I've started Tamiya's Ferrari/Pininfarina Mythos.

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/5703/mythos00013cc.jpg

Well, really I've re-started it. I originally started this kit some years ago. I did a bit of work on the engine, painted the air intake plenums, didn't like the results, decided to strip them, and destroyed them. So, I shelved it. It got packed away a couple of years later for a move, and was recently unearthed as I started the F40. As I've been figuring out how to machine parts for the F40, I've been making trial parts for the Mythos, too. So, why not give it the same full light of day as it's stablemate? I stripped everything (safely this time) and am starting again from the ground up. This will be another full detail build, of course with machined extras and the like. As with the F50 and F40, I'll go into as much detail on my techniques as I can.

The car itself was a concept car built by Ferrari and Pininfarina for auto shows in 1989. Pininfarina has of course been designing bodywork for Ferrari's for decades. The Mythos was built in part as a celebration of their long collaboration, and also as a technology demonstrator for full CF bodywork. The car is mechanically an '88 Testarossa, with a shorter exhaust system- as the rear overhang of the Testarossa body was virtually eliminated. The bodywork seems to have been designed by someone at Pininfarina who believed the Testarossa was too luxuriously appointed, and not nearly wedge shaped enough. Unneccesary nicities such as rear view mirrors, turn signals, all storage space, and any form of roof were eliminated. Maybe it never rains in Maranello. It does at least have a windshield wiper. Aparently, two of these show cars were built, but there are rumors of one collector who simply could not take no for an answer, and commisioned for one to be built for himself. I wonder if that one had turn signals....

The Mythos is really Tamiya's forgotten Ferrari kit. Most parts are from the Testarossa kit (another Tamiya classic), as you would expect. It of course has the full Testarossa engine and suspension. This was always a rather inexpensive kit- while it was in production, it always seemed to be about 2/3 the price of the Testarossa kit. It was undoubtably cheap for Tamiya to produce. But, it seems that the strange, unfamiliar body styling kept sales down.

So, here's the strange, unfamiliar body being primed.

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/7745/mythos00028xt.jpg

I must admit, I do like not having to mess with painting wing mirrors! As the bodywork slowly progresses, onto the engine.


The Testarossa's great big 5 liter, 12 cyl boxer,

http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/6607/11212782df.jpg

painted, and...

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5144/11212867dp.jpg

...washed. If you're curious about the steps in between, check out my wash tutorial (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=441493). Should look kinda familiar.


The cylinder heads are painted with the same red crackle finish that gave the Testarossa it's name. However, the heads each have two double 'chrome' stripes on them. The kit instructions helpfully point them out- but I wouldn't care to try painting them with X11. So, break out the BMF.

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/34/mythos00030oh.jpg

Here, matte aluminum strips of bare metal foil are applied to the unpainted part. I used a scalpel and sharpened toothpick to trim and burnish the BMF in place. Then, I painted them. Note the spark plugs are drilled out for ignition wire. To simulate the rough 'crackle' finish, I sprayed flat red MM acryl, thinned with 99% isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol evaporates in the spray stream, leaving a grainy finish. It's subtle (but so is the real finsh), and looks the part pretty well. Just remember to clean your airbrush thuroughly afterwards.


http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/6947/mythos00047hz.jpg

After the paint dries (I give it overnight), the BMF stripes are revealed by scraping the paint off of them with a toothpick soaked in MM Acryl cleaner (or 99% isopropyl). this is actually pretty similar to how the stripes are done on the actual engine. The sripes start out as raised ridges on the alloy castings, the castings are painted with the crackle finish, and their then mounted on a mill, which grinds the top of the ridges off, revealing the alloy below.


http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/2438/mythos00058kf.jpg

The camshaft ends are painted, and ignition wires are added- fine copper wire painted with red acrylic ink. The rubber spark plug boots are simulated with a bit of white glue, painted black.


http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/7859/mythos00067ck.jpg

The cylinder heads on the engine block.


Lots more to come (obviously).

Enjoy!

Never liked the looks of the Mythos but it looks like another masterpiece in the making..

MPWR,

Where can I get the copper wire and acrylic ink from?

And is the F40 about finished?

Awesome, your detail work is amazing.

I don't like the Mythos though, for some reason it doesn't look like a Ferrari... I had that same opinion when I first saw the Enzo. Maybe they're both a bit too futuristic...

great work! can't wait to see more! was/is this actually a real car?

You really know how to wire an engine.. Looks great. I remember this kit from years ago, and I did have one. But, along with nearly all my older kits, it got lost..! I never built it, and I thought the car was very odd looking. Even more so considering the badge it wore.

But still, I'm sure you will do this model car a great justice, looks forward to seeing some more..

Lookin fantastic! Keep up the great work!

Frank X.

Haha, this car's an old fave of mine--glad to see someone building it (cuz i don't have the time)...and such a sweet build at that! Yeah, the proportions are a caricature of late 80's supercars, but i actually really like the design.

i like the overall basic shape of the car, though i think it could use a few more lines and be made as a coupe.

WOW Looking sexy...

Hey MPWR, as always, I m very keen on following your builds, lotsa interesting techniques in there for me to suck up like a sponge.
Great historic review too, love to read that stuff too, and superb progress.

