Another one from the vault. The DB3S was run at Le Mans in the mid-50's, and this version finished 2nd in 1955 driven by Peter Collins and Paul Frère. This was, of course, the year of the major crash that killed many spectators and that led to Mercedes-Benz withdrawing from road racing for several decades; a D-Type with a larger motor took the win.
The kit is typical of older MFH kits in needing a lot of cleanup, drilling, test-fitting, etc., but should work out well as the chassis is a simple ladder without all the little bitsy tubes of the later tube-framed Porsches.
The fellow who sold me the kit threw in the correct bottle of Zero Paints for it, but as I don't have an airbrush, I'll have to find someone to spray it for me, or find an auto parts store willing to put it in a can. This will be important as there is no Tamiya can that is reasonably close, as far as I can tell.
<Pedant alert on>
At first I am impressed that the kit includes a crankshaft with a full set of connecting rods and pistons; but on closer examination they have cylinders 1 and 6 at Top Dead Centre (TDC) together, then 2 and 4, and finally 3 and 5. This gives a firing order something like 1-4-5-6-2-3, depending on which of 2 and 4 fires first, and which of 3 and 5 fires first.
Now I have not worked on Aston Martin sixes, but I have worked, as a professional mechanic, on sixes from Jaguar, Austin-Healey, Mercedes-Benz and many others; and for reasons of balance, all of them have had the companion pistons being 1 and 6, 2 and 5 (not 2 and 4), and 3 and 4 (not 3 and 5). This leads to the universal firing order for a six of 1-5-3-6-2-4. In the unlikely event that the engine runs counter-clockwise, which I personally have never witnessed in a six, the firing order would be reversed as in 1-4-2-6-3-5.
<Pedant alert off>
Nonetheless I will enjoy building this rare and otherwise historically accurate kit. Stay tuned!
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