Italeri 1/12 scale Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Roadster

[JohnnyK]

I really like building 1/12 scale cars. They are ripe for adding tons of detail. I have never built an Italeri model, so let's see how this one goes.

The kit comes in a big box, much larger than a 1/24 scale kit. The box contains about 290 parts on black, red, clear and grey frets. There is very little flash on the parts.

Included in the box is a nicely done 38 page instruction manual.

There are a lot of frets in this kit. I mark each fret with masking tape and a black marker for easy identification.

I'll start by building the frame. All the parts fit snugly, so there is no need for clamps. I'll let the glue cure overnight.

[Zippi]

That's a good looking start on the Roadster.

[cobraman]

How are the wire wheels ?

[JohnnyK]

The plastic parts are covered in mold release oil. In fact, the oil is visible. The parts need to be washed in something like Dawn Dishwashing detergent prior to painting.

The wire wheels are plastic. I'll provide a photo tomorrow.

[JohnnyK]

 

The wire wheels are molded in plastic. Yep, the spokes are a bit too thick. Maybe there are real wire wheels for sale somewhere on the internet. But I'll bet that they are a fortune.

[JohnnyK]

Next up are the friction shocks. There are six sets of these and each set has 12 parts. Each part needs to be painted and the paint needs to dry overnight.

Edited October 23, 2021 by JohnnyK

[Roncla]

On 10/24/2021 at 4:21 AM, JohnnyK said:

 

The wire wheels are molded in plastic. Yep, the spokes are a bit too thick. Maybe there are real wire wheels for sale somewhere on the internet. But I'll bet that they are a fortune.

ebay seller crazycar19 sells a set of 5 hand laced wire wheels  for $135 to suit  this kit. I believe this vendor is Fernando Pinto of FPPM model kits.

I have a set here and while expensive they are excellent quality quality and a vast improvement on the kit supplied rims.

[JohnnyK]

14 hours ago, Roncla said:

ebay seller crazycar19 sells a set of 5 hand laced wire wheels  for $135 to suit  this kit. I believe this vendor is Fernando Pinto of FPPM model kits.

I have a set here and while expensive they are excellent quality quality and a vast improvement on the kit supplied rims.

Those are nice looking wheels. I will look into those. The real wire wheels would vastly improve the look of the finished model. Thanks for the tip.

[JohnnyK]

I assembled the springs and painted the coolant pipes while I waited  for the enamel paint on the friction shocks to dry.

The springs are composed of a leaf spring, shackles and steel bolts. I added dirt and dust to the springs using AquaLine Brown Mud. The Brown Mud is water soluble and it can be reactivated after it dries by using water.

The spring shackles are attached to the frame using steel bolts. I added a drop of clear paint onto the bolt threads to prevent the nut from getting loose. Per the instructions, the frame is painted with Tamiya Mica Red. I dirtied the frame with the AquaLine Brown Mud.

The pipes were painted with Model Master Aluminum Metallizer. I buffed the paint using a paper stump. The rubber hoses were painted flat black and the clamps were painted Testors' Chrome.

[Anglia105E]

That is a very nice model car that you have there John, and with those ' expensive ' wheels that Ron has mentioned. you will have a truly wonderful model when it is finished.

David

[JohnnyK]

Fernando told me that five wire wheels are about $145. I need to figure out how to send him the money via PayPal.

[jaymcminn]

I built the fenderless "Nuvolari" version of this kit and have been tempted to get the FPP wheels repeatedly (they're bolted on, so I could swap them at any time).  I added safety wire and replaced molded rivets with styrene ones. This kit is a great basis for a detailed replica. Gratuitous pics to follow...

 

You're off to a great start, but that "Mica red" paint callout in the instructions is waaaay off. A solid color, like Italian Red, is much more period-correct. Not to say it won't look good....

[JohnnyK]

WOW. That is one fabulous looking model. 

