36 cylinders

This will be fun to watch. Nice fix-up on the hood klutz.:runaround:
Quick question:
IMO it is an excellent match for semi gloss and what’s more is dry enough to handle in 2 minutes flat! (that’s got to be better than even the best dehydrator! LOL)
How shiney is it compared to TS-29?

Quick question:

How shiney is it compared to TS-29?
I can't tell you - I have never had a can of TS-29 :)

Until now I have either used X18 (which I don't like very much or Vallejo Air Black (with and without Vallejo semi-gloss clear) which I like VERY much.

TBH I don't think it's really possible to compare them. I'd just say that the Jet Black looks good to me :D

I can't tell you - I have never had a can of TS-29 :)

Until now I have either used X18 (which I don't like very much or Vallejo Air Black (with and without Vallejo semi-gloss clear) which I like VERY much.

TBH I don't think it's really possible to compare them. I'd just say that the Jet Black looks good to me :D
Thanks... one more item to the shopping cart LOL

Mini-update.

I have the engine wired and washed on this one now.

I had to cheat a little bit ;)
There was no way I could get 6 plug wires going directly into the wire holders that MFH provide (even with their VERY thing plug wire) - the part is just to small.
What I did was to try and get an "optical illusion". I drilled an appropriate sized hole at an angle into the white metal valve covers just at the head of the wire guide (is this making sense? :uhoh:)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/engine-test-fit_07.jpg

IMHO this worked just perfectly (as a Polish saying goes "The wolf is sated and the lamb is still alive" :lol:)

After this I attached all the little bits 'n pieces to the block and gave everything a liberal dose of artist oil wash to bring to to life and make it look like it was used and not ion the showroom.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/finished-engine_08.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/finished-engine_06.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/finished-engine_05.jpg


Hope you like it :)

To me the job is just amazing. Are those the wires in the kit? Great job so far (but polish a bit better those oooooooold air duct ;) )

Very nice work on the engine Steven. I'll have to try that wash technique. :)
I thought this was a "trio" were's the other "duo" :grinyes:

Dan

polish a bit better those oooooooold air duct ;)
Yes, Sir!!! :D


where's the other "duo"
Good question......... I guess they are out there somewhere doing their "monos" :rofl:

One of the best parts that I enjoy on your models is your wiring and plumbing of the engine and this is a good example why.

Great job so far (but polish a bit better those oooooooold air duct ;) )
I second this opinion, as far as I know this duct is made of aluminum sheet, so you have to get rid of the cast metal finish. And other than that the whole engine looks amazing.
And I don’t consider you cheated at all! (This is what we all do with these tiny cable guides in every Ferrari engine) LOL

It is looking great!

I second this opinion, as far as I know this duct is made of aluminum sheet, so you have to get rid of the cast metal finish.
Yes, Sir!!!! :D

And I don’t consider you cheated at all! (This is what we all do with these tiny cable guides in every Ferrari engine) LOL
That's good to know! I feel better now :lol:

Excellent work Steven, seeing those leaf springs makes me want a MFH kit.

I am fighting here.

I have worked some more on the fit of the hood and trunk. I think I now have it more or less correct and I am thinking about hinging mechanisms and whether or not to add them.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/re-fit-trunk.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/re-fit-hood.jpg


The biggest pain right now is with the largest chunk of white metal in the kit.
This part divides the cockpit from the trunk, incorporates the rear wheel arches and is crucial in hanging the body onto the chassis.

It is a bear to get in the right position and the molding of it is basically atrocious.
It’s so bad, that I am actually beginning to wonder if I am missing something myself rather than question MFH’s quality :lol:


Here you can see the gap that is left

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/bad-fit-body_01.jpg


I think that this gap is being caused by the asymmetrical design of the part (compare the left and right sides):

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/bad-fit-body_03.jpg


On top of this. look how badly cast/different the wheel arch parts are:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/bad-fit-body_02.jpg

Definitely plastic/putty work called for here.


Right now I am in a love/hate relationship with this kit. I love it until the moment I pick it up to do something with it and then I start hating it ;)


Thanks for looking in :thumbsup:

It will definitely be interesting how you tackle this fit problem. The body really looks good thou and I say go with the hinges.

Stev,

you have my sympathy. The problem you are having here really puts me off spending so many £££s on these kits. The trouble is I am spoilt with building Tamiya/Hasegawa kits for so many years, anyway I thought MFH were supposed to the best of the best.
All said and done through you are doing a tremendous job with it, Im sure you will be able to overcome these fit problems. This is a great project and your work is top drawer.

ps. definately go with the hinges as quadzero says!

