jaymcminn

Orient Sun and Moon! I have the white dial version.

No pics (they didn't stick around long enough) but fresh-caught red snapper tacos with guac, Pico and pickled red onions. Black beans with brown Basmati rice on the side. Cigar City Maduro brown ale to wash it all down.

A few inspirational pics I just took of the ex-Louis Chiron Bugatti 35B barn find in the Revs Institute. I wanted to make sure I had good pics of the front suspension, brake cable configuration, radiator minus its nickel plating, etc.

Yup, I generally get a slump after a big project that's really pushed my limits as a builder. After my 1/12 Fiat Mefistofele build a few years back, I cleaned up my work bench and didn't touch another model for three months. I'm working on another big project now, the new Italeri 1/12 Bugatti 35B. I'm a month or so in with probably another two to go. Whenever it starts feeling like a grind I'll take a few days off until I want to get back to work. When I'm ready to get back to the bench after a big project I'll build a "shelf model" or two... generally something easy that will look good on the shelf without stressing me out too much. Ironically quite a few of these "slump busters" have walked away with awards at contests. Slumps absolutely happen. I've gone a year plus without building until the right project catches my eye and I'm back in the game. As far as display case room goes, there's nothing like buying a nice new display case (I like the Ikea Fabrikor cases, myself) to give you the urge to fill it up!

Wheels are a go... The Bugatti 35 series were the first cars to use aluminum alloy wheels. These were multi-piece cast-alloy units with integrated brake drums. Some restored cars show nicely polished wheels but they were rough-cast from the factory. The kit wheels are nicely molded in five pieces including valve stems. They're satin chrome plated, which I stripped using Easy-Off. It took longer than usual and I was left with white residue on the parts which came off after a soak in 91% Isopropyl alcohol. I painted the wheels in Vallejo Duralumin with mist coats of Vallejo Matt Aluminum and Gunmetal followed by a coat of Mr. Clear flat. Next was dry brushing with Matt Aluminum and a dark grey acrylic wash. Below is a wheel before and after the weathering process. Four finished wheels... they all look a bit different, which was the idea. Once the tires are given a nice application of dirt and grime they'll look the business.

Well, if you don't use those gloves at least you'll never run out. I gotta say, though, the wire rack you came up with for your siphon tube is genius. Wish I'd thought of that when I was using siphon-feed airbrushes!

Of all the impressive stuff on this build so far, beveling those PE gauge bezels probably tops the list for me. Plus bonus Radiohead quote!

I've seen that build, it's nice. When I saw that Italeri was releasing the 35b, I knew immediately that I was going for the unrestored/barn find look. Bugatti 35's look best when they're properly "broken in". The challenge of building a weathered vehicle is that you have to take every part into consideration. You can't really do a body with flaking paint and a spotless chassis or polished wheels unless you're doing a "patina rod" or something similar. The engine, as I said earlier, won't be as rough as the body due to my idea of the car being recently recommissioned but it can't look brand new either. Fortunately I have the excellent 35B local to me in the Revs Institute for reference. There is also no shortage of pics of weatherbeaten, crusty 35b's online. The owners seem to take a lot of pleasure in keeping them as authentically grungy as possible. If/when Italeri releases the inevitable fenders/headlights version I'm going to build it as a pristine restored example. It'll make for a nice contrast!

I think you made the right choice in not putting it up on Ebay. It looks like something from The Incredibles. Looks like some nice clean work going into this. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Thanks Thomas. Your build of this kit was fantasic!

