kpnuts

So here is the next update. Thought I would fill that crankshaft (hope that doesn't bite me later its very heavy now. This is how they would have you assemble the pistons and con rods. A bit of a problem getting rid of the seam lines like that. I drilled out one half of the piston with a 4.5mm drill(same size as the gudgeon pins) so I can now glue both halves together and insert the gudgeon pin as would happen on the real thing. Cleaned up and painted the con rods. And all installed. Hell of a lot of play in those pistons, could do with some piston rings (not included with the kit)

Hi all I got this today its actually a Franzis kit released under licence at a 3/4 the price of a Franzis kit, yes the instructions are not as glossy and there are no beautiful pics of the engine, and yes the box is not all luxury and flashy but the rest of the kit is exactly what you get from Franzis. First thing I will have to deal with are those god awful carburettors. I have masked the engine in half (as I intend to do it half see through and half not) we have a machine at work which will add a cast effect to the half that is not going to be see through. The metalizing technique I use need the parts to have a metallic appearance so to get that on the top of the pistons I use my mini lathe and just hold a file over the part whilst it's on (you could do the same with a dremel)

Finished the wheelhouse.

Hi all more done to the wheelhouse.

Did some work on the wheelhouse.

More work on this one, did some more to the sails rigging and made a start on the rear boats station. The supports for the rear boat station are too short (we'll in fact the first one is too short as the ship is wider there so I had to widen the gunwale to accommodate it.

Hi all the next spar has all the block and tackle added. And the sail Added the spar and sail Don't know why I left off here but I didn't finish the paneling when I shelved this.

Beautiful

Hi thanks. The wire lock bolts don't come with the kit as a lot of the engine and bulkhead details don't, that said it is a great kit

Started on the next spar (I forgot how detailed these are) (Not finished yet)

Pics in daylight.

OK so she's back on the bench first thing is to get rid of 18 months of dust It was a lot harder than you might think Next problem knowing where I left off.

Hi all well its done. I'll post better pics in daylight. Now this is finished( and after I've done the cobra) I've promised myself I'm going to finish some of my stalled builds. Probably not of interest to you car guys but this is one. And some of these.

Hi all hopefully this will be finished tomorrow.

Started some weathering (don't want it to look showroom condition) I also don't want it to look like an old jalopy. Looking at the pics looks like the rear hinge has broken free (again)

Hi all more progress

Hi all well its as good as I'm going to get it.

Hi all first disappointing bit of the kit so far, spent 2 hrs trying to get the bonnet to fit, still not happy with it not sure what to do next to improve fit.

More done to the Alfa, the underneath is finished so on to the top ( those nuts are 1.4mm the hole I drilled in them is 0.3mm) the drilling was easy threading that wire through the hole was another story. I'm kind of wishing I hadn't started it, on the other hand it does make quite a difference to the overall look. The exhaust is not fixed I just wanted to see how it looked. The radiator to bulkhead brace I made out of copper wire the thing supplied in the kit is so flimsy (the only bad bit in the whole kit.

Hi all I'm really enjoying this kit, fit is great, no flash at all( I've seen some bad reviews of this kit, all I can say is they haven't built it or are not modelers)

Hi all did more work on the engine and the cockpit And more work underneath.

OK so I've added locknut detail to the radiator cowling ( loads more of that to add ) added the advance/ retard mechanism and the low tension leads to the coil and to the distributor (still to make the condenser)

More done to the Alfa added detail to the firewall (put the rubber strip round where the bonnet goes and some wires) added (or as much as I can see) the throttle linkage (not sure where to route the throttle linkage) all the pics I can find finish where it is now, obviously it must end up at the peddle but no idea how it goes from where it is now to the peddle. Loving the detail on the grill (this from a man that hates PE

Fit has been great. More trials of the body fit (I really love this kit)

That looks mighty good, thanks for the info John