Introduction

[Mario Lucchini]

To avoid monotony and because many engine parts, including some gearbox ones are puttied for sanding and set aside to dry, I can't avoid sharing with you the front structure that carries the front suspension, front wheel drive and acts as one of the engine supports.
I pictured it on top of the manual corresponding page, to show the complexity of this assembly.
I only assembled the basic structure which is puttied and sanded, ready to be painted.
I also want to show the ingenious design this car had for it's era. It featured among other novelties, torsion bar suspension assisted by oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers.
This sub-assembly of the kit is rather difficult due to the very thin plastic elements involved and the lack of locating pins. You must go aligning every part and need more than 8 hands!!
I have been using a mirror plate to align parts, which gives true level assistance & because of the perfect reflection, its easy to eyeball 90º angles. It's a must for straight & level sanding too!!
As usual, I include some real car pics of this section.
Next post will show how the engine is advancing...

Mario

[Mario Lucchini]

Mario, please pardon my ignorance, but how, exactly, does one use a mirror plate, which I asume is a piece of glass mirror, to keep the symetry?

Thanks.

Bob:
When you sit any element on top of the mirror plate, any angle out of 90º or perpendicular to the mirror is inmediately accused.
Give it a try, this is one of those things that are easier to practice than to explain it.
There are some die hard artisans that use this trick when cutting wood using common carpenter saws, they look at the reflection of the piece beeing cut in the saw blade, there are some who even can get a perfect 45º angle!
It's also a matter of trained eyeballing too...
Hope this helps, buddy!
Mario :)'

[Mario Lucchini]

The Citroen engine has had some advances, mainly in it's gearbox.
Some of the engine's elements have been painted in the original Citroen green belonging to the engines issued from 1948 to 1955.
As I managed to bolt the gearbox to the main block, I could also bolt the upper part of the gearbox which grabs the front engine's support, and having the rear engine's support already bolted, I felt in the need of making an engine stand.
Not any stand, but a 1/8 scale reproduction of one of the many stands the folks at the Citroen factory used when leaving the engine aside to attend other chores in the cars...
The pics shows this stage, in which I would dare say only 25% of the engine is ready...
Have a long way before me, but there are many parts already done (Mainly scratchbuilt), so soon I'll be posting more images.

Mario.................Ou la, la, les petites poids!!:)' :)'

[Mario Lucchini]

Are the bolts commercial? Sizes? Source? And I bet you made a CAD of the engine stand. Want to share dimensions? WOuld give me something to do while waiting on the model.

Hey Syd!
The bolts are 00-80 & 00-90 provided by Dan.
Some other bolts & rivets were supplied by a good friend of mine and are 1.4 mm & 1 mm thread Diam. x 7 mm long, pan head & phillips head. These are screws used in spectale frames.
You guessed well, I Autocaded the engine's stand! I'm sending it to you via Email.

Regards

Mario

P.S. Please yell out loud when you get your kit...

[Mario Lucchini]

Model arrived. Little disappointed as someone had started the motor and not very carefully so had to take it back apart. There is a major gap area at the back of the tranny that will require filling and some minor fitment areas to be filled and sanded (darn - will have to paint the motor.) Based on what I have seen so far I will have my work cut out for me to achieve the one piece cast appearance you have achieved.

Keep those photos coming!

Chrome parts were scuffed - never have figured out how to clean up kit chrome. Some arts bags were opened. Kit looks like it had some rough treatment in storage.

Be most patient Syd & dissasemble everything very carefully.
You'll notice that the styrene used in this kit is very tough and also very forgiving, it allows many invasive techniques without breaking...don't abuse though...
For filling and giving one piece appearence in some parts, use my talcum powder putty & lots of wet sanding , use 400 grit to 600 grit used wet.

I'll give you my experiences little by little as we move along.
Please send as much pics as you can so I can realize your problems...don't hurry things...the fun in all these is the road, not the arrival point!!

Mario

P.S. I will continue posting pics of the 1:1 car for detailing purposes as well...

[Mario Lucchini]

In the wee hours of an early morning, year 1949, The Shadow silently creeps to the Citroen factory backyard and begins photographing the new secret engine that's going to power the newly developed car designed by Citroen's top geniuses working 24 hours at the drafting tables...
The Shadow made some workers put the engine on its stand, and he's so proud of it, that he even made them put a mirror in the stand's base so everybody can see the underneath of the engine at the same time...
Nobody working in the factory can tell anything about The Shadow's doings outside, risking serious penalties, even beeing fired...
As you can see from The Shadow's pics, some elements have been added to this mechanical novelty, such as water circulation pipes, cylinder vent, the whole oil pan with it's massive oil filter cover & the structural reinforcement for the gearbox, the main distribution pulley, the distribution chain cover, and some other delicacies such as draining plugs & other engineering subtelties, hee, hee.....

And then, some real car pics for data...

[Mario Lucchini]

Ah Mario - you deviated from the kit instructions and didn't tell us. That is a nice cylinder head. I goofed and attached the valve cover before I thought about how it should be aluminum color. By filling the cylinder head first I assume you plan to have the valve cover detachable.

The bolt heads cast by the lit are so crisp I think one could forgo the expense of all the brass screws except where the part is meant to be detachable from the model. Of course you are building yours for that race of miniature people that will actually service the Shadow's auto.

