porsche opted for a low reving engine vs. exotic fuels used by Mercedes. Other than the Hindenburg, this is the only other vehicle with the Swastika that burned up American territory, the race organizers mandated only Audi have it (like it's hard to tell the difference between front engine and mid engine car?). Bernd Rosemeyer led most of the race and won. Must have been fun to watch American Indy cars compete with European Grand Prix cars, how cool would a match up today be? I knew the kit would be a challenge. The kit is 100% handmade, no 3D printing, no photo-etch (other kits of his have p-e). Besides fitment issues, I replaced many kit parts with scratch-built units. It's not my best work, but race cars back then were crude anyway. It's also surprisingly heavy! The laced wire (not photo-etched) wheels are outstanding, they come finished, no painting required. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This Auto Union C resin kit is made by a gentleman in Portugal, FPPModelos, Fernando Pinto, found on Facebook. He laces the wire wheels, not photo-etch. He also fabricates the wire grill for you. Sent payment October 11 for $165.01, received today (Nov. 9). He has some other variants of the Auto Union, and other race cars. Sure that sounds expensive, but look at those wheels! It was well packed too, he even made a custom sized box for shipping. The castings are a bit crude, just need to spend time to clean up. Instructions are really basic. I should go back to his page and download pictures for reference. I sure hope Revell doesn't come out with a kit of this.

Fernando Pinto Models 1/24 - Auto Union C, Vanderbilt Cup 1937. Found this handmade resin maker via Facebook, ordered through his page. I've always been fascinated by German engineering, especially the mid engine Auto Unions. When I got the kit in 2018, scoured the web for pictures and gathered a bunch, plus three cutaway drawings. Recently read a book about this car, fascinating in a dry technical summary, Dr. Porsche was a genius. This particular car is the race winner, everyone ate his dust. Wanted something different to build (like my Mercedes G666 BenutzerdefiniertHinterntretenJadgAktenvernichterGeländewagenLimousine is not? ?), this is really vintage for me. It's the usual handmade resin kit, the instructions are super vague, so needed to steal pictures of built models to get an idea. There are only 52 parts, wire and decals not counted. I got thin wall stainless tubing to make the exhaust tips (16). The laced wire wheels are assembled by FPM, and the wire grill too. One of the race pictures I stole: Overseas mail call: Not photo-etch! Book for inspiration. Laid out the parts. Discovered there are two of one side trailing arms, easy enough to scratch-build the other one. Two parts are not on the instructions, figured out looking at photos what they are. Today I officially began construction, by cleaning up some of the flashing. Printed a cutaway drawing for easy reference. I'm planning to open the slots, the intake scoops, wire for steering column, small instrument bezels, drill holes in the pedals, on top of simply getting everything to fit! I will have to overcome my fear of painting silver, got Splash paint and their primer. I'm in a bulding lull, so this will take more time than normal.