IIRC, the mythos built for a collector is for the Sultan of Brunei.


Oli

You certainly like to have a few kits on the go at the same time!

Thanks, guys!

tturbozx66- I got the enameled copper wire at an electronics supply store (Radio Shack). It came with two other spools of different diameter wire. These three sizes cover everything from ignition wire to damper spring coils to fire supression system plumbing for me. The ink I got in an artist supply store.

The F40 is still coming along, maybe half done. I'm going to build them both in parallel.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2048/11212663qc.jpg

tturbozx66, KTem, mickbench- Yeah, I was never too sure about the aesthetics of this one- I've always thought it looked a bit too much like a Lamborghini to be a Ferrari. I never liked it in Rosso Corsa- but as this was the only color it was made in, I'm going to take some liberty with this build. :rolleyes:

g00eY- Real car, at least as real as any concept car is. Not a production car.

bigfrit- Yeah, the Sultan of Brunei was my recollection, too, except I think it may have been his brother. A major Ferrari freak, apperently (at least I still seem to be able to satisfy myself with small plastic replicas, for the time being.... :sly: ).

Looks like we see another masterpiece in the making. I´m curious about your experience with bare metal foil. Is it self adhesive, so you can put into place and then basically cut around it, let´s say... like masking tape??

bump! :):):):)

great start! now where's the rest? ;)

Oh, all right. I've been pretty busy lately working to finish up my commercial license- but hopefully I will get some free time this weekend, and can post some more pics....

great progress!

Nice start, i will be keeping both eyes on this one, the whethering looks great!!

Simply superb, you are now one of my favourite Ferrari builders. Most of you know the other one. Excellent work.

Simply superb, you are now one of my favourite Ferrari builders. Most of you know the other one. Excellent work.

Enzo?

j/k alex :lol2:

Another great start. Keep the updates coming.

Nice start! I'm looking forward to updates on this one!

Looking good :bigthumb:

Nice start!!

Painted! (Finally...)

http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/6140/11313918er.jpg

CobraColors Ferrari Nero Daytona Metallico. Pretty spectacular looking stuff. Actually it was painted a couple of months ago, and I've been slowly polishing it out since. The weather at this latitude has turned cold and nasty, so no more body painting until March or so. Time to get back to the engine and interior.

I braved the cold nasty weather for a few outdoor shots. Enjoy!

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/1053/11414494ma.jpg

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/9097/11414515sh.jpg

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/2979/11414477ge.jpg

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/4863/11414530nk.jpg

Now, where did I put that engine....

Nice Paint!!!

Smooth work on the finish. A little elbow grease goes a long way with a polishing kit.

You don't like your Ferraris red do you? Paint looks awesome, and the color is nice.

Smooth work on the finish. A little elbow grease goes a long way with a polishing kit.

re: Mythos: oohh, fantastic. Shiny, deep and clean finish. I saw this beast at Venice (yes, strange but in Venice, they done a transportation by water :screwy: ) during a design show, when I come in they're moving from the canal boat, the noise from exaust was simply music (strange: pretty different from the testarossa noise to me, it should have a custom exaust system).Mine is red.

re: Cobra: do someone sell those stuff overseas? (from your site seem not due to hazard transportations)

Wow! You weren't kidding when you said that Nero was spectacular. Very beautiful paintjob, MPWR, wonderful work!

Wow! Nice...
And another color I want from Leon!

awesome work, just beautiful. thanks for all the links and tutorials also. i never had success with washes before and thats why i rarely apply them but im gonna try it your way. i love the idea of scraping the paint off the BMF, never woulda thought of that in a million years. cant wait to see the next update.
cheers.

Wow looking good...

Man, I'm gona need some cobra colors!:)

That looks so good!
Great colour, great polishing job :bigthumb:
I do hope you find that engine somewhere, though ;)

Christmas kind of came early for me this year- or more accurately, my birthday was Monday. My wife gave into my endless cajoling, and got for me the rotary table I've been wanting for years. Thanks love!

http://img449.imageshack.us/img449/9981/11414632sx.jpg

I also finally managed to finish my commercial helicopter license last week :bigthumb: :ylsuper: http://forums.infoprosjoint.net/images/smilies/helicopter.gif
-and now I have a bit more time to build. So, I've been amusing myself by machining tiny little odds and ends for the Mythos.

Oil filter and oil/fuel filler caps.

http://img282.imageshack.us/img282/5271/11414591co.jpg

I've also been working on the brakes.

Here's the kit part:



Certainly not bad, but room for improvement.

http://img449.imageshack.us/img449/4733/11414561rv.jpg

I turned replacements out of aluminum, and did the lug nut holes and recesses on the rotary table.

http://img449.imageshack.us/img449/9229/11414576qc.jpg

The back will fit a poly cap, just like the kit part.

http://img449.imageshack.us/img449/5799/11414585oo.jpg

I cut a slot 0.020" wide in the edge of the disk. Bits of 0.020" x 0.020" styrene strip fit in rather nicely. They're glued in place for ventilation vanes, and trimmed and sanded to length.

Now all I need is some calipers....

