1905 Itala

[Harry P.]

1905 what?

Itala.

Not exactly a household name. Italas were built in... you guessed it... Italy... between around 1905-1935. They built passenger cars and race cars, which this kit is. Like most brass-era model kits, and for some reason I don't understand, this kit was released under various brand names over the years, including Bandai and Imai. I happen to have the Bandai kit:

And here's the real deal. Pretty sure the hot babes are aftermarket items:

More to come...

[Erik Smith]

Not sure if it's the angle or those are small ladies, but that car looks big.

Should be a neat piece.

[Harry P.]

I think the lens is distorting the car a bit... it's not that big.

[Casey]

1905 what?

Itala.

You'd never guess that if it was gaining on you in your rear-view mirror.

Out of curiosity, how do you decide which brass-era kits to buy/build, and what is it about brass-era cars which appeals to you so much?

[Harry P.]

Out of curiosity, how do you decide which brass-era kits to buy/build, and what is it about brass-era cars which appeals to you so much?

I don't exactly know what it is about these cars that turns my crank (pun intended!)...

Maybe it's just the sheer honesty. What you see is what you get. No power this or that, no heated seats or cupholders or GPS or talking dashboards or backup cameras or self-parking... just pure, honest, simple mechanical machines with the "guts" exposed. I think that's what I like about these cars... the fact that the mechanicals are so simple and pure.

Also... my favorite part of building is adding small details, and brass-era cars have so much exposed detail, which is fun for me to do.

As far as how I decide which particular kit to buy, that's easy. Whatever I see on ebay!

[Cato]

Maybe Frank and Rick will reappear with this build; they're nuts about these.

Is that an EB-110 in the background?

[Harry P.]

For some weird reason Japanese kitmakers had this insane urge to motorize their models. I have no idea why, but this is one of them. The motorization is pretty elaborate... electric motor goes inside the engine block, it drives an operational transmission. Well, sort of operational... you can shift between power to the rear wheels or "neutral" with the shifter! The trans spins the driveshaft, and the rear axle has a real gear set in there to turn the rear wheels. PLUS... the fan turns, and there are little metal rocker arms and a cam in the engine, so you can see the valve pushrods move up and down!

Because of the concessions that had to be made for motorizing, the kit isn't very accurate. The engine block is shaped so that the electric motor fits inside, the transmission is a big square block that looks nothing like the real car's trans, and there is a huge battery compartment under the seats that sticks out on the underside of the chassis.

But since they went to such trouble to engineer this kit to actually run, I'm going to build it according to the directions and try to make it actually work as intended, just to see if I can. Will it work? I doubt it... there are just too many moving parts, too many "iffy" connections, too much slop in the gears, etc. I'd be amazed if this thing actually works as intended, but I'll give it a shot.

Here is how the kit is packaged... a pretty impressive presentation:

And here are all the various components related to the motorization feature... the motor itself, the transmission gear box, various other gears and shafts and battery box contacts, etc., etc....

There are even three tubes of what I assume is gear oil or lube... not sure, because the entire kit and instructions are written in Japanese only, no English. I wonder if there's anything actually still in these tubes after 40+ years?

[Harry P.]

Here are the rear axle parts...

And this is the "transmission" mounted within the plastic outer box:

[Harry P.]

And all the plastic parts, molded in a rainbow of colors for no apparent reason... some body parts in red, some in orange... some chassis parts in black, some in gray... seats and steering wheel in dark blue ... and the plated "brass" parts in a color that looks nothing like brass, but exactly like copper...

[Harry P.]

ok... let's get started. In no particular order and for no particular reason, let's deal with the steering box. This is how it comes...

Obviously it's operational, but it looks nothing like the real thing. Because I want to build this kit "as intended," I'll live with it... but I'll disguise this assembly using various bits and pieces of styrene tube, "bolts" sliced from hex-shaped styrene rod, and 5-minute epoxy to create the curved surfaces. It's still not particularly correct, but at least it looks passable...

[sjordan2]

When you get this one under glass, you're going to have to include video to show it in action.

The original Airfix issue of the 1/12 Bentley had the same sort of motorizing set-up, but much better concealed. Motor inside engine block, battery went under the rear seat. In later issues, motorizing parts were available only by mail order, and eventually dropped altogether, but plastic molding to accommodate the old motor stuff is still on the latest boxing.

Edited November 24, 2014 by sjordan2

[Harry P.]

Wheels... This is the orange wheel as it comes in the kit. First step is to paint them "ocher" using acrylic craft paint.

Then a dip into the can of stain...

Then paint the rims red...

And finally paint the rim bolts and install the tires...

[Scalper]

Wow the stains looks really good on the wheels.

[cobraman]

Looks very much like an old racing Fiat, no ?

[bill w]

Where do you find the time too build all these models? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to have the time to do all these builds.

I wish I had more time!

And you do a great job, I like your washes and your chois of vehicles!

[Harry P.]

Looks very much like an old racing Fiat, no ?

Almost exactly. I wonder of Itala and Fiat worked together developing cars. I do know that when Itala went kaput, Fiat got the remains.

Where do you find the time too build all these models?

I'm self-employed. so I can make my own schedule. No 9 to 5 grind for me, my time is flexible.

[sjordan2]

So...is this a break from the complexities of the Lincoln L that you're also currently building? You're on a whirlwind of builds right now.

[Harry P.]

So...is this a break from the complexities of the Lincoln L that you're also currently building? You're on a whirlwind of builds right now.

Yeah, I'm going full speed ahead these days. Maybe making up for all the time during the summer when I didn't build a thing!

The Lincoln is still in the works. While stuff from that one dries, I work on the Itala and vice versa. And oh yeah... also working on a new Model T kit. Three at once! Sort of like juggling...

[sjordan2]

Yeah, I'm going full speed ahead these days. Maybe making up for all the time during the summer when I didn't build a thing!

The Lincoln is still in the works. While stuff from that one dries, I work on the Itala and vice versa. And oh yeah... also working on a new Model T kit. Three at once! Sort of like juggling...

Don't forget the Pocher Rolls Shooting Brake.

[Harry P.]

Don't forget the Pocher Rolls Shooting Brake.

THat will be a major project. Probably won't start that until next year.

[Harry P.]

I want to change up the firewall/dash. Step one is to use the back side of my blade to scribe away the "brass" trim strip from the rest of the kit dash and saw away the nolded-on detail. I'll save that sawed-off piece and reinstall it later:

A new dash was made of basswood strips and stained:

[Harry P.]

Here I've added most of the details. There are no decals for the gauge faces so I just detailed them with paint:

[Harry P.]

With the cowl and that "brass" strip I removed earlier installed, and a few scratchbuilt details added. The kit hood is incorrect and the way it's supported by the cowl is incorrect, so I had to add a new flange that the hood will rest against, using styrene strip:

[Harry P.]

The kit hood has the two center panels molded as one panel, with no center hinge detail. And the two small scoops are right in the middle, which is impossible because the hood should be hinged down the middle.

First step is to remove the scoops (and save them to be relocated later):

Then I filled in the holes with styrene and marked the center line, where the panel will need to be cut apart:

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice work. Strange that the little scoops were in the wrong place.

Edited November 25, 2014 by bobthehobbyguy