Alfa Romeo 179 F.1 Austrian G.P. 1980 Bruno Giacomelli 1/12 scale

[Giovanni La Rosa]

Hi at all,

the basic kit is from Protar, an italian model company that has been out of the market for several years that produced car and motorcycle kits.

A few years ago, Italeri, which acquired the Protar molds, reissued the kit, significantly improving the quality of the plastic and decals.

The model I made is a reproduction of the car, in terms of aerodynamic configuration and thechnical  solutions, which  took part in the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix, driven by italian Bruno Giacomelli.

The model refers precisely to that occasion since, in that Grand Prix the position of the air cooler, located above the gearbox, was in a vertical position (as supplied in the kit) for the first race as, up to by then, it had been mounted in a inclined position ; in addition, the side panel of the rear wing, in this race, were mounted in natural metal while , in the previous race, they were colored fluorescent red, as part of the bodywork.

During this race, as well as almost all those of the entire 1980 World Championship, Giacomelli retired due to technical problems.

 

[Belugawrx]

Beautiful

Very nice work on a not often seen car. The decal and paintwork work is too notch G 

[Tommy124]

Hi Giovanni.

what a beautiful build!

The funny thing is I am currently in the process of chosing which F1 car to build next. And I have have checked this very kit (which is in my stash) in detail yesterday. Although I decided to go with a 1:20 kit for now, I made up my mind to build the same livery and driver version that you did, in the future. So it's a nice surprise someone (you) had the same idea and built such a great model in exactly the same way.

Congrats again, very well done!

Judging from the high level of fine detailing, I'd suspect you have used aftermarket parts such as wires, rivets...? Is that so?

Edited May 26, 2023 by Tommy124

[Rich Chernosky]

Protar kits are no walk in the park. They take many long hours of persistence and skill to get them right. This is one of the finest examples of one of these kits I have seen.  Congratulations Giovanni on a job very well done. 

[vintagerpm]

Beautiful model! Excellent work.

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Over the top! I saw Bruno race this car while I attended the Caesars Palace Grand Prix September 26, 1982. Wonderful roaring engine sound. I toured the Garage with the pass and bought the 1/43rd die cast (still have it) from the team table. Your paint shade and details are as I remember.

[Kolu]

Outstanding, love it.  You certainly have a passion for your Italian race cars.  Very well done.

[Jim B]

Beautiful F1 car.  Very well done.

[bbowser]

2 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Protar kits are no walk in the park. They take many long hours of persistence and skill to get them right. This is one of the finest examples of one of these kits I have seen.  Congratulations Giovanni on a job very well done. 

Agreed, outstanding replica!

[SpikeSchumacher]

Beautiful, outstanding build Giovanni! 

[Giovanni La Rosa]

6 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

Beautiful

Very nice work on a not often seen car. The decal and paintwork work is too notch G 

Hi Bruce,

thank you for your compliments !

[Giovanni La Rosa]

4 hours ago, Tommy124 said:

Hi Giovanni.

what a beautiful build!

The funny thing is I am currently in the process of chosing which F1 car to build next. And I have have checked this very kit (which is in my stash) in detail yesterday. Although I decided to go with a 1:20 kit for now, I made up my mind to build the same livery and driver version that you did, in the future. So it's a nice surprise someone (you) had the same idea and built such a great model in exactly the same way.

Congrats again, very well done!

Judging from the high level of fine detailing, I'd suspect you have used aftermarket parts such as wires, rivets...? Is that so?

Hi Thomas,

the kit has been revised and complted in all its sectors !

The aftermarkets used are innumerable and the self-built parts are numerous.

I am attaching photos of particular sections of the model ; if you had specific questions about what I used in that build, please feel free to ask.

[Giovanni La Rosa]

3 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Protar kits are no walk in the park. They take many long hours of persistence and skill to get them right. This is one of the finest examples of one of these kits I have seen.  Congratulations Giovanni on a job very well done. 

Hi Rich,

from what you write I deduce that you know Protar/Italeri kits very well !

Indeed, they are not very easy to assemble but, with a lot of patience and research, beautiful models can be obtained from them.

I am attaching two photos where you can see how I redid the oil cooler, positioned on the gearbox and the rear suspension arms.

In these photos it is possible to see how the modified pieces have been improved in appearance compared to those supplied in the kit.

[Giovanni La Rosa]

3 hours ago, vintagerpm said:

Beautiful model! Excellent work.

Hi Mike,

thank you for your nice comment !

