cadillac type 57 | victoria

Back in 1914, Cadillac produced the first serial American V8 engine car. The 1914 L-Head. It was a sophisticated engine with an aluminium crankcase and it used a flat-plane crankshaft. Bore was 3.125 in (79 mm) and stroke was 5.125 in (130 mm), for a total of 314 cu in (5.15 l) of displacement. Output was 70 hp (52 kW). It was a 90° water-cooled L-Headed (side valve). The Project team for this revolutionary engine for a mass production car, was leaded by Cadillac's chief engineer (1914-1917), Scottish –born, D. McCall White. He was hired by Henry Leland for his V-Engine expertise form Napier and Daimler, at Coventry. Later on he becomes a vice president of Cadillac.

In 1914, The Cadillac Type 51 was the first mass production car equipped with this type of engine. So, the first V8 equipped mass production car! And is not only thing that make this car different. The steer wheel is disposable to let big people to enter easily inside the car. It was the first left hand direction (at the time as an option) mass production car, also.

The model I present you is an conversion having as base model the Amercom 1:43 fire department car. Originally full red, I repainted it full black. The rims were repainted also, trying to reproduce the wood. The tyres are white walled as in the period.

A light weathering on the browned interior is meant to improve the realism note of the model.

As inspiration I had the car owned by Jay Leno and presented by himsels in some Tv Shows.

But enough talking, just enjoy the ride!

Tie | fighter

Tie fighter... Long story short! Everybody saw it once in a life time… at least. And if you’re telling me “No”, than google it and you’ll everything about in just several milliseconds.

What I want to talk about now is this Revell kit. The main issue in my opinion is the scale. We are told that we (will) buy a 1/11o scale kit. That’s what we know when we are in the shop. After unboxing we see that our tiny 1:11o scale kit is huge! But in reality, it is not at all 11oth scale!

Some documentation, measuring and calculating brings me to the conclusion that the kit is around 1:72 scale most than 1:11o. There are no space and time to explain all my logical chain till this conclution. A win would be if you make the same exercise and if we will compare the conclusions.

But, till then, look at my Tie. Enjoy the ride

And several photos without any post processing. But due to the light intensity and the black environement we have the sensation of  BW frames.

Alfetta GT | sporty slammed

Alfa Romeo Alfetta (Tipo 116) is a three volume sedan and a Fastback Coupe produced by the Italian maker between 1972 and 1987. The car is popular due to the powerful engines who equipped it (from 1.4l till 2.6V8 engine).

Alfa Romeo introduces with this model a new drivetrain layout. It is called Transaxle. This means that we have the clutch, the transmission and the differential in the rear of the vehicle. The main technical advantage of this is that the car has a very good weight balance.

The shape designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro flows from the front grille to the rear end developing big transparent surfaces and very thin pillars. This is a characteristic of the ‘80s. The rear quarter window is splitted at the middle by introducing a pillar which allows to the front segment of the window to roll down as the front door window. This solution is somehow unique.

For my model, just after I bought it, I saw red in front of my eyes. Alfa Romeo = red! So I disassembled the model and begun the process of painting. After this, I chose the rims: some steelies to bring the car in its time and to bring some sporty look. Sporty look, so, several decals are welcomed! Said and done! After all, for a more real look I opted to use bare metal foil for the windows trims instead of the silver paint.

Enjoy the ride. I hope you like it

VIPER | Old School DieCast

Bburago !

I can tell it was the beginning of my collector life. As for many of us! From the beginning (early 1997 I remember my first 1/18^th die cast model Alpine A110 KIT) I wasn’t pleased with what Bburago guys gives us. So this was the beginning of what later I’ll call “scale tuning”. At the time it was about some interior repainting, stance and some exterior kits. I remember also my first hard modified diecast, one Maserati 3200 Gt also made by Bburago.

But overall, one of my all-time favorite model remains the reproduction of Dodge Viper, first generation, @1/18. Bburago provides us for a reasonable price what we get today for more than exaggerate amount of money. I mean the engine is separate and fully removable, the longitudinal transmission and the gear box, the same. Rear train, detailed and close to reality. The interior deserve some detailing but as I said, overall, at this price we cannot find something similar on the market.

I go crazy when I see the embossed plastic which everybody calls “engine” compared with what is really en engine in late 90’s. Please take a look at a Viper 1/18 from 2000 made by Bburago.

But till you grab one for looking at, I’ll tease you by showing mine. You have to take in account that the interior is improved as well as the rims.

Enjoy the ride

MA3 | 537

MAZ- 537 is a 12-cylinder diesel engine-powered military truck tractor, originally designed for loads up to 50 tons (using semitrailers such as the ChMZAP-9990 or ChMZAP-5247G, for example) with later versions providing a maximum load of 65 tons. It has been manufactured by the Minsk Automobile Plant (from 1959 to 1965) and the Kurgan Wheel Tractor Plant from 1963 until halt of production in 1990.

The metal cab of the MAZ-537 provides space for the driver and a passenger for a total of two occupants, has two access doors on the side and a roof hatch, and is equipped with additional engine-independent heating. The 537G modification version is characterized by the addition of a winch to facilitate loading and unloading, as well as enabling self-extraction when stalled in adverse terrain (like mud). The working cable length of the winch is 100 meters, and the winch is able to provide 15 tons of traction.

The vehicle is powered by a 12-cylinder D-12A-525A diesel engine located directly behind the cab. This engine provides preheating as well. The drivetrain of the MAZ-537 consists of a hydrodynamic transmission transferring power to the two front axles over a torque converter and a planetary three-stage gearbox with assisted steering (power steering) gear.

MAZ-537 has been widely used in both military roles (as, for example, artillery tractor trailer (pulling rocket or (ballistic) missile launchers), tank transporter, and airfield tractor) and in the civilian sphere as heavy tractor trailers, tractor ballast (or secondary unit) for carrying extra heavy loads, and in oil and gas fields. (Wikipedia contributors. MAZ-537. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. July 26, 2015, 22:59 UTC. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MAZ-537&oldid=673219108. Accessed May 30, 2016.)

 

The model I built is a model kit made by SSM manufacturer division “Автомобиль в деталях” who is selling assembly kits.

This allows you to build your model as you wish from the first time.

I choose for mine to detail the mechanical part as much as is necessary for having a reasonably looking model. The kit as we buy doesn’t provide any detail on the steering system and there are no pipes on the hydraulic system of the transmission.

Reproducing those things you will have a great pluss on your model. And is not very difficult for a medium experienced modeler.

Some weathering will bring also a touch of realism putting this toy truck in the universe of scale models.

After all this, creating an industrial environment using things you find near you, for your photo session will add at your story more and more realism.

But let’s see some photos describing the detailing as well as the final model as it is displayed on my shelf.

All what is in white plastic is scratch build

The front axels detailing and reproduction of the steering system

Some details on the engine and differential system

And the finished model