# 1/8 BTTF Delorean. This is heavy, Doc!



## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

I've been building this eaglemoss gigantic Back to the Future Delorean and so far it's been a blast from the past! Its one of those subscription based kits were they send you a few parts every month. While I've never done one like this before I thought it'd be a good way to practice patience. 
The subscription method makes it so you're essentially financing the kit since the final cost would be WAY more than I could afford all at once. By quitting my 2-4 pack a week cigarette habit I'm able to use that money on this kit instead. Thus giving up one addiction for a new one >


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

thought there was some molding flash on the taillight but on closer inspection it was actually a DMC logo that are on the real thing.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

That's pretty nifty. 

Obvious questions: Is the body metal or plastic? Will it have operating lights? Will they design option parts for the BTTF II and III variations or will they cash grab and release those as their own kits? 

Given the way these things usually work and you don't get a full assembly manual, just for each specific issue part, it's probably hard to tell just yet if, for example, the wheel parts can be swapped out for stock DeLorean or Flying version.

(and of course the licensing bugaboo, it might be cheaper to just take up the BTTF license and not go for the sequels, and one has the option to make a pure stock DeLorean as well)


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## holt35 (Aug 15, 2013)

I had no idea this was even out and I'm thinking about getting it but I have a question and maybe you'll know. How many issues are there? I saw that they give you a binder that holds 16 of the magazines but is that how many there are? I couldn't find an answer on the site.


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Steve H said:


> That's pretty nifty.
> 
> Obvious questions: Is the body metal or plastic? Will it have operating lights? Will they design option parts for the BTTF II and III variations or will they cash grab and release those as their own kits?
> 
> ...


Its a mix of metal and plastic will the majority of the parts being metal so far. I was surprised the upper portion of the bumper was metal since the real thing is some type of plastic. 

Finished kit is lighted AND the wheels have a "flight" mode. The mechanism that drops the wheels isn't as fancy as the old AMT kit but the trade-off is they have nicely rendered the steering and suspension components. I've noticed 3rd party fans making carpet kits and little magazines on fleabay so there will almost certainly be some fan made parts down the road.


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

holt35 said:


> I had no idea this was even out and I'm thinking about getting it but I have a question and maybe you'll know. How many issues are there? I saw that they give you a binder that holds 16 of the magazines but is that how many there are? I couldn't find an answer on the site.


The binder holds a little over 1/10 of the series so you'll have to buy more than one. You're looking at a 32 month commitment which seems like a lot but is pretty much a cell phone service contract. 

For me it was a matter of realizing this was as close as I'll ever get to building a 1/1 replica (every kids dream, right?) And the alternative 1/6 Hot Toys Delorean has glaring errors on the doors that ruined it for me.


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## smoke14 (Aug 16, 2009)

Welcome to the forums Ziphead!! And congrat's on quitting smoking :thumbsup:

Looking forward to your build, I used to drive one of those, a slug with the Volvo engine but, oooh sooo cool!! :grin2:

Never could get it to stop following the white line on the highway :surprise:


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

smoke14 said:


> Welcome to the forums Ziphead!! And congrat's on quitting smoking :thumbsup:
> 
> Looking forward to your build, I used to drive one of those, a slug with the Volvo engine but, oooh sooo cool!! :grin2:
> 
> Never could get it to stop following the white line on the highway :surprise:


Thank you! It's been good motivation for quitting. I was just watching the documentary about restoring the original prop car and they mentioned how the original Delorean speedometer only went upto 85mph so they had to make a new one.

I heard a joke once that the biggest plot hole in BTTF was that a Delorean could reach 88 MPH... hahaha.


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Jumped into adding various parts to the main frame. Should have a rolling chassis soon! Wasn't expecting to see so many metal parts and so much detail on some of these parts since they'll be hidden from view when the model is all done. 


Each sub assembly is a kit in itself.



A few details in the steering mechanism include rubber parts and working springs.


The wheel hubs have a separate hubcap so the turbine fins have more depth than the usual one-piece injection molded offerings. 


Next step will be adding the rear wheels. Wish I had ordered two kits so I could build one as an "exploded" view showing off all the neat details hidden on the frame.


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## smoke14 (Aug 16, 2009)

Hello again ziphead! Great pics, thanks, keep them coming, the details are fantastic. I agree it would be cool to have gotten 2 kits to show the details off with a finished one! a link for the site, https://www.deloreanbuildup.com/index.php?msclkid=982c59fc774212cd0d9d03374a82e4c2

btw, hope you're still not smoking :thumbsup:

Trading one addiction for another is great as long as it's not one that harms your health, relationships with others etc :grin2:


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## Rusty_S85 (Apr 7, 2018)

Have you gotten any of the interior pieces yet?

