Offy 270/255 - Iconic American Engines No.1

[Bernard Kron]

The Offenhauser 270/255 DOHC four cylinder,

the motor which dominated American circle track racing for 40 years.

(More pictures below)

This is the first of what I hope will be a series of builds of 1/25 scale models of iconic American performance engines. There’s no way I can hope to come close to covering them all, especially in their variations so I hope others will join in (perhaps a subject for a long term Build Off?).

This is based on the Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland resin casting of the Etzel’s Speed Classics cast metal 1/25 scale kit of the Offenhauser 270/255 racing engine which dominated American racing for more than 40 years. The resin kit is a masterpiece of the resin caster’s art. The fineness of detail must be seen to be believed. The only significant additional detailing required is plumbing the ignition and injectors. I bought this kit for the shear beauty of the model work after seeing the original Etzel motor in Bill Just’s stunning 27 T Lakester he finished this past February for the NNL west (see http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.p...amp;hl=Lakester and http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.p...ic=9094&hl= ). When Norm Veber at RepMin announced he was casting the Etzel motor in resin I had to have one. I have no idea what I will put it in!

Thanx for lookin’.

B.

(Thanks to Lyle Willits for this image)

Edited August 19, 2009 by gbk1

[Art Anderson]

FWIW,

I've known Chris Etzel personally for most of his life, and watched virtually every Etzel's Speed Classics kit being developed, have had several of them over the years, including the Kuzma Dirt Champ Car the 270 Offy was created for.

Chris never did cast this engine in white metal, he reserved that for suspension parts needing the strength, and for exhaust headers/tailpipes so they could be polished out. That Offy was always done in resin by Chris, and yes, the minute, fine detail on it can make one wonder "Just when did Tamiya ever do an Offenhauser????", it is that good.

Chris's race car operation was his second in the resin casting game, he having started producing Medallion Models 1/48 scale aircraft conversion parts well before Eduard and others in Eastern Europe got into that game. His WW-II military aircraft conversion transkits really resonated in that area of scale modeling as well, and established Chris as both a craftsman par excellence' and a master of reference and research in the field of scale modeling in general.

Art

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks for the background, Art. Your histories are always enriching for those of us who are recent arrivals (or returnees) to the hobby. I have seen photographs of the Etzel Kuzma Champ Car with this engine and the model is as exquisitely detailed and lifelike as the motor.

The RepMin kit comes with what appears to be a photocopy of the original Etzel instructions (it refers to the engine as the "Kuzma"). Apparently the main engine piece, the transmission and a finely cast ribbed bottom plate were done in resin with the other eleven parts (exhaust, intake, fuel and water pump, magneto and magneto drive, and coolant pipes) all done in white metal. Norm has done a superb job of casting all these ultra-detail parts in resin. His kit has the identical parts count so that the original instructions serve perfectly as a guide to a successful build. If he has made new molds to support the resin casting process, then, for what amounts to a second generation reproduction, the work Norm has done is second to none.

[Raul_Perez]

Cool little Offy, Bernard!!

I've also thought about building just engines a few times, especially most recently when the engine parts packs were re-released, but I've already got more stuff than I'll ever live long enough to build!!

I can't wait to see what you decide to drop this little power plant into!!

Later,