Eagle Weslake, Model Factory Hiro, 1/20

My precious!

The most beautiful racing car of all time, finally available in a decent size.

Step 1: unpack and drool

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_001.jpg

Stop it!! :) I'm waiting to get mine! Can barely stand it!

stop it!! :) i'm waiting to get mine! Can barely stand it!

:1:

:1:

Patience young padwan! Yours is arrving next week.

I started slowly with polishing some parts that will not be painted. The inner sides of the cockpit are hidden under the seat, so that scratch is not visible, but it's a bit problematic to get a really clean and shiny surface, as there are some smaller cast defects, like on the cooler frame - fortunately I have to paint that gold, so I can putty it, but I'd like to keep as much parts pure metal without paint, it just looks good ;)

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_002.jpg

I experimented a bit with the colour, I currently think about using Rothmans blue darkened with a little bit Wolf blue and mixed with Alclad Chrome for a very fine metallic effect.

First real progress - I painted some parts, like the covers on the pic below. The lettering is made with etched parts with raised letters, so you can easily paint everything and then sand the colour off the letters.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_003.jpg

Another update before I go to bed.
I airbrushed the seat with decanted TS29. The rest of the engine got a very thin, partly transparent layer of Alclad alu (or steel for the dark parts) directly on the metal, without primer. I think this way it looks more real, as you can still see that there is metal underneath.
The dashboard was fun, the instruments are seperate parts you can polish and then stick through the openings of the painted dashboard. Decals on and sealed with a drop of Future.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_004.jpg

Excellent! I should get mine on Monday!

I spent the last 90 minutes adding the guiding for the ignition wires - the small etched parts with holes above the upper lettering. The wires then go through the holes.
Unfortunately the carpet monster swallowed the first guide on that side. If I don't find it until tomorrow I'll remove it on the other side, too, I hope it's not too noticeable... sigh

I also added the fuel distributor and then dry fitted the Funnels to see how it will look ;)

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_005.jpg

I can't find the part *sigh*

The instructions tell me to paint the rims dark, but this pic (http://photos.speedtv.com/gallery/1281464857127/slideshow/1967_Belgian_Grand_Prix._Spa-Francorchamps,_Belgium._Dan_Gurney_(Eagle_AAR104-Weslake)_1st._LAT/0alp8z19Kq9Zz) clearly shows the well known rims with shiny spokes and darker deepenings. So I airbrushed the rim Alclad steel and polished it away on the spokes.
Unfortunately you can again see the little steps, remains of the rapid prototyping, thet I can't get sanded away due to the shape of the parts.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_007.jpg

There are decals for the blue rings on the tires, the badyears of that time seemed to have, but no way are they as visible as those decals, if they were there at all... I haven't found a colour photo in good enough resolution yet, where one could see it.

Looks great, Marco!

I just got mine yesterday! I am also waiting for a 1967-68 Road & Track magazine I picked up off eBay with the Belgium Eagle on the cover, and a feature article on the V-12...will let you know if there is anything of value in it.

Nice WIP Marco. I know you'll do a great job with this one.

Bummer about that part but it won't affect the model. I have been building a lot of 1/43rd Tameo kits with tiny photoetch pieces lately. I found that if I work over a model box lid (about 33x16cm) that 9/10ths of drops land inside and bounce off the box's wall back toward the center. I also don't use forcips or tweezers or anything that must bend to hold the part. If the part slips it gets launched by the energy released into the gap made by the part leaving the tool. To hold the part I use small needle nose and flat pliers. The flat pliers also double as a bending tool. I have hardwood floors instead of carpet in my work area which helps when the 1/10th of drops bounce out of the box..lol.

Some builders do their work in clear plastic bags if they are worried about losing tiny parts.

Yeah, I cut the part off in the bag for that reason, but I had to take it out to glue it on, that was the mistake ;)

Simple answer, leave them all in the closet unbuilt like I do, and many others i'm sure, no lost parts ever!!!:wink:

I gave up on the lost part and added the ignition wires and the funnels. The mesh is only dry fitted, on the finished model it will, like the nose and the small rear cowling, be held by a small rivet, so you can remove it anytime.
For the clamps on the black boxes I tried microscale liquitape as glue, after I read about it in a German forum. This stuff is wonderful, just as if the etched parts would be self adhesive... which they are when you use that glue.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_008.jpg

