Harry P.

Getting some of the details done... I went with a pale yellow for the body, fenders will be black, not sure about the coach part yet. This kit is actually pretty simplified, so a lot of the details are a result of "paint detailing" to make it look like there's more going on than there actually is, or adding scratchbuilt details that aren't included in the kit.

I also scrapped the kit firewall and made a new one of real wood. The brass trim is square brass rod bent to shape...

The floorboard has a big cutout where the electric motor's on-off slide switch is supposed to go. Obviously, the real car didn't have a giant on-off switch there! Also, the cutout for the shifter puts the shifter in between the driver's legs! Again, not very probable. I want to add real wood floorboards anyway, so step one is to use a razor saw to cut the floorboard area away from the body... I added some reinforcement strips of scrap styrene, both to strengthen the body and to give me a surface area to glue the firewall to later on. I also added some styrene strip to the outside of the body for a little visual interest...

When I was born, my parents didn't yet own a car. The first car I can remember riding in was my dad's 1960 Falcon, his first car ever, which he bought after I was born.

This week's car is a 1963-65 Autobianchi Stellina. Who got it right (not many!)... wisdonm dw1603 peter31a

Yeah, you won't see me building a Chevelle or a '32 Ford any time soon...

Do kids these days still actually read books?

Thanks for your input, Christian! I edited the topic title based on what you posted.

I can't remember. I built this kit many years ago, when it first came out.

And I will! I have no idea yet, but whatever I decide on will have to work with the wheels I painted with red trim. One of my initial ideas is dark red for the forward part of the car, and black/ivory for the coach portion... ivory below the beltline, black above. Suggestions welcome...

Then my guess that this car was one-of-a-kind was correct. So the one and only real car was destroyed by fire? Too bad, but even so, I would have expected to find some photos of the car online, especially considering it was once in a museum... but aside from the one image I found (labeled as a 1901), I found nothing.

As usual in kits of cars from this era, the wheels are molded all in one piece. In reality, the wooden wheels, the steel rims, the rim clamps, and the rim bolts were all separate pieces. So in order to give the wheels some realism, you have to rely on paint detailing to make it look like there are more pieces involved than there really are. Here is one of the kit wheels, molded in a sort of "wood' color, I suppose... Step one is to brush on two coats of acrylic craft paint. I used a color called "Latte," but the exact shade isn't critical. All I need is a generic light tan color... The next step is where the "magic" happens. I dip each painted wheel into a can of Varathane oil-based wood stain, let the excess run off, and blot the wheel gently with a paper towel. The stain actually gets absorbed into the acrylic paint, and when dry the result is a pretty realistic looking "wood" wheel. Since the stain I use is oil-based, I use a dehydrator to speed up the drying time for the stain. After the stained wheels are dry, a brushed on some acrylic red for the rims and the center area of the rear wheels. I also painted each rim bolt head silver... And the final step is a black wash of Future and black acrylic paint that not only brings out the detail, but also gives the flat acrylic red paint a nice gloss. The finished wheels...

Using the kit floorboard, I marked the location for the three holes to mount the steering gearbox. I attached it to the wooden floorboard using some leftover Pocher kit hardware (they usually supply more than you need)...

That is some impressive model building! The engine detailing is spectacular.

I replaced the kit floorboard with a new one made of wood. I laminated two pieces of 1/32" birch veneer, with the grain of the two pieces at 90º to each other, to minimize warping. That enclosure on the kit piece is the battery box under the driver's seat. I won't be using the motorized parts for this project, so no battery box will be needed. The new floorboard was stained and super-glued to the frame rails. In the photo you can also see the rear brakes. Typical for most cars of this era, there are no brakes on the front wheels.

The kit springs are built up with individual leaves and shackles. Two of the shackles were missing, so I made new ones of soft silver wire... One of the spring mounting brackets was also missing, so I used one of the kit pieces as a reference to scratchbuild the missing one out of styrene tube and strip...

I'm going to take the fact that I can't find anything on this car as an opportunity to do it my way!

No way!

Nicely done. Possible stupid question: What is that grille-like thing on the upper wing?

I'm guessing gravity has also not been kind to her...

That's a cool model. Like you, I kept part of the engine clear. I painted everything, but kept one valve cover clear.

BTW... while trying to find references on this car, I learned that the Bianchi company originally began back in the late 19th century as a bicycle manufacturer in Milan. They soon branched out to building cars, too, including the subject of this WIP, but that didn't last long. Bianchi bicycles are still manufactured to this day, and in fact the Bianchi Bicycle Company is the oldest continuously operating bicycle company in the world. They make some cutting-edge, state-of-the-art bikes, like this one, painted in the traditional Bianchi color. Nice ride...

Probably. But I've already decided this one is going to be built curbside-style. There's plenty of visual interest here with that unusual bodywork... nobody is going to miss the engine. My only problem is trying to decide what the color scheme will be. I have several ideas i mind, but haven't decided yet. Actually, the engine in this kit is identical to the Itala kit I built recently. Obviously they reused a lot of the tooling when they made these old kits. It even says "Itala" on the gearbox. This looks to me to be the Itala kit with a different body.