| If you have ever seen one of these Hiro kits you will
understand what I mean when I say these are some of the finest
kits on the market today. Comprised of hundreds of parts the
most of which are white metal and photoetch, the turned aluminum
and resin are few but superbly done.
Engine:
Since the block/tranny assembly is in an aluminum color I
left the white metal in the raw and polished with Flitz and
my Dremel turned down to a slow speed. The resulting finish
is realistic but I coated with semi gloss so it would be less
apt to tarnish over time. Do not assemble the headers or any
of the filler intakes that stick out the sides until you install
the engine into the completed engine bay! This whole assembly
including the front suspension and spindles has to be test
fit and fiddled with to get the proper fit. This was a nightmare,
and took much trial and error, fit-glue-swear-take apart-
and refit to get it right.
The valve covers were painted with some of that textured black
vinyl top paint from Testors. The six carburetors were painted
with brass and fitted with kit fuel line and scratchbuilt
linkage. The crowning touch on these babies are the turned
aluminum intake horns for the top. Carefully drilled out the
holes for the wires in the distributors and looms. The aforementioned
Headers were painted flat white and highlighted with some
rust brown. And finally the kit provided photoetch firing
order tag was glued to the front of the intake manifold…NICE!!
Suspension:
This is where the Nightmare on Ferrari Street begins! The
rear is fine, the axle fits well into the slots in the leafs
and the turned aluminum shocks are a treasure. And to my amazement
the rear tires (when attached) fit almost perfectly in the
body wheel wells. As stated earlier, the front pieces look
beautiful in the box, but it is hellish to get the engine
lined up straight in the compartment and the engine height
low enough so the hood closes. I had to grind the front crossmember
to pull this off. Also you have to bend and reposition the
front spindles (thank god they are white metal) so that the
front wheels sit low enough, and are evenly spaced around
the wheelwell. The exhaust was detailed with shades of blue
and brown heat staining and finished off with the neat little
end-trumpets supplied in the kit. There is a large piece of
photoetch sheet metal that fits over the entire center area
of the underchassis.
Tires/Wheels: The wheels for this kit are comprised of eight
seperate pieces. Four discs of photoetch spokes , two outer
rings, one center hub and one spinner. The different layers
of wire spokes give each wheel a lot of nice depth. The tires
appear to be real rubber. And this must be true cause since
finishing the model I have had it stored in a 1/24 plastic
display case and the tires have somewhat melted into the bottom
of the base.
Interior: Although these cars came without much of an interior,
most owners who were going to street drive them would line
the inside with diamond padding of some sort. But since these
cars were built to race, I left mine with tube steel showing
a bit. It was common practice to take tools with you so I
set up a little wrench display in the back. The photoetch
steering wheel inside was glued to the WM outer, and the latter
painted with accurate woodgrain paint. Decals are provided
for the gauges as well as an accurate shifter and turn signal
lever.
Body:Believe it or not these Hiro bodies are so nice there
is very little prep you have to do before painting! I was
going to just start right in with the Tamiya TS8 but figured
well…. I better prime just to give a adhering surface.
There was a time when I exclusively used my airbrush, but
since Tamiya came out with these laquer cans I have yet to
be disappointed (except for my own screw ups). Four coats
then the metal foil around the trim then 3 coats of clear
and I got a fairly smooth finish. Since these ponies are shown
with or without numbers I decided to wait and see how the
paint turned out befor deciding whether or not I needed to
cover any flaws. As it turned out the only bad part is around
the front driver headlight ring, I had some extra epoxy to
wipe off (usually no big deal) but this time it took off some
of the clear! And its in a spot that I cant cover with a decal!
Oh well, don’t tell nobody. Some of the hood hold down
apparatus’ were a little tricky but the vac formed windscreens
and tail/running lights were pretty easy.(that’s right
Bob no trouble with the vacuum formed windows this time).
These were outfitted with and the kit includes side windows
and trim, but I usually leave these pieces off so you can
see the interior, also it gives a place to pick up the model
(roof edges) without getting the body full of fingerprints.
Conclusion:
These kits are the premiere of 1/25-1/24 modelling. They are
truly masterpieces…however….be prepared for a
challenge, for like most aftermarket resin…they are
no Tamiya kit! And at $250 a piece I would be willing to bet
you will never see Don S. buy one!
- Scott Harvieux
August-2005
|