It's always difficult to see, what exactly the colour of the Eagle is - sometimes it looks dark and solid, sometimes it's lighter and you can see that it really is a metallic colour.
So I tried to mix the colour using different Zero paints: Rothmans Blue, Wolf Blue, a bit FW14 Blue and added some Alclad chrome to get metallic flakes that are appropriate for the scale.
If I take the different looks under different lights as measure, I'd say it's OK, maybe a little bit on the bright side - the first pic is with flash, the second under a daylight lamp.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_009.jpg
http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_010.jpg

I masked off the white ring on the nose (not good to see here - Micromask is nice, better to apply than Mr Masking Sol for example, but I'm still fighting to get it all off) and do the rest with decals - because a) all white decals are twice on the sheet, so I can do two layers to get a better white, and b) I wasn't able to cut a good enough cricle out of masking tape, although I have a stencil.

I'm quite impress for the performance of the lacquer paint, since it after a few coats still shows all the numerous rivets...Good job!..Keep it!

Zero paints are very thin, you almost don't feel the step between colors when you masked an area off. But you should put a coat of clear on immediately because it's also easily damaged before you do that.

To get a smooth surface for the decals I airbrushed a coat of Zero 1k clear. And with that coat I think the look of the paintjob improved, so it's good enough for me - not that it changes the difficulty of taking a photo ;)

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_011.jpg

All white decals were included twice, so I doubled them to get a better white.
Unfortunately MFH forgot to include a decal for the part of the stripe at the back of the nose, behind the small air intake! Fortunately they included a bit spare stripe, that was exactly long enough for 2 layers of that stripe segment...

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_012.jpg

Excellent progress, really looking good.

Now, if someone would only make a 1/12 scale, completely accurate, and under $50 model of this thing, I would buy it. I already have a set of magnesium wheels that came off a gas powered Cox tether car.

Don't think I'm lazy because I had no update the last 2 days ;) I spent the time spraying some coats of Zero 1k clear on the body. Today I started with the front suspension.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_013.jpg

Super...I think it's great you can just remove some of the parts with the screws provided.

I was thinking about TS-50(Mica Blue), but need to test it on a junk part first.
I was doing metal cleanup and test fitting of the front bulkheads last night at the weekly model workshop....fit is incredible!

I put clear on the cowling and polished it, then I screwed the side parts on, then married engine and chassis.

But everytime I look at it from another angle, I find residue of the polishing paste in the rivets that is hard to remove...

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_014.jpg

Isopropyl on a cotton tip will remove that.

Only a small update today, finished the cockpit and tried to emphasize the rivets in the metal with a light washing.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_015.jpg

I worked on the front suspension, maybe I should darken the "holes" in the hubs.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_016.jpg

First I darkened the mentioned spots.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_017.jpg

After I glued them together, I noticed, that the wheelmounts barely fit in the rims... in fact, mine didn't fit anymore... so I removed the screws on the bottom side and glued some solid wire in, therefore removing 1mm of height, and then it worked.

Next step was very *selfcensored* work, adding the *selfcensored* cooler - it's attached with 2 braces, one support on the bottom and 5 pipes. Now the instructions say to glue the pipes on first, but unless you have a second person holding the cooler to fit them, this will not work. So I attached the braces to the cooler, also the one pipe that goes across from the bottom of the car to the top of the cooler. Then I attached the whole thing to the car, then snapped in the support and finally squeezed in the pipes. I may have to rework one, because there is a small gap. Fortunately CA glue can be removed easily from bare metal surfaces...

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_018.jpg

And the moment of truth - will the nose fit?

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_019.jpg

It does :)

Thanks Marco, it's looking great, and a valuable source of inspiration and reference for me when I start mine soon.

After the hard work with the cooler, I continued with something equally difficult to attach - the rear suspension. I only managed 3/4 of the left one, if I would continue today, I'd go crazy...

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_020.jpg

The 2nd suspension is easier, experience counts ;) Then a little dry fit with the wheels... yes, I like it ;)

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_021.jpg

Yeah, that suspension looks very complicated to say the least, and the instructions are not real clear to me there....one thing...it's interesting that they include a P/E part for the rear brake lines, but no instructions on how to plumb it, but I have reference pics that show how it goes....

If you have a pic for the brake lines, it would be nice if you could post it here.

I started polishing the exhausts, unfortunately the parts are not so good, the casting leaves a lot to be desired...
I do not think I can get it polished smooth enough, also since 3 pipes are in one part and so I cannot polish everywhere I want.
I fear I have to fill and prime it and then use Alclad Chrome. It's a shame that the most visible metal parts are the worst...

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_022.jpg

Some people replace cast pipes with solder. The trick is finding the right diameter.

