"Le Chaton", 1/12 Italeri Bugatti 35B

[jaymcminn]

This is Italeri's new-tool Bugatti 35b in 1/12 scale. It's a beautiful kit and a great starting point for a detailed build. I started building this model in my head when the kit was announced in February 2022. My plan was to replicate the carefully preserved patina that the best examples of Bugatti's racing cars all seem to have. It's a tricky combination of careworn paint, cracked leather and polished (but not too polished) metal. 

First step was to remove the molded rivets and locking bolts for Tichy Train Group styrene rivets and 3d printed locking bolts from Unobtanium. I used a salt weathering technique on the body to allow the bare aluminum base coat to peek through the Vallejo Sky Blue paint. The racing numbers were painted on using masks from Orlee. 

The leather throughout the car is 1.5oz thin bookbinding leather in distressed Cognac. Brake cables are thin braided stainless steel. Metallic finishes are all Vallejo Metal Color. Weathering was done with Vallejo washes and Tamiya Weathering Master pastels. 

This was an excellent kit overall. Most of the locating holes needed minor reaming out, largely due to paint thickness. The screws, which are slotted instead of Phillips and not magnetic, were a challenge as well. 

I genuinely enjoyed this build. Sometimes you're just "in the zone" when building a model and this was one of those cases. It's the first time I used the salt weathering technique as well as my first time using leather for upholstery. I'm sure it won't be my last... I have a LOT left over!

Anyway, on to the pics!

[jaymcminn]

Just noticed the nasty fingerprint in the last picture, must have happened yesterday when I was applying a final touch up of acrylic wash on the metal plates on the sills. Already cleaned up with a little alcohol and water mix.

[Kah puts]

Killer build, the weathering is spot on ??

[bondo bill]

Gorgeous build

[bisc63]

Outstanding realism; it just looks like you could crank it over and hear it run. Much to admire in the details. Great job!

[Mittagskind]

That´s a phantastic work, I´m very impressed. It´s my big dream to build an Alfa Romeo 8C by Italeri on this kind. After ending of my current project that will be the next one. Maybe I will have some questions to you.

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[XYHARRY]

Wow, great model weathering. The two things that stand out for me is the exhaust manifold and the leather straps. Well done Jason and thanks for sharing. 

Cheers, 

David. ??

[atomicholiday]

Looks just like the real thing.  This is model building at its finest.?

[Jim B]

Great looking Bugatti! The weathering is just fantastic. 

[Oldriginal86]

Very realistic build. Is that safety wire on the body work? Very well done.

[Hi-Po]

Outstanding build!  Truly a work of art.  

[jaymcminn]

43 minutes ago, Oldriginal86 said:

Very realistic build. Is that safety wire on the body work? Very well done.

Yes, but not 100% accurate to how Bugatti did it. The locking bolts are 3d printed by a company out of the UK called Unobtanium. THey're an ingenious design that uses a jig to drill .3mm holes for 30 gauge wire through each bolt. They're designed for the 1/12 Italeri Alfa 8c, which is a slightly different design to Bugatti's locking bolts. It looks good though, and this design is less fragile than the accurate ones would be. The wire is 30 gauge soft jewelry wire. Thanks!

[jaymcminn]

6 hours ago, XYHARRY said:

Wow, great model weathering. The two things that stand out for me is the exhaust manifold and the leather straps. Well done Jason and thanks for sharing. 

Cheers, 

David. ??

Thanks man! The exhaust manifolds were done using Perfect Plastic Putty, which is an acrylic putty. I thinned it down to a very thick paint consistency and stippled it on with an old brush. Once dry I primed with Tamiya red oxide primer, misted with Tamiya grey primer and gave it a wash with thinned Revell light brown acrylic. The leather was pretty easy, the hardest part was getting straight cuts on 1/32 in thick leather that wants to bunch up on you as you're cutting. 

 

10 hours ago, Mittagskind said:

That´s a phantastic work, I´m very impressed. It´s my big dream to build an Alfa Romeo 8C by Italeri on this kind. After ending of my current project that will be the next one. Maybe I will have some questions to you.

Ask away whenever you'd like. I built the 8c a few years back and it's just as good as this kit. Here's a pic below, I didn't go as crazy on the weathering as I did on this one. 

[89AKurt]

Better than museum quality!

[happy grumpy]

Awesome work. The level of details is astounding even for that scale. It looks so real.

[Nacho Z]

Good Lord, Jason, that is an absolutely stunning model!  I really don’t know how to sum it up any better.  Fandamntastic!!

[Pierre Rivard]

Wow Jason, what a gorgeous build. The salt weathering technique gives it that perfect barn find look you were aiming for. Most impressive is all the metal finishes looking so much like...metal?

Stunning!

[jaymcminn]

37 minutes ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Wow Jason, what a gorgeous build. The salt weathering technique gives it that perfect barn find look you were aiming for. Most impressive is all the metal finishes looking so much like...metal?

Stunning!

Thanks Pierre! I'm really happy with how the metal finishes turned out. A lot of it comes down to the Vallejo Metal Color paint. The pigments are Metalizer-fine, but Metal Color is water-based and pre-thinned for airbrushing. It doesn't mind being brush-painted over small areas either. A lot of the chassis components were painted with their Gunmetal Grey and then drybrushed with the Chrome to give it depth and shine like the alloy components of the 1:1.

Salt weathering is FUN. Definitely going to go into my bag of tricks for future use. It's a really random effect, which is a challenge for me since I like to control every aspect of my builds, but I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. 

The barn-find aspect of the build suffered from "mission creep" as it progressed. The more you research these cars, even with tatty (or sometimes no) paint and wrecked leather, you realize they are still loved. Which makes sense as they are mid 7-figure cars these days. By keeping the mechanicals shiny and everything else a bit rough, I think I hit that aesthetic.

Edited July 4, 2023 by jaymcminn

[Nosferatu]

Absolutely amazing details and weathering! Excellent work!

Dave

[cifenet]

First, great job making this very very realistic.  Many of the details are accurately reproduced! 

Second, your photography is excellent here! 

Many close up shots also showing off how properly put together!  Bravo!!!

[slusher]

Impressive!

[beeRS]

You absolutely nailed it!  That is the perfect amount of patina. It’s hard to believe you’re looking at a model and not a 1:1 barn find. Fantastic job ??. 

[jaymcminn]

In the display case with two of its contemporaries, Italeri's Fiat Mefistofele and Alfa Romeo 8c. 

[radiohd10]

dang, dude - that is a thing of beauty.  amazing work.