The last part of the Steyr 1500 radio command car construction is the engine construction. Man oh man has this been a long process.
The construction process started several months ago, even before any of the vehicle detailing had started. My original intent had been to start the detailing process with the engine. Seemed like a fun place to start, but as soon as I cracked open the package, I noticed that one of the larger parts was pretty horribly cast. I reached out to CMK to get a replacement. They sent me a replacement, but it was also horribly cast. More conversation and they informed me that they were going to re-build the molds and recast that particular part. CMK was easy enough to work with, but the “small company feel” was certainly coming through loud and clear.
In the end, however, these delays caused a happy accident. I was able to practice my first superdetailing, photoetch, and resin work on other, bigger (read: easier) part of this build. I learned some basics while working in larger spaces. By the time I started on the engine, I had enough to skill to not just jack it up!
Here’s what I had to do in this build:
- Drilled holes in the blowers to add plastic rod shaft. This shaft “connects” to the three point pulley holder at the front of the engine
- Added .010″ lead wiring, including routing back to the distributor cap
- Created dipstick out of copper wire
- Added photoetch details from the Aber detail kit
- Replaced the support bracket on the round alternator (?) pulley mechanism with bent flat brass (the resin part was impossible to get off the sprue in one piece… it fell into three broken pieces as I cut it)
- Added a brass wire …uh… part between the blowers. Not really sure what this is for or what it’s called!
- Created the reserve oil/lube reservoir (white part between the radiators). I used two pieces of hollow tube stock. I used one of the pieces whole, and cut the other in half. I glued the two together to create an oval shape. Then I used putty to make the sides of the two parts flat and to fill in the top and bottom wholes. A little sanding and I had an oval shaped can!
Once the engine was fully constructed, I test fit it and realized that the front plate didn’t fit. It extends far lower than the base of the engine, and I hadn’t removed the plastic between the oil pan and the bumper in the kit part. Even after I removed that plastic from the kit that (inaccurately) connected the oil pan to the bumper, there wasn’t enough room. So I had to start sanding the inside of the bumper to make room. Hey, when the model is complete, nobody will know! Hopefully…
I still need to finish a few final bits and add the belt. Then it’s time to move to the painting stage of this build… <gulp>
[…] Radio car project. I had done some The main focus recently has been the engine. First it was the construction and detailing, now we’re on to painting and […]