Brian da Basher's Racy Thing for the Racing Theme GB

[Brian da Basher]

The quickening pace of automotive technology right after W.W. I was driven in part by racing. It seemed almost every manufacturer was involved in the sport, some more remembered than others. Utterly forgotten today is the Dodge Bros. early participation.



The end of the Great War caused some talented engineers from Germany to seek opportunity in the United States. One Count von Hohenspätz was notable for his radical approach to streamlining.



The Dodge Bros. could recognize talent and hired Count von Hohenspätz to turn their nascent post-war racing car into a winner.



The Dodge racer had been built at the beginning of 1920, using a surplus, wing-less Air Corps DH-4 as the starting point because of that powerful Liberty engine. The rear gunnery station was used to house a large gas tank as it was hoped this would improve range and make the car viable for rally racing.



Count von Hohenspätz could do little about the front of the car where the Liberty lived nor much else with the rest of the frame due to the Dodge Bros.' frugal nature, but the Count could give this racer the fastest wheels ever seen.



The Dodge Bros. both unfortunately died before they could see their radical new car take part in the 1921 racing season. As things ended out, perhaps that was all for the best.



The Dodge-Hohenspätz 4 or DH-4 seemed to be just about coming into her own and ended up among the leaders in its first three races. However, that would change dramatically at the 1921 Coraopolis 200.



The DH-4 was struck from behind and its large gas tank was punctured. Sparks caused by the impact made the car burst into flames, preceeding the Ford Pinto by a good 50 years.





With no more financial backing from the Dodge Bros. or race sponsors and the DH-4 now a pile of ashes and burnt, unrecognizable metal, Count von Hohenspätz became ill from it all and died six months later, never knowing the impact he would have on spat history. The Count was dumbstruck by events and often wondered if other influences were at play.



Interestingly, authorities never ruled out alcohol as a potential contributing factor, but perhaps we'll never know the answer with any certainty.



Little survived of the DH-4 and there is scant documentary evidence besides a few technical drawings and an article in the Coraopolis Courier from the eve of the race.



Today, many experts in the field of racing history discount the DH-4 as the product of a fired-up imagination and think it never existed in the first place.



Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

This all began with a bagged 1/48 AMT DH-4 that showed up in a care package a while back (thanks a million, hamsterman!). Soon I realized the spats from a 1/72 Amiot 143 would work as wheels if I wanted to turn it into a car. Hmmm those DH-4 wings & tail feathers will be nice to have in the spares box, too. So here's the starting line up.



Right off the bat, I knew I'd have to fill that huge 'pit. No way around it, so I started building it.



I scratched the fire wall from card and the pedals from bits of sprue. I found a spare wheel from a Bleriot to use for the steering wheel.



I also made a little gear shift out of spare parts.



The U.S. penny gives you an idea how tiny some of this is.



I had to be careful assembling all this because I needed to make sure I had enough clearance for the instrument panel.



Here's how it looked painted before I closed it all up.





This is a case of doing too much since the pedals can't be seen at all.



Oh well, at least I know they're there.



And a little model bondage so it all sets right.



At this point, I still hadn't figured out how to attach the rear wheels. Then I got lucky and stumbled across just the right part in the spares box.



I have no idea what it is, best guess is part of a swing-wing mechanism, but it sure did the trick.



Here's how it all looked buttoned up and built, but before paint.













It was at this point I realized something was missing, so I fabricated rear-view mirrors out of orphan bomb halves and P-36 wheel hubs.





Here's how it all looked with paint.





The old hairy stick was used along with a lot of Model Masters acrylics, Medium Gray and Semi-Gloss Black mostly.



I'm not certain where the windshield came from. I think it was the armored windscreen for a 1/48 Henschel 129.



I've been working on this model for the last month or so. Right after I took those pictures with the paint on, I dropped it and had to rebuild the rear axles which fought me like the deuce.





Ah well all's well that ends well and I'm just glad I was able to get this one finished in time.







Here's a couple more shots of that 'pit. Still can't see the pedals but the rest is visible.





The decals were all from spares, the large #23s from a venerable Viscount and the Ethyl ones from a sheet probably for a 1/48 scale racing plane. The Goodyear logos came on a sheet Mr GTX sent me a while back.







I'd like to thank Bill for sending me both the DH-4 and the Amiot that sacrificed its spats and Jon for moderating this GB.



It's not known if alcohol played a contributing factor in this entry, but it can't be ruled out.



Brian da Basher

[Claymore]

As always Brian, a most excellent model supported by an endearing and very funny backstory. Well done that man and so much spatty goodness! 

[GTX_Admin]

 

[finsrin]

So thatz how the story goes.
Fine bash of DH-4 kit into racer that once was. Bet it highly resembles the real thing !

[ysi_maniac]

So beautiful and imaginative 

[AXOR]

Great model Brian,I like  !!!

[andonio64]

Great creation Brian! I love it a lot...

Antonio

 

[The Big Gimper]

Wow!! You should have worked for De Havilland Brian! 

[Tophe]

Good transformation! (uneasy to recognize the source at first view, thanks to the explanation text!)

[TimJ]

Great model and backstory. 

[ChernayaAkula]

Very cool! Really like this design. 

[apophenia]

That is too cool! And the Amiot spats are the bee's knees 

[Robomog]

Hi Brian,  you often come up with some great creations but this one is exceptional, Great back story too !

Nice one !

Regards

Mog