I thought of doing it but once I found out exactly what the finished product cost I couldn't justify it. Plus for the final cost to me the demo photos showed the gauges just didn't look good enough for the cost.


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## The_Engineer (Dec 8, 2012)

Beautiful car and I'm interested in seeing this build. I checked the site and I couldn't find what the price was. I read the comments for one of the videos and someone posted the cost in GBP which I converted to CAD and was shocked at the price. I already have the Sunstar 1/18th diecast Bttf Delorean #1, #2 and the 'regular' Delorean as well as the Hotwheels one. I love the 1/8th scale (I built a 1/8th scale KITT out of lego back in 1985) and if it was a KITT instead of the Bttf Delorean I would be more interested (and if they really dropped the price in half). Keep posting, I want to see this build all the way to the end!


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

smoke14 said:


> Hello again ziphead! Great pics, thanks, keep them coming, the details are fantastic. I agree it would be cool to have gotten 2 kits to show the details off with a finished one! a link for the site, https://www.deloreanbuildup.com/index.php?msclkid=982c59fc774212cd0d9d03374a82e4c2
> 
> btw, hope you're still not smoking :thumbsup:
> 
> Trading one addiction for another is great as long as it's not one that harms your health, relationships with others etc :grin2:


Very true. I'll admit I've had a couple cigs I bummed off co-workers since I began but at most 2-3 a week so definite improvement. I also got one of the vape sticks which do work but aren't quite the same. 

Still, it's nice being able to breath a bit better everyday!



Rusty_S85 said:


> Have you gotten any of the interior pieces yet?
> 
> I thought of doing it but once I found out exactly what the finished product cost I couldn't justify it. Plus for the final cost to me the demo photos showed the gauges just didn't look good enough for the cost.


It's definitely the biggest roadblock and I'll admit I had some reservations at first. Once I got issues 1 & 2 my concerns were eased since handling the parts made the $12 a week seem very reasonable. 



The_Engineer said:


> Beautiful car and I'm interested in seeing this build. I checked the site and I couldn't find what the price was. I read the comments for one of the videos and someone posted the cost in GBP which I converted to CAD and was shocked at the price. I already have the Sunstar 1/18th diecast Bttf Delorean #1, #2 and the 'regular' Delorean as well as the Hotwheels one. I love the 1/8th scale (I built a 1/8th scale KITT out of lego back in 1985) and if it was a KITT instead of the Bttf Delorean I would be more interested (and if they really dropped the price in half). Keep posting, I want to see this build all the way to the end!


Excellent collection. I'm waiting on the next round of parts but will be posting this regularly! All the Deloreans you listed are pretty well done. I had a sunstar years ago but ruined it taking it apart to super detail it.

The 1/8 version isn't without it's flaws (since any model will never be 100% accurate to the real thing) but it was the fact that these will be near impossible to find someday that made me jump on board. 

I admit it's not for everyone. $12 a week over 2 years is no small sum and many people really can't afford to spare that these days. But I don't think the kit is overpriced and the whole monthly subscription thing has it's perks. 

Had this been a complete kit it would be $1600 at once. I'd never have dropped that much at once and if I had tried too I'd have to had used a credit card. Even with a decent APR that's 13% interest on top of the $1600. 

The other big problem would have been shipping. Four issues of parts take up a fairly big box and has some heft to it. If it was all 130 issues it would have been a massive box that would have weighed close to 30 lbs. Not impossible to ship but something to consider.


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Small update: I skipped an issue that's early in the run because I wanted to get the chassis going but here's a look at the reactor parts in issue 3



The original plutonium reactor is made up of 3 parts that screw together underneath. On the real time machine this assembly was made from an old Plymouth hubcap and a turbine ring from a military jet engine. The hatch for the plutonium rod was a custom made part as far as I know.

 

Mr. Fusion is made up of several parts and builds up to a nice looking fusion reactor made from a coffee grinder - from one side atleast. It does have the little red latch but I haven't attached it yet because it's spring loaded and I need tweezers to put that assembly together.



There are individual parts for the coffee grounds bin (the clear bit near the bottom) as well as the clear logos and the clear lid. 

 

Opens up so you can throw 1/8 scale garbage into it to generate the 1.21 jigawatts of electricity you'll need. The black base is a 1/8 scale mainframe computer harddrive enclosure circa pre1980. 