I'm sure you will be able to come up with the goods and get that part symmetrical. Stunning work on a stunning car.

Regards,
Bill

:worshippy
It's just amazing that you can do all these kits at the same time and at this speed... WHERE DO YOU GET THE TIME!!?!?:runaround:
Lol, keep up the fabulous work!

WHERE DO YOU GET THE TIME!!?!?:runaround:
That's easy - just give up on sleep :D

j/k actually, from my perspective, I am hardly finding the time to do anything meaningful to them, just mess around with insignificant details for 30 minutes of so.
Now SeanyG, he's fast! :lol:

I checked my kit yesterday, and it seems that fit problems are not as bad as in your kit. I'm not sure what could be the reason? The rear bulkhead in my kit is just as badly asymmetrical as yours, but based on test fitting the fit just seems to be a lot better.

Great job with the engine and springs.

-Niko

great thread on a great subject. ski, i always love your posts because they are as entertaining as they are educational. you'd be a great teacher.

seeing the fitment issues of these MFH kits makes me wonder if i really ought to be thinking about the MFH 312P/B kit...

I’ve been working on the 166 over the weekend and trying to fix the cockpit/body fit problems.

First thing I did was do some serious grinding on these parts to allow the body to sit lower.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_01.jpg

I also added a strip of styrene to the top edge of the bulkhead to increase its height. As you can see, it’s getting close already.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_02.jpg

However, with this fixed and the body/chassis put together, another problem appeared – the wheel arch on the driver’s side completely misaligns with the body resulting in a protrusion into the wheel well and a gaping hole with the bulkhead.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_03.jpg

To fix this, I rolled out a flat piece of epoxy putty and attached to the cockpit side of the bulkhead to add the required thickness to close the gap.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_04.jpg

When it had hardened up, I was then free to grind away the unwanted thickness from the wheel arch side.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_04a.jpg

To build up the deformed molding I used light curing putty over some wet&dry held in lpace as a backing paper.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_05.jpg

Everything could then be ground and sanded to shape and size.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_06.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_07.jpg
Here you can see the 85% finished job. I won’t really know how it has worked out until I dust it with primer and test fit the seats to see if there is still sufficient space for them.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/klutz100/WIPs/166MM/shell-rework_08.jpg

I seems to be going in the right direction now but I at one point I was tempted to call it a day and request a new part from MFH but the prospect of long shipping prompted me to try this way first.

This is simply unacceptable on Hiro's part. If it is a design flaw, this just makes the kit "unbuildable" for a novice or average builders. If this is just yours kit Steven, call yourself lucky! :-)
You did a terrific fix though, congrats. It looks real good.

Wow, nice bit of work there, Ski. It's a frustrating bit to have to face, but then it's nice to develop the skills to be able to fix it, isn't it? Having faced my own 'bodywork challenges' lately, it's pretty satisfying to put the work into it and have it come out the way you want.

Looking forward to seeing it all primed and fit together!

Wow, nice bit of work there, Ski. It's a frustrating bit to have to face, but then it's nice to develop the skills to be able to fix it, isn't it?
You sure make it look easy. It's like nothing was wrong in the first place. You give us great hope for the rest of us.

Great work!

I also think it is unacceptable that a kit this price has that kind of problems, but well, fortunately, as I can see, this one went to very experienced hands, you solved the problem very well.

Well… So far we have seen on the works 24 cylinders out of the promised 36; I wonder when we will see the missing 12…

Soon, I promise!
Btw, I just looked at my kit and I don't have as bad of a problem - the rear bulkhead fits rather perfectly in my kit. I'm sorry, but I think you've got a bad part Steven.

I think you've got a bad part Steven.
That was my conclusion too. I am very happy for you and Gio ! :banghead: :banghead: ;) :lol:

It was soooooooooo bad, I just couldn't believe that this was standard MFH quality. It HAD to be an exception and down to being missed in quality control (I hope they read this and send me a new kit as an appology :D - j/k Mr. Hiro!)

Soon, I promise!
Btw, I just looked at my kit and I don't have as bad of a problem - the rear bulkhead fits rather perfectly in my kit. I'm sorry, but I think you've got a bad part Steven.
My stuff is in the middle: so not hard to fix, but something must be done.... anyway great job Stevenzky.

Ok guys the new morimori 166's seats ;) they need some more attentions...

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/gionc/166MM/166seats.jpg

What a huuuuuuuuuge difference!!! :lol:
Great job Gio :thumbsup:

Are the depth dimensions the same as the MFH pieces?


