Plastheniker Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 (edited) Hi, before I started my pair of 1/20 Casadio-Revival 1951 Alfettas Tipo 159A, shown here almost two years ago, http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=81024 I thought it would be a good idea to build the (in the nineties Smer) Alfetta 158 first. I hoped this would be the best way to learn the differences between the very similar 158 and 159. Moreover this would offer the opportunity to test some solutions on this inexpensive kit without risking a pricey Casadio-Revival kit. Considering that this ex-Merit kit was released in the mid-fifties and thus is one of the oldest kits still available one should not be surprised that the box content is rudimentary: only few and very simplified parts, while casting quality and fit are surprisingly good. In any case building an acceptable model requires major modification, a lot of time and some skills. I remember the following major problems: Except seat, steering wheel and a simple dashboard there are no interior details. Some scratch building and detailing is necessary for making it look like the 1:1 car interior. The louvers of the bonnet were hardly perceptible. Moreover the seam between lower and upper half of the body was directly at the lower ends of the lateral louvers which made it difficult to fill and sand the seam without damaging the louvers. Therefore I decided to replace all louvers on the model. As can be seen on this picture tyres and rims are one single part. The spokes of the wire wheels are simulated by clear discs with engraved lines. The tyres have no tread pattern. When I built my model 20 or 25 years ago there were no replacement parts so I had to make my own tyres and real wire wheels. I explained my technique of making various kinds of wire wheels here http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77554. I am not sure if even today really suitable replacement parts could be found. One should never forget that any compromise regarding rim/tyres dimensions on an open-wheeled car is always very conspicious. The most difficult problem is the radiator grille since the kit hasn't any radiator grille at all. There is only a massive nose cone without any opening while the grille is reproduced by some faint raised lines as seen on the photo above. Since I built the model I never saw a successful attempt to make this "grille" look acceptable. This is the reason why pictures of finished models are taken so often from angles where the grille is not clearly visible. Covering the grille partially (as sometimes seen on the real Alfettas) doesn't improve anything. The necessary real model grille has to be convex in all directions, it should consist of 36 vertical bars with equal distances, and finally in 1/24 it is not much larger than a thumb nail. Building such a grille from scratch is a real challenge but without it a finished model will never look convincing. All in all IMO this kit is recommendable only for the most experienced modeler who is willing to tackle all problems with a lot of time and a lot of effort. Edited October 1, 2015 by Plastheniker
Matt Bacon Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 That looks fantastic, Jurgen. Excellent scratch-building and detailing, as always. Having done one myself, I know exactly how much you've made a silk purse out of... let's say unpromising materials. I know you prefer to build everything "buttoned up" -- it's just a bit of a shame in this case, since the Alfetta and Talbot-Lago are the only ones where Merit actually gave you an attempt at an engine!bestest,M.
Harry P. Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 Adding all those louvers must have been a real job! Looks great.
bbowser Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 Another outstanding build from your bench! The wheels and tires really make the difference on an open wheel car. That grill is very convincing.
iBorg Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 Is this the SMER kit or the Revival kit? Either way, it looks great.
Miatatom Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 Jurgen, that's a great job!How did you replace the louvers? Where did you get the wheels and tires?
peekay Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 From toy to museum piece - incredible transformation!
sjordan2 Posted October 2, 2015 Posted October 2, 2015 Another superb piece of work, as usual for you.
Plastheniker Posted October 2, 2015 Author Posted October 2, 2015 Thanks for all comments! That looks fantastic, Jurgen. Excellent scratch-building and detailing, as always. Having done one myself, I know exactly how much you've made a silk purse out of... let's say unpromising materials. I know you prefer to build everything "buttoned up" -- it's just a bit of a shame in this case, since the Alfetta and Talbot-Lago are the only ones where Merit actually gave you an attempt at an engine!bestest,M.Matt, indeed, I remember that the engine parts were rather good by comparison. When building this model, however, my motivation for building more than a curbside model was even less than usual because I knew that part of my following project would be a naked, superdetailed chassis of the very similar Alfetta 159. Is this the SMER kit or the Revival kit? Either way, it looks great.Mike, even if built very carefully there will always remain a big difference between the appearance of a 1/24 Smer model (as shown here in this topic) and the appearance of a 1/20 Casadio-Revival model (the very first link in this topic). The latter is much more detailed, and its larger scale makes corrections and a lot of further detailing possible. Jurgen, that's a great job!How did you replace the louvers? Where did you get the wheels and tires?Tom, as mentioned I built new tyres, i. e. from styrene, and wires using the technique described in my wire wheel tutorial ( the second link).If you follow the first link there is a description in one of the last posts how I made the louvers of the Smer Alfetta. Since the time when I built the Smer Alfetta I found a technique with better results, but it is too time-consuming for such a large number of louvers.
Dominik Posted October 3, 2015 Posted October 3, 2015 Jürgen, Jürgen,...with your skill, that (terrible) kit is fantastic to look at!
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