Ric's Group Beast Tamiya Peugeot 205 T16

[RicRodrigues]

Hi all!!!

I asked for it, I voted for it, so of course I'm joining this GB!!!

This time, I'm bringing you a rally legend from the glourious Group B, the nimble Peugeot 205 Turbo 16!!!

20180106_204902 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

This is a old Tamiya Kit from 1985, that I managed to get all the way from Japan. The kit shows its age, but shows as well the super Tamiya engineering and seems to me will be an amazing build. Everything was still packed in the bags and, for the first look, still in pristine condition.

The usual sprue shots, still on the bags.
The body shell
20180106_204932 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

Interior, suspension, seats, inside door panels and wheels
20180106_205120 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

Engine, transmission, brakes, instruments panel
20180106_205146 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

Clear parts, clear underside panels which will need to be painted, everything packed in the same bag with the mechanical parts sprue. (front and rear windshiel are loose,and I hope there's no scratches on those)
20180106_205158 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

Photoetched grills and rubber tires.
20180106_205226 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

In order to give more detail to this amazing car, I sorted a PE detail set from Renaissance. I still have to go through all the instructions to see what I can use or not, in order to keep this faithfull to one version.
20180106_205318 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180106_205324 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

Yes, I mentioned it, I got this kit all the way from Japan... I don't know what I was expecting!!!
20180106_205345 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

But good guy Scalemates gave me an hand and I think I won't be lost on translation!!
20180106_205357 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

And the decals... Tamiya Decals 32years old??!!
20180106_205252 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

Yep, these belong to a museum, I guess!!!
But I managed to get a set of Shunko Decals that are a little bit younger and fresh and not so yellowish!!!
20180106_205309 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

Oh boy, I want to start this one ASAP!!!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Excellent!!!
Good to see you posting up a build thread
Ya those decals, have a few ancient Tamiya kits Iike that...hoping aftermarket will be there for me when needed

[RicRodrigues]

But first, a little bit of history...

"After the well known Audi firm set a new standard in world rally racing with their now famous Quattro, full time four-wheel drive has gained considerable recognition and many firms have been working to perfect this system. Although the Audi Quattro was exceptionally fast on rough terrain, it tended to be passed up by conventional two-wheel drive racer on hard surfaces. The Peugeot firm in France, formerly a metal products factory, who made their first gasoline powered automobile way back in 1891, believed that balance of the total vehicle provided the answer. The two-wheel drive rally cars that were causing the problem were those with engines amidship, so Peugeot came up with a second generation full-time four-wheel drive rally vehicle that met these specifications. The car is basically a front-drive compact five seat commuter, that has been so radically changed that even its silhouete is altered. The Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Rally has its engine mounted amidshipss on the right side of the chassis, just in front of the right rear wheel, and occupies the space where the rear seat would be. Using a 1775cc DOHC four cylinder 16valve engine with a triple K turbo charger that produces 350BHP the Peugeot transmits this power through the transmission to a center differntial, then splits it to the front and rear wheels. An innovating feature of this car was the changeable epicyclic gear train that mechanically proportions the amount of the torque provided to front and rear of the car. This enables the Peugeot to tune its traction ability to the varying roads, even while racing. Peugeot debuted the car for the 1984 rally season expecting it to be a test year; however, Ari Vatanen won the 1000 Lakes Rally and went on to win several other races, so that the coompetitors were trying to figure out how to stop Peugeot from winning the 85' Championship. It actually turned out that Peugeot almost dominated the 85' season even before it started and as predicted by Peugeot they went on to also take the Drivers title for Timo Salonen. Rally racing is one of the most grueling of events and is probably the best proving ground for a car's endurance. Speed is not the main goal, but rather to produce a car that can be driven steadily, over all types of road surfaces, and hold together throughout. The results of these tests come back to us, the consumer, in the form of better, safer automobiles." (from Tamiya Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 instructions sheet)

But...

"In 1984, Vatanen signed to drive the Peugeot 205 T16 for Peugeot's factory team. From the 1984 1000 Lakes Rally to 1985 Swedish Rally, Vatanen won five world rallies in a row. He was tipped to win the 1985 world title, but at mid-season was trailing his team-mate Timo Salonen after a series of accidents and mechanical problems. He then had a serious accident on the Rally Argentina, when his car somersaulted at over 120 mph. His seat broke, and he was thrown around inside the car, suffering severe injuries to his legs and torso and life-threatening internal bleeding. He spent 18 months recovering first from his physical injuries, and then from severe depression. He went on to make a complete recovery and his return to motorsport in 1987 saw him go on to win the Paris-Dakar Rally four times." (from Ari Vatanen Wikipedia page)