The kit calipers are decent looking- if rather attatched to the kit rotors.

http://img449.imageshack.us/img449/8868/11414607mc.jpg

Nothing a bit of sawing, drilling, and filing can't fix. The inside of the caliper was also hollowed out so it would fit onto the turned rotor.

http://img414.imageshack.us/img414/1184/castcalipers6mn.jpg

I then made an RTV mold, and cast some copies.

And here they are painted up-

http://img449.imageshack.us/img449/5378/11414629qp.jpg

I used Tamiya clear smoke to darken the rotors some, to look more like steel and less like aluminum.

http://img449.imageshack.us/img449/4938/11414615mv.jpg

I did manage to find the engine....:rolleyes:

http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/640/11414645yw.jpg

Now I just wish the wheels on the Mythos were a bit more open, to show them off!

Wow!! Great job on thoe machined brakes!

great machined brakes!

nice brakes :eek: .

Hi,

S U P E R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just "some" room for improvement? You never cease to amaze me.

Awesome machining!! :sunglasse

Beautiful work!!!! :bigthumb:

1. Bloody Awsome!!!
2. I just threw my oil filter away out of embarasment
3. Your rotors sem to have a textured efect after painting. What paint did you use to achieve that? It doesn't look like just Smoke (or is it?)
4. Bloody awsome!!
5. Glad you found the engine - I forgot how great it looks!

Now I just wish the wheels on the Mythos were a bit more open, to show them off!

Do a "flat tire" diorama with the Mythos up on a jack so you can see the brakes :evillol:

Amazed, stunned, ashamed of not having the courage to detail builds that much... I´m confused and envy your work...

Please allow me to just hate you a little... just a little... :evillol:

The work on the brakes is marvelous. Hammerhart!

Thanks for all the comments, everyone!

Had more time to build over the holidays, so time for another update. Hope you all don't mind a bunch of pics....

I've been working on the exhaust train. The kit includes four separate manifolds, each for three cylanders. But injection molding geometry being what it is, from underneith they look rather alot like lumps of plastic. Even after cleaning up the mold lines and push pins, I wasn't very happy with them. So, off to the electronics store to find a suitably sized roll of solder. My trusty dial calipers indicated that the pipes should be 0.062" in diameter- happily, 1/16" solder was easy to find. :p

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/8172/soldermanflds6gl.jpg

The bending is of course mostly trial and error. I cut the correlators off of the kit parts and stuck them on to the new ones. So far, a relatively simple plug and play operation.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/3923/11414732vz.jpg

I added heat shrink tubing (also from the electronics store) around the lower ends, to better simulate the correlators. Then, after looking at pics of Testarossa exhausts, I decided I really wasn't happy with the connecting flanges. The kit part seems to suggest a three bolt pattern (triangular), but every pic I've found of Testarossa exhausts show a two bolt pattern (diamond shaped). Time to come up with a replacement.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/1111/11414722tu.jpg

I love having a machine shop. These all started as 1/4" aluminum rod. I used the rotary table to cut the diamond shape, and the lathe to center drill them and cut the gaps.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/7730/11414916ld.jpg

Better now.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/2608/11414922af.jpg

A nice improvement, I think. Ready to be painted.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/7773/11515027rf.jpg

I painted them by my usual method- a base of Tamiya Metallic Grey, followed by an overspray mixed up of various Tamiya clear colors. I mixed a light orangy brown for the lower sections, and a bluer color for the hotter upper sections.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/3953/11515033ys.jpg

Then, I added bolts into the connecting flanges. Fine brass rod inserted into the small holes, capped with a piece of 0.030" styrene hex rod. Should look great with a wash on it.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/165/11515041xl.jpg

Ready for installation!

While I was doing final detailing on the engine before mounting the exhausts and the frame, I noticed that Tamiya only put bolts halfway around the oil pan (the horror! :shakehead ).

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2551/11212879jw.jpg

Guess I missed them when I was washing the engine. Leaving it until now is really a bit late to correct it (and it is dangerously close to rivet-counting :disappoin ), but once I found it, it was just going to continue to bother me. Better now than when it's mounted in the body, I guess....

http://img445.imageshack.us/img445/9546/11515083ft.jpg

I drilled out pilot holes where the new bolts should go.

http://img445.imageshack.us/img445/5795/11515109bq.jpg

Then I added more bits of styrene hex rod, and trimmed them to size.

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/9031/11515121hh.jpg

Done. Now hopefully the oil pan won't leak. Where was I? Oh yeah- pipes.

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/5328/11515146kj.jpg

I used the frame and resonaters as a jig to hold the new manifolds in place while I glued them. CA glue was inserted on a toothpick point onto the tops of the solder bits.

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/7025/11515155cf.jpg

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/8452/11515160bw.jpg

Now, time to smeer the tops of the cylander heads with gasket sealer, and mount the valve covers for real.

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/8987/11515173pt.jpg

The drive shafts were painted up, and strips of BMF were used for CV boot retainer clamps. Yes, one leg is shorter than the other....

http://img445.imageshack.us/img445/9473/11515111fv.jpg

Finally, the engine goes into the frame.

