Art Anderson Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) I bought this kit a month or so ago in Indianapolis, figuring that if ICM had an established reputation among the Armor building crowd, their stuff must be pretty good, and so far I'm very pleased with the fit and finish of all the parts in this kit! It's very precisely done. A lot has been said online about its having a multipiece body, and indeed the instruction sheets say to assemble the interior parts to the floor and body sides before assembling the body shell (ala' Revell from the 1950's), but I decided to see if the body could be built up and the interior installed later--and YES, it can! Oh, and the body seams resulting are quite tight, although a bit of finessing had to be done to keep the door lines at the rear edges of the rear doors from appearing too wide, too prominent, but with a Fiexi-File liquid cement applicator along with some reinforcement in hidden areas with gap filling CA glue, those are now pretty unobtrusive. Pics tomorrow when I have a bit more time! Art Edited September 22, 2014 by Art Anderson
unclescott58 Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 Art, what scale is this? And can you take some pictures? Scott
Deathgoblin Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 I believe he's got the 1/24 kit. Those are supposed to be really nice.
Chillyb1 Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 Pics tomorrow when I have a bit more time! Art What do you mean making us wait! We want pictures NOW, NOW, NOW!
Art Anderson Posted June 25, 2014 Author Posted June 25, 2014 Art, what scale is this? And can you take some pictures? Scott 1/24 scale
fractalign Posted June 25, 2014 Posted June 25, 2014 An Opel Cabriolet in 1:24 scale. I did not know they made them that big, I will definitely check this one out !
Rob Hall Posted June 25, 2014 Posted June 25, 2014 There was a thread about the two versions of this kit w/ pictures started last year... http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=80991&hl=%2Bopel+%2Badmiral
Art Anderson Posted June 25, 2014 Author Posted June 25, 2014 As promised, some in-progress pictures, and some description: ICM did this kit in 1/24 scale, following their first release of the subject in 1/35 scale for the military modeler. A bit of reason why: With the onset of World War II, the German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe commandeered a lot of larger cars for use as staff cars, even for conversion to ambulances and other support vehicles. Many, if not most, of the 1937-39 Opel Admirals produced (over 6,400 were built) suffered this fate, leaving only a few behind, probably kept hidden by their owners for the duration. But in 1/24 scale, this kit reaches a whole new audience--us. In asssembly so far, I am impressed by the outright precision of this kit--while a few parts have "interesting" mold parting lines (particularly at the bottom rear edges of the rear fenders--don't understand why, but it is what it is), they are very easily removed. On the rear fenders, a bit of needle file work, followed by some 400-grit sandpaper, and they came out very smooth. I did take the time to round off, slightly, the lower edges of all 4 fenders, as Opel stamped those with a small radius rolled edge at the factory. Even though the body shell is multi-piece assembly (floor with the rear fenders molded in as a part of it along with the inner halves of the front fenders), a pair of body sides which include the outer front fender halves, the cowl/firewall/windshield frame, and the trunk section) all parts assembled very precisely, the only noticeable gap being the rear edges of the rear doors, but even that was easily reduced to a more proper width. A little bit of test fitting beforehand showed me that the body could be pre-assembled and the interior panels, dash, seats and details installed after painting, which is often NOT the case with multiple piece body shells. All parts are molded in a very stiff (but easily trimmed) grey styrene, and the floor panel in my kit was ABSOLUTELY flat and true, which is essential on a kit such as this if it's to build up with all 4 wheels touching the table top. Liquid cement applied with my Flexi-File needle tip "Touch & Flow applicator made for very clean assembly, with a couple of drops of gap-filling CA in the inside of the joint between the edges of the floor and the inside of the lower edge of the body panels for added stability. The chassis is also multi-piece, necessary given all the "Swiss Cheese" holes in the side rails, which themselves are 3-piece, each rail having two short "box sections" which are separate parts, also with lightening holes. I again went "off sequence" with the frame, opting to assemble the X-member into the frame rails rather than onto the bottom of the floor, for ease in adding details, along with better realism. I simply used the locating slots on the bottom of the floor, and assembled the X member sections to the frame with gap-filling CA. A bit of block sanding on the bottom side of the joints, and they will look one-piece with the side rails (and yes, ICM allowed for assembling the exhaust system into the frame after the X-member is installed! This ends today's installment! Art
Art Anderson Posted June 26, 2014 Author Posted June 26, 2014 My my my. Gotta get this! I'm not sure I'd wait very long to pick up this kit, were I you; given that ICM kits are produced in Kiev Ukraine, where there's a lot of turmoil these days! The supply (more kits) could be a bit questionable. Art
unclescott58 Posted June 26, 2014 Posted June 26, 2014 Very nice. Fun to see a pre-war Opel. Or any Opel other than a GT that is. (I like GTs. I just wish there were more models of other Opels in 1/25th or 1/24th scale.) I'm looking forward to seeing more of this build as you go along. Thanks for sharing it with us Art. Scott
charlie8575 Posted June 26, 2014 Posted June 26, 2014 I might grab one of these myself. I like something different, and the Kapitan is a pretty car. Charlie Larkin
Art Anderson Posted June 26, 2014 Author Posted June 26, 2014 I might grab one of these myself. I like something different, and the Kapitan is a pretty car. Charlie Larkin It's the Admiral, Opel's luxury car (captured fully 25% of the German luxury car market 1937-39). The Kapitan was a smaller car. Art
charlie8575 Posted June 26, 2014 Posted June 26, 2014 It's the Admiral, Opel's luxury car (captured fully 25% of the German luxury car market 1937-39). The Kapitan was a smaller car. Art Oops. Someday, I'll learn not to write stuff half-asleep. Charlie Larkin
fractalign Posted June 26, 2014 Posted June 26, 2014 Looks very interesting so far, nice to see something thats not a 32 Ford for a change !