[Giovanni La Rosa]

3 hours ago, rrb124@sbcglobal.net said:

Over the top! I saw Bruno race this car while I attended the Caesars Palace Grand Prix September 26, 1982. Wonderful roaring engine sound. I toured the Garage with the pass and bought the 1/43rd die cast (still have it) from the team table. Your paint shade and details are as I remember.

Hi Robert,

the phase of defining the shade of fluorescent red to be used for the bodywork was long and laborious.

In the end, I defined the mixture of Tamiya colors , decanted from the can, by going to see a 1981 Alfa Romeo 179B at the Carlo Biscaretti Automobile Museum in Turin (Italy) ,but which  kept the same colors as the 1980 car. After placing various color tests , previously made, on the original bodywork , I decided on the final color : 6 parts of Tamiya TS  36 Fluo Red and 1 part of Tamiya  TS 8 Italian red .

[Giovanni La Rosa]

3 hours ago, Kolu said:

Outstanding, love it.  You certainly have a passion for your Italian race cars.  Very well done.

Hi Philip,

thank you for the compliments !

[Giovanni La Rosa]

1 hour ago, bbowser said:

Agreed, outstanding replica!

Thank you 

[Giovanni La Rosa]

1 hour ago, bbowser said:

Agreed, outstanding replica!

Thank you !

[Giovanni La Rosa]

1 hour ago, SpikeSchumacher said:

Beautiful, outstanding build Giovanni! 

Thank you !

[1959scudetto]

Maraviglioso, Giovanni - una macchina belissima !!!

Never saw a Protar kit look that good - outstanding build !

[Rich Chernosky]

2 hours ago, Giovanni La Rosa said:

Hi Rich,

from what you write I deduce that you know Protar/Italeri kits very well !

Indeed, they are not very easy to assemble but, with a lot of patience and research, beautiful models can be obtained from them.

I am attaching two photos where you can see how I redid the oil cooler, positioned on the gearbox and the rear suspension arms.

In these photos it is possible to see how the modified pieces have been improved in appearance compared to those supplied in the kit.

Giovanni...thank you for the reply and especially the extra detail pictures.  Yes I am quite familiar with Protar as over the years I have managed to aquire their whole range of automotive subjects.  I am a big Ferrari fan and of course their line is top heavy in Ferrari's.  I have several of these built and also own both variations of the Alfa kit.  Your work on this kit is inspiring.  Really hope mine turn out as good as yours.

[PappyD340]

Super nice, awesome detail!!

[Giovanni La Rosa]

On 5/26/2023 at 7:46 PM, 1959scudetto said:

Maraviglioso, Giovanni - una macchina belissima !!!

Never saw a Protar kit look that good - outstanding build !

Hi Helmut,

thanks for the compliments written in excellent italian !

I am attaching two photos , one showing the oil tank  which is located behind the petro tank, behind the pilot.

Naturally, this detail too was completed with the addition of braided hose , fittings, welding on the corners  of the tank and painting , to give the typical roughness of its surface.

The other, show the floor reinforcements , placed in the rear part, on the side of the engine , completely omitted from the kit and which I made by bending a 0,5 mm sheet metal, using the stapler for photo etched parts.

 

[Giovanni La Rosa]

On 5/26/2023 at 8:41 PM, Rich Chernosky said:

Giovanni...thank you for the reply and especially the extra detail pictures.  Yes I am quite familiar with Protar as over the years I have managed to aquire their whole range of automotive subjects.  I am a big Ferrari fan and of course their line is top heavy in Ferrari's.  I have several of these built and also own both variations of the Alfa kit.  Your work on this kit is inspiring.  Really hope mine turn out as good as yours.

Hi Rich,

I'm glad you like my Alfa Romeo and that you own all Protar kits; of course, they need touch-ups  and adjustments, but the final result can be excellent !

I enclose three photos of details of the 179 : one, shows the seat belts ,replaced with those of MFH, as far as the buckles are concerned, the fabric  is that  of Modeler's  and the seams were obtained fron decals included in a seat belts set of T2M.The other two, show the engine exhausts, totally self constructed using a roll of welding alloy (St/Zn) which is used in thermo-hydraulics.

[Giovanni La Rosa]

On 5/27/2023 at 5:07 PM, PappyD340 said:

Super nice, awesome detail!!

Hi Larry,

Thank you for your congratulations !

Since you appreciate the details, I am attaching two photos showing the rear wing, totally coveredwith 0,04 mm stainless steel sheet metal and with the side bulkheads replaces as , for the Austrian Grand Prix, a race in which refers to model I built, Alfa Romeo used the side bulk heads  in bare metal sheet, not colored in fluorescent red as in the races preceding and following this one.

I made them with 0,5 mm steel metal sheet  and equipped with Adlers Nest rounded rivets.