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/5237/11515181fq.jpg

The drive shafts were somewhat tricky to place (because I previously mounted the uprights, before painting the frame), but went in after some convincing.

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/3350/11515204bt.jpg

http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/8779/11515194jy.jpg

Next, onto the accessory drive, and the intake system. Thanks for looking!

Just sensational work! I love the exhausts!
How much do I want a milling machine now!!!!!

Nice work dude, Lovin it.

"Now I just wish the wheels on the Mythos were a bit more open, to show them off!"

Sounds like a great way to make use of that new rotary table!!! - Perhaps some custom designed wheels??! I love reading the threads where people show the stuff they've machined! Makes me want to go out and buy a lathe or mill!!

Sad to admit that I haven't read this thread until today because I'm not particulary a big fan of the mythos itself. But you're doing a beautiful job on this car. Very nice work!

That paint is amazing. Sort looks like black-chrome! Really catchy.

Murray

You my friend have an imense amount of talent building models!!!!

This is coming along very well!!:sunglasse

man that looks great!

Son of a gun! :eek2:

Don't know how you do it MPWR. Everytime I think you can't possibly find yet another way to surprise us - then you go and do just that and what's more you do it in spades!! :) :worshippy

You just drive me nuts :evillol: The only thing I can do with your level of perfection is lose parts of my kits :rolleyes:

Really fantastic stuff!

Holy crap, that engine looks so good! Have you done anything on your F40 lately?

Amazing!

Thanks everyone!

"Now I just wish the wheels on the Mythos were a bit more open, to show them off!"

Sounds like a great way to make use of that new rotary table!!! - Perhaps some custom designed wheels??! I love reading the threads where people show the stuff they've machined! Makes me want to go out and buy a lathe or mill!!

Sad to admit that I haven't read this thread until today because I'm not particulary a big fan of the mythos itself. But you're doing a beautiful job on this car. Very nice work!

That paint is amazing. Sort looks like black-chrome! Really catchy.

Murray

Yeah, I've thought of machining wheels, or even swapping them for 360 wheels- but the low profile, big brake, open wheel look didn't catch on until several years after the Mythos (notice the 'little' non-drilled rotors). The Mythos's styling looks kind of dated to me, and I'm not sure open wheels work well. (But I do have a project picked out to machine some wheels for!) Still considering, but I may stay with the kit wheels, done in chrome and gunmetal to go with the bodywork. Fortunately, the wheels can easily be taken off!

I've never been entirely enamoured with the looks of the Mythos- but it does make a fun build.


Just sensational work! I love the exhausts!
How much do I want a milling machine now!!!!!


Yeah, I think I still regard machine tools as the ultimate unnecissary extravagance for car modeling- but I love having them!


Holy crap, that engine looks so good! Have you done anything on your F40 lately?

The F40 has seen a little work, too. I'm trying to get the engines completed about the same time- figure they'll look cool together. I'll try to update it also in the next week or so.


Don't know how you do it MPWR. Everytime I think you can't possibly find yet another way to surprise us - then you go and do just that and what's more you do it in spades!! :) :worshippy

You just drive me nuts :evillol:

Now let's see- what shall I do for the intakes....

Stay tuned!

very beautiful! where have i been when this was in progress?

very beautiful! where have i been when this was in progress?

Well, you're in luck- it's still in progress! If you're patient, sooner or later you may catch me updating it. :rolleyes: (Or the F40. Or the 360....)

Well, you're in luck- it's still in progress! If you're patient, sooner or later you may catch me updating it. :rolleyes: (Or the F40. Or the 360....)

Well, I'll surely follow your threads from here on. I think they're great and very informative.

Keep those details in and please, If you have your own site and tutorials please let us know. Im sure there will be a lot to learn... especially the milling part. You make things look easy... and thats a compliment! :grinyes:

Can't wait to see it finished!! Great build!

Well, you're in luck- it's still in progress! If you're patient, sooner or later you may catch me updating it. :rolleyes: (Or the F40. Or the 360....)

the 360? another Freudian lapsus? ah ah :naughty::naughty::naughty:

the 360? another Freudian lapsus? ah ah :naughty::naughty::naughty:
:rofl: :rofl:
And I wasn't go to say anything! :naughty:

the 360? another Freudian lapsus? ah ah :naughty::naughty::naughty:

360? Did I say 360? I don't know what I was thinking, I'm sure! :shakehead :licka:

Just dicoverde your wip now.
Beautifuel job on your engine.

:grinyes: :grinyes:

Jamme

re: Mythos: oohh, fantastic. Shiny, deep and clean finish. I saw this beast at Venice (yes, strange but in Venice, they done a transportation by water :screwy: ) during a design show, when I come in they're moving from the canal boat, the noise from exaust was simply music (strange: pretty different from the testarossa noise to me, it should have a custom exaust system).Mine is red.

re: Cobra: do someone sell those stuff overseas? (from your site seem not due to hazard transportations)

Ferrari Nero Daytona is available from:

www.modelcolourworx.co.uk

Cheers,

Paul

And now, finally, the intake system!

