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Fulmine di Sodio (salt lightning): a scratchbuild Ferrari-powered Bonneville streamliner.


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On 4/16/2022 at 12:02 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said:

WOW Claude!

No need to ask if you had fun building this beautiful Bonneville car, it exudes passion and ingenuity from front to back.  Considering the length of this car, I have a hard time imagining all the imagination required to fill the space and make it look so plausible.  Yet it is, despite my lack of knowledge on the subject I could not tell if it is a tribute vehicle or the pure invention of a brain overflowing with imagination.

You continue to impress me my friend, in addition to the quality of assembly the color is fantastic! 👌

Bravo!!!

Hello my friend!

Thanks for the kind words. It is a fantasy.

Those last few years, we have seen our share of stremliners at Bonneville, such as Speed Demon, and it certainly tickled me. The light went on when I found that junk battleship hull in the bins at the last Quebec model show.

Filling the damn thing took a while, but mostly because it is so narrow and shallow. On the salt, as in drag, wind resistance and small frontal area are a concern, so I had to make do. I was concerned that the front end would be a bit light at speed (weight distribution), therefore, I integrated "wings" at the bottom of the wheel pods, to push it down while the speed increases. Well...

I follow your D100, and I know it's coming on strong. Keep at it!

See you soon.

CT 

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On 4/16/2022 at 12:42 PM, iBorg said:

Great design and execution. The use of the battleship hull is brilliant. While parts don't look prototypical, at least to my knowledge, they look functional. For example I've never seen a front suspension with one air shock severing both axles but it could work. The front wheel flairs with built in ground effects is wonderful original thinking. Congrats on a masterpiece.

Hi Mike!

Thanks for the kind comments.

To your point about the single horizontal air shock in the IFS: I did it once on a 1/1 33 Ford street rod I built, and it worked very well, enven on the potholes riddled roads of the Great White Noth. It goes to show... 

My rear cantelivered suspension uses an engine/bellhousing/quick-change unit that pivots at the front (mounted on a transversal shaft), and pushes up on a rocker arm which, in turn, compresses an air shock. The air pressure in the shock therefore determines the static height of the rear combo, and ground clearance.

It was the easiest solution with such extreme space constraints. Packaging, packaging...

CT 

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Awww MAN this is slick! I always come to this page hoping to see so cool LSR build, and you did not disappoint. What an excellent build. so much to look at and enjoy! Blown Ferrari, trick suspension, flip up driver's guard, all tucked into an upside down boat. Perfect! Thanks for posting this. I'm going to steal this one to add to my favorites album.

Always the fan.

Scott

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On 4/17/2022 at 11:09 AM, papajohn97 said:

Amazing craftsmanship and creativity!  Love the front wheel pods and the rear suspension. You really thought through and sweated all the internal details. The only thing missing are Ferrari logo(s)! Bravo!

Hi John!

Thanks for the comments. To your point about Ferrari logos... look on top of the body, right in front of the canopy: the yellow triangle is there! I know it is very discrete, but for the record, it's there! LOL.

CT

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On 4/17/2022 at 12:26 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Imaginative and skillful build. Very nice indeed.   :D

Hi Bill!

Thanks for the comments.

I know you build 1/1 cars, among other things, and so do I. It's sometimes easier to create your vision in styrene. Certainly much cheaper. Ferrari engine are quite hard to come by in my neck of the woods, so...

CT

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On 4/17/2022 at 8:03 PM, doggie427 said:

Congratulations Claude! Each one of your salt flat builds tops the previous. Excellent attention to detail and beautiful rendering of your vision. Absolutely love it!

Thank you Wayne!

I try to alternate between the varieties of salt cars. This year, it was time to go for a second streamliner. It was long overdue, my Sosium Glider going back a few years...(See pix below). 

CT 

DSCF3094.JPG

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On 4/17/2022 at 8:51 PM, misterNNL said:

Another inspired build. Absolutely outstanding!

Hi Tom!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope all is good in your neck of the woods.

I know you have built a few "steampunk" school vehicles those last few years. I might borrow from your playbook, and build my next Bonneville car in that style... Who knows, it may surprise a few fellow modelers!

Keep at it! 

CT

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On 4/18/2022 at 8:50 AM, David G. said:

Absolutely Amazing!

Everything looks so well thought out and planned that it could have been modeled on an actual 1:1 prototype. On top of that, it's just a gorgeous model.

David G.

Hi David!

Thanks for the compliments. I always try to build-in some kind of "feasibility". This one was a real "packaging" challenge!

CT

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