Art Anderson Posted June 29, 2014 Author Posted June 29, 2014 This weekend's project is two-fold: First was to install body welting, which was used for years, back in the days when fenders were bolted on to the sides of car bodies. Welting appears as a small "rib" along those joints, actually being a strip of PVC-impregnated cloth wrapped around cotton cording and pinched into a flange which can be trapped between the mounting flanges of the fenders, and the adjoining body panels. I used some ,020" styrene rod stock, which may be a bit heavy, but that's about as small a size that I felt comfortable working with, given the liquid cement I used. At any rate, it does show up quite prominently in pictures of the real cars, so probably I'm not all that far off base. In addition, I've rescribed (deepened) the very shallow trunk panel lines, and cut in the bottom panel line which wasn't tooled very well (given it's location on the curved trunk panel, I'm not surprised at that!) Next up, the completed chassis! Art
Art Anderson Posted June 29, 2014 Author Posted June 29, 2014 The chassis, while a very nice set of pieces, got really complicated with the strangest independent front suspension I've ever seen! What looks like a front axle is really nothing more than a tubular crossmember, bolted to the bottom of the frame rails, and trails rearward at its outer ends. On each end there is a very large "cannister" which holds (inside!) whatever spring arrangement was used (can't seem to find any information as to just what the system was inside there, but no matter. There are a total of 10 pieces to the front suspension and steering, the axle/crossmember thingie mentioned above being in three parts. There's a "scissors-like" double arm attached at either end, which captures the ends of the tie rod, and then a single, rather heavy arm extending forward from that which has the spindle and kingpin arrangement at the front end (wonder how that fared in military service, seeing as how several thousand Admirals were commandeered by the German Army for conversion to ambulances, and used as officers' staff and command cars?). In any event, everything there assembled smoothly, once I finally figured out just how the stuff laid out (instruction drawings weren't very clear on that!). Once finally assembled, it was time to test fit the chassis to the underside of the body, and "CLICK"! It fits like a glove, very precise indeed! Hmm, it's getting there (and that's half the fun, according to those old Cunard ocean liner ads!) Art
Harry P. Posted June 29, 2014 Posted June 29, 2014 Very interesting WIP of an offbeat but cool subject. Keep it coming!
Paul H Posted June 30, 2014 Posted June 30, 2014 The chassis, while a very nice set of pieces, got really complicated with the strangest independent front suspension I've ever seen! What looks like a front axle is really nothing more than a tubular crossmember, bolted to the bottom of the frame rails, and trails rearward at its outer ends. On each end there is a very large "cannister" which holds (inside!) whatever spring arrangement was used (can't seem to find any information as to just what the system was inside there, but no matter. The front suspension looks like a Dubonnet system. Can't wait to see more on this project - looks like it will be stunning when completed!
Art Anderson Posted June 30, 2014 Author Posted June 30, 2014 The front suspension looks like a Dubonnet system. Can't wait to see more on this project - looks like it will be stunning when completed! Yes, upon deeper research, Opel used a modified version of the Chevrolet "Knee Action" front suspension, A/K/A the Dubonnet System. Art
blazefox Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 This kit is on my rat rod it list as well icms g4 Mercedes
blazefox Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 This kit is on my rat rod it list as well icms g4 Mercedes
1 bad55 stan Posted July 3, 2014 Posted July 3, 2014 i have never seen 1 of these until now.i'll be watching!
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now