I've been stuck on this for years- literally. As I mentioned when I started this thread, waaaaay back when I initially started this kit, I painted the intake plenums, didn't like the results, stripped them in something I shouldn't have, ruined them, and shelved the kit. Yes, I suppose that at any point, I could have called up Tamiya USA and had them send me a set of replacement parts (Tamiya USA had just recently come into being, to give some of you a time reference on on when I first started this kit)- but for some reason, I never did. :dunno: Eventually I got to thinking that when I did get back to this one, I wanted to do something a bit different with it. A new set of plenums would do nicely.

It turns out I'm really not very keen on the tuned, modified or (gasp) "kustom" :uhoh: look- at least not where Ferrari's are concerned. Sure there are some cars it looks good on, but I've always considered a "kustomized" Ferrari to be a detrimental tampering with perfection. So, whatever I came up with to replace the plenums, I wanted them to look like they actually could have been made by the Maranello factory- perhaps not as production parts, but at least something that could have been made at Ferrari for a one-off show car or the like. Anything aftermarket looking just wasn't going to do. :disappoin So, what could I do to modify the appearence of the engine, yet keep it with a reasonably factory original look? This is one I pondered for quite some time.

I decided on machining some replacements. My original though was to make a set of CF plenums. It kind of kept with the theme of the Mythos as a concept demonstration for CF bodywork, just carying the theme to the engine bay as well. It's certainly a direction Ferrari has gone in- the F50 and Enzo both have CF airboxes. So I milled up a couple of blocks out of acrylic (acrylic machines incredibly easily, once you get tool speeds figured out), to be covered with CF decals.

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/7752/mythos0503ru.jpg

And so I covered them with CF. I tried several different patterns- stripes and dots of various colors. I couldn't find anything I was happy with. I turned a dozen aluminum rods to mount them on, and trial fit them on the engine, but found nothing I liked.

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9656/mythos0513sh.jpg

Here they are with some dot pattern or other. Either way, they didn't look right. I decided to try for something that at least would echo the look of the Testarossa plenums that they would replace.

http://www.brcorvetteclub.com/events/Italian_Car_Show/Testarossa_engine_2.JPG

So, back to the mill.

I started with aluminum this time. I made up two rectangular blocks, that I drilled out in a pattern to match the inlet ports on the engine.

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/2295/mythos0525ga.jpg

Next, I wanted to cut some parallel fins into the tops. I used a slitting saw and a creative setup on the mill.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2688/mythos0531db.jpg

Notice the homemade slitting saw holder? I made it on the lathe. I love having machine tools!!

The results:

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/7523/mythos0540ek.jpg

If I ever need to make an amplifier for a 1/24 car stereo, this is how I'll do it!

Next, more milling. I used a tiny little end mill to remove the outer fins, and make cut ins on either end of the plenums.

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/7158/mythos0556jr.jpg

Getting there! Just need to round the corners a bit, and they're done.

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/5216/mythos0562wr.jpg

I wanted these to look like cast parts, coming straight out of Ferrari's own foundry. So, I dipped them in degreaser, and coated them in primer. Cobracolors Moon Mud, used without any additional thinner. It builds up a nice textured appearence quickly and easily.

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/7122/mythos0574vl.jpg

Next, paint them with something agreeably flat and grainy, to give a cast alloy look. Tamiya flat aluminum.

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9616/mythos0589lh.jpg

A little bit of detailing and they'll be there.

The S27 PE set I got for the F50 had plenty of leftovers. Among them were two miniature Ferrari logos, intended for the F50's valve covers. The kit didn't need them (like so much else on this set), but it would be a shame to let them go to waste, right? :rolleyes: I blackened them with Blacken-It, and then gently sanded the tops of the logos until they were bare metal again.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/3559/mythos0594mb.jpg

Meanwhile, the slots between the fins on the plenums were handpainted in black, and the top edges of the fins were sanded off. With the photoetch logos added, I think they look the part.

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/254/mythos0603oz.jpg

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/4681/mythos0615nv.jpg

Now, to actually put them on the engine....

omg that was some great work! :D

You just raised the bar so high ... it's unbelievable.

Wow! This is great motivation for a unexperienced modeler like me to just keep on practicing and one day to become as skilled as you! Beautiful work man, keep it up!

wow love the machining work!

fantastic! Glad to see some progress on this build!

Holy bloody crap!

Well, in terms of "alternator" therapy that should be just the ticket! :D

Really brilliant stuff and I sure hope you took some resin casts on those before you painted 'em up?!?!? ;) Wanna trade for some daytona carbs? :rofl:

Wow, you're an artist, man! Great work once again.

Thanks everyone!

Now that I had decided what the plenums would actually look like, I had to come up with some way to mount them and connect them to the cylinder inlet ports. I've had a number of different ideas as I've considered it. Originally, the CF plenums would have been supported with CF tubes, either curved like on the Testarossa or straight. I then came up with staight turned aluminum tubes, and figured they'd look pretty good- like a bunch of straight intake trumpets. But I quickly noticed that if they were going to be straight, something had to be done about the fuel injection system. In the Testarossa, the curved intake tubes hide the fuel injectors pretty well (at least in 1/24), but if they were straight, it was going to be pretty obvious if they weren't there. I thought for a while and tried to come up with an injector rail, but again nothing looked right. I seriously considered skipping the whole fuel injection system all together, and instead mounting the plenums atop a half dozen Weber carbs. I even found carbs to fit- the ones in Tamiya's Lotus 7 were perfect. But as I thought about it more, it didn't seem right not to model the fuel injetcion system. The Bosch Jetronic system was a major design feature of the Testarossa, and so should be on the Mythos, too. So I decided to go with the straight aluminum trumpet style tubes, but to put an injector port on the inside of each one. Back to the mill!

