1950 Alfa Romeo Alfetta

[shaunmza]

Here is a kit I started on not too long ago.

It's not really something I would normally get excited about, but it was cheap (for Portugal) and I had seen a video on doing up wire wheels that I wanted to try out.

The kit manufacturer is MisterCraft, I bought 2 airplanes and helicopters that they do in the same order, those were VERY cheap and I see now why.

The quality on this model far exceeds the other kits of theirs that I have.

The model has a long way to go yet, I focussed mainly on the wheels.

 

Here is the original wheel and one I have redone.

View of the back of the wheel. The holes in the original are vent holes for the brake drums I think. I will be drilling corresponding holes into the drums on the axles. They may not turn with the wheels, but I think it will be ok...

I 3d printed my own inner hub, this is the remains of my first attempt. I had glued the wheel slightly skew, so ripped it apart and did it again.

 

This was the first wheel I did, I was so excited to see what it looked like with paint on I grabbed some silver paint from a rattle can and doused it. The paint reacted with the plastic and left this rough pattern you see. I saw later how skew I had glued the wheel together and redid it, no paint applied yet.

 

Do you like the colours? The wires are from a cheap headphones, I stripped the outer layer off, the colours are for the ground, left and right wires.

 

My terrible jig. Scrap wood, a printout and some small nails. Crude but it works.

 

Did I say MisterCraft? Yes I did! It seems they use the same tooling as the Smer kit, but this one is a tad cheaper.

 

I am hoping to do a video and photo series of the last wheel in case anyone has an interest in how I did it.

When I have time of course...

[Miatatom]

8 minutes ago, shaunmza said:

I am hoping to do a video and photo series of the last wheel in case anyone has an interest in how I did it.

When I have time of course...

I'd be interested in seeing that video.

[RancheroSteve]

Good start! I believe the Smer kits are themselves copies of the Merit kits from the 50s, so you're working with 60 year old model kit tooling there.

[Pico]

I haven't seen this update kit for your Alfa yet, but I understand it's very good: https://www.shapeways.com/product/AURGTZLE8/alfa-romeo-158-update-kit?optionId=60111686&li=marketplace .

[shaunmza]

42 minutes ago, Pico said:

I haven't seen this update kit for your Alfa yet, but I understand it's very good: https://www.shapeways.com/product/AURGTZLE8/alfa-romeo-158-update-kit?optionId=60111686&li=marketplace .

That does look amazing, but 10X what I paid for the kit!

I actually own the SMER kit as well, I added both to my cart not realising they were exactly the same on the inside.

Maybe one day I can justify buying an update like that.

[shaunmza]

12 hours ago, Miatatom said:

I'd be interested in seeing that video.

I will let you know when I do it.

 

Thanks for checking in.

[shaunmza]

12 hours ago, RancheroSteve said:

Good start! I believe the Smer kits are themselves copies of the Merit kits from the 50s, so you're working with 60 year old model kit tooling there.

Thanks, I remember reading something like that a while back.

It's great that the kit is still around, I also have the Talbot kit, which I think is an old Merit kit too.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Your wire wheel work looks very good, and makes an otherwise unremarkable kit into something special. I hope to see your video too, when you get around to it.

And yes, the Talbot-Lago was also done by Merit / SMER.

[Miatatom]

That's a lot for that upgrade. I bought the reissued double kit with the Alfa and Talbot Lago. I messed up an Alfa a few years back and bought them to replace it.

[Pico]

Digging a little deeper, I see the grille is $9.00. Probably worth it, considering how much better it is from the kit. . https://www.shapeways.com/product/K4AMVS3WM/alfa-158-grill?optionId=63435569 .

[Bilingham]

Really nice work.  The wheels are excellent.

[shaunmza]

On 2/28/2018 at 6:57 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Your wire wheel work looks very good, and makes an otherwise unremarkable kit into something special. I hope to see your video too, when you get around to it.

And yes, the Talbot-Lago was also done by Merit / SMER.

Thanks, appreciate the compliment.

[shaunmza]

On 2/28/2018 at 10:43 PM, Pico said:

Digging a little deeper, I see the grille is $9.00. Probably worth it, considering how much better it is from the kit. . https://www.shapeways.com/product/K4AMVS3WM/alfa-158-grill?optionId=63435569 .

I do have another copy of this kit, so maybe on that one.

When i realised I had 2 of the same kit I decided that this one would be the one I 'test things on'. I have tried scribing the grill, but an not happy with how it is turning out. I may try create my own grill and print it out to see how good I can get it.

[shaunmza]

On 2/28/2018 at 11:53 PM, Bilingham said:

Really nice work.  The wheels are excellent.

Thanks!

