Brabham BT45 - Model Factory Hiro - 1/12

[DocRob]

Yesterday was the day of mano negra, the black hand . Polishing white metal makes your fingers black with the metal residues, but despite the dirt, it is fun.
I used sanding sponges of 1200 to 6000 grit, to get rid off the cast imperfections, then it was about polishing with a cotton swab and Autosol metal polishing paste with works really well. I like the shiny look a lot and it could pass for polished aluminum to my eye.
Today, i test fitted for some hours, as now is the decisive  step, where the tub has to fit into the body, along all the mating parts.



Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks great Rob.  I wouldn't have thought you could get that kind of result from polishing white metal.  Very interesting.

[DocRob]

5 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Looks great Rob.  I wouldn't have thought you could get that kind of result from polishing white metal.  Very interesting.

Thank you Mike, the white metal polishes really easy in fact. I did a lot of polishing with my Crocker motorcycle build as well. The only problem are slight superficial imperfections due to the casting process, which need to be removed first. This can be quite tedious, as it is not easy to sand the parts without losing detail and not all areas are reachable for proper sanding.
I don´t know about other metal polishing pastes, but Autosol is a classic and it works perfect for me.

Cheers Rob

[belugawhaleman]

Looks great Rob😀  Do the polished white metal parts eventually tarnish again?

[HubertB]

I could not resist …

😉

Hubert

[DocRob]

9 hours ago, belugawhaleman said:

Looks great Rob😀  Do the polished white metal parts eventually tarnish again?

Thank you Paul, about tarnishing, I don´t know, but I guess, very little so. These kind of metals are not overly reactive. My Crocker motorcycle with many polished surfaces looks completely unchanged after about a year.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

7 hours ago, HubertB said:

I could not resist …

It was a trap, Hubert and you fell in . I knew, somebody would bite and I guessed it might be you or Martin. I was about to link a Mano Negra video myself, but thought it to be funnier that way.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

There is not too much to show at the moment, as I´m preparing all the resin parts and some of the metal parts for the next steps. Test fitting is time consuming, but helps to recognize, where everything fits and how.
During this test fitting period, I made a mock up workbench build up.

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

Hope everything is cooperating on the fit - a really cool subject to model.

[DocRob]

2 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Hope everything is cooperating on the fit - a really cool subject to model.

Until now everything seems fine Mike, the kit seems to be easier to build than the Cobra Coupe. Fit and engineering is very good so far. There are only these damned coil springs for the exhausts, which I couldn´t attach and that is nagging me. I may try to insert a wire into the spring coil for easier bending.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

The preparation of the resin and metal parts for all body and the front suspension is quite time consuming, but the fit is overall very good. All body parts got cleaned up, surface sanded, washed in soap water, swiped with an alcohol soaked cotton rag and finally primed with Mr Surfacer 1500 whit primer, which laid down beautifully.
In the meanwhile, I glued together the polished cockpit tub and added some accessories. The battery and fire extinguisher will be hidden under the seat later.

 

One beautiful detail is the number plate of the chassis. It has an etched part as a base, with the chassis number etched in. Onto that, you apply a transparent and black decal with the labeling, a bit hard to see on the pic.



Cheers Rob

[Martinnfb]

This kind of fidelity is closely bordering with insanity. Fantastic detail Doc. , just splendid.

Cheers

Martin 

[DocRob]

23 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

This kind of fidelity is closely bordering with insanity. Fantastic detail Doc. , just splendid

You put that right Martin, but you forgot to mention the fun to do so .

Cheers Rob

[Count0]

11 hours ago, DocRob said:

This kind of fidelity is closely bordering with insanity.

That's what makes it good. That distinction between model and miniature replica.