Some cool Heller info

[Tom Geiger]

BTW, I'm one of those "I like it to look correct" (not "rivet counters" yet again ), and few can do that. He did, and if you'd look at the freehand drawing he did posted above, you'd know he knew how to make it look correct. It's not all about measurement, it's about spatial relationships and proportions.

I agree! You can input all the exact measurements into a CAD system and the resulting model will be absolutely accurate, but won't look right to our eyes. Much of that is that we look at model cars from unnatural viewing positions that we don't normally see the 1:1s in. For instance our first look at a model car is the equivalent of looking at a 1:1 from a second story window. We see the roof down view. Second, to view a model "normally" we need to get down to table level with our nose against the table edge to get our eyes to the right level, then because our eyes are not apart from one another in scale, we see the entire length of the model in a different perspective than we view a 1:1.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Tom Geiger

[Dave Van]

I love the subject matter....but some of those kits are a BEAR to build......

Built the P917 and McLarens also the Alpine......tough!!!!

[keyser]

Tom, we share the Heller love. The Mercedes 170 Sedan and Panel are really nice, as are the Citroens. Make great street rods too.

Early box art the best. Drawings are really art, I bought many early issues new in the day. and cherish the boxes. Not many other kits have had such inspiring artwork.

Fiddly to build on good day. Bear on normal day as Dave said. Weirdest tool breakdown I've ever seen, usually 2-piece bodies split longitudinally, and odd combinations of front fenders and running boards. Delahaye is stunning car, but I ended up building the body and getting it correct and square, then worked around it. BMW 328's are gorgeous built, working steering, delicate but hardy. Can drill out the wheels like the comp cars of the day, and the body is perfect looking, just needs bracing and filling when bonding halves.

The E-types are amazing, the coupes are perfect IMO. The roadsters too, but the Gunze is easier once you fix rear wheelwell shape. The Bugatti 50, Alfa 2300, and 500 Special Roadster look great. The Bugatti has clear sides to the body, and all the trim on the 500 is there, and separate. Doors are chrome. I've been getting my butt kicked by a 500 for a long time, I dechromed everything, glued trim in place, and am going to foil it all once I get the spare lid countersunk instead of a surface mount. The tires and wheels aren't great, so using Monogram parts, and flipped the rear inners so stance looks right in fender.

I'll see if I can find pics of some of these built, not mine, but nice builds.

[keyser]

Here's some builts, not mine but inspirational.

My 500 too far from done, but this is prototype I'm shooting for, body really close to this and another close twin with external covered spare mount.

Edited March 5, 2015 by keyser

[aurfalien]

Wow all beautiful. However the one in upper right is simply amazink! What a beauty!

[lysleder]

I have a couple Heller kits on hand. and have been thinking of picking up a few more. Primarily the cars of the 20's or 30's . Not neccesarly any particular brand or model in particular. But I like the big open cars from the period

Is there any particular kit to look out for and/or to avoid

Heller was way ahead back in the day, but they lost quite a bit of momentum during the dark ages. Let's look to the future and see how it goes now, with new owners and management.

I do like Heller kits, mostly for subject matter, but also for providing something different in terms of parts breakdown and general approach.

I have built some of my Heller kits;

The Mercedes 170 sedan delivery is a nice builder. It has molded-in taillights and a rear swing axle suspension that looks somewhat simplified. It all looks good though. The biggest concern is probably the hood, which is molded with the sides in the open position (As in spread wide eagle), and the builder is supposed to bend the molded piece 90º along the hinge line, to have it hang straight down. A curious detail is the side windows, which sandwiched between the body and full-height interior door panels.

The Bentley Blower goes together really well, and looks about right, right out of the box.

Mercedes 300SL, looks beautiful when done. However, the two-piece body shell (upper and lower i.e. belly pan) will give you a head-scratcher when it comes to treating glue joint lines on the front end. You might want to go with Tamiya instead.

And lastly the 1928 Citroen B14. I built the torpedo, but it comes in other body styles too and they all have the same problem.

Look at the picture. Do you see the wedge shaped gap between the hood side and cowl? And a similar gap up by the radiator cap? As supplied there is a discrepancy between the height of the radiator w/shell and hood w/sides vs. the height of the body w/cowl. I did not catch it in time to do anything about it. It would require some surgery to bring it in line. But otherwise it was a very pleasant build.

The tires for the oldtimers are acceptable, but as has been mentioned by others - the tires for their open wheel racers leave something to be desired.

[Quick GMC]

I have the Heller Alpine Renault 1600. The same version Tamiya just Re-released. I haven't really gotten into it that much, but it looks to be a fairly decent kit.

[Atmobil]

Here is some pictures of the Mercedes 170 van, not my build but I guy I know in the Norwegian IPMS club built it.

[gtx6970]

Here is what I have so far.

My interests lean torwards the big open cars from the era,,,,,,. But I am not against the oddball stuff not avail anywhere else either. And heller seams to cover that quite well. My main concern is are they buildable with moderate talent. I am not a big fan of having to re-engineer the entire kit to build it,,I'll loose interest if I have to do that .

[jbwelda]

maybe that's what turned me off from exploring Heller kits: too many old man cars in the lineup. never cared for those antique barges.

and if their alpine is competing with the Tamiya, I sure know which one I would choose to build. now if it was that longtail version, that's one I would love to have

jb

[Tom Geiger]

Here's how far I got on the Citroen Bordens Milk Truck. Chassis, engine and drive train went together well and it sits flat. I was surprised at how many detail photos I found on-line.

But try to assemble that body! I wasn't able to get it to square up at all. Further frustrated that I followed their directions of painting it first, which made sense since I had a lot of detail painting inside of the box. Last try I was adding some Evergreen strips at mating points to create surface to glue. I walked away in frustration, but need to go back and finish it with a clearer head.

[Atmobil]

I had to take out my B14 van to take a look at it and I can understand your frustration. I think that maybe the trick would be to paint the inside panels first and then glue the body togheter and paint the outside afterwords. But how to get it to be square, I do not know. Probably just as frustrating and difficult as the Open Road Camper I'm building at the moment, I'm finding it difficult to get that to be square aswell.

I did build the C4 "Waterman" van but I built it as an amblance, here is a picture of it.