[shaunmza]

With my mini shelved until the weather warms up enough for me to try and patch it up, I have returned to the Alfa.

As usual I do bits here and there and never take photos, so here are a few to catch up.

I added spark plug wires to the engine and tried to route them as best as I could to match the original motor. Unfortunately the rail that connects to the radiator is in the wrong position on the motor and I was really not keen to redril the holes and fill the old ones.

 

With the supercharger attached. This engine has very little detail and differs quite a bit from the photos I have seen of both 158's and 159's

 

I found a photo of an earlier version of this motor, where the distributor was down at the bottom of the motor. The correct place is right infront of the engine, by the left cam shaft, but I am lazy and do not see chance to make a decent looking distributor to match any of the photos I have seen.

 

As you can see, my spark plugs are not exactly perpendicular to the cylinder head. I am in dire need of practice on this fine detailing stuff!

 

The left side at the rear of the body is very thin and bends quite easily, so I gled in a small strip of styrene and trimmed it down. Much stiffer now.

With the rainy weather I won't be able to paint soon, so am keeping busy trying random little things. There are a few details that are meant to have panel lines, but they are raised. These would be lost with pain (especially my painting) so I decided to try and scribe them instead. It's rough, but I am getting there. Hopefully the paint will hide the worst of it  

I also bought a micro drill set not to long back. I drilled out the exhaust, probably wont be noticable when don, but I love using those tiny tiny drill bits!

I did the same on the shaft that I think represents the shaft used to manually turn and start the engine, a later photo shows why.

Because I cut the hubs off of the original wheels to lace them up with wires, I decided to dill the vent holes into the drums. The original wheels would have had the holes turn with the wheels, as they would on the real car. I doubt anyone would notice if these do not turn though.

The shaft from the motor was fouling on the front suspension, with a section drilled out, it now fits into it and looks a bit more complete. The leaf spring hides it though, so I may as well have cut either short. But it was fun to do.

Partially assembled. Ignore the bad paint, it won't be airbrushed, but will get another coat.

Top og the body on.

Valve covers on, I still need to paint them.

With the exhaust in place.

I had to trim down the trailing edge of the hood as it would not lie flat.

Another angle, showing the material removed.

Now it fits flush with no force needed.

What it looks like with badly painted wire wheels.

The holes need some black paint, but I think the effect will be quite nice.

 

In case you have not noticed, the quality of my builds is nowhere near the other builds I have seen on the site. I am posting it anyway as a way to record what I am doing.

Once I have made my way through the kits I have, I will by more (cheap) kits and get more experience on them.

One day, I will have an airbrush, paint booth and will not have to paint latge surfaces using brushes and enamel paints, but until then, I find the process of building to be relaxing, so eeven though the quality is not there, I am going to push on and finish as much as I can.

 

Thanks for looking!

[Anglia105E]

What you are doing here Shaun is truly wonderful..... and posting these fascinating photos is the best way to record your progress during the build. All this experience with how to overcome problems and get things right is going to be so valuable to you when you tackle each build in the future. This Alfa is a wonder in itself, and I keep coming back to look again at your work in progress. As you say, this building of scale model cars is so relaxing, and so rewarding too.

David

[Brizio]

Great job! Redo the wheels is a great improvement! 

[Oldmopars]

7 hours ago, shaunmza said:

With my mini shelved until the weather warms up enough for me to try and patch it up, I have returned to the Alfa.

As usual I do bits here and there and never take photos, so here are a few to catch up.

I added spark plug wires to the engine and tried to route them as best as I could to match the original motor. Unfortunately the rail that connects to the radiator is in the wrong position on the motor and I was really not keen to redril the holes and fill the old ones.

 

With the supercharger attached. This engine has very little detail and differs quite a bit from the photos I have seen of both 158's and 159's

 

I found a photo of an earlier version of this motor, where the distributor was down at the bottom of the motor. The correct place is right infront of the engine, by the left cam shaft, but I am lazy and do not see chance to make a decent looking distributor to match any of the photos I have seen.

 

As you can see, my spark plugs are not exactly perpendicular to the cylinder head. I am in dire need of practice on this fine detailing stuff!

 

The left side at the rear of the body is very thin and bends quite easily, so I gled in a small strip of styrene and trimmed it down. Much stiffer now.

With the rainy weather I won't be able to paint soon, so am keeping busy trying random little things. There are a few details that are meant to have panel lines, but they are raised. These would be lost with pain (especially my painting) so I decided to try and scribe them instead. It's rough, but I am getting there. Hopefully the paint will hide the worst of it  

I also bought a micro drill set not to long back. I drilled out the exhaust, probably wont be noticable when don, but I love using those tiny tiny drill bits!