Thanks Syd!
You MUST deviate from the out of the box instructions in order to achieve superdetailing, & don't forget scratchbuilding whenever you're not 100% happy with a part...
Yes, the valve cover will be bolted, and the oil filling spout will open & close as well...
If you want your bolts to glitter, chamfer them a little at 45º and polish their heads with 400 grit dry sandpaper. They come very raw, and when you use the macro...EVERYTHING shows!!!

[Mario Lucchini]

Some other parts have been added to the engine.
The gear box cover, some more water piping , block water seal, the flywheel including the starting peripherical gear, (Please note the balancing holes for dynamical balance of the flywheel), clutch & gear shifting levers with their appropiate returning springs (They work!), & some other stuff...
Besides, I think I discovered a method to show written details in some pics, please acknowledge and make me know if this is clear to you. If so , I think this be mighty useful for clearing some obscure subjects...
It's in PDF format, have to open it!

Thanks

Mario

P.S. Ooopss! I was forgetting the 1:1 pics...

[Mario Lucchini]

Mario - please don't take this wrong as you are showing us a fantastic museum piece for display but what might be helpful for a tutorial besides showing your real talent of fixing the raw material handed to you from the kit is to show up front how you overcome problems. For you to get the gear case ears to meet the block ears so perfectly so you could make it detachable you had to either file down the mating surfaces of the block ends about a 1/16" (which I doubt you could and have the pan match) or you must have left even more of a gap (filled) than I showed in my rough assembly in your 1-F lesson. It must have been an interesting problem to tape(?) the parts together including pan as you made the adjustments because there is no way the kit parts can be put together individually and have them fit anywhere near the match you have.

I only keep harping on this now because I fear doing the chassis and suspension there may be even more real matching problems and it would be instructive to see your solutions.

Dear Mr. Sydeem:
Please find enclosed explicative diagram for your questions...
Always at your service...

The Shadow

[Mario Lucchini]

Very good morning!
The engine has received new parts such as :
- The starter motor, to which I made the bendix stuff in aluminum, because the kit didn't provide it. Although hidden by the starter carcass, you can see it anyway & besides I know it's there and that leaves me with peace of mind. (Photo 4)
- The generator with it's scratchbuilt aluminum pulley.
- The water pump complete, with its brackets, belt tension regulator (Which works!), and the necessary connections for hoses.
- These 3 parts, are linked by the belts. I didn't like the ones provided in the kit so I made them from 1.5 mm Dia. buna strip, (The one used for making Orings), and all this ensemble rotates...
I left provisions for all the hoses, connectors and cables that in due time will be attached to these mechanical elements.
I have to say that I'm really liking this build...the potential of this kit makes your mind go fast!
Thanks for the attention...

Mario

[Mario Lucchini]

Wow. That's outstanding. How do you make the labels and the black spec plates that go onto the parts. What is your source and how do you get them so clear? Thanks in advance.

Hey Jeff!
For the label's backing I'm using an autoadhesive backed silver paper sold in any bookstore, as for the labels themselves, I print a cleaned image in Photoshop in very thin photografic paper & protect it with Sellotape (Clear)

Mario

[Mario Lucchini]

Some more elements in the engine yet.
The valve cover bolted in place, with the oil filling spout that opens & close, new water hoses, the gear change linkage that works, (this is a weak point of the kit, so I replaced the linkage bars by aluminum tubing, keeping the kit's bars points which are OK), gearbox vents, the radiator fan, and the fuel pump, which I completely modified, introducing some very polished turned piece of yellow acrylic inside the kit's clear cover to simulate a full of gasoline fuel pump! Think it achieved the goal...
I'm presently working on the exhaust & admission headers, which are demanding lots of sanding !!

See you soon in another delivery....
Thanks

Mario

Oooppss...again I was forgetting the 1:1 pics...there they go...

[sydeem]

Sure is confusing the different color schemes for the engine and accessories. Guess all the reference pictures are of mixed stages of restoration on various cars. Seems that most of the people left the aluminum parts aluminum color and didn't polish them as we probably would have over here.

Then when you start looking at details you discover things like the fuel pump can be assembled/attached front or backwards. See the reference photos.

[EstebanLoco]

Mario,

Your attention to detail is amazing. I'd like to continue this project someday and your posts will make that endeaveor all the more enjoyable.

I found a couple of old pictures of my engine (sorry about the quality - old low-res camera) for comparison to your masterpiece. It's interesting to see the similarities in color selection, although that's where the similarities pretty much end. I used a few brass bolts and some aluminum tube but that's it. Paint was Tamiya British Racing Green from a rattle can.

Keep up the good work. Your posts make my day.

Steve

[Mario Lucchini]

It may sound strange, but the building of the parts involved with the admission & exhaust headers took more time than what was imagined.
For starters, both come in 2 parts in the kit, so after glueing, there's a lot of sanding involved to make them look as one piece.
For the finished looks, I gave them a textured treatment and made a subtle difference with colors.
I aligned them temporarily to the block, so I could mark & drill some of the studed bolts that attaches them to the latter.
Aligning both headers between themselves is another story, its DIFFICULT, but I finally managed to succeed...if they are not perfectly aligned, no way to drill for the studed bolts that go between themselves and into the block.
I reinforced with automotive putty the inside of the exhaust header's exit, so I could drill for the studs that will bolt the flange of the exhaust pipes further on.
The heat protection shield was riveted as per data, painted brushed aluminum, and bolts provided for mounting.
As usual, some 1:1 pics for comparison...

Regards

Mario