V8 Engine - Teching - EngineDIY & Model Ship World

V8 Engine
Teching
Catalogue # DM118
Available from EngineDIY for $699.99 (minus discount code)

A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, and built in 1904 by the French Antoinette company for use in speedboat racing, cars, and later, airplanes. The first V8 engine used in a road-going car was the 1905 Rolls-Royce built in the United Kingdom. This model was initially equipped with a 3.5 L V8 engine. However, only three cars were made before Rolls-Royce reverted to using straight-six engines for their cars. Due to large external dimensions, V8 engines are typically used in cars that use a longitudinal engine layout and rear-wheel drive (or all-wheel drive). However, V8 engines have also occasionally been used in transverse engine front-wheel drive vehicles, sometimes using closer cylinder bore spacings and narrower cylinder bank angles to reduce their space requirements.

The kit

Like the Radial engine I looked at recently, this kit is supplied in a lovely metal tin some nice artwork designs on the lid and sides/bottom of the packaging. Under the lid, an instruction manual sits on a sheet of clear acetate that further protects the three trays of parts below. Again, the parts are sat in custom made cutouts that hold the parts nicely, and each cutout is engraved with the part numbers of the items therein. In these photos, you'll see a lot of very recognisable parts such as valves, manifolds, crankshaft, camshafts, piston heads, chains etc. All parts are exquisitely machined and finished in various anodised colours that are rugged and certainly didn't mark while I was assembling this model. Again, this model is devoid of lube, despite the text being on the fittings box, so you will need to buy something suitable. I used bike chain oil.

The kit spec for this is:

Material: Aluminum Alloy + Stainless Steel
Coloring Process: Anodizing
Number of Parts: 500+pcs
Lithium Battery: 3.7V 500mAh
Charging Voltage: DC 5V
Charging Time: 2 hours
Usage Time: 1 hour
Assembling Difficulty: 5 stars
Assembly Time: About 5 hours.
Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 19.8 x 18cm
Product Weight: 2550g
Package Dimensions: 34.2 x 24.2 x 15cm
Package Weight: 4500g
Packing: High-end Metal Gift Box

Conclusion
Such a beautifully made kit, and I can say that it assembles beautifully too. It's also quite heavy and sizeable when complete. You'll need a nice space to display it. I speak from experience. Parts quality is most definitely high end and as long as you follow the instructions regarding setting up the engine timing and tensioning, all will be good. Mine ran perfectly from the start. If you do have any issues, then the manual provides a troubleshooting guide to help you.



My assessment: A wonderful kit!



My sincere thanks to EngineDIY for sending out this kit for review on Model Ship World. To buy direct, click the link in the header of this topic.



The next couple of posts will show this model being built and tested. This was a process that took about 6 hours over the weekend, including my photography.



To be continued...