curt raitz Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 (edited) This is a model I've always wanted to build after seeing the real thing in person at Laguna Seca (Monterey Historics) and an article in the first issue of "Model Racing and Replicas Magazine". Picked up the Monogram Bugatti 35 kit years ago and everything sat on the shelf due to the fact there is about 50 louvers and a 1000 rivets evident on this car. With one of the themes at the 2010 NNL West being "Racecars", I decided it was time to bite the bullet and build this thing. Luckily I found a numerous photos of this Bugatti on the internet, which helped a lot. This is the version I will be building: Here's the article from the magazine: In the 2nd issue of the magazine a reader submitted an update on the chassis and suspension set up: Here are the instructions for making the "louver punch": Here's what mine looked like: Finally found a use for these...gotta hinge the engine bonnett: Work in progress to follow asap thanx for lookin' Edited November 7, 2009 by curt raitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 7, 2009 Author Share Posted November 7, 2009 Being as you can only place 10 photos at a time...here's an update to this build so far: chassis and floor pan: body pieces ready for assembly: louvers punched, pieces glued together...taking shape chassis, floor pan assembled: Mock up with front, rear suspension and engine Wheels are from the Monogram MG-TD, tires are from the Bugatti 35 kit next order of business is applying the Archer "rivet" decals after priming and gloss coating the surfaces needing "rivets"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismaelg Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Cool project! I like it! Will follow up closely. Thanks for sharing, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelmartin Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Outstanding start to this project! Your fabrication skills are excellent. I am a major Bugatti enthusiast and also love this car. The car you saw at Monterey was a re-creation with a lot of original Bugatti components but a very authentic one. One of the originals does survive in slightly modified form in the museum in Mulhouse, France. Your plastic wheels should look OK in black BUT.... Machined Aluminum Specialties did some photoetch "Duesenberg" wire wheel sets that were not very accurate for a Duesey but the turned rims fit like a glove in the Bugatti tires. You might need to narrow the rims and put a spacer behind the hub to get the right look for these wheels but that is easily done. Some really nice and accurate wheels would be the crowning touch for a great model. Congrats on a great project and I will be watching the progress eagerly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Wow, Curt! .... So let me get this straight. The Type 35 kit is the source for the motor and suspension bits (gray stuff in the photos) and the chassis and body are scratch built from plastic. The concave louvers have been punched into the actual plastic using a tool you made using the "heated plastic" method referred to in the article. Scale is 1/24 working from plans published in the magazine article. Yes, no, maybe? BTW, the mag articles look very cool. What's the mag? Great fab work, something you do very well but which is sometimes less obvious on your OTB-based builds. As the saying goes, More, More, More... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Zoom Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Wow, this is a great subject to model! I'll be watching this closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 Outstanding start to this project! Your fabrication skills are excellent. I am a major Bugatti enthusiast and also love this car. The car you saw at Monterey was a re-creation with a lot of original Bugatti components but a very authentic one. One of the originals does survive in slightly modified form in the museum in Mulhouse, France. Your plastic wheels should look OK in black BUT.... Machined Aluminum Specialties did some photoetch "Duesenberg" wire wheel sets that were not very accurate for a Duesey but the turned rims fit like a glove in the Bugatti tires. You might need to narrow the rims and put a spacer behind the hub to get the right look for these wheels but that is easily done. Some really nice and accurate wheels would be the crowning touch for a great model. Congrats on a great project and I will be watching the progress eagerly. Thanx Andy actually I'm pleased with the plastic "wire" wheels from the MG-TD. after stripping the chrome off and painting they don't look to bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 Wow, Curt! .... So let me get this straight. The Type 35 kit is the source for the motor and suspension bits (gray stuff in the photos) and the chassis and body are scratch built from plastic. The concave louvers have been punched into the actual plastic using a tool you made using the "heated plastic" method referred to in the article. Scale is 1/24 working from plans published in the magazine article. Yes, no, maybe? BTW, the mag articles look very cool. What's the mag? Bernard here's a photo of the magazine: It is no longer in circulation...was a fantastic magazine, luckily I have them all saved as a pdf. file sold all of my hard copies on eBay Punching the louvers was a little tricky...went thru a few sheets of plastic, but I persevered and got them to work out OK - not perfect by any stretch of the imagination! The running gear (engine/rear end and a few springs) are all that I'm using out of the Bugatti 35 kit, everything else ya see is fabricated Next update will be the rivet detail...boy there's a lot of'em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 8, 2009 Author Share Posted November 8, 2009 Now on to the rivets... someone on this forum when I 1st started a topic on the Bugatti tank supplied me with a link to Archer Fine Transfers http://www.archertransfers.com, the armor and aircraft guys use them and they are not cheap... nothing more than little bitty dots of resin on a wetslide decal paper...designed to go on before you paint the model after priming (white) I shot all surfaces with a clear coat... giving the decals something to stick to I was really surprized on how easily the decals were too apply and a single string of them can be wrapped around a fairly tight radius without buckling or wrinkling. Used Solvaset to knock em done and the decals responded favorably to it. Everything coming along quite smoothly so far, only problem being the piano hinge for the engine bonnet. Just can't get the dang things to stay glued to the cover...tried super glue and a 2-part epoxy! afraid to goop them up too much, don't want the glue to get into the "hingy part" Just waiting for the Tamiya TS-10 French Blue to show up at the LHS, then I can check out the "rivets" more to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Awesome work! I'm anxious to see how the rivets do under paint too. Looks great so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelmartin Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Everything coming along quite smoothly so far, only problem being the piano hinge for the engine bonnet. Just can't get the dang things to stay glued to the cover...tried super glue and a 2-part epoxy! afraid to goop them up too much, don't want the glue to get into the "hingy part" Just waiting for the Tamiya TS-10 French Blue to show up at the LHS, then I can check out the "rivets" Great job on the rivets! I have to get some of those. How about JB Weld for gluing the hinges? It's available at Auto parts stores. I have found it to be real grippy and easy to work and control. I will be using it shortly on the Model Car Garage piano hinges for my Wills Finecast T59. I will be gluing white metal hood halves on to the hinge!!! I will be posting that project soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Curt, my old friend, you are nucking futz!! Look at all of those rivets!! You should start building brass HO trains!! This thing is really coming along nicely!! Keep up the GREAT work!! Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 9, 2009 Author Share Posted November 9, 2009 Great job on the rivets! I have to get some of those. How about JB Weld for gluing the hinges? It's available at Auto parts stores. I have found it to be real grippy and easy to work and control. I will be using it shortly on the Model Car Garage piano hinges for my Wills Finecast T59. I will be gluing white metal hood halves on to the hinge!!! I will be posting that project soon. Thanx Andy I'll pick up some JB Weld and give it a go looking forward to seeing the T59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaleCentral Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 That looks awesome. This will be one I have to watch! Nic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Colmer Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Wow, Curt, what a great subject matter!!! Scratch chassis, with louvers. Holy cow!!!! This is gonna be great. I am also wanting to see how the louvers turn out from under the paint. Seems unorthodox. Did you do a test? I'll be watching this one. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanRaitz Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Awesome work!!! Older Bro. Can't wait to see it finished. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 Awesome work!!! Older Bro. Can't wait to see it finished. Dan Little Brother...how ya doing? what brought a train guy to a model car forum? glad ya popped by... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanRaitz Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 (edited) Little Brother...how ya doing? what brought a train guy to a model car forum? glad ya popped by... I was talking to some of the guys at http://dieseldetailer.proboards.com/index.cgi and they mentioned this site. So I came to see what they were doing and saw that you were here also. So I've been doing a little browsing of threads. Lots of very nice work here! Dan Edited November 10, 2009 by DanRaitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lownslow Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 wow thats gonna turn out nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Little Brother...how ya doing? what brought a train guy to a model car forum? glad ya popped by... I knew that there was a connection to trains and rivets somewhere in all of this madness!! Let me know when you want to come by and help me get my next N scale layout started... Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 I knew that there was a connection to trains and rivets somewhere in all of this madness!! Let me know when you want to come by and help me get my next N scale layout started... Later, Sorry, my little brother is an HO guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theflame Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 (edited) Curt, this is absolutely amazing - what a wonderful build, and a great display of your amazing talents. I hope you dont mind, but I posted a link to this thread on my AutoModelling forum Cant wait to see more...best of luck with this beautiful build! Edited November 12, 2009 by theflame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigGary Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 (edited) Curt, this is absolutely amazing = what a wonderful build, and a great display of your amazing talents. I hope you dont mind, but I posted a link to this thread on my AutoModelling forum Cant wait to see more...best of luck with this beautiful build! When I saw this car I was amazed! Considering the state of aerodynamics in 1923, it is surprising. Airplane builders were just beginning to understand the role of drag caused by all those cables, struts, and square corners. Many of the aerodynamic features of this car are still in use today. You may recall that skinny tires were a long time going away because open wheel race car builders weren't sure if the wider tires would slow them down versus the traction benefits. One thing for sure, when you take this to a contest, there won't be another one even close. Talk about standing out in a crowd! Gary Edited November 15, 2009 by BigGary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 14, 2009 Author Share Posted November 14, 2009 Curt, this is absolutely amazing - what a wonderful build, and a great display of your amazing talents. I hope you dont mind, but I posted a link to this thread on my AutoModelling forum Cant wait to see more...best of luck with this beautiful build! Thanx, don't mind at all... It's a model I've always wanted to build, but lacked the experience to pull it off. Hopefully my skills have progressed enough to complete it...so far it's coming along just fine When I saw this car I was amazed! Considering the state of aerodynamics in 1932, it is surprising. Airplane builders were just beginning to understand the role of drag caused by all those cables, struts, and square corners. Many of the aerodynamic features of this car are still in use today, such as the shovel nose. You may recall that skinny tires were a long time going away because open wheel race car builders weren't sure if the wider tires would slow them down versus the traction benefits. One thing for sure, when you take this to a contest, there won't be another one even close. Talk about standing out in a crowd! Gary Also thanx, Yeah, have not seen too many Bugatti Type 32's at the model shows/contests I've attended Just picked up a can of Tamiya TS-10 French Blue from the LHS, so should be posting some pictures with color fairly soon...gotta see if those rivets "pop out" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curt raitz Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 Upon researching this car further (surfing the internet at work) I found out there was only 5 units built and they raced them in only one race...the Grand Prix at Lyon in 1923. So it's not a 1926 "tank" as I noted on the topic heading. The #6 car, the car I'm modeling was driven to third place finish in the race by Bugatti Mechanic/Driver Ernest Friedrich. Even with Ettore Bugatti's attempt to create an aerodynamic chassis he did not enter the "tank" in any further races because it handled poorly gonna be spraying paint today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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