This is what I finally came up with.

http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/2770/mythos0626ay.jpg

I turned a dozen straight tubes, and then I milled a slot in each to take an additional tube for an injector. In the center are the tubes with the slots milled in them, and on the right are the tubes with injector tubes installed. I decided to leave them in a bare, brushed aluminum finish. On the left are some of the mounting flanges to be fitted to the top of the inlet ports on the engine.

Here are the mounting flanges on the engine. As the tubes would be bare aluminum, I figured the flanges should be, too.

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1125/mythos0634tc.jpg

Each flange gets two PE bolt heads, to hold them in place. Here, just the first two are in place.

http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/2610/mythos0648ay.jpg

And now to show what a back and forth process designing all of this has been, I decided that the plenums were missing vacuum ports. So, I machined some disks for where the ports would go, and stripped the plenums to mount them (fortunately, aluminum strips easily- didn't ruin them this time! :rolleyes:). The two larger parts are for the cold start injectors- they will get fitted to the holes already drilled in the sides of the plenums.

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/4052/mythos0655to.jpg

The vacuum ports in place, one on each end. Now, finally they can be repainted and assembled.

http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/3677/mythos0668uv.jpg

And here they are fully assembled. Including the cold start injectors not jet installed, there are a total of 44 individual machined parts between the two plenum assemblies. Whew.... (Now why didn't I just reorder the replacement parts from Tamiya to start with...?)

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/9007/mythos0670pu.jpg

And this is what they will look like in place!

http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/1756/mythos0687oa.jpg

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/1171/mythos0697lc.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/2002/mythos0704od.jpg

I think I'm happy with that! (finally....) Next, I get to plumb the fuel system- and for those of you unfamiliar with the Bosch Jetronic system, that's no small task....:uhoh:

Stunning work...I'm speachless!

this is where i pack up all of my started models, put them in the loft and go join a monestry......

MPWR,
Your work is that of a true craftsman. I am very impressed with your skills, hard to believe its 1/24-1/25 scale. I am familiar with the Bosch Jetronic system, it is on my car, although a different type. 1:1 is difficult to get correct. Best of luck to you.

Trevor

Really, Andy, now I can't imagine where you'll arrive with your skills: speachless. Very very nice and pro job.

Gets better everytime i see this project... trully ispirational stuff!

Wow! :worshippy

Wow. :worshippy I'm thinking about a Tamiya F40 Competizione and this will be an excellent tutorial. :thumbsup:

omg, the latest update was great!

OMG, That is beautiful. Would blend in nicely in the Louvre next to the Mona Lisa.

i like the mythos and have made the revell kit but you make my effort look shameful

the engine work you have done so far is amazing ... how you make your own parts blows my mind .. where can i find some of those tools like the rotary wheel though

matt mack

Another smallish update.

Before I can hook up the fuel system, I have to have to do something about the fuel distributors. (That's the problem with detail work like this- if you upgrade one thing, it seems like you have to upgrade everything....:uhoh:)

This is what the kit part looks like-

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1125/mythos0634tc.jpg

Twin Bosch K Jetronic airflow meters and fuel distibutors. Not bad looking- but difficult to wire. The fuel lines have to come out of the ports horizontally, not vertically. So, faced with a 'minor' issue like that, it's time to machine up a replacement.

First, cut off the original distributor heads.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/7646/mythos0710wb.jpg

Love those Crazy Modeler saws.

Now for the replacements-

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/9950/mythos0728qh.jpg

Another 18 individually machined parts. Why couldn't I have done this on a 4 cyl Porsche 944 or 5 cyl Audi Quattro instead? I'm getting tired of having to do everything a dozen times!

The fuel ports are definitely the smallest things I've yet machined. See the tiny hole drilled into each? The grid is a one inch square.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/7562/mythos0734yv.jpg

And here are the recapitated distributors. 12 ports, one for each cylinder, and two ports for the cold start injectors. Each fuel port will get capped with a PE bolt head. Ready for paint and installation. 62 parts and counting....

matt mack- I use Sherline machine tools (http://www.sherline.com/). You can find out all about them on their website. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me. There is also a machining forum in the works for AF, but it's not yet getting much traffic.

wow...that's great detail! :D

Looks nice ;)

Fantastic work !!!

Whoa! love the details on the distributor, i always look forward for your updates. Keep up the good work.

mmm the distributors look amazing. Such little detail just adds that much more to a model. Impressive and keep the progress posted up.

Wow, that detail is amazing. I've built a few of these engines for my Testarossa models and I wanted to detail it as well. But I thought that those lines were waaay to small for my myopic eyes to fool with.

Omg...

speechless......the effort you put in to built this beauty really make me guilty. I'm currently building this kit too but really way off your standard..
keep us posted on the progress...