 

This is the biggest drawback of the screw-only assembly method. 3 big screws on one side hold the coffee grinder halves together. It definitely ruins the ability to display the final cars passenger side. There is a builder that makes stickers to cover them; but honestly if it's really an issue one could easily superglue the parts together without the screws and fill them in. I haven't seen aftermarket Mr. Fusion decals for this *yet* but it'd be fairly easy to fix the screw holes with putty and paint.

For me it wasn't a big deal since I'm going for Delorean time machine v.1. Since the final issue includes a mini plutonium case I'd like to have the original reactor on there. I'll keep Mr. Fusion sitting nearby with a 1/8 can of beer and banana peel since it's still a cool looking bit.


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## smoke14 (Aug 16, 2009)

Wow just Wow!! Nice, I'm living vicariously through you buddy! My big cousin Steven, has the car I used to drive, I'll send him a copy of these thread, he'll love it!!C :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

smoke14 said:


> Wow just Wow!! Nice, I'm living vicariously through you buddy! My big cousin Steven, has the car I used to drive, I'll send him a copy of these thread, he'll love it!!C :thumbsup::thumbsup:


I'm glad to share the experience! Ask him if he's sick of people asking where the flux capacitor is :wink2:


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Had the patience to install the latch on Mr. Fusion over the weekend. Those little springs are very tricky. I thought I had lost one on the floor but luckily since it didn't spring off very far I was able to find it using some magnets (having a hardwood floor helps as well.)

Latch functions well enough to put a grin on my face!

Should have the next batch of parts sometime this week!


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

I begun to receive parts for the Deloreans internal combustion engine - which has always powered the Delorean despite the addition of Mr. Fusion which only powers the flux capacitor. Worth mentioning if you are planning any trips through rugged terrain where gas stations may not be available for a quick fill up. 



This is the transmission which does appear to be an automatic transmission whereas the time machine Delorean was a manual. That issue aside it does look pretty nice when assembled and won't be something that stands out.



Some nice details are the transmission fluid pan which is a separately molded part. 



Attached to the engine block. The block has a nice level of detail and is quite hefty feeling as it comes together. I do believe those springs in the rear suspension will be getting some compression once the model is finished!



The engine block which is made up of several individual pieces that screw together in a clever way that hides them from view. (I'll try and get a picture of the inside of the block before I attach the top-parts of the engine.



The addition of plastic molded details are a familiar sight to anyone whos every built a 1/24 car kit; however, they appear to have taken advantage of the advantages of the larger 1/8 scale as an opportunity to capture them all very realistically. 



The top of the engine will be getting some neat looking details soon - and will be the most visible area of the engine on the completed kit. It's not screwed down so I'll see about taking a few internal shots of the block before sealing it down.

The only thing I've noticed worth mentioning is that many of these assemblies could benefits from super glue. The gaps on these parts vary and aren't the worst if one just leaves it screwed together, but since most of us here own super glue and clamps it wouldn't be a bad idea to do it on the engine block.


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## John F (May 31, 2001)

How far along into your subscription are you ?


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

John F said:


> How far along into your subscription are you ?


A little over 1/10 of the way!

I decided that the engine looked a little too new and clean so I broke out some oil paints I have and added some weathering. I bet if you did the same with the Mustang engine it'd look much more realistic. Took me about 45 minutes over two nights to get to this level of weathering (let the first coat cure overnight.)
(click picture to enlarge)


The weathering looks a bit stronger in the photos - in real life its a bit more muted. You can see a bit of the original color of the metal on the mounts near the bottom.
(click picture to enlarge)


Front of the engine with the value covers and intake parts installed. Looking more realistic as it's built.
(click picture to enlarge)


I also applied a thin dull coat of paint on the value covers to make them look like a different type of metal.
(click picture to enlarge)


Also gave a coat of color to a few small parts. Anyone who's seen an engine up close knows all the individual components are different colors. A good example of how a little bit of paint can make this kit really start to shine. The hose on the engine parts is actually a rubber tube! I'm interested in seeing how much more detail there will be once the engine assembly is complete.


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Small update. I made a few videos showing how I went about weathering the engine and some other parts of this kit. I'm going to be making more as I go along so others can see how they can achieve awesome weathering results!


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Sorry it's been so long for an update everyone. The last 30 days have been very stressful but I have been working on the kit a little bit to keep my mind off all the stress.



Weathered some of the new parts



Planning on using some of the Tamiya weathering powder after the new coat of paint dries



It's all starting to come together!



Got the radiator parts put together



They won't be really visible on the finished kit but I weathering the parts anyways.



The radiator has nicely molded detail and a coat of a lighter colored paint really helps the detail pop-out from the all black parts.

