Nissan Sunny Hakotora: Complete (#9 for 2024)

I realise I didn't write up the initial building and planning on this. 

The Hakotora is a pedestrian Nissan Sunny pickup truck decked out to look like the classic Skyline, possibly with the addition of a widebody kit instead of the rubber fender lips. 

C1 Models made two Hakotora kits for the Hasegawa Sunny, one with the rubber fenders and the other a widebody kit with a complete front clip. (The Skyline kit is for show only; no Skylines were damaged in this project, although I was tempted until I came across the C1 Models transkit.)

As the Sunny had a four, the standard upgrade is to a twin-cam, 16V Nissan 4, but I chose to stuff in the six from one of the Fujimi assortment kits. This in turn entailed moving the radiator to the tailgate as I did with my Subaru Brat WRX. 

Other bits came from the boneyard and parts shelves. The fan and shroud is a nice photetched set from Detail Master, for instance. 

 

What's next? No idea. Stay tuned!

Nissan Sunny Hakotora: Overview

This Nissan Sunny Hakotora, an "El Skyline" if you will, is a resin wide-body kit from HiroBoy that converts a Hasegawa Nissan Sunny pickup, with its inoffensive 1200 cc pushrod motor, into a proper little road warrior. In the absence of the correct twincam 4-cylinder Nissan motor, I have gone a step further and added a Nissan 2-litre six to the mix. (The Hasegawa kit is curbside).  

This update follows on some cutting, such as the removal of the front clip, performed sometime ago but which I didn't document. The 6 is a tight fit and as with my WRX Brat, the radiator will be relocated to the tailgate.
 

Stay tuned! I've also got fat little Minilites or Japanese equivalents and a range of other bits & pieces from the parts bin.

Ferrari 312 F1: Complete (#8 for 2024)

I now have the complete podium for the 1967 Belgian GP:
First: Eagle T1G Weslake, driven by Dan Gurney (Car #36)
Second: BRM P83 H16, driven by Jackie Stewart (Car #14)
Third: Ferrari 312, driven by Chris Amon (Car #1). 

 

While Jim Clark managed a win with the H16 engine in a Lotus in 1966, these were the best results ever for the BRM and Eagle. Both cars had unreliable engines, with the H16 also being excessively heavy and bulky. Ferrari did better in other years; Denny Hulme took the championship that year in a Brabham-Repco with his boss Jack Brabham in second, while Amon was third overall. 

Model Factory Hiro doesn't make 1/43 kits anymore, although they do turn up on eBay now and then. They involve microscopic bits and lots of test fitting/filing/bodging, and you will need a desk lamp and 4X magnifier (at least). In other words, lots of fun! Boy I'm glad that's over with. 

So what's next? A bigger scale, for one! I've now built all the 1/43 kits in my stash, including the 1965 Rover 2000 TC from the Monte Carlo rallye (6th overall, 1st in class). 

 Stay tuned!

Ferrari 312 F1: Overview and first steps

Having completed the 1/43 kits of the Eagle and BRM cars that finished first and second at the 1967 Belgian GP, I figured it was time to build the Ferrari 312, driven to third place by Chris Amon at that same race, and thus complete the podium. Thankfully, this will also wrap up the last of the 1/43 kits in the stash. 

While the instructions begin with the cockpit and front monocoque components, I decided to build up the engine first. A very detailed unit and one doesn't want to lose any of the 12 machined intake trumpets. 

Moving on to the microscopic dashboard and cockpit, I ran into small but manageable issues typical of Model Factory Hiro kits. 

Finally I got brave and tackled the front of the monocoque, which had by then been painted (Tamiya TS-8, Italian Red). I've already smudged the paint so more care will be needed going forward.

The engine slides nicely in there and will get glued in another day. But first the various rear bulkhead bits will need to be trial fitted as the engine is not stressed. Up front the radiator and steering wheel are all that remains to be done at this stage. 

Stay tuned! I am trying to get this complete in time for a competition in just under two weeks.

Eagle Weslake: Complete (#7 for 2024)

This one has been sitting for over three years, needing just that I find enough courage to tackle a few remaining bits. 

