2020 Auto Show: Previews of a Post-Internal Combustion Engine world

While it is clear that we need to move to a post-internal combustion engine world for mobility, this cranky old petrol head can't help but regret the passing of underhood scenery full of multi-cylinder, twin-turbo, supercharged, fuel-injected, multi-cam 4-valve piston engines with 8-speed AWD systems making obscene amounts of power. Somehow it is hard to get excited about black plastic or aluminum boxes stuffed full of electronics, and lithium ion batteries that work best with tall SUVs because they take up all the floor space under the carpets. However. I'll continue to focus my gear-head activities on the scale models, contributing some small amount to the world's demand for injection-molded polystyrene (which will not end up in the ocean if I can help it); meanwhile here are a few highlights of this week's Auto Show.



First off, the Honda stand didn't actually have any actual cars out on actual display; they were all hidden in the back. A crash test car was shown in all its ugliness. There was, however, a lone motorcycle and a couple of painted but bare body shells. Not sure what the point of that was.



Underhood shots for a few of the many electric cars are next. The last shot is the new BMW 8-series engine compartment and while this is said to house a 550+ hp V8, you wouldn't know it from the plastic covers hiding everything -- could well be a pile of power electronics under there.











One interesting point was the large number of electric cars which still had a 12V lead acid car battery. Not sure what that was for. The starter? The battery on the 8-series (below) is presumably tucked away in the trunk out of the way, because there sure doesn't seem to be any space under the hood.



There were a couple of show cars (electric, natch) that were actually not bad looking. The Genesis is a bit awkward, especially around the hindquarters, but the Hyundai has some interesting lines.





What Elon's Cyber Truck could have been...





In the area of Wretched Excess, one can find SUVs from Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce, the over-the-top McLaren Senna and a Jag sedan with well-labelled carbon-fibre aero aids. Six-figure price tags mean you won't run into these at the local Walmart.









There were a handful of "antiques", starting with an early Model T which sported a disc brake on at least one of the rear wheels. I suspect that this was not original equipment. Sadly I didn't get a picture of that one, but there was a large selection of other pizza-plate sized disc brakes to be admired through expensive alloy wheels. And most of them even managed to pose the cars with the badges on the hubcaps facing upright! Enjoy!












The Offspring and I both enjoy this annual outing but may decide to pass next year.

'68 Fury Wagon: Chassis and drivetrain

The theme of an upcoming model show being Grocery Getters, I dusted off the resin '68 Fury Wagon from Motor City Resins. The idea was to build it as a slightly beaten daily driver with select upgrades, and I was going to start with Ross Gibson's lovely hot rod Slant 6 until I discovered that the base engine in the Fury in '68 was the 318.




Wanting to avoid the obvious go-fast upgrades, such as Hemi or a Viper motor, I dug out the base motor from the Li'l Red Wagon, which doesn't look like a Hemi. Period correct red engine paint highlights the pair of double pumper Holleys taken from the excellent kit of the '61 Starliner.





With the engine complete, the next step was to mate the rear interior tub from the resin kit to the front floor pan stolen from the '67 Coronet Foose kit, while stretching the Coronet chassis 5 mm to match the longer wagon wheelbase. A lot of cutting, hacking and 5-minute epoxy sessions ensued to compensate for the excessively simplistic chassis that came with the resin kit, and to add the 5" to the wheelbase that differentiates the coupes from the wagons and pedestrian 4-doors. First step was getting the wagon bed to sit down over the Coronet wheel wells.  



Thick resin bits. The resin body was warped but a hot water treatment seems to have mostly fixed it; it might need a second treatment.





Next was to cut the wagon interior, Coronet interior, and chassis, and insert the 5 mm extension.





Brass rod of 2 mm diameter and lots of 5 minute epoxy to keep it all straight.



It's all lining up OK so far. Some added interior trim will be needed, and the Coronet interior panels will need to be trimmed to fit. Maybe I'll convert the wagon to 2-doors by moving the B pillar rearwards and re-scribing the doors. C-pillar could be deleted to make it all nice and clean. 



Stay tuned! This is coming along.

Ford LN 8000 Crew Cab Carrier: Complete (#3 for 2020)

Another rescue from the Great Big Shelf O' Doom, which is now a lot smaller with this one, started in late 2017, and a pair of 8X8s completed and into the Great Big Display Case.



As always these AMT kits feature poor fits for a lot of stuff. Mirrors in particular are horrible. But overall it's a decent build and makes a nice combo with the BRE cars. Now I just need some BRE decals.



A pair of resin winches, from PSF Model Supplies, are included, one just visible ahead of the 240Z.



Workman-like V8 Diesel.



So the Shelf O' Doom is down to about 6 cars now. Back to work!

MAZ 537: Complete (#2 for 2020)

I've been cleaning up the Great Big Shelf O' Doom lately, and if I've managed two builds this month, it's because both were started a long time ago and only needed finishing touches. This one was started in mid-June 2018 (click here), so it really hasn't been on the shelf all that long compared to some other WIPs.



I quite like the chopped top. The shortened cab is also good looking although probably not realistic at 1:1.



The digger arms in stored position needed a platform on the roof to support them. Mirrors from the parts bin are supported by fabricated 1/32" brass rod.




The Russian MAZ 537 8X8 chassis is a military kit from Trumpeter, and the Hitachi double-arm digger is from Hasegawa; both are 1/35 but I am assuming they are smaller units that would look as shown here at 1/24.



Hitachi designed this device as a disaster relief tool: the cutter is meant to slice through bent rebar and the grapple to remove slabs of concrete, all for the purpose of looking for survivors after an earthquake. The cab was widened to fit a 1/24 seat but would still be cramped at 1:1 as the height of the cab was not changed.



The rest of it is all 1/24 or 1/25 stuff from the parts bin. The White COE, shortened and with a top chop, is a resin body from Jimmy Flintstone; the engine is from the AMT Freightliner kit. The turbocharger is a 3D-printed part from Ron Olson at Shapeways, with scratch-built piping to the intercooler and exhaust system.



Scratch built turbo piping and radiator hoses. The original engine would have been a monster V12 Diesel out of a Soviet WWII tank. There is apparently a resin kit of this engine available; the Trumpeter kit, while very detailed, includes no engine detail.



Shown here with another COE from the display cabinet.



Stay tuned! Who knows what else is in the stash!

Mitsubishi Delica: Complete (#1 for 2020)

This one was rescued from the Shelf of Doom with only minor work needed to complete it. The project started in January 2017.






A pair of Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon 4WD Super Exceed kits were combined to make a single 8X8 transporter. Originally this was going to serve for the Honda S800 racer, but the shade of yellow is slightly off, so the Honda N360 hot rod is the new payload. 



Earlier build photos show some of the steps taken. The first step was planning, using photos overlaid in a graphics program. 

 

Hack and slash activities started the construction process.






Measure once, cut twice. Interiors and chassis had to be hacked as well. 






Mid-engine layout.



In retrospect the seating should be 2+3, not 3+2. The rear is particularly spacious.

 


Fred and Doris are enjoying the spacious rear section, but Gerhard can't quite get his legs under the steering wheel. Stiff joints due to arthritis, no doubt.




So what's next? Stay tuned!