Also threw together another video demonstrating how I added weathering to the new engine parts. Have a look!


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Thoughts and prayers for a good outcome and/or life improvement.

Build is looking good! :cheers2:


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Milton Fox Racing said:


> Thoughts and prayers for a good outcome and/or life improvement.
> 
> Build is looking good! :cheers2:


Thank you! Things have begun to settle-down and more parts are rolling in. I haven't got a chance to assemble them yet so in the meantime I worked on editing the time-lapse footage I took of the frame and suspension going together.


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Work in the interior has commenced and I'm finding the details pretty accurate so far. One pleasant surprise was finding out the seats are made of vinyl with a foam backing so that they actually feel like real seats…
 


Most of the assembly of the interior is pretty straight forward. One exception has been the wiring!

To be fair it’s not as painstaking as it looks and the wires on the dashboard are all for decoration (these aren’t the wires the power all the lights.) So you can man-handle them and not worry about breaking anything electrical.



Starting to look real enough to travel through time with.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Good to have you back, but dont wear your self out on our account - trying to catch up on the build. :cheers2:


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Milton Fox Racing said:


> Good to have you back, but dont wear your self out on our account - trying to catch up on the build. :cheers2:


If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything! :grin2:


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

So I was planning on posting some photos of some faux carpeting I installed over the week but it's pretty evident that the stuff I bought is too dark of a grey to match all the other interior parts.

No biggy, I've got some light grey material on the way that I'm hoping will match better. Putting the carpet in without a template/pre-cut wasn't that bad. I like the precut carpeting that one fan offers but the fabric he used just isn't in scale IMO. The fibers on his fabric (felt probably) are way too long. I opted for using a "velvet" fabric that looks more like 1/8 scale car carpeting - albeit a shade too dark. Hopefully the lighter velvet arrives soon so I can swap it out.

Ultimately; I would recommend that builders add some form of carpeting to the kits. Velvet sticky sheets aren't that expensive (heck, even the precut kit is fairly priced) and it's a pretty easy way add further realism to the interior.


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Got the replacement transmission from EM (manual transmission to fix the automatic transmission they sent out accidentally.) Got it installed without having to take the engine completely apart. All it needs now is some weathering





And finished the time-lapse video of the engine buildup:


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Really liked the video. Is your mechanic a UTI speed builder graduate?


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Milton Fox Racing said:


> Really liked the video. Is your mechanic a UTI speed builder graduate?


To each his/her own, but I'd rather not hear about his mechanic's UTI. :drunk:


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Fair warning, cover your keyboard before scrolling down - 
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I'll just leave their logo right here -


















They have 2 or 3 campuses nearby - so their commercials are on allllllllllllllllllllllllllll race weekend long -especially during a NASCAR race. (Thank goodness someone invented the DVR!)


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## whiskeyrat (May 7, 2012)

Wow this kit is beautiful... I just drooled onto my keyboard a little...


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Zombie_61 said:


> To each his/her own, but I'd rather not hear about his mechanic's UTI. :drunk:


Haha. Being able to speed up the footage helps with assembly time. 


















Got some self-adhesive velvet material to simulate the carpeting. Have also been adding some details/weathering on the interior. Slowly coming along!

notfullyassembled.com


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Did a quick and cheap upgrade to the kit. Bought a .60 cent blinking LED online to replace the stock non-blinky blue LED that comes with the kit. Big improvement!


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## Ziphead (Mar 25, 2018)

Continuing assembly but got a second nice surprise in April; the clear display case for the metal base Eaglemoss sent out the month prior. The case itself looks great and is designed to fit into the base so the final model is sealed from dust and grime.



Interior parts are about done so onto the frame and body panels!



Frame is made up of two large metal sub-assemblies that the panels and other parts attach to. I haven't installed the windshield yet because I'm trying to avoid having it get scratched or cracked while I add the body panels.



A few small door jam parts installed to the frame. The trunk features a working bonnet and the final assembly drops into the frame.



The trunk lid even has working struts. Some guys are adding carpeting to the trunk interior but I think it looks pretty good as is (plus I don't plan on showing off the trunk that much.)



The bonnet lid is made up of several small parts and looks pretty accurate to the real Delorean parts.





Some of the brackets and rear quarter panel parts. This is an exciting part of the build to get to. Going forward, this will start looking a whole lot like the time machine. Plus, there's lots of neat components to attach in the coming months: flux bands, the rear reactor area, and bringing the frame, interior and body altogether.


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Soooooooo
What is your status please?
-Jim G.G.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Hopefully nothing tragic. His web site link in his profile closed down on the same day as his last post and activity with us. 🤙


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