Porsche 917K (MFH): Chassis (III)

Front suspension and cockpit are complete, with the exception of the driver's seat and gear shift lever which both require the firewall in place. The dashboard will go on shortly, but will hide a lot of the wiring and plumbing.

 

Next is the rear tubular structure that supports the rear of the engine cover, the spare tire as well as the rear suspension. There are also various tanks and other bits hanging off the sides between the firewall and the rear wheels. Getting all this straight is shaping up to be a major challenge. 

So the grunt work continues. Stay tuned.

Ford vs Ferrari: comparing models

Recently I completed the Model Factory Hiro 1/24 kit of the Ferrari 330 P4, and the MPC 1/25 kit of the Ford GT40 Mark IV. The objective was to reproduce the Ford vs Ferrari movie; the fact I am three months late for the Ottawa contest where this was a theme is besides the point.

Once complete, I sat them side by side. The Ford is noticeably smaller than the Ferrari, which is not the case in real life; according to my good friend Mr Google, the Ford is 4343 millimetres long at 1:1 while the Ferrari is 4185 mm. (Wheelbases are essentially identical at 2400 and 2413 mm).

Getting out my trusty ruler and HP 15C RPN calculator, I came up with the following:

MFH kit: 179 mm X 24 = 4296 mm (111 mm too long, close to 5 mm at scale)

MPC kit: 175 mm X 25 = 4375, 32 mm off and on the edge of my measurement error, so we'll call it "accurate".

I wonder how many other MFH kits are off by these sorts of margins.

Porsche 917K (MFH): Chassis (II)

 If my blog record is correct, this got shelved in March 2021.

I spent a quiet morning reminding myself of where I was when I parked it 18 months ago ago. Realised that a couple of white metal panels had been put on incorrectly, and needed to be removed and subtly bent to fit better. So no new progress to report, just correcting past mistakes. 

Next will be to finish up the cockpit, front chassis and suspension bits, making sure the resin body will fit over it all; then the big one: bolting the engine and rear of the chassis to the cockpit tub. I may do some more assembly of the rear chassis structure and suspension prior to this.

Stay tuned! 

Ford GT40 Mark IV: Complete (#13 for 2022)

This older MPC kit is a disappointment compared to available kits of the 330 P4, whether the Fujimi or Model Factory Hiro version. But short of getting my hands on the very rare Union kit, it is the only way of building a model of the 1967 Le Mans winner.

The biggest problem is poor molds with lots of flash and other flaws, compounded by the fact that the whole thing is molded in red. The chrome is particularly bad, and the there is too much of it. Decals were not especially opaque. 

Nonetheless it is possible to build up a reasonable replica.

The comparison with the MFH kit of the second place Ferrari 330 P4 is interesting but also shows the difference between the 1/25 Ford and the 1/24 Ferrari. I've minimised it in the photo by putting the Ford closer to the camera; posed the other way the size difference, while theoretically small at just over 4%, is much more noticeable.

What's next? Stay tuned!

Ford GT40 Mark IV: Chassis

Older kits just can't get any love. Lots of flash, poor chrome, crude attachement points to sprues, everything molded in red (even the chromed bits)... still it's not looking too bad, although to be honest I could have been a little more thorough in fixing the flaws. 

 

Next: glass and decals. Wish me luck! The glass has been polished and looks OK, but the decals may be beyond repair. 

Ford GT40 Mark IV

OK, so I'm on a Ford vs Ferrari kick, next has to be Gurney and Foyt's winning Mark IV. 

The vintage MPC kit is in need of some love. It's all moulded in red; there's too much chrome; the glass needs polishing due to scratches; and the decals are likely to be nice and brittle. First step has been to spray the decals with my only remaining can of Testor's decal bonder. Next I'll spray the red sprue with Tamiya grey primer and the body with the dark red primer. Stay tuned!

Ferrari 330 P4: Complete (#12 for 2022)

The usual MFH shenanigans dealt with, the P4 is now complete. A lot of gentle twisting and filing to get the three major body panels to fit has led to something pretty decent in my humble opinion, but you be the judge. 

What a gorgeous car! We'll even forgive the dorky faired-in mirrors as used at Le Mans. And the curvy front is let down by the brutal slab of the rear end.

Comparison with the smaller and daintier 206 S as run in the 1966 Targa is instructive. Doubling the displacement meant the curvaceous shape needed to be a bit more aggressive, but this was done with a lot of delicacy. Clearly there was something in the water at Maranello.

So what's next? A good cleanup of the bench first, then we'll see. Stay tuned!