Auburn hot rod: planning

The kit of the Auburn Speedster Boattail from Lindberg is a crappy kit of a good looking car. 

Given the crap factor, I had no hesitation to decide to turn it into a rat/hot rod, probably with no fenders. The engine will be a lovely straight 8 from Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland to replace the crappy model of the flathead V12 which appears to have a single cylinder head for both banks. (The 8 is a pushrod unit). 

Chassis will be scratch built to get the ride height and wheelbase I want. To avoid having to bend frame rails over the rear axle, I'll go with quarter elliptics front and rear. So far so good.

 

 

Stay tuned!

300 SEL 6.3 Red Pig: Overview

I spent 1975 and 1976 as an apprentice mechanic at the local Mercedes Benz dealer, where the mighty 6.3 was still a relatively common sight on the street. It was quite the car: it had relatively low power for a 6.3 but buckets of torque; and the 4-speed automatic, with fluid coupling instead of a torque converter, would take off in 2nd gear unless you matted it, which would invoke 1st and some very exciting moments indeed. 

The motor came from the 600 limousine as did the air suspension, and the whole package was designed for comfort first. A plush ride leading to a fair bit of lean meant it was fast but maybe not ideal for racing. 

Enter AMG, Their first car, a hot-rodded 6.3 called the Red Pig due to its colour and cornering abilities, shredded its tires on its first outing in 1970 and was retired early. By 1971 an uprated 6.8 litre motor, combined with the low-pivot swing axle, reduced weight and better tires, made for some very entertaining cornering stances. For more info, click here.

The car became obsolete late in 1972 when the rules were changed and engines bigger than 5 litres were outlawed.

 

ModellingMaster, an outfit using 3D printing for quick prototyping, has put together a lovely kit of this most unlikely of race cars, including 4 doors and a trunk lid that could all be hinged if one were unhinged enough. The engine is very well detailed with wiring and injection plumbing molded in. Pictures are from the ModellingMaster FaceBook page; I've just started my own documentation. Stay tuned! Should be interesting.

MG B GT: Complete (#8 for 2022)

I've always liked the GT version of this car as it channeled some excellent '50s shapes at a significantly lower price. Mechanicals, while humble, were honest.

The C1 Models resin kit is excellent, just needing a small amount of fiddling to get the interior up inside the body far enough for a decent stance. (It probably could be sitting a little lower, to be honest.) 

It's too bad the Triumph GT6+ is so crappy. I'll pose it with the Mark II instead. 

Stay tuned! There is more to come.

MG B GT: Overview

After the execrable Lindberg kit of the Triumph GT6+, this C1 models resin transkit for making a GT out of Aoshima's MG B is absolutely lovely. After washing the resin body in soapy water (using Dawn dish soap), a few spots showed through the primer, so it had to get stripped and scrubbed in 99% isopropyl alcohol. This is probably essential with all resin bodies, but sometimes I'll take a chance with a nicer model. Didn't work out in this case. 

It's a curbside, sadly; but given the faintly agricultural origins of the 4 cylinder lump, that's not a huge deal.

The C1 and Aoshima kits come with lovely little photo-etched sheets. In the case of the Aoshima parts, such as this grille emblem, PE parts are backed up with decals should you decide not to mess with PE. Both are deep enough that you can flow paint into the depression and scrape it off the high spots once dry, without excessive overall thickness.

Paint is Tamiya Racing Blue, TS-51, which is a little too metallic to my taste. Tamiya doesn't really have any decent blues except for their French Blue, which should really be reserved for French cars.

To come: Finish the chassis and interior; once the paint on the trim is dry, apply clear; cut out windows and final assembly (lights, bumpers, etc.). Stay tuned!