Citroen 15-Six "Traction Avant" - 1952 - Heller - 1/8

[DominiqueBeerts]

Originally Posted by ianc911

So if I understand you correctly, you first spray a base color in acrylic, then add some tone variations using oils with a brush, then drybrush highlights afterwards, and follow everything up with a wash?

Really looks superb...

ianc

Yep, that's it.

[DominiqueBeerts]

Small update.

Not much has happened since last time. Not too much time to build and in the meantime I did some other stuff. You know how it goes.

I finished the front suspension and drivetrain. I mounted the axles and the drum brakes including the brake hoses. I had a difficult time connecting these hoses. If you plan to build this model once, connect the brake hoses BEFORE mounting the engine in the cradle. Believ me, it will make a world of a difference. Don't say I didn't warn you.









Furthermore I glued the 5 rims together. They were sprayed with Motip acrylics, then with Gunze satin varnish and finished off with oil paints to add some depth and coloring effects. I still need to add the air valves, but I prefer to wait until everything is nicely dried and all paint has set.

The hart of the wheels will be covered by wheel covers, so I didn't bother to detail them.


On the other hand, the spare wheel did receive some more paint. I might add some more effects when all has dried, but I will see what the outcome of the dried paint will look like.



I started the radiator. On top of it you can see an attempt to an improved pressure unit with sunken valve. all needs to be sprayed and detail painted of course.





That's about it. Next 2 weeks will be quiet on the Traction because of holidays.
Enjoy!

[dino246gt]

You're a sick man.......... and I love it!! Seriously that looks SO real, wow, what can I say, what can anyone say, it's just unbelieveable, Have you considered showing it at the NNL in Salt Lake City? That's the championship show of the NNL circuit and you'd most definitely win! Randy Derr won the last one with his incredible sprint car.

[ianc911]

The wheels are really looking great! I don't see any brush marks on the final coat of oils; is that applied by dry brushing, or some kind of sponge? I'm assuming the step at the very edge of the rim is a pin wash?

ianc

[DominiqueBeerts]

Originally Posted by ianc911

The wheels are really looking great! I don't see any brush marks on the final coat of oils; is that applied by dry brushing, or some kind of sponge? I'm assuming the step at the very edge of the rim is a pin wash?

ianc

Thanks!
The oil paints are applied by a thin brush. You need to thin the oil paint very much and you can apply by brush.
For effects like this, I use a highly diluted paint (thin it with white spirit) and then apply small bits at the time. When you think you have added too much or too dark of shade, you just wipe off with a tissue or even just your finger. Then build up your layer until the wanted shade. That is what I used on the outside of the rim.

You can also apply a thicker tad of paint, then dilute with white spirit applied by brush. Doing this you smear the paint open and you can spread it over a larger area. I used this technique on the inner rim.

In any of the two techniques, keep in mind that the white spirit will cause the paint to flow open. So it will leave the undercoat visible while you can continue to add paint.
You can use this technique multiple on top of each other. However, you need to fix your layers with ordinary varnish (I like Gunze most), then repeat the process with another tint to combine colors.

[DominiqueBeerts]

About time you get updated...
I sprayed and weathered the radiator. It gave me a bit of a hard time to get it mounted correctly (and straight up), but in the end everything came out just fine. I needed to cut some material off the back reflector plates to get it round the ventilator. No problems otherwise.

In the last picture you can see a first attempt to scratch the warm air input for the heater. The original part was almost half a centimeter too short, and the fuel pump seems to be in the way to make a straight part fit between the radiator and the firewall. I moved the pump closer to the engine block, but I still need to guide the intake around the pump.
A little bit of putty here and there and we can mount this part.
It slowly starts to look like a car

[ianc911]

Phenomenal as usual!

ianc

[DominiqueBeerts]

Originally Posted by ianc911

Phenomenal as usual!

ianc

Thanks, mate.

[DominiqueBeerts]

Small update.
What happened since last update:
- all hoses between radiator and engine have been added,
- the modified air supply for the compartment heater has been put in place,
- the airfilter was added.

This concludes pretty much the work in the engine compartment, so now we can concentrate on the bottom of the car.
Enjoy!

[DominiqueBeerts]

As said in my previous post: time to tackle the underside of the car, and as they are the lowest parts of the car: let's start with the wheels?

I drilled the rims to insert 5 brass pins. The I drilled the brake drums in the same pattern, so I could press-fit the wheels against them. This way they actually carry the car, instead of just being glued against the drums. It is my attempt to deal with the weight of the model. By glueing the wheels using the small center pins on the plastic parts, I think the glue joint would not be able to cope in time. A tad of gel glue between wheel and drum must enforce the structure.
My solution means the wheels will not be able to freely turn, but that was never my goal. I chose for strength. Time will tell if it will keep up, I surely hope so.

After all 4 wheels did undergo this treatment, it was time for the usual show-off pictures, so here she is on her own wheels for the very first time:





And this is how she sits on my work bench, this "Déesse de la route", aka "Queen of the road":

[ianc911]

Your workbench is too clean!

But then again, so is your car... ;-)

Looks great as usual,

ianc

[DominiqueBeerts]

Originally Posted by ianc911

Your workbench is too clean!
...

ianc

No no, it's always like that. I tidy up after each session, and only the small tools I constantly use are on the desk. I hate the "I used it the day before yesterday, but where did I put it?" or the "under which pile of junk did the little bugger get hidden?" situations.
So everything has it's fix spot, and I can almost reach for all I need blindly.

Well, sort of speak, of course.

But thanks!

[hd221813]

Amazing and very realistic build, also considering that you were forced to use warped parts like these:



Is this for real?!?

By the way, the right color tone for the engine should be more like a flat RAL 6007 bottle green or rather a flat RAL 6003 olive green?

[DominiqueBeerts]

Thanks, hd221813.

The pictures with the warped parts you referred to are in fact rubber parts that should make the cabling and hose parts. They look not too bad, but in fact they are too thick and sometimes too much simplified to be useful in a model like this. So most of them are being replaced anyway.
The grey parts are interior fabric for the seats and doors. Most of them are replaced and/or covered with real fabric anyway.

The color for the engine is maybe too bright, that is true. I could not make out what the exact color should be when I started the kit, so I made an educated guess by using Tamiya flat green XF5. With addition of the different tones black, grey and brown for the weathering it comes out quite good visually. The "problem" with the pictures here is that a lot of light is used to shoot them, so all colors are much brighter than in normal daylight.

But thanks for the compliment and the interest in the build. I have got my workshop set up again, so in the next few days I am able to post some updates again.

[dingguya]

Simply amazing work. Looking forward to the next update