Auto Union C - Vanderbilt Cup 1937

[89AKurt]

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.

[afx]

Looks like a nice kit.

[Gramps46]

Fernando does some really interesting historical models.   Please keep us posted on your build.

[cobraman]

Good looking wheels.

[Randy D]

Will be following your progress Kurt !

Randy

[Misha]

Another fascinating build about to commence! I’ve always been fascinated by the pre-war Auto Unions and this will a great addition to your collection. Will you be doing a replica rather than the usual alterations, yet still with the Womack touch? 
Cheers and wishing you well, Misha

[89AKurt]

On 7/1/2020 at 3:43 AM, afx said:

Looks like a nice kit.

For not being 3D printed or mass produced, yes.

On 7/1/2020 at 4:29 AM, Gramps46 said:

Fernando does some really interesting historical models.   Please keep us posted on your build.

Yes, fills a niche.  On Facebook Marketplace, someone is selling some of his kits, very tempting.  He is planning the Ferrari Superamerica that looks like a Dart.  Of course I will torture everyone with every excruciating detail.

On 7/1/2020 at 6:11 AM, cobraman said:

Good looking wheels.

They sure are!

On 7/2/2020 at 6:32 AM, Randy D said:

Will be following your progress Kurt !

Randy

Cool, appreciate your attendance.

On 7/2/2020 at 6:47 AM, Misha said:

Another fascinating build about to commence! I’ve always been fascinated by the pre-war Auto Unions and this will a great addition to your collection. Will you be doing a replica rather than the usual alterations, yet still with the Womack touch? 
Cheers and wishing you well, Misha

Most certainly a replica!  Change of pace for me.  Best regards.

Made some time this afternoon.  Started with fitting the biggest parts, and opening louvers.  Using a new #11 with the very tip already broken off (cheap Chinese copy), scribed each louver.  I had used the Dremel to thin down that area first, on the inside.

Took some grinding to get the floor part to fit flush.  I see a gap at the fairing, not so bad on the other side, that will get filled.  Opened the louver for the driver.  The rear axle part fits snuggly with a little work.

The engine hood needed the edge to be built out, superglued styrene with baking soda to set and fill.  I will use finer sanding stick to create a gap for paint.

Started on the intake scoops at the tail for opening up.  There is a little louver under the grill that I sort of opened up, can not completely since the pre-made wire grill is glued in.

So weird for me to work on this, it's like an alien thing. ?

Edited July 4, 2020 by 89AKurt

[Bugatti Fan]

Looks like a lovely kit of this subject, especially as in 1/24 scale. Really looking forward to seeing the progress on this build.

I think I that Matchbox did a plastic one in 1/32 scale way back in the eighties.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Bugatti Fan

[89AKurt]

5 minutes ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Looks like a lovely kit of this subject, especially as in 1/24 scale. Really looking forward to seeing the progress on this build.

I think I that Matchbox did a plastic one in 1/32 scale way back in the eighties.

Thanks for dropping by.  That may have been the D version, vague recollection.

Worked on getting the fairings to fit, filled the gap with styrene, but could have used Milliput putty.  Also finding bubbles when I sand down to profile.  There is no order of construction in the instructions, sure would be nice to glue all the body parts together, and fill gaps, before painting, but the engine needs to be painted first, so I may have to  mask the interior like it's an airplane model.

Got both intake scoops opened up, carefully used the smallest Dremel bits on the inside.  Started opening the slots at the tail.

Found a huge gap is between the engine and differential.

Not sure if it's a mistake in casting, but added styrene and lots of superglue with baking soda.

Some guerrilla machine work with the sanding stick made the fit good enough.  One of several things that Fernando does to help out, which he really doesn't need to in this case, is glue on the valve covers with the pushrod pipes.  Some flashing cleanup is required, which is tricky with the thin and delicate tubes, but one side is not glued on straight.  I *could* cut apart and redo, but that's asking for trouble.  This model is not for the Box Stock crowd.  Will review reference photos to finish the engine block.

There is no transmission part, it would not be seen if normally built.  But since I opened the slots, I probably should do something like a basic block, no ribs.

[Spottedlaurel]

It's not something I'd choose to build, but I admire the perseverance and results you're getting on this.

For some reason I imagined these to be quite large at 1:1, but from your WIP photos it appears to be the opposite.

[Bugatti Fan]

Looking good Kurt. Resin is not like putting a plastic kit together. Are you using epoxy or superglue or both on your build?

[89AKurt]

On 7/4/2020 at 11:35 PM, Spottedlaurel said:

It's not something I'd choose to build, but I admire the perseverance and results you're getting on this.

For some reason I imagined these to be quite large at 1:1, but from your WIP photos it appears to be the opposite.

It's hardly a normal subject for me, but good for a change.  I think it's a petite size, compared to many sedans of the time.  Same perception with modern F1 and Indy cars, they look like go karts in person.

On 7/5/2020 at 11:57 PM, Bugatti Fan said:

Looking good Kurt. Resin is not like putting a plastic kit together. Are you using epoxy or superglue or both on your build?

Thank you, that's an understatement.  100% superglue.

