Dutch Mountain Rescue Service Landie: Engine

The engine in the Revell kit of the Series III Landie is an excellent rendition of a very obscure motor: the 3-litre F-head also used in the Rover 3 litre (the so-called P5, for Rover aficionados).



The F-head, more properly known as an inlet-over-exhaust (IOE) design, has the exhaust valve in the engine block driven by a low-mounted camshaft, as in a classic flat head; but the inlet valve is in the head driven by pushrods and rockers.Back in my days in the garage, I encountered this engine only once, in a 109", where the brass distributor drive gear had stripped.



Of course the first question is, if you're going to have 6 pushrods and rockers, why not 6 more and put all the valves in the head? One answer is this allows bigger valves than in anything but a hemi head; and allows higher compression ratios (perhaps) than a flat head.



The key design feature is the mating surface between block and head is not perpendicular to the bores, but at a fairly steep angle; the last photo attempts to show this seam just above the uppermost pulley.

My own Rover, a 2000 TC (or P6 in factory parlance), had the successor to the 3-litre: a 2-litre overhead cam 4 cylinder making 120 hp, an improvement on the 3-litre's 115; combined with significantly lower weight, this made the 2000 a much higher performance car. On the other hand, the full 120 hp only turned up well over 4500 RPM; the twin 2" SU carbs were way too big for the engine, making it unhappy under any condition except wide open throttle; andthe 10:1 compression ratio demanded 100 octane fuel, only available at Sunoco at the time. Not to mention the Lucas electrics ... I traded it for a '72 Chevelle with the 307 and a two-speed Powerglide transmission.

Dutch Mountain Rescue Service Landie: Background

Looking back, I see five of my last six builds have been resin or multi-media kits. So time for some more styrene. A number of years ago I spotted a Land Rover operated by the Dutch Mountain Rescue Service parked outside a pub in a small Dutch town on the Rhine. It was well equipped: ropes and shovels and jerry cans and fog lamps and winches and slightly jacked up suspension. Sadly I did not take a photo, for which I am still kicking myself.



Of course Holland is not known for its heights; the highest point in the country appears to be the top of a TV antenna in Utrecht, notwithstanding the photo taken from the DMRS Facebook page. (The pub in question was actually below the level of the Rhine, on a canal with a lock leading up to the river, and may actually have been below sea level). 

 

But still one must admire the industrious Dutch for being so safety-conscious and selfless in their commitment to the security of the community. In fact I am guessing the driver was on duty that afternoon: "Honey, I'm on duty tonight so I'll be at the pub, er, sorry, Rescue Team headquarters until late. Don't wait up!"



The DMRS have a Facebook page where I have obtained images suitable for making decals, and I have Revell's lovely Series III 109" Landie. I also have the remnants of the Italeri fire truck, mainly all the emergency stuff like fire extinguishers and extra lights after the truck got converted to a rat rod, and I've certainly got bigger tires and the skills to jack up the suspension a bit. So hey, time to build a Dutch Mountain Rescue Service Vehicle! Stay tuned.

Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta ;Complete (#22 for 2020)

Another one done. I am reaching a stage with these MFH kits of being comfortable enough to power through one without major issues.



What a gorgeous little car! And the photo-etched plaque is a wonderful addition to the kit. I'll have to make a base for this and the Berlinetta.



This is a replica of car #22, Ferrari serial #0008M, as driven by Luigi Chinetti to a win at Le Mans in 1949. (His copilot was ill and only drove about 90 minutes of the 24 hours.) Hence the full-size folding windscreen and little Brooklands screens behind it, the added fog lamp and the white stripe around the grille. For a road car I would have deleted all that, and built a wrap-around windscreen.



The radiator was mounted too low. In spite of the upper radiator hose no longer fitting, I reversed the forward radiator mounting arms to bring the radiator up and back. I had to grind out the resin body to fit the radiator in its new position, but the radiator cap is now visible.



Lovely cockpit. Only one problematic decal.



The matching Berlinetta is equally gorgeous. This pair has been on my wish list since I saw a feature on the matching pair owned by Road & Track publishers John and Elaine Bond in the late '60s. Carrozzeria Touring had a winning shape in this one, and some of the cues turned up in a lot of different places, such as the AC Ace (predecessor of the Cobra) and even, in the grille, various iterations of the Chrysler 300.




