MFH Abarth 1000-SP 1/12

[paddy]

So i am laying the foundations here of my first MFH car build.
Its rather daunting being multi media, white metal, resin, vac form etc, basically a whole new experience for me.
I dont really know what to expect in terms of fit, drilling required and alignment. I guess i will need a good flat plate or i will be building a twisted mess.
Glue is a slight problem, they say you should use CA but i didnt find it very good on white metal, fine in a peg and hole situation but not very good on a surface to surface join.

This is a 1966 Fiat Abarth 1000SP and like all MFH cars now its 1/12. A good scale that ties in nicely with Italeri vintage cars and is big enough for me to see what I am doing .

You could be forgiven from this picture for thinking this is a 5 litre (300ci) monster designed to eat up miles in the 24 hour LeMans and you would be half right.
Its actually 1 litre (60ci) 4cyl 105 bhp minnow designed to eat up miles in the 24 hour LeMans
Its only when you see a guy next to it you realise at just under 1000LB its actually quite small

Fiat Abarth 1000 SP

The Sport designed to turn gentlemen drivers into winners.

www.stellantisheritage.com

 

[paddy]

So what's in the box ?





I will call out the parts as i go but this is the basics

 

[jknaus]

If you get a small pane of safety glass, it is very flat and perfect for doing the aligning.

James

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Paddy, I have found that different brands and types of CA work differently and have different properties. Lately I have been using the Bob Smith brand medium (in the purple label and cap) that I bought at the local hobby shop.

First off it doesn't outgas and make the white frost around it. Second is that I put a drop or two on a sapphire crystal and dip it off with a small wire applicator. I then usually let it set till the next build session and take a razor blade and scrape it off clean.

You ask what does this demonstrate. All the CA glues set up and dry hard within a couple 3 hours on the crystal. As it is sapphire it is super hard and doesn't tend to scratch or mark up with a steel razor blade. The crystal is also inert for the most part so no chemical reactions.

Where this process becomes a learning episode is that the Bob Smith purple (medium) dries and when I remove it the dried puddle is flexible an rather tough to remove. It isn't brittle like some other CA's. The Fast set CA's and other brands (like from Hobby Lobby fast and medium) shatter into fine powder when scraped off. I have also mixed CA's which have given other improved or so-so results. The brittle CA's can be good if you are just tacking something in place to be popped apart again later. (which I have done on occasion) I also use the Bob Smith purple (medium) as a filler for narrow cracks or even some surface imperfections as it has an accelerant to set it and then it files and sands very similar to styrene.

So you might try some different brands and types of CA. For a watch crystal, If you have a local watch repair shop that does watch repairs on Rolex or Tag, you might see if you can obtain a slightly damaged used sapphire watch crystal or two from the watchmaker. Explain what you plan on using it for and that a watchmaker friend in the US suggested that use. New crystals are EXPENSIVE, but used damaged crystals that are badly chipped around the edge have no use and are usually trash.

I also epoxy the watch crystals I use to a small block of wood with the damaged side of the crystal to the block and the inner side (usually undamaged) up for use.