[JohnnyK]

 

 

It is possible to to  install the front axel backwards, which would cause a big problem when installing the shocks. You need to look at the instructions very carefully to understand which way the axel is installed. The gold arrows point at two molded screws. These screws need to point toward the front of the frame when the axel is installed. This is easy to miss. The red arrows point toward two parts that the shocks are screwed into. These parts must point to the front of the frame. I used a screwdriver from an eyeglass repair kit.

The rear axel was installed without a hitch. The metal screws and bolts add a nice touch. 

 

 

The rear axel was installed without a hitch.

[Beamerman]

Awesome Models here...this what i call a dreamcar..i visit in the Mille Miglia Museum in Brescia this year...the spirit of Nuvolari is incredible...i would love to have such a model on my office desk...really cool...

[JohnnyK]

This is a photo of the engine on a 1:1 car. It is a supercharged straight eight. 

The engine block and oil pan have really nice molded details. I added some dirt using AquaLine Brown Mud. IMHO, there isn't enough dirt. I'll add some more later. This is a large engine. Note the comparison with a 1/24 scale V8.

 

 

[Funkychiken]

You are right, that is a big engine! Looking great so far 

[JohnnyK]

The kit's seat is a very smooth plastic. The 1:1 car  had leather seats. I have no idea as to how to make paint look like leather, so i went to Hobby Lobby and bought some faux leather. I cut the material into strips and glued the material to the seat with Gator's Grip Hobby Glue. The glue needs to dry overnight before adding the next strip of material, so finishing the seat will take a while. I started the seat last week.

Included in the kit was spark plug wires made from silicone tubing. I did not like how that looked so I bought some 1/12 scale spark plug wires from Model Motorcars. I used the kit's silicone tubing as boots. I glued the silicone boots to the distributor and spark plugs with CA. The CA needs to set overnight before adding the next spark plug  wire. This is a slow and tedious project.

[JohnnyK]

Applying the faux-leather to the seat is almost finished. I think that it looks pretty good. 

The sparkplug wires are finished. There is a lot of cool looking stuff on the right side of the engine. However, the engine needs more dirt and oil stains.

 

Both sides of the rear body panel have numerous dents. I was thinking of using Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty. I would appreciate any suggestions as to how to fix the problem.  Thanks in advance.

 

[JohnnyK]

The floor pan is molded in black plastic with an embossed texture representing a rubber mat. First I painted the pan the same red color as the car. The embossed mat was painted flat black and the foot board was finished with Bare Metal Foil. The result was too clean looking so I used Aqualine Mud to simulate dirt.

The seat is finished. 

[JohnnyK]

The car's body is attached to the frame with small screws. I held the screws in place with tweezers and tightened them with an eyeglass repair screwdriver.

The body and firewall have been installed. Initially I was planning on polishing the paint to a high gloss, but I don't think that the automotive paints of the 1930's produced a high gloss finish. 

Here is a size comparison between the 1/12 scale Alfa and a 1/24 scale Willys. 

[JohnnyK]

I just noticed that I never finished this WIP!!! Now, that is crazy.

I used Bare Metal Foil to duplicate the metal trim on the headlights.

The kit came with really nice decals for the gauges. I used a Molotow chrome pen to paint the metal rings the surround the gauges.

 

 

[JohnnyK]

The rear panel was installed, and two hoses were added to the fuel tank.

Nicely detailed wire wheels and tires are included in the kit.

The tires looked "too clean", so I added dirt to the tires using a weathering product.

The kit includes really nice metal grill and Alfa Romeo details

The spare tire is held to the car's body with leather straps.

More WIP tomorrow

 

[kpnuts]

Thats looking great

[JohnnyK]

The kit includes two clear plastic windscreens and four metal brackets

 

Initially I was going to use small bolts to hold the brackets in place. I concluded that that would not look good, so I used brass rivets instead.

The final steps are to attach the headlights and front fenders.

That about wraps up the WIP