Lancia 037: Rolling chassis

Progress on the Lancia 037 continues with the chassis, interior and drivetrain essentially complete. The Lancia contingent is growing, with a Beta Monte Carlo Group 5 and two Stratoses (Strati?) completed, and a Group B Delta Integrale in resin still in the box.



This Hasegawa kit is quite well detailed and goes together well. The detail-up kit, also from Hasegawa, includes discs, grilles, a fan guard and other small bits in a photo-etched sheet which is very thin -- you have to be careful not to bend it accidentally. The main beef so far is the decal paper that takes forever to soften enough that the decals can slide off. I am also unhappy with the way the tire decals are tending to lift off.



Photos of 1:1 cars show a spare tire in the front compartment, but the kit doesn't have one. I'll have to scrounge in the parts bin for something similar to the rally tires.



Next: the body, which means I have to decide whether to cut the rear deck off to show the rear of the chassis and the engine compartment. The photo above shows it is a nice straight cut from the roof diagonally down to the wheel opening, so it should be relatively easy to do. The photo below shows the view through the rear hatch.





I am guessing that the space ahead of the rear wheels, just behind the cockpit, is filled with gas and oil tanks on 1:1 vehicles; as these are not modeled, opening it all up may be somewhat counterproductive, plus the window in the rear deck is nice and large. Decisions, decisions ...