"Peugeot Talbot Sport's factory 205 T16s under Jean Todt were the most successful cars to compete in the last two years of the World Rally Championship's Group B era, winning the 1985 and 1986 Constructors' and Drivers' titles with Timo Salonen and Juha Kankkunen respectively against such notable competition from Audi, Lancia and Ford, with an Evolution 2 model being introduced for the latter of those two seasons." (from Peugeot 205 Wikipedia page)

Finally, the Montecarlo Rally 1985 video report where you can see Ari Vatanen fighting his way to victory.
[youtube]oR_IliPDrs4[/youtube]

Yes, I'm building the 1985 Rallye MonteCarlo Ari Vatanen version!!

[Rallychef]

Great Choice, I used to love watching these group B monsters screaming through the forests in the '80's, you could hear them coming a mile away, and feel the vibrations as they thundered by.
Looking forward to seeing the build.

Regards Ian D

[pourquoi61]

Rally spectators are mad!
Exciting video, and great choice of model.

[RicRodrigues]

Excellent!!!
Good to see you posting up a build thread
Ya those decals, have a few ancient Tamiya kits Iike that...hoping aftermarket will be there for me when needed

It´s great to be back, even though not with same availability as before. Sadly, I had to offer some spare time as a sacrifice to Career, the Mighty God of Corporations, which doesn´t leave too much time for Modelling. I might not be posting, but I´m always following everyone buildings!
Speaking on gods, god bless aftermarket, the saviour of many projects and the downfall of many wallets!!!

Great Choice, I used to love watching these group B monsters screaming through the forests in the '80's, you could hear them coming a mile away, and feel the vibrations as they thundered by.
Looking forward to seeing the build.

Regards Ian D

A bow to you, Ian, who had the chance to live amongst these beasts, not only the ones from Group B but from Rally in general! I was maybe four or five years old the only time I had the chance to see a live rally (this might have been around 1986 or 1987), but that roar growing from the distance is something you would never forget! Keep coming with those pics from the rally world, Modelling world need some reference photos!

Rally spectators are mad!
Exciting video, and great choice of model.

If spectators feel this excitment just to see these Group B Beasts, imagine driving one of these on "maximum attack"!!
I hope I can make justice to the model and to the Beast!!!

[RicRodrigues]

Upadate #1

So, first update to the Beast.

I haven´t done nothing really special, just the usual preparation for assembly and painting.

But first, let me show you the beautiful details on a over 30 years old kit.
20180107_183556 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180107_183544 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

Kit manufacturers, why don´t you look at this???

Anyway, started to remove, cleaning and tiding the sub-assemblies for the engine and engine support frame. Before any glueing, I tried to dry-fitting and, oh boy!, this kit basically slots together!!!
20180109_201726 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180109_201717 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180119_113212 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

I took as well a proper look on the body shell, no significant gaps that might not have been in the actual car. There's just some minor mold lines that a quick treatment with Ultimate sanders solved almost instantly.
20180108_180723 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

As preparation for the PE brake discs, some minor surgery was required.
20180108_174838 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
One down, three to go!!

Today, I've primed the engine, engine frame, suspension, transmission, floor pan and some other bits and bobs, so I can start painting and detailing the engine. Who knows this Beast, knows that the engine can be visible, very visible, so I hope I can do a decent job on the engine.

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!
Cheers

[DrSprue]

Oh this is coming along really nice! great sprue layout and history, vid as well!

[pourquoi61]

A joy to watch this beast come to life.

[RicRodrigues]

Update #2

Apologies to everyone, I know I've been neglecting the Beast. Between work and loss of mojo, I haven't had much bench time.
But some progress was made!

The usual priming. I've used Ultimate black Primer for general parts.
20180313_184427 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

For the Parts that would be painted in Metallic Shades I've used Vallejo Gloss Black primer. The Metallic Shades are also Vallejo Metal Color, which I think are one of the best acrylic metal paints. The only exception is the Metallic Grey, Tamiya XF56.
20180313_184332 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr

The engine block and rear sub-frame was painted and assembled.
20180313_184146 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180313_184154 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180313_184200 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180313_184208 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180313_184220 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
20180313_184235 by Ricardo Rodrigues, on Flickr
(I've made a video of the assembly of engine and rear subframe, my very first attempt, let's see if I can edit it decently and show it to the world..)

The chassis is primed and waiting for a second coat of paint, the body is waiting for primer (in this specific model is composed by 2 parts and therefore needs a different kind of planning). I can say, this building is going slowly, but it's going.

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!
Cheers!!!