It's hard to believe just how "sharp" those MFH seats are :screwy: :lol:

Wow, way better Gio!

the new morimori 166's seats
morimori????

morimori????
I think it's a kind of puttyputty (http://www.hlj.com/product/WRK00036) :D

I think it's a kind of puttyputty (http://www.hlj.com/product/WRK00036) :D

LOL

Having faced my own 'bodywork challenges' lately, it's pretty satisfying to put the work into it and have it come out the way you want.


reworking those kits i sent you, huh? :uhoh: :lol:

I think it's a kind of puttyputty (http://www.hlj.com/product/WRK00036) :D

it's a kinda puttyputtyputtyputty :D (http://www.hlj.com/product/WRK00037)

it's a kinda puttyputtyputtyputty :D (http://www.hlj.com/product/WRK00037)
Thank God they don't make a 5kg bucket of this stuff or we would be here all day :evillol:

OK, I guess it is my turn now?
I've been working on the body first, like I usually do with all my kits. I have quite a bit planned for this car, and I started with body panels.
It would be a shame not to open the doors on this kit - it just asks for doors to be cut and hinged. Especially given the fact there are no inner door panes to scratchbuild! I cut the doors with a fret saw:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/01.jpg

Then door panels were thinned to appropriate thickness with motor tool:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/02.jpg

Then a thin strip of styrene was glued to the edge of the door, and it served two purposes - created a door frame, and make the gap from the fret saw (between the body and the door) smaller.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/03.jpghttp://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/04.jpg

I also added two little pieces of aluminum tubing that will serve as an attachment point for the hinge.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/05.jpg

Hinge was made from a piece of brass rod and aluminum tubing. the door was attached to the hinge...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/06.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/07.jpg

...voila! Now we have operational door!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/08.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/09.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/10.jpg

I also made the hinge for the hood:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/11.jpg

But I needed to make a notch in the body to make it work properly:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/12.jpg

So I ground the resin with my motor tool, and made the hinge fit the opening:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/13.jpg

Opening hood is ready:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/14.jpg

Now was trunk's turn...After 12 (I'm not kidding) unsuccessful attempts to hinge the trunk (the body panel that comes right after the trunk is too wide to let it open with traditional hinge, and bulkhead underneath it prevents from hinging it deep enough), I have invented the following hinge with two pivot points:

Body part, aluminum tubing epoxied to the body at an angle:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/15.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/16.jpg

Hinge itself mounted on the trunk lid - the hinge core made from steel (to prevent easy bending) rod is wrapped into aluminum tubing, then two shorter pieces of tubing, which are glued to the trunk, thus creating a second hinge:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/17.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/18.jpg

Trunk lid mounted to the body (note how flat he hinge actually is and how close to the edge the attachment points are:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/19.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/20.jpg

This allowes to raise the lid first:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/21.jpg

...and open it second:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/22.jpg

Note how the trunk lid top edge is 'over' the body panel when opened. This is not entirely "prototypical" but the only way to make the trunk lid operational. Trust me, I have tried 12 other designs!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/23.jpg

Pics of the completed body with all hinged panels ready for primer (almost) :-)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/24.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/27.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/28.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/25.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/26.jpg

Chassis next!

Great thread. I'll use your ideas to one day build a 166 myself, and paint it like this 212:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x82/BVC500/bbd2df7416.jpg

Looks insane dude. I wish I had skills like yours

This is what I would call a "Sherlock Holmes" build - an open and shut case ;)

I know what you must have gone through on that trunk hinge. I gave up.

It's also great that you have opened the doors - it will be much easier to see the interior now.

It's great that you have started your build :thumbsup: Now I can go on holiday :D

This one is impressive.... and tempting...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/24.jpg


Really great! I'm also happy this thread coming warm, motivating for me ;)

The picture with everything open is mighty impressive. Making all those hinges must have taken a lot of finesse and patience. A lot can be learned here on hinge making, you pretty much covered everything that can open and close.

Thanks guys!
It all needs to be cleaned up, sanded, and tidied before primer. I need to remove all epoxy blobs, etc... but hopefully I could put some color on this baby soon, so I have something to work on during winter!

Nice work Alex. Will your version of the 166mm have inner door panels to cover up the exposed hinge? :)

Nice work Alex. Will your version of the 166mm have inner door panels to cover up the exposed hinge? :)

Nope, hinges on the real car were also exposed, although they are slightly different design. The hinge itself will be hidden by the front firewall, but the part that attaches to the door will still be visible. It will be painted red though to match the body color.

The hinges are perfect, if only i could bend barss like that.

Wow, what a great thread. Learning a lot here.

Thanks guys.

Murray

Yeap, I´m going to take this hinging lesson as an inspiration for upcoming conversions. Great stuff and very teaching. Thank you!

