The next step is the construction of the steering gear box. It's very well made, very strong too, and it works perfectly! All the parts are made of metal and the parts are to be screwed to each other to become a solid whole.
As the bulkhead is to be fixed to the monocoque, you need to drill 3 holes in it, for the brake fluid containers. This is a hard job, since the bulkhead is made of solid metal. But it is possible and I even did it without damaging anything. The lever to the right side of the pilot (does anyone has any idea what it is there for?) is easier to be put in place after the seat has been mounted.
The steering shaft is as great as the steering gear box : everything is in metal parts, everything works perfectly. Watch it when you fix the steering shaft to the steering gear box : the groove has to face down, in order to make the screw fit in it.
Then you will have to glue the metal foil to the left and right sides of the monocoque. make sure to cut them larger as needed, and cut them to the right size and shape once they are in position. The same goes for the back side of the monocoque. Be careful with the foil, because it sticks very good and it's almost impossible to tear it off again once fixed. Next come the small metal foil pieces on the corners of the monocoque. You will have to cut them every millimeter or so in order to make it possible to go around the corners.
When you fix the electronic box on the back of the monocoque, don't use the reversible tape, but glue it with some superglue. Don't forget you will have to fix the wiring afterwards and the tape won't keep the whole in place!
When you start fixing the front suspension, which is pre-painted, you will notice that you have to redo the job. The suspension arms are made of metal and they have lots of flash and sprue. Unfortunately, they have been painted with the flash left on them, so you have to take it away with a mini-grinding machine. After that hard job you will have to sand all the parts again. Then comes the primer and last but not least the flat black paint. It looks a lot better now! The fixing of the front upper and lower arms is only possible if you push up the bulkhead inside the monocoque. All the other rods go without problems.
Next come the shock absorbers. Forget about the stickers, it's a lot easier to paint them. The holes in the front bell-crank are too small and need to be drilled out.
The mounting of the brake discs goes without problems. Just make sure to sand the head of your "cross wrench" or you could damage the inside of the front uprights.
Then you will start building the engine together. I took a good look at the pre-painted block, and I decided to repaint it and to drybrush it with gun metal. The flash and sprue are just too bad. I did it this way : first I put the complete engine block together with screws and bolts, then I sand it, put the primer on, and the paint. Then I drybrush the whole thing, and when dry I take it apart again, in order to fix the small parts that didn't need to be painted in the engine block color. Last but not least I put the completed engine back together.
From here on everything goes pretty straightforward. The completion of the engine goes very smoothly. The rear brake discs are to be fixed the same way as the front ones. The back suspension needs to be repainted, just as the front suspension.
Once everything written above is completed, you can "marry" the monocoque and the engine block together. Next thing you fix are the exhaust pipes. This goes without any problems.
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02-08-2003, 05:37 PM
