Fiat Mephistopheles (take 2)......

[paddy]

At the risk of being repetitive and becoming boring my plan here is to continue my "alternative version" theme.
The problem was I never kept any of my models so now I have retired and closed my motorcycle business , I have some space which I never had before. I would like to replace some of my models but I don’t really want to just build the same thing again, it would be like reading a book you already read. So i have been build alternative versions of the same kit that are not strictly correct








So now I am looking at Italeri’ s Fiat Mephistopheles , this is my original build

This is an aero engined 27000cc 6 cylinder record breaking “thing” built on a small lorry chassis

At 336 BHP if was the last car to break the land speed record on a public road at 140mph in 1926 can you imagine sitting in this thing at 140mph, 6” wide tyres , oil spraying in your face and rudimentary suspension and 6 cylinders firing each one 4300cc

I have plans for this thing that will have the purists crying into their coffee and shouting Blasphemy and " he is not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy"

 

[moon puppy]

 

[Heavens Eagle]

 

[paddy]

Ok, looking at these pictures of my last go at this kit

my thoughts are.,,

A/ The 4 holes in the engine cover on the RHS are air inlets for the carbs so they need a filter or some sort of streamline shroud.
B/ 4x cycle fenders on the wheels.
C/ A bright colour, i am leaning towards Camel Yellow . Contrary to common belief the 1920's were bright and swinging, not in Black and white
D/ there is loads of room to improve that exhaust
E/ I have some much nicer 72 spoke wheels not the current 36 spokes.
F/ I would like to do something more stream lined with the screen but at the moment i dont know how to do that
G/ It needs lights, vintage round with possibly side lights on the fenders

Any thought however subtle are welcome but i am thinking outrageous road car not race.

 

[paddy]

The wheels i want to use are 3D print, they have a couple of square holes in them which i presume is to stop an air trap but if you look at the bottom of the wheel on its supports you get a couple of fillers which are an amazing good push fit as you can see on the wheel on the right.

Mud guards or Fenders are in the experimental phase but i have proven the concept to myself

The 2 at the rear are slightly bigger for the rear wheels

The engine cowling has 4 holes for air intake, i would like to tidy this up and my first attempt is here, again this sort of construction is a learning curve like the fender for me but its fun

I doubt i will go with this but its a first idea

And the Chassis is done and assembled on a flat plate.

My original build used mostly matt black and matt red but this will be more road car so the above is clear coated satin black.
I cant really get my head round gloss black as i have a scale issue with paint I never think model cars really get that "real thing" look. Obviously a major issue is the the "glass" which is always way too thick but can be improved with vac form, The other is paint ? it never looks right and i have come to the conclusion that its to do with scale reflection.....When you reduce a car to 1/12th of its original size you dont reduce the reflections, they stay at 1/1 so imagine a person standing next to a black high gloss car, depending on the panel shape he might have a complete reflection in a door but stand a person next to a 1/12 car and you would need a 1/12 man to do that
Anyway i find on some items semi gloss works much better as a gloss than full gloss.

 

[moon puppy]

I agree with you about cars. I'd rather see something in a natural setting not this high polish car show version.