Paint is on:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/29.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/30.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/31.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/32.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/33.jpg

Decals too:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/34.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/35.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/36.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/37.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/38.jpg

Stunning! No surprise, but just stunning nonetheless.

Arrrgh! That glare!! Where are my sun glasses??? ;)

Nice one, Alex.

How are you going to attach those rear fender deflector thingies?

I am worried that the fixing hole will be visible beneath the p/e and so I am thinking about attaching them before painting but that in turn presents the problem of sanding and polishing around those delicate litlle pieces :banghead:

Arrrgh! That glare!! Where are my sun glasses??? ;)

Nice one, Alex.

How are you going to attach those rear fender deflector thingies?

I am worried that the fixing hole will be visible beneath the p/e and so I am thinking about attaching them before painting but that in turn presents the problem of sanding and polishing around those delicate litlle pieces :banghead:

Steve did you know this "360Spider"? Did you heard before? How do him here? ROFL
Alex=alien :D awesome job buddy, fantastic.
@Steve: you're ever in time to choose a version deflector less :D

great finish Alex, beautiful paint job!

Nothing to add, nonetheless it is obvious to make a statement: Fantastic all over!

Thanks! I'd like to also thank Steve (hiroboy) for making such an awesome selection of paints and clears available for us all. They are truly outstanding and so easy to work with.

Steven, I will just glue the deflector thingys on with clear epoxy, like I always do with these kind of things, If you attach them now, you always run a risk of knocking them off and ruining the paint job during assembly or test fitting. They are just too delicate.

Awesome paint job!!! Is it the Zero Rosso Corsa?

Fantastic paint work Alex. :smile:

Finally, the missing 12 cylinders!!

What a high skilled thread here!

What a great way to start Alex! And no wonder why, with such a high motivation from the other 24 cylinder builders; that was a bar set to high! Isn’t it?

Then a thin strip of styrene was glued to the edge of the door, and it served two purposes - created a door frame, and make the gap from the fret saw (between the body and the door) smaller.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/jter/MFH%20166MM/03.jpg
In regards of the doors, which are cut very nicely, I have a question, you added that strip of styrene as a door frame, but, didn’t these cars have a tubing frame only? Are you going to replicate that tubing frame later? Since there is no interior trimming I guess that frame will be very visible isn’t it?

The door hinges are a very nice job; a little bit oversized I think, but I also know that making them smaller would result in very fragile hinges.
The hood hinge, PERFECT!
And the rear trunk hinge, what a problematic situation being the body so curvy, but you found a good solution; my only concern would be that the trunk when open, may easily contact the body with the risk of damaging the finish, so a lot of care will have to be taken to open this one; I once had this same situation, and what worked for me was setting the hinges very close from each other (like 1 cm) it wasn’t also prototypically correct, but they worked fine.

And then comes the paint job, OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO BEAUTIFUL, SO FLAWLES, SO SHINY, SO PERFECT!!!

I can easily say with no place to discussion, that yours are from the best paint jobs I have ever seen!

The white section in the front, around the grill, is it paint or decal?

All my respect to a great build!

Chassis next!I'm truly looking forward to it

Thanks Ramon.
You are the one who inspired me to start making hinges to begin with, remember?
Tube frame in the door is hidden by the body work, and relatively small gauge tube, so I don't think it makes sense for me to try to recreate it in scale. I just going to leave it as is.
I know exactly what you mean about the trunk hinge, but I figured that nobody is going to really play with this model and open and close the trunk all the time, so it should be ok.
Grille surround is decal. Thanks!

Meanwhile my partners lost 4 cylinders each (ok meaning Ferrari's cylinders has double value Alex lost only 2 LOL) I done something. The job isn't at Kustov's '64 GTO but at last I felt fun (and lost muuuuuuuch time)

#68 car is quite different from my partner's 166: engine hood is much longer, front fenders hasn't those strange "fold" and are smooth, also in the tail, the hood is different and this time is shorter.... grrrrr. Also the area under the front intake is slightly different: all the front is vertical. For now I worked only in front:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/gionc/166MM/mostra_rovereto013.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/gionc/166MM/mostra_rovereto025.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/gionc/166MM/CIMG6072.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/gionc/166MM/CIMG6073.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/gionc/166MM/CIMG6074.jpg

I used 0.5mm thick brass: next time I'll try to find copper: much easy to bend and cut.

WTG! We're firing on all 36 cylinders! :)

I'm glad I'm not doing this one! :lol:
Have to say though that the looooong hood looks really sexy.

Keep it comin' buddy!