Old Very Worn Bicycle Seat for the Bianchi Project -- "Soffatti Professionale" in Celeste Green

Would like to find some leather spray paint in this Bianchi Celeste Green color but I don't think it exists...

Base plastic is cracked.  Will have to "fix" by epoxying some fiberglass on it.

Herpa 1/43rd scale Ferrari F40 model -- Long Beach Car Swap Meet -- Sunday, December 9, 2018

The plastic case lid has some cracks and two of the wheels fell off.   So, the guy sold it at a very low price.

The model was missing the clips to hold it to the base.  The roof and the windshield has some minor scratches.  The wheels actually snapped back in place easily & the "suspension" pieces were not broken so once the wheels were back on and the roof/windshield was lightly cleaned, the model looked very good.  The exterior (& the rest of this model) is made of very thin plastic.  That's how Herpa makes their 1/87th scale models.  Most 1/43rd scale models are made of die-cast metal.  Making this model out of plastic makes it easier to have fine levels of detail and to have functioning openings.

The level of detail possible with plastic at 1/43rd scale is pretty amazing...

I have the 1/87th scale Herpa model of the F40 also.  It's amazing that the hood & front end open (the doors don't).

Long Beach Model T Club Swap Meet -- Saturday July 21, 2018 -- Bought a Pile of Brochures -- 89

Bianchi Road Bike Project

Bought this incomplete bike at the Whittier Bicycle Swap Meet earlier this year.  It's missing quite a few items (like derailleurs, seat, handle bar, pedals, etc.) and it's not in the best of conditions.  I'm not going to "restore" it.  Just clean and fix it up a little bit.

The bike was built up with Gipiemme components, including the rear drop outs.  What's left on the bike is mostly Gipiemme.

The rear wheel has a Mavic rim and a Gipiemme hub.  So, I'm guessing this wheel is original to the bike.  The front wheel doesn't match and is probably not original to the bike.

The seat post is Gipiemme.

The seat post clamp bolt is Gipiemme.

Columbus steel tubing.

The goose-neck is marked Bianchi on both sides. 

Looks like the original "head-badge" sticker -- Edoardo Bianchi

Columbus tubing for the front fork

The front wheel and hub are marked "MATRIX" which I've never heard of...

It's hard to see but the crank arms have the remnants of a label saying Bianchi.  Missing the dust caps for the cranks...

Pretty big rings...

It's pretty dirty so it's hard to see but it says Gipiemme.  The rear hub has the metal rotating cover over the oiling hole (like Campagnolo hubs).

Front hub

Missing the downtube shifters...

Still has the brakes that look original to the bike.  I know that Modolo (Italian brand) made titanium brakes and were a dark color.  I'm not sure but these may be titanium...

The bike is very dirty and the paint is chipped off in placed (like the tip of the seat tube lug...)

Built in bike pump mount.

OMAS headset (not Gipiemme).

Standard 1 inch size (25.4 mm).

It's hard to see but the Bianchi logo and name are engraved into the goose-neck.

The bicycle dealer's sticker.  Looked up "Britton's Bicycles" and there's a shop in San Antonio by that name...

The lugs have some cool details, like this "B" cast into the bottom head-tube lug.

Bianchi is cast into the bottom bracket lug & there's a serial number there.  Will have to take off the bottom cable guide and clean the frame to read the serial number...

The fork "crowns" have the Bianchi logo cast into it.  The depression has been filled in with black paint.

The front of the goose-neck says "ITM" which is a well known Italian component manufacturer (especially for goose-necks)

Six speed cassette.  The drop outs have micro-adjusting screws & the seat tube has a feature a few inches up for ???

Pretty dirty and scratched up.  The protective sticker on the bottom tube is pretty messed up & needs to be replaced.