1961 Ferrari 156, Willy Mairesse Brussels Grand Prix, Auto-Kits, 1/24: Roy Cross Tribute

[Matt Bacon]

 

best,

M.

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[Phildaupho]

Excellent. Well built and displayed.

[Mike 1017]

Nicely done. The Sharknose is my favorite Ferrari

Mike

[Jim B]

Great looking Ferrari.  Very well done.

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

One of my favorite F-1 race machines. Fun to see this.

[Bainford]

Simply gorgeous. Lovely work, Matt. 

[Nacho Z]

Very nice, Matt!

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Curious, what is the name of the kit manufacturer? 

Thanks 

[Matt Bacon]

3 hours ago, rrb124@sbcglobal.net said:

Curious, what is the name of the kit manufacturer?

Originally made by a company called "Auto Kits" in the early sixties (it's all cast from white metal). Their moulds were later picked up and sold by South Eastern Finecast for over 20 years as Finecast AutoKits. A couple of years back, Squires Tools in bought all of the SE Finecast business and are working towards selling them again. So you can buy them new if they are still in stock, from Squires, or on eBay in Finecast or Auto-Kits boxes.

http://www.squirestools.com/

https://www.sefinecast.co.uk/car-kits

best,

M.

[Pierre Rivard]

Congrats Matt, you have again turned out a masterpiece from this humble kit. Inspiring work!

[1959scudetto]

Very well executed, Matt. A fine model of one of the most characteristic F1 cars ever.

[Dave B]

Yet again another great looking build Matt.

I hope you do a Roy Cross tribute post when you finish the W196 showing them all together.

Dave B

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

19 hours ago, Matt Bacon said:

Originally made by a company called "Auto Kits" in the early sixties (it's all cast from white metal). Their moulds were later picked up and sold by South Eastern Finecast for over 20 years as Finecast AutoKits. A couple of years back, Squires Tools in bought all of the SE Finecast business and are working towards selling them again. So you can buy them new if they are still in stock, from Squires, or on eBay in Finecast or Auto-Kits boxes.

http://www.squirestools.com/

https://www.sefinecast.co.uk/car-kits

best,

M.

Thanks for this information. A lot of details!

[Matt Bacon]

Something I learned shortly after completing this kit that I think is worth sharing… Back in the build thread, I said I was very pleased that Auto Kits had designed it so the front wheels can swivel and “steer”, which is pretty important for posing it like this. I also thought that the fixed springs would make for pretty sturdy and well braced suspension. As you can see above, I have also taken precautions to help support the weight of the car. What I hadn’t figured out in advance…

If the pins on the kingpin/wheel carrier are free to move in the holes on the wishbones, then they can’t transmit any vertical force. Which means that even though the complete wishbones/wheel carrier/spring/mounting is a braced rectangular structure in theory, in practice it doesn’t work. The weight of the car results in a reaction force pushing the wheel carrier upward, and if it’s free to move in the socket in the lower wishbone, the diagonal bracing of the spring to the lower wishbone is irrelevant. The effective weight of that corner of the car is being carried entirely by the two 1/32” white metal struts of the upper wishbone. Which bend. Then the wheel carrier comes out of the lower wishbone completely and goes sideways.

Bottom line is you need to glue the wheel carriers in place once you’ve set the desired angle, or make sure they are a tight enough interference fit to transmit vertical forces. Given I’ve put the car in a turn by where Willy is looking and how the steering wheel is turned at an angle, gluing them in place is not a problem for me.

But it’s a useful lesson to learn about building white metal models, if you’re an old kit fan like me…

best,

M.

 

 

[slusher]

Great looking build!

[PappyD340]

Very nice!