Marco...for the Belgium GP, the pipes were NOT chrome.....

http://www.allamericanracers.com/gurney_grand-prix/eagle_f1-photo.html

Check out the pics of the Belgium GP car....there are 2 or 3 there...pipes were Titanium.

Interesting, thanks.
Now I'm not known as a rivetcounter, and chrome exhausts look nice, on the other hand painting them titanium would not only be correct but also save me from thinking about how to polish those parts... hmmhmm... decisions, decisions

I added some stuff at the rear, there is not that much missing: exhausts, wheels, wiring and plumbing, some small parts.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_023.jpg

I glued the exhausts together to make a dry fit, but this posting is mainly about the tires.

The decals for the rings on the tires have a blue that is too bright, so I won't use them, and I'm not good enough to mask it off, so no rings. Unfortunately (and unusually?) there are also no templates for the badyear lettering included! I have a dozen of those lying around, but none has the right size, and I also don't know where I could get one that fits. So I put decals on one tire - unfortunately you can still see the carrier (look at the GOO...), although I painted it flat clear and used the Tamiya weathering set over it. I'm not really satisfied, I'll have to see if I can do something about it.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_024.jpg

I had a look at the carousel diecasts, and there the ROC version had the tire rings, but the spa version had not - so I find my suspicion that they were not there at spa confirmed.

I painted the exhausts - Alclad Steel first, then a light mist coat of Dark Alu over the end to make it a bit lighter there and then I used the Tamiya weathering set to apply the heat stains. I think it's quite ok. I only have to paint the hole at the end black. Tomorrow I'll glue it on - when I figure out how the muffler springs should be attached.
I also added the piping, but it's not that visible on the pics. I also applied some light washing on the metal parts - it's barely noticeable but it adds some depth.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_025.jpg

And then I couldn't resist doing a dry fit of everything...

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_026.jpg

Looks great! I'm guessing you found the mistake in the instructions in step 31 for the rear suspension? I was cleaning up and test fitting those parts, and was thinking "how can that go there?" and noticed the instructions were incorrect.

What did you use for the heat staining? It looks great, and from my references it is pretty heavy...

In step 32 the part was shown in the correct position, so that was not a big problem. Just don't forget to drill all holes before glueing everything together.

I used the Tamiya weathering set Type D, which has burnt red and burnt blue pigments.

Believe me, that's all I've been doing on this model, is test fitting and drilling so far. ;)

I have to finish another model before I can start on the Eagle and give it my full attention.

Another aspect I wasn't happy about when reading the instructions and test fitting was the part where they want you to cut part of the oil pan out to make it fit....

43963Hi Marco and you other guys. Been reading your eagle posts with interest while building AAR 104 for Spa 67. Would you be interested in the finished result ?

Of course we are, that's what the Completed Projects / Gallery section in this forum is made for :)

In another forum I've been told that there should be a purple area between the orange and blue stains on the exhausts - as that is not in the Tamiya set, I used eye shadow...

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_027.jpg

I also cut out the windshield (there is a small second one on top of the first). Unfortunately I got some small strain faults when cutting the inside of the shield - it's not much, you can't see it in the photo, but it's not quite as I wanted it to be

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_028.jpg

Is this the same Model Factory Hiro kit?


43963Hi Marco and you other guys. Been reading your eagle posts with interest while building AAR 104 for Spa 67. Would you be interested in the finished result ?

MFH included 8 muffler springs - I spent the last hour trying to fit the first one for a test, scratched paint off, almost lost the part... and now I notice they are much too long, so now I have to shorten 8 stiff springs so that they will still hold afterwards...
I tried to do them myself by coiling wire but it didn't look good enough, when bent around the exhaust...
damn, I'm fed up for today.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_029.jpg

I'm going to have to put something inside that radiator...you can see right through it... :(

The muffler spings are not good, much too stiff, especially when shortened. I used the A string of an e-guitar instead, wrapped it around a screwdriver, shortened it accordingly and glued it on.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_030.jpg

There are only 3 tubes and some etched parts missing, maybe I have to align the wheels a bit, but except for that it's finished. Thanks for your comments, if everything works out fine, I hope to have gallery pics at the weekend.

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/wip/WipEagle_031.jpg

How was the smaller windscreen to put on? Looks Great!

I doused it in Future, put it on the bigger screen, and hoped for the best.

Thanks! Looked like it worked out pretty well....my references have both clear pieces bolted on, so I will try that. Let's see some more pics in the Completed thread! ;)