Heller Citroen 15/6

[Junkman]

Mine is white just to annoy everybody by being different

[Chuck Most]

I love these Heller Citroen kits! Well, I must... I've built three, and all three have been built as rat rods! They aren't models you see every day.

[Chillyb1]

Chouette, j'aime bien des Citroens!

Are you going with factory stock? Despite Chuck's revealed preference for rat-rodded ones, I love the stock look of these cars.

I'll be keeping an eye out for updates. Make us proud.

Edited January 23, 2010 by Chillyb1

[Junkman]

Yes, I'm planning to build this one stock.

[Guest arni]

Sweet looking.

Sure I had one of these years ago,I will follow along with interest.

Edit...LOL

Come to think of it,the shell looks like it is on the production line ready for assembly.

Edited January 23, 2010 by arni

[Chuck Most]

Yes, I'm planning to build this one stock.

Shame... this would be a great home for a Ford 2.3 Turbo Four...

[Junkman]

Shame... this would be a great home for a Ford 2.3 Turbo Four...

A what ???

[Guest Mustang3.8]

Great start. Looks like Cruella De Ville's car.

[charlie8575]

I need to dig up one of those. I've found I've developed a real spot for weird little European cars.

Citroens are definitely weird, that's for sure.

And for the record....white's a cool color on those. I see too many Euro cars in black, and this is a nice change.

Charlie Larkin

[Foxer]

One of my all time favorite cars! I just got a Heller Renault 4CV and was thrown by how good the kit was. I'm anxious to see this build progresses.

[Simon]

Looks lovely mate, I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes togehter - I've often wondered what the Heller Citroens are like.

[Chuck Most]

A what ???

A Ford 2.3 turbo! You know, the one that came in the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, Mustang SVO, and over on your side of the Pond, the Scorpio (if I recall).

[Foxer]

I just got one of these kits after seeing how great the other Heller's from this era are. The white looks good on Traction Advants . many are now Wedding Limos.

I was searching 15 Cv's here and came back to this thread.. looks like it went to sleep.

[Junkman]

It's going to wake up pretty soon. I'm currently working on my Jag MKII, which is nearing completion. All things considered, there should be an update here next weekend.

If you build your Heller 15/6, make sure you attach the front wings in the correct position. There is nothing to aid locating them, nothing at all, so it's entirely up to you eyeballing it. Most I have seen are mounted too low.

[Foxer]

I'm noticing there's a lot of "locating" left to the builder on this, some guide lines, but a lot of judgment required. Your photos with the front fenders in place have helped me already!

I'll be posting a "workbench" thread as soon as I start some cutting and trimming, but I know I'll be lagging behind you anyway! From the first Traction Advent I ever saw my mind thinks ... " sectioned and channeled '32 Ford", so I think I'm gonna carry it further towards Hot Rod status.

[elan]

People used to think 'Troens were weird because they were front wheel drive. Hmmmm? How old are these Heller kits?

[Foxer]

Not only are the Traction Advants front wheel drive, remember these were first made in 1935, they were uni-body construction and sat far lower than anything else made in that era. I truly think these vehicles gave the '50's hot roders the idea to section and channel some fendered '32 Fords! The front suspension was independently sprung, with torsion bars and a wishbone arrangement. Most cars of this era were solid axles with leaf springs. This was a good handling car with it's advanced suspension, rigid uni-body (and read LIGHT here) and low center of gravity.

[Junkman]

I'm noticing there's a lot of "locating" left to the builder on this, some guide lines, but a lot of judgment required.

Oh, I definately second that. I found a few images on the net which may be helpful in establishing the correct location of the fenders:

I think they illustrate nicely, how low slung the car really is.

Here is a pic of the engine, if you want to build it stock:

The body of the cars was actually developped by Ambi Budd in America and it was indeed very advanced for its time, like the rest of the car. The real weakness of these Citroens has always been the gearbox. Initially they were supposed to have an automatic transmission, but the prototypes turned out to be a disaster. Hence they rushed the development of a manual gearbox and cut corners in the process. This wasn't really rectified throughout the production run of these cars, which lasted - believe it or not - until 1957!

Edited May 4, 2010 by Junkman

[sjordan2]

What scale is your Traction Avant? For Heller's 1/8 version, I have seen one build journal after another that went nowhere, being eventually abandoned (even, apparently, by the great Mario Lucchini). On that large-scale kit, most people complain that everything is too heavy for the suspension and they have to scratchbuild metal parts.

Seems to me that Citroen always had great engineering ideas but fell short in execution (such as the innovative, beautiful but horribly problematic Maserati SM collaboration). That doesn't stop me from wanting a 1:1 Traction Avant with its colorful and ubiquitous European history. In the original book of "Casino Royale," it was a Traction Avant that chased Bond's "elephant-skin" blower Bentley into destruction (I take the elephant skin reference to mean that the Bentley was covered with somewhat distressed primer).

[Foxer]

This Heller 15 CV is 1/24 scale. They also made a 1/43 11CV.

[Foxer]

Oh, I definately second that. I found a few images on the net which may be helpful in establishing the correct location of the fenders:

I'm hoping I can tape the hood in place to use as a guide to glue the front fenders on, or more, to attach the piece between the hood and fender to the fender correctly. This piece (79 and 80) does look like it wants to match the front edge of the fender and maybe that's all I need is to align as close as I can by eye.

I guess this image says it all for what to shoot for ...

Edited May 20, 2010 by Foxer

[Junkman]

I guess this image says it all for what to shoot for ...

Not quite, since this is a 11CV. The 15CV has a longer bonnet and the grille protrudes forward from the wing 'roots' in plan view.

[62rebel]

the suspension in 1/24 is pretty fragile too! Heller's plastic is not the strongest in the world, either...

i still have one of these in a box somewhere, on it's third or fourth rebuild... can't bring myself to chuck out a beautiful car.