This is the 1967 Eagle T1G Weslake, designed, built and driven by Dan Gurney to the win at the Belgian GP that year. The Weslake V12 was very fast but unreliable, and the win in Belgium remains the only Grand Prix win by a US-built car of any make; Gurney is one of very few people to design, build and race their own car successfully. 

 

 

Shown with the BRM P83 with the H16 motor, which took 2nd place at the same race in the capable hands of Jackie Stewart. The H16 engine, consisting of a pair of flat-8s stacked one on top of the other, turned out to be excessively complicated, unreliable, heavy, bulky and underpowered, and the engine's only win came in the 1966 US GP in a Lotus chassis, driven by Jim Clark. After a series of trials, BRM chose this engine over the Weslake V12, which was then taken up by Gurney. In the end neither car did particularly well, with poor reliability being a major issue with both engines. 

 

 

 

I have Chris Amon's third place Ferrari 312 ready to start; this will round out the podium with a more successful car.These are 1/43 scale kits by Model Factory Hiro and feature multiple microscopic bits. Once the Ferrari is complete, that's it and I am going back to building in more reasonable scales. Stay tuned!

Eagle Weslake: Back to the grind

In April 2017 I completed the BRM H16 that Jackie Stewart drove to second at the 1967 Belgian GP (click here). This was a 1/43 kit from Model Factory, and pushed my eyes, even backed by a 4X desk lamp, to the limit. 

I love that the images of the motor in the instruction sheet are bigger than the actual motor... Anyway along the way I picked up MFH kits of the other two cars on the podium at that same race: Dan Gurney's Eagle Weslake (first) and Chris Amon's Ferrari 312 (3rd). So two oddballs on the podium; I think this was Gurney's only win, and the BRM didn't do much better. So the Eagle was close to being finished when I set it aside in May 2021 (click here). 

So maybe it's time to finish up the Eagle, and tackle the 312, before my eyesight deteriorates any further. On opening up the box, I note that the nose cone paint needs work; sadly I put the decal on it so simply stripping it and starting over is not an option unless I find another decal sheet. In the engine compartment, I was at the stage of putting on the headers. Then it was going to be detail finishing, such as windscreen and mirrors, mesh in the nose cone, etc.

Anyway stay tuned as the micro-tweezers get a workout. Man these things are tiny. 

1930 Blower Bentley: Complete (#6 for 2024)

A fussy but well-done 1/24 kit from Heller (reboxed by Revell). That supercharged 4.5 litre 4-cylinder must have been a real truck engine, but it has grabbed the popular imagination -- if you weren't excessively distracted by Diana Rigg's outfits, you may recall John Steed drove one in The Avengers.  

DNF at Le Mans in 1930 (the 6-litre Speed Sixes took 1st and 2nd). 

 

 

Posed here with my two other prewar Le Mans cars, 1923 Chenard Walcker 32 Sport (1st) and 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B (DNF). The early years of aerodynamics... 

What's next you ask? Maybe back to the multi-media kits. Stay tuned!  

1930 Blower Bentley

The fabled supercharged 4.5 litre Le Mans car, 1930. 

Although well-known today, neither of the two 4.5 litre cars finished; both DNFed due to engine failure, car #8, driven by Dudley Benjafield and Giulio Ramponi, after 21 hours, the other at 20 hours. 

The 4.5 litre, being a four-cylinder, must have been a bit of a monster, and was probably the reason for Ettore Bugatti's snarky comment that Bentley built the fastest lorries in Europe. Two unsupercharged 6 litre Bentley Speed Sixes, with the smoother six cylinder motor, lasted through to finish first and second.
As for Bugatti, a 1.5 litre T40 driven by Marguerite Mareuse and Odette Sikotwo, finished 7th. Of course this achievement was the highlight of the press coverage on the Monday morning. 

 

 
The kit is a Revell reboxing of the old 1/24 Heller kit. (I built the lovely 1/12 kit as a kid, but it didn't survive multiple moves in my '20s). It is well made but requires careful fitting as some of the dowel and socket joints are poorly formed. 

I'm not a fan of the multi-piece body construction method as it leaves open the possibility of seams showing; I'm building it out-of-box without a lot of effort to improve it before getting back to something more detailed. It will sit nicely on the shelf next to the Chenard Walcker, Miller 91 and other pre-war racers.

Stay tuned!