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Painting by Kane Rogers Click
for larger image |
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The Dino 156 is the first in
a series of "Racing Classics" in 1/10th. and 1/5th scale, that we intend
to produce in the months ahead. This Sharknose
model has been planned for a long time now, and that time has been well
spent, collecting the data to make it as authentic as possible.
As you may know, there are no Ferrari Sharknose cars
still in existence, so information had to be obtained from photographs
and drawings in books and periodicals of that period. |
| In this regard I was extremely lucky to know
Kane Rogers personally, who already had a wealth of information compiled
on this particular car. Kane is an incredible artist,
who has built a fine reputation over the years, in his specialized field
of automotive art, and a perfect example of his talent is featured above.
This painting was an inspiration to us, as it depicted the actual car that
we were creating, the Phil Hill 1961 Formula One World Championship car.
Kane has been our consultant on this project, since it's conception, and
invaluable to us in ensuring absolute accuracy with the details.
Check our links
to go to the Kane Rogers web site
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| Other Models in our "Racing
Classic" series Our
new "Racing Classics Series" will include some of the most outstanding
cars of the early days of racing. After the Sharknose,
we plan cars like Mario Andretti's Brawner Hawk, the Jim Clark Lotus 49,
the Maserati 250 F of either Sterling Moss or Juan Fangio, and the Dan
Gurney Eagle. I'd like to go even further
back to the 1934/38, Mercedes-Benz W125/154 and Auto Union Era. |
Limited Edition Builds
If you were to visit our page
Meet the rest of the Team
you'll see we're a very small group of dedicated model builders, and with
our Champ Team commitments, our production capability is limited.
For this reason, we'll be limiting the quantity of any particular type
of car, to enable us to produce a wider variety, and attract interest from
a broader group of collectors. The exact number has not
been decided, but comparatively, they will be very "Limited Edition Builds". |
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| Building the Prototype
__ FAQ has become a household word, and if you were
to ask what our most "Frequently Asked Question " was, it would be ....
"how do you construct that first prototype body for one of your cars ?"
I'll try to give you a brief description of the operations, on this particular
sharknose body.
To begin, we produced our own detailed drawings, from
photographs and artist's impressions of the actual car. From
these, we make the fins and formers from 1/16" plexiglas sheet, to form
a skeleton of the body. We then fill the cavities with
plexiglas and auto body fillers, until we have the desired shape.
During this process, consideration is given to the
molding, and final method of assembly of all the component parts like the
cockpit floor, dash and seat etc., which are also fabricated at this time.
Its then time to give the body it's final surface finishing, and then add
all the micro details, windshield flanges, air scoops, and rivets etc.
All that remains now, is to make a rubber mold of our prototype body, to
enable us to produce the urethane casting for the production models.
"Click" on any of the
pictures above for a closer look at the 1/10th. prototype
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Details In
both the 1/10th. and 1/5th. scale cars, the upper and lower suspension
"A" arms, steering rods, drive shafts, and shocks etc. will be cast in
urethane, with a steel or brass wire core to maintain stability.
There are no "lift off" engine covers, but as you know, the engine detail
is visible on this particular car, on both sides, just forward of the rear
wheels, and through the two mesh domes behind the driver. Model will
have cockpit, seat, shift and dashboard details. Both
scales will have hand assembled wire wheels fitted. |
| Painting
Our superb paint finish on the main body, has almost become a trademark,
and we feel it sets us apart from most other commercially produced models,
which are available today.
Phase 1: 3 coats of gray primer are
applied .... wet and dry sanded between each coat.
Phase 2: 2 to 3 thin coats
of "Alpine White" are applied, to give an overall "bright" white base.
Phase 3: 3 to 4 ultra thin
coats of automotive lacquer are then applied, to achieve the perfect shade
of
"Authentic Ferrari Red", without loosing any of the fine body detail.
Phase 4: Clear lacquer is then carefully
applied in 4 thin coats, wet sanded between each coat with 2000
grit paper.
Phase 5: After leaving the body
for overnight hardening, it is wet sanded again, before getting it's last
clear coat.
Phase 6: is a 6 hour operation.
The entire body is wet sanded with 2500 grit paper, and then
hand polished, to achieve what we call our ..... "SCALE DOWN FINISH" |
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