This is Italeri's new 1/12 scale Bugatti 35B. My vision for this car is a car actively raced before WWII that was hidden in a barn when Germany occupied France... maybe a little too well. Rediscovered 80 years later, the brief by the new owner was simple... restore the mechanicals, upholster the seat, and wipe the rest down with an oily rag. I should have taken WIP pics of the "salt weathering" technique used on the body. I haven't touched the chassis yet, so I'll try to get some pics of the same technique when I get to that part. Basically, you prime and then paint your base coat (here a mix of Vallejo Metal Air Duralumin and Flat Aluminum). After the base dries, wet it lightly using water with a tiny drop of dish soap to break the surface tension. Then sprinkle on sea salt (I used Alessi fine grain) and let it dry. You can control where you want more of the base to show through by applying more salt. Once your salt is dry and stable, apply your top coat... in this case Vallejo Model Air Sky Blue. Over that I applied a light coat of Tamiya TS79 Semi-Gloss clear. Finally, once that's dry, brush off your salt mask to reveal your base color underneath. It's a really effective technique. I hit the body with a light polish after this to give it a nice light "oily rag" sheen. Weathering was done with Vallejo acrylic washes. The extra grunge around the seam between the body and undertray is where the locking wire bolts from Unobtanium will go. Most unrestored vintage Bugattis get extra grungy around there because you can't really access that area to clean without removing the wire. The number is a stencil by Orlee, sprayed in Vallejo Model Air White. The cracking was done in the fresh paint with the backside of a #11 blade. This is a nerve-wracking technique I've used before to good advantage. Finally, the seat has been upholstered in thin (1.5 oz) distressed Cognac calfskin bought on Ebay. I separated the seat base from the back to make it easier to work with. Heating the seat parts CAREFULLY over a candle allowed me to introduce some sag to them, necessary as the kit parts bear no resemblance to actual automotive upholstery. Next up will be the wheels and the engine. The engine will be oily but not especially grungy, as befitting a car that's been given a little TLC since being rescued from the barn. Anyway, on to the pics! "Le Chaton", BTW, is French for "Kitten", which kind of suits a baby-blue Bugatti. I'm tempted to hand paint it on the driver's side ahead of the handbrake.

Excellent work on that fuel tank. It's one of those "make or break" details that can make a huge difference to the final appearance of the model.

Wonderful modeling here. Absolutely beautiful. These large-scale Italeri kits can be built up well straight from the box or can be evolved into a real masterpiece as you have done.

Beautiful build! This was one of my favorite kits, it just goes together so nicely.

I prefer, whenever possible, to attach aero parts/fender flares to the body before paint or final assembly. This allows me to use cement for a strong bond and to fettle any fit issues before paint as opposed to getting any nasty surprises during final assembly. Often add-on body parts won't have positive mounting locations on the body, which can lead to problems at the end of a build. Take, for example, the 1/12 Tamiya Datsun 240zg. The flares are separate parts and aren't the best fit to the body. Even though they're a different color on the car, I decided it was a better idea to attach them before paint and then mask and paint after the body color was applied. The result was a perfect fit and a durable joint I never have to worry about breaking.

He had two cars on display at the Revs Institute Cars and Coffee I attended last month. The attention to detail is amazing. They look handmade in the best way.

That Rover and the T.50 are must-haves. Kind of digging that Skyline too. Still wish Tamiya would release some more classic sports car kits, I know the 300SL was a big hit for them. The Aoshima BTTF DeLorean looks like a lot of the time machine stuff are separate parts... maybe a stock one is on the horizon?

And that's how you make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Just fantastic. I always love your photo backdrops with B&W pics of the 1:1. It looks like a museum display.

Incredibly clean build, great color combo, excellent photography. Awesome!

Well dang. I was getting all ready to be pedantic about Jaguars and Greg beat me to it, with my own words no less.? Seriously though, Revell has a tendency in their European offerings to leave it to the modeler to figure out what year the model actually represents. The new Porsche 911s are another example of this. It took a little detective work to determine, based off of the upholstery pattern and steering wheel, that it is specifically a 1984 car.

Just checking on the cat food supply...

This is borderline silly. Next they'll be selling mini air fresheners for your interiors.

Thanks! I kept the weathering very subtle. I wanted to get the look of a well-maintained weekend toy.

I imagine the engineers at Tamiya taking a look at Pocher kits and saying "yeah, but what if it all fit?" when they were developing this kit. I love Caterhams but can't even imagine driving one on the roads on this side of the pond. My 95 Miata is a lot bigger than a Caterham 7 and I feel invisible while I'm driving it!

As a veteran of two EM Daytona builds, I know what's involved in getting one of these across the finish line. You got yours across in style. Great work, it's a beauty!