I did the same on the shaft that I think represents the shaft used to manually turn and start the engine, a later photo shows why.

Because I cut the hubs off of the original wheels to lace them up with wires, I decided to dill the vent holes into the drums. The original wheels would have had the holes turn with the wheels, as they would on the real car. I doubt anyone would notice if these do not turn though.

The shaft from the motor was fouling on the front suspension, with a section drilled out, it now fits into it and looks a bit more complete. The leaf spring hides it though, so I may as well have cut either short. But it was fun to do.

Partially assembled. Ignore the bad paint, it won't be airbrushed, but will get another coat.

Top og the body on.

Valve covers on, I still need to paint them.

With the exhaust in place.

I had to trim down the trailing edge of the hood as it would not lie flat.

Another angle, showing the material removed.

Now it fits flush with no force needed.

What it looks like with badly painted wire wheels.

The holes need some black paint, but I think the effect will be quite nice.

 

In case you have not noticed, the quality of my builds is nowhere near the other builds I have seen on the site. I am posting it anyway as a way to record what I am doing.

Once I have made my way through the kits I have, I will by more (cheap) kits and get more experience on them.

One day, I will have an airbrush, paint booth and will not have to paint latge surfaces using brushes and enamel paints, but until then, I find the process of building to be relaxing, so eeven though the quality is not there, I am going to push on and finish as much as I can.

 

Thanks for looking!

I think that you are doing great. We all start somewhere and we get better the more we do. I look at some of the builds here and think, I can't do anything like that, but I have to remember that I do this for fun. As long as I enjoy it, learn from it, its all good. Some of the builds I see on here, the guy doing it probably have many many years of building, lots of cool tools, and spend ridicules hours on the builds. When it goes beyond the fun, and you start to compare your work to others and it does not live up to unreal expectations, the fun is gone.

Just keep doing what you are doing, have fun. Thats what its about.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

Bello lavoro en la macchina!! Pio bella. 

 

 

[ismaelg]

This is very interesting!  I like how this is going.

[shaunmza]

20 hours ago, Anglia105E said:

What you are doing here Shaun is truly wonderful..... and posting these fascinating photos is the best way to record your progress during the build. All this experience with how to overcome problems and get things right is going to be so valuable to you when you tackle each build in the future. This Alfa is a wonder in itself, and I keep coming back to look again at your work in progress. As you say, this building of scale model cars is so relaxing, and so rewarding too.

David

 

14 hours ago, Oldmopars said:

I think that you are doing great. We all start somewhere and we get better the more we do. I look at some of the builds here and think, I can't do anything like that, but I have to remember that I do this for fun. As long as I enjoy it, learn from it, its all good. Some of the builds I see on here, the guy doing it probably have many many years of building, lots of cool tools, and spend ridicules hours on the builds. When it goes beyond the fun, and you start to compare your work to others and it does not live up to unreal expectations, the fun is gone.

Just keep doing what you are doing, have fun. Thats what its about.

Thanks for the support!

I guess I feel I need to justify my posts, so many of the builds here blow my mind!

@Oldmopars as you said, when you start comparing your work to others it stops being fun, so I am mindful of that, but it takes effort to not do it. I am still having fun, so won't be stopping soon.

[shaunmza]

17 hours ago, Brizio said:

Great job! Redo the wheels is a great improvement! 

I think so too, I have a Talbot Lago as well, but the wheels are different, I am still trying to figure out how to lace those wheels.

6 hours ago, ismaelg said:

This is very interesting!  I like how this is going.

Thanks! 

[shaunmza]

14 hours ago, Lovefordgalaxie said:

Bello lavoro en la macchina!! Pio bella. 

 

 

Grazie!

Google translate is quite amazing  

 

My dad is quite an Alfa fan, only the rear wheel drive ones though! I would love to do a GTV 2.5 for him one day, but can't seem to find a kit in 1/24 scale.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

2 hours ago, shaunmza said:

Grazie!

Google translate is quite amazing  

 

My dad is quite an Alfa fan, only the rear wheel drive ones though! I would love to do a GTV 2.5 for him one day, but can't seem to find a kit in 1/24 scale.

You are welcome!!

My grandfather was born in Italy. Came to Brasil with 12 years old. learned Italian from him. 

He was a huge Chevrolet lover, and never likes Alfas, or Fiats, or Lancias, or Ferraris. He used to work on them, but said they were for the guys with little brain and big wallet. 

But my grandfather also hated Fords, so I never listened to his advice on cars LOL!!!!

He used to say Ford stands for Fabricação Ordinária Reparação Diária. 

BUT his son, my Uncle used to kick his behind often on road races... With a '49 Ford V8 hahahahahaha.