So having completed these two iconic Ferraris as well as the Alfa Stradale, the drool-worthy list is shrinking. What's up next? Not sure. Stay tuned!

Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta: Engine and chassis

The engine and chassis are about done.



The V12 has distributors at the front, mounted vertically, unlike the Berlinetta where they are mounted horizontally. This time I put wires in the heads, not the distributors, as the spark plugs, located on the inlet side of the heads, are essentially inaccessible once the carburettors are in.




I ran the wires without the little tube that Ferrari uses to keep them tidy, as I don't see how it can be done to scale even with 0.014" wires as supplied in the kit.



The chassis is a simple ladder frame with leaf springs front and rear. Up front it's a single transverse unit running under the chassis, while the rear has a solid axle on semi-elliptics. The springs are assembled from photoetched parts which ought to be painted, but I like leaving them as is to show the assembly.



Steering is a worm and sector or equivalent. Overall the chassis is pretty standard for the day, and the Le Mans win was due to the power and reliability of the modern motor with essential equal bore and stroke. This compares well with the competition, largely made up of pre-war long stroke devices.



Primer is on the body, so stay tuned.

Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta: Overview

Possibly the most important Ferrari ever, Ferrari serial #0008M was driven to a win at the 1949 Le Mans by Luigi Chinetti; it will sit next to the coupe version (Berlinetta) already built.



I've wanted one of each (Berlinetta and Barchetta) ever since I saw pictures of them in Road & Track in the late 1960's, but since they tend to sell for tens of millions (dollars, euros, sterling, whatever) each on the rare occasions they do come up for sale, I'm going to have to settle for the 1/24 scale models which are rare enough.



What gorgeous little cars! Stay tuned. 

Lincoln Continental Roadster: Complete (#21 for 2020)

This barge has some bits taken from the '62 Thunderbird kit. 

First is the 390 Tri-Power engine, with added distributor, wires and fuel line. Next is the tonneau cover with integrated headrests. This required a lot of filling, sanding, priming, repeat.

The kit itself is one of the older ones, with a one-piece molded chassis and steel axles that push through the engine block. Of course this makes it easy to lower it.

Stance looks decent with the large whitewalls from the parts bin, but the final build will have a smaller set on the front to give it a bit of a nose down attitude.

Paint is Tamiya TS-40 Metallic Black over AS-12 Bare Metal Silver. The silver base may not have been critical but it can't hurt.

The interior was done in Tamiya TS-39 Mica Red and X-27 Clear Red. 

The dashboard is well defined with molded speedometer numbers; panel line accent colour filled in the background nicely.

Turned out well, I think. 

A quick build, except for the bodywork. What's next? Hard to say. Stay tuned!

BMW 2002 tii Estate: Complete (#20 for 2020)

A bit of a fight here but I like how it turned out. Just missing door handles and mirrors in the pictures.

Resin estate body from ARM, fenders and wheel-tire sets from Scale Productions, engine from USCP, decals from Gofer, all based on the Hasegawa 2002 tii.

The stance could have been a bit lower, admittedly.

Fat pipe hints at what's under the hood... hopefully passengers won't get burns on their calves when entering or exiting.

The brace across the shock towers was scratch built from brass rod, painted with Tamiya clear red paint over bare brass.

What's next? Well, the Big Ol' Shelf O' Doom is getting low, maybe it's time to start something new. Stay tuned! 

Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ: Complete (#19 for 2020)

Another one done; not one of my best but pretty decent.

The novelty was opening up the door and hinging it.

Very subtle grilles. The paint scheme is that for the #34 car, driven by Giancarlo Sala and Romolo Rossi, that dropped out of the 1963 Le Mans after 155 laps due to gearbox failure.

The SZ was not as successful as the TZ that followed, but the progression is obvious. The motor here is is the 1570 cc four with 4 spark plugs. The TZ had the twin-plug head (8 spark plugs all together) as well as the tubular chassis (Tubolare, hence the 'T').

The Profil 24 and Model Factory Hiro kits represent two different visions of resin or multi-media kits.

The TZ finished 13th overall, 1st in the GT 1.6 category in 1964.

Stay tuned for more!