Well MPWR as the great wayne cambell once said in waynes world " WE'RE NOT WORTHY!! :worshippy WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!!!:worshippy .....WE SUCK!?!?!?!!!:shakehead

Thats brilliant. The detail is mind blowing....

This thread rocks! You are the model-building GOD!

Truly shocking.:eek:

I've built the Tamiya Mythos myself and I must admit I was very satisfied with my OOB build. Until I found this thread.
There's some unbelievable stuff shown here.

I'd like to say very inspiring, but I don't think I'll ever have the skill, the patience or the hardware to pull off something like this.:disappoin
But I'll nevertheless enjoy this build very much ! :worshippy

why won't you do a post o this. i just found the thread today after ages of searching for it. great job.

OK, this model is pretty much--INSANE!!! I love looking at your work, but at the same time, I'm not really inspired--I'm saddened that I will never be able to do this kind of thing. For now, I carve on sprue and Evergreen...

Wow, I certainly didn't mean to make anyone sad by building this one. :uhoh:

This build has been going now for long enough that my skills have dramaticly improved since I've started it. I wouldn't have guessed I'd be able to do with it what I have back when I began. It's good to know that I'm still learning. (And that's really the best advice I can give- I get better at building by building. :))

Unfortunately, I have too many projects going right now (I know this now :grinyes:- hopefully I can learn to come to a happy medium on my number of ongoing builds! :rolleyes:). Lately the 360 and the Seven are getting most of my attention- but this is definately not a dead project (the F40 too! :p). I will definately finish them both, and post progess here as I do.

But meanwhile I certainly appreciate everyone's continued interest.

slow is good.
means we can catch up..... or not....

Your attention to details and your skill are literally embarassing...

Roberto :)

I'm at a loss for words, I have never seen so much artisan level work applied to a humble tamiya kit before. Fantastic!

Look Good

It seems that the man has a job--and a bunch of other models. Chill out.

It seems that the man has a job--and a bunch of other models. Chill out.

LOL Damn, I thought there was more to be seen.

Doesn't MPWR have about 24 or so concurrent projects of which 98% have custom machining?! It will come in time.

Thanks for the interest, guys.

It so happens that in the last couple of days, I've unearthed the Mythos (and the F40), and both are now getting some work- all because the thread got bumped. :wink: I don't have anything to show quite yet, but it's coming. Hopefully in a few days I'll be able to put together an update. With all the 60th anniv builds going on, it would be a good time to finish these up. :rolleyes:

Yes, embarrassing to the rest of us Roberto. I must say, he even trumps Alex Kustov...Sorry Alex.

No problem. I don't really give a flying f...k. That is one of the reason I don't really post on this forum cause a lot of people are so competitive that the only thing they think about is who builds better models. Same reason I don't participate in model contests. I build for myself and my own pleasure.

Having said that, Andy builds some awesome models and I admire his work and learned a lot from him. His models are the golden standard of creativity and build quality. Keep up excellent work Andy, and sorry to post this in your thread. I felt the noob needed a proper hazing :-)

hurry up and post on this. i just uncovered it again and am getting angry about no progress. what do you think whip or cat o' nine tails to get you to work?

Typical 14 year old comment there noob!

How's about you show us your work instead of uncovering these already discovered treasures....NOOB!

No problem. I don't really give a flying f...k. That is one of the reason I don't really post on this forum cause a lot of people are so competitive that the only thing they think about is who builds better models. Same reason I don't participate in model contests. I build for myself and my own pleasure.

Having said that, Andy builds some awesome models and I admire his work and learned a lot from him. His models are the golden standard of creativity and build quality. Keep up excellent work Andy, and sorry to post this in your thread. I felt the noob needed a proper hazing :-)
Alex, you have my support for this statement as it needed to be said.:sunglasse :sunglasse :sunglasse

No problem. I don't really give a flying f...k. That is one of the reason I don't really post on this forum cause a lot of people are so competitive that the only thing they think about is who builds better models. Same reason I don't participate in model contests. I build for myself and my own pleasure.

Now I see why my question in your thread went unanswered. I understand, and those comments are ridiculous. Who cares which person is the best here. We all try our best, and we all love seeing everyone else's works. There should never be a "the best" comment. Sorry to put this in here Andy.

I build for myself and my own pleasure.

:thumbsup:

having said that, to get the thread back on track --

Andy, it's another inspiring work. the fuel distributor alone... :eek:

Wow, it's been a while....

It's been a long, cold spring here. So I've been confined to projects that I can work on without having to paint much- at least until the weather improves. I blew the dust off this one a month or so ago and started looking at it again- to see if I could think of what I was thinking of the last time I thought of it (always a good trick, that).

The last time I seriously put any work into it (maybe two years ago- or was it three?), I was attempting to plumb the fuel distributor to the intake injectors. And it just sucked. I cut small lengths of brass wire for the fuel lines and tried to get them in place- but the more I did, the worse it looked. A big mess of brass spaghetti. So, I put it aside again. I had no idea how (or if) I could get it to work- I just knew I wasn't going to do it then. So, it sat. Again.

