absmiami Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 Now I've done it Long, long, long ago I traded one of my 24th scale Autokits - the Ferrari 156 - to Forum member Rich C for his Autokits Lotus 25 and neither one of us has built them! these are the old curbside white metal kits that are now made by Finecast they build up great as curbsides so I thought - why not have a build blog for both we'll post as we can - and hopefully two builds will take shape as we go - the Ferrari constructed in the leafy confines of Sayre Pa. , and the Lotus constructed in the alligator infested swamps of South Florida .... as to my kit; I'm considering building a Lotus 32B - using some of the kit parts, such as the top half of the body, the wheels, uprights, and a few more random parts - I'll scratch-build the monocoque chassis and the engine - which was a four cyl Climax. The 32 B was based upon the Lotus 27. It had a slightly narrower chassis (than the 25) and straight runs of chassis rails - rather than the bends and kinks used on the 25's chassis. It looked like a Lotus 25 with a climax engine - but in fact it was not - but its only about an inch/half narrower than the 25 so I think I can finesse this .... this shot is from the Ultimatecarpage.com site hope Mr. Ultimate has no objection I'll remove this if requested but in the meantime - this gives you a good idea also there is a wonderful illustration of the car at PeterHuttonillustrator.com for those not familiar with the car, Google history of the Tasman racing series and you'll be an instant expert ...... this was one of Jimmy's favorites .... Rich will introduce his Ferrari .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramps46 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Knowing the two of you, this will be fun to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Oh, early Lotus GP build!! I'm watching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Andy, Thanks for putting this up. It is going to be great fun doing this. I have already started with just a few things. Mostly looking the kit over in great detail. Some body seams cleaned up and cutting out the openings for the rear engine screens. I don't plan on going to quite the great lengths as Andy but there will be many modifications for sure. I plan on fabricating most of the suspension and coil over shock units, cutting open the engine cover and detailing the engine as much as possible. Filling in the seam between the upper and lower body panels will be a must. After market wheels and tires have already be obtained many years ago. We traded these kits in 2010. Most of my reference will come from my experience with the Revival 1/20 version of this car. Shown is the built model I did in 2011. There is also plenty of reference on this car on the web as it is a heavily modeled subject. Not in 1/24 but both CMC and Exoto have done this in 1/18. The chassis on this kit was very detailed to begin with but I added a few extras I am not new to making these screens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 thoughts: three things to make a better mousetrap than the Exoto ... thing 1: does the Auto-kit have photo-etched inserts for the wheels ? can't remember thing 2: how are the kit exhausts ? got some ideas if they are as bad as the Exoto ... thing 3: the frame members look over-scale on the Exoto - Do you have Jonathan Thompson's scale drawings ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 thing 3b frame was probably scale 1 1/2 inch dia - not sure most of the frame members run straight - so you can use either brass or plastic thing 4 - go to town on the clutch housing - do you own a lathe ? if not - there is a plan B .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 16 minutes ago, absmiami said: thoughts: three things to make a better mousetrap than the Exoto ... thing 1: does the Auto-kit have photo-etched inserts for the wheels ? can't remember thing 2: how are the kit exhausts ? got some ideas if they are as bad as the Exoto ... thing 3: the frame members look over-scale on the Exoto - Do you have Jonathan Thompson's scale drawings ?? Kit exhausts will probably have to be replaced, I have a set of turned aluminium wheels with PE inserts and the correct tires. The kit pictured above is a Revival 1/20. I have seen the CMC but have never seen an Exoto. I do appreciate the insights and will take them into account. There will be a lot more research than just my built kit. Don't have the scale drawings BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 15 minutes ago, absmiami said: thing 3b frame was probably scale 1 1/2 inch dia - not sure most of the frame members run straight - so you can use either brass or plastic thing 4 - go to town on the clutch housing - do you own a lathe ? if not - there is a plan B .... I am fortunate to own a lathe. Not as proficient at it as i would like but use it just the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djflyer Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 This will be very a very interesting build to watch as I have both the SE Finecast and Fernando Pinto kits of the Ferrari 156 in my stash It will be great to see what detail you bring to this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 the best tech description of the frame is in Whitelock's book on the 1 1/2 litre formula the frame rail diameter is 1 1/2 inches - I'll bet that the Exoto's frame rails are over-scale .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglia105E Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Just a short comment from me on this one...... I really enjoyed building the Wills Finecast Autokits 1933 MG K3 Magnette, which was a very old original kit from 1972 ( 47 years old kit ) and I am very interested in what the two of you are going to build ! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 wouldn't mind seeing a picture of the built model I've seen most of the kits built - but not this one .... did you build the Bugatti 35 kit ?? reminds me - the Ferrari kit has those same wheels - with the soft wire and the notched rims ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 has anyone tried construction of these kits with low temp solder ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 this is the white metal Louts 25 kit - which will be the basis of the Lotus 32B build plan to use a small portion of the lower body and a part of the upper body plus some of the misc wh metal parts - like the suspension uprights and the wheels the tires - by the way - are not bad - but I will source some Dunlops with proper tread pattern detail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 http://www.peterhuttonillustrator.com/products/t-shirts and by the way - this illustrator has a T shirt with a terrific depiction of the car - engine bay forward gotta wear this while building, right ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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