Made just a little progress the other evening.  All the louvers are opened up.  Redid the back of the engine block, as I've been looking at photos and drawings, I see some details are missing, such as water pump with belt, oil pan shape is wrong, etc.  I also think the transmission should be at least blocked out, not detailed with fins, but something, it's missing because it would not have been seen as normally built.  Also want to make the carb intake screen.  Added a steel wire for the steering shaft.

[porschercr]

Like the progress Kurt.

[misterNNL]

Impressive work Kurt.

[beeRS]

Fantastic work.  I'm particularly impressed with the louvre opening. That can't have been easy to do on resin parts. It will make the world of difference to the finished model though.

[Straightliner59]

On 7/5/2020 at 12:22 AM, 89AKurt said:

 That may have been the D version, vague recollection.

You are correct, sir! There's one in my stash. Nice kit!

[89AKurt]

16 hours ago, porschercr said:

Like the progress Kurt.

A millimeter at a time!

14 hours ago, misterNNL said:

Impressive work Kurt.

Thanks!  I won't think so until aluminum paint is successfully applied.

10 hours ago, beeRS said:

Fantastic work.  I'm particularly impressed with the louvre opening. That can't have been easy to do on resin parts. It will make the world of difference to the finished model though.

Thanks.  Actually, it wasn't hard, a new blade is always the trick, and resin is a little softer than styrene.  Also grinding down the thickness, I used sunlight to see how far I was going, and the first holes were key to figure out the luminescence shade (does this make sense?) to know when to not wreck it.  Still need to fold sandpaper and finesse a better finish.  It's the repetition that's daunting, 99 bottles of beer on the wall.......

6 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

You are correct, sir! There's one in my stash. Nice kit!

Oh good.  Some of the engine pictures I looted are of the D, so I can only use for color reference.

[Dann Tier]

Interesting car....love watching your build process, Bud!!! -its coming along BRILLIANTLY!!!

[Rich Chernosky]

Kurt....this is definetly something different for you. But I think you are doing quite well. You will enjoy Splash paints as they perform quite admirably.  I have this car in 1/20 from Revival but I have been avoiding it for lack of reference. So you are giving me a big boost here. Thanks for posting and taking the time to do a WIP.   Good luck with the kit. 

[89AKurt]

On 7/18/2020 at 9:02 AM, Dann Tier said:

Interesting car....love watching your build process, Bud!!! -its coming along BRILLIANTLY!!!

Appreciate your comment!

On 7/18/2020 at 11:13 AM, Rich Chernosky said:

Kurt....this is definetly something different for you. But I think you are doing quite well. You will enjoy Splash paints as they perform quite admirably.  I have this car in 1/20 from Revival but I have been avoiding it for lack of reference. So you are giving me a big boost here. Thanks for posting and taking the time to do a WIP.   Good luck with the kit. 

It is very different.  The era, subject, resin, etc.  I'm not one to build the same car over and over.  I've stolen lots of reference pictures, have 3 cutaway drawings that have disappeared from the web.

I'm in a period of zero activity, it's always been all-out or nothing.  One of my projects was decluttering the woodworking shop, was to the point of having to move something for every task.  I had many dead electronic devices laying around, so tore them apart to scavenge parts, and recycle the rest.

[Hoffman]

Kurt, excellent work! Thank you very much for sharing.

[Paul Payne]

Was this car driven by Tazio Nuvolari?

[Rich Chernosky]

18 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

Appreciate your comment!

It is very different.  The era, subject, resin, etc.  I'm not one to build the same car over and over.  I've stolen lots of reference pictures, have 3 cutaway drawings that have disappeared from the web.

I'm in a period of zero activity, it's always been all-out or nothing.  One of my projects was decluttering the woodworking shop, was to the point of having to move something for every task.  I had many dead electronic devices laying around, so tore them apart to scavenge parts, and recycle the rest.

Kurt...I normally keep  a pretty clean and organized workbench but on occassion it needs a good de-cluttering. When its all nice and clean I just like to sit there for awhile and admire all the clean workspace and tools all in their places. However....it doesn't take very long for a project to land on the workbench. To me, an organized and clean workspace is just a big invitation to work on something. Just the thing to get you out of a slump. Most of those parts come from either a Playstation or DVD player. Am i right?

[absmiami]

Tazio drove the D type. But per Wikipedia  -  not the C. Think this is correct ....

[89AKurt]

On 8/21/2020 at 3:08 PM, Hoffman said:

Kurt, excellent work! Thank you very much for sharing.

Thank you, of course you're welcome.

On 8/21/2020 at 4:35 PM, Paul Payne said:

Was this car driven by Tazio Nuvolari?

He was driving for the Alfa Romeo team run by Ferrari, had also driven for Maserati.  Bernd Rosemeyer drove to victory at the Vanderbilt Cup in this car.

On 8/21/2020 at 6:08 PM, Rich Chernosky said:

Kurt...I normally keep  a pretty clean and organized workbench but on occassion it needs a good de-cluttering. When its all nice and clean I just like to sit there for awhile and admire all the clean workspace and tools all in their places. However....it doesn't take very long for a project to land on the workbench. To me, an organized and clean workspace is just a big invitation to work on something. Just the thing to get you out of a slump. Most of those parts come from either a Playstation or DVD player. Am i right?

Agreed!  Two DVD players, cordless phones, one lighter, and a pen. ?