But sometimes it really does help to come back with a fresh mind. Happily, I'm making progress again. We'll see how far I get this time. :rolleyes:

I'm still working the fuel system- so for now, some "simple, fun stuff" that I did to get back into this build. Fortunately, I can machine even when the weather here is crap. :tongue:

The Testarossa suspension system (and therefore the Mythos) has six coil over Koni dampers- two in the front and six in the back. The kit parts are decent enough- but that's rarely stopped be before. :grinno:

I don't really like to make identical parts when I'm machining. One is often great fun, and a matched pair is fine- but more than three of anything can get tedious fast. (It's really the reason I don't sell machined parts- that and I'm terrible at customer service! :grinyes:) Obviously, I needed six of these things. But why stop there? My research indicated that the dampers were nearly identical to the dampers on the F40- and I seem to think I've got one of those lying around in progress somewhere, also :uhoh:. So I gritted my teeth and came up with a way I could repeat the process of making dampers again and again and again as simply as possible. Tedious it was, but they came out nicely.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-074.jpg

The dampers were cut out of .125" aluminum rod. First I drilled and cut ten top ends. Then I turned them around, and cut the bottom ends.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-075.jpg

The bottom ends were then individually shaped, and the mounting points were added.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-076.jpg

Pretty good so far. Here they are compared to the kit parts.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-077.jpg

And in place for a test fit.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-078.jpg

They're kinda cool looking in polished aluminum. Almost a shame to paint them all red (much like Ferraris themselves :rolleyes:). But I like the stock look for the suspension system on this one, so red they are.

Mounted.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-079.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-080.jpg

It was a bit of work, but I'm happy with them. :sunglasse

I also did a set of fuel filters. The filters on the Testarossa are rather prominently mounted. Since I'm already putting so much effort into the fuel system and they will be easily visible, they seemed like a good thing to include.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-081.jpg

Just small bits of turned center drilled aluminum rod, side drilled for mounting pins. On the full size car, the filters are held in place with metal straps wrapped around rubber strips for padding. I did the padding strips with strips of paper painted black, and the mounting straps are thin strips of BMF.

Here's what they will look like in place.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-082.jpg

The coolant reservoir cap is another part machined from brass.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-083.jpg

The filters will get plumbed to the fuel pressure accumulators, and to the distributors- when everything is in place.

More to come soon- hopefully. :rolleyes:

Mighty fine machining work there Andy, great to finally see an update on this one. Shocks and filters look great.

You're crazy man... You're crazy... :D

I think the filters itself worth the three years wait.

Wow! How did you attach the mounting points, is it just CA?

Those machined shocks are great. Nice to see this build coming to life again.

Thanks guys!

Wow! How did you attach the mounting points, is it just CA?

Yeah, just CA. It doesn't hold aluminum very well, but this is a no-stress installation so it doen't need to here. I would use epoxy if it needed more strength (but I hate using epoxy, and only use it where nothing else will work). Solder doesn't work for aluminum, and I'm not quite up to welding in 1/24. :grinno:

I've made some progress on that fuel system now- hopefully I'll get the chance to do another update again soon.

Thanks for watchin'!

looking great mpwr, i wish i had a lath and a mill. would be great to start making my own parts.
you can solder aluminum now. it's pretty nice and simple. but in 1/24 would be a pain. maybe in 1/12 would be good. keep up the great work.

As always, awesome machining work...:smokin:. Truly inspiring and really interesting to follow!

Very nice, man! Great maching job, looking forward other two years for next update, mate :D :D :D

i thought this was a lost thread, i used to watch your amazing work before i was a member, and it helped me with my builds, its good to see some updates from when i was last on here, keep up the great inspirational work

Not lost, just very very slow. :rolleyes:

The fuel distribution system is finally done! :eek: Honestly for a while, I wasn't sure if it would ever be finished. But i got it to work, and I'm happy with it. Here is what the fuel meters look like now.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-084.jpg

These are the machined distributors that I made yearrrs ago, plumbed with brass wire.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-085.jpg

The fuel injectors also get plumbed. Everything comes to a central point, as they more or less do on the real system. The plumbing on the real system is designed so that each line to each injector are the same length, to maintain identical fuel delivery pressure and timing to all injectors.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-086.jpg

I had originally tried to run one continuous line from the distributors to the injectors- but it made for a crazy awful mess. With test fitting, it became clear that it is impossible to see more than just a very small portion of each line- so even if they were continuous they could not be seen. Without continuous lines to worry about, plumbing the distributors and injectors became a simpler task.

This is what they look like in place.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-087.jpg

I think it nicely captures the "orderly spaghetti" look of the fuel lines.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-088.jpg

Now I can finally put this mess all together! :grinyes:


And these are just some teaser pics for something that may be available soon- we'll see. ;)

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-089.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-090.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-091.jpg

Thanks again for watching! :)

Well I said all by private. TBH I said nothing since I'm still speachless.
Terrific job on the fuel system and on the alternator too: I'll sure take some ;)

bravo!

awesome!!! The teaser pics are lovely ;)...

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb112/andrejmiller/Mythos-087.jpg



Excellent! :thumbsup:

Yeap....Excellent! no doubt about it!

Stunning! Great eye for detail!!!