Phil,
Great to have you become one of us. You expertise will be a tremendous help to all of use race car modelers. I do an occasional F1 car in between my Tin Tops and GT cars. I’ve got the Tamiya FW07B in my stash, for a up coming build.
Looking forward to following your MFH Williams FW07B.
joel
Thanks Phil,
I love reading people’s interest in cars and the different way they express their fascination with them. I am more of an aesthetics person and usually need a story for the car I am building. I have followed F1 since the mid-70s and reckon 1980 was one of the best years for F1 racing. There is a book on it by Mark Hughes which is a great read and for me provided useful information about the FW07B.
Even if you had given me this detail beforehand I wouldn’t have made any changes since the areas you highlight are not that visible. I agree with what you say about the accuracy but I think it is a challenge for all manufacturers with the many permutations these cars go through.
I always spend some time looking at pictures, more for colour because that is not an MFH strength, and I can see some of the subtle differences but I would not be able to say which chassis or race they belong to and as you say there are a lot of modern photos of the cars in historic racing I am not sure what was original and what has been adapted.
In the case with this car it is clear that the gearbox is an existing molding from another Cosworth, probably from the much early Lotus 79, since it’s fit was poor and required some effort to go together, whereas the a lot of the other parts are much cleaner than I have previously seen. I don’t mind that, as you say no-one else is going to give us this kit.
Please keep the details and photos flowing because it all adds to the story.
I should have the front suspension completed in the next few days.
cheers
Michael
Workshop diorama, perhaps? 
Hi Russell, good to hear from you. I think you’re right about the workshop, it would certainly be ideal for that.
cheers
Michael
Michael & Joel,
Thanks for your kind words. I totally agree with you. I’m just glad MFH got the visible stuff right.
That Mark Hughes book is great isn’t it? An excellent portrait of an important season - both on and off the track. Another great book on Williams’ early years is Racers - The Inside Story Of Williams Grand Prix Engineering by Doug Nye. It covers up to the end of 1981 and has so many great stories. It is not hard to find on eBay and elsewhere.
You’re right about MFH’s colours too but I’m really impressed with the way they’ve handled the colours of the decals. More about that later in your build I’m sure.
Joel you mentioned my build of this kit. I’d love to say I’m starting it today but I reckon I’m a long way off being ready to do justice to this amazing kit. I’m more than happy to cheer from the sideline as Michael does his stuff.
If there’s anything I can help with as you go along, I’ll be happy to try.
All the best,
Phil
Following along quietly in the background, mate 
@Russelle Cool, I do the same for your Dauntless. It’s another one of your epic builds 
I haven’t built a ship in quite a while but I do like reading the blogs.
cheers
Michael
Thanks Phil, yes the decals look excellent though MFH can be tricky. I hope the Gravity Paints Saudi Green I have matches the sponsorship.
cheers
Michael
Front suspension and brakes complete now, along with the first bits of bodywork. Took a couple of efforts as wasn’t happy with the first white, Ford Olympic white and switched to Titanium white.
Next up, start the cooling and related plumbing.
cheers
Michael
Michael,
The front suspension and the brakes really turned out looking super realistic. Well done my friend.
And like you, I’ve been somewhat disappointed in many of the Gravity shades of White. Some how the scaling of some of their Whites tends to be at least for me slightly to gray. So like you, I make the same switch to their Titanium White. Also Tamiya’s LP White and Gunze White scale very well.
joel
Super neat work Michael, love it!
Cheers, D
Looking great Michael. 
You sure you don’t want to do the rivets? Maybe not MFH’s which seem to be made of gold given the price. 
Lovin’ the build.
Phil
@Joel_W Thanks Joel, I agree with the your views on the white. I can’t remember why I bought the Titanium white but glad I did.
@AussieReg Cheers Damian, glad you like it.
@Phil_B Thanks Phil, on the rivets, I did think about it for the exposed bodywork under the front suspension and by the nose but I know I would be going through a few 0.5mm drill bits and I am just down to one at the moment. If I did another metal body car from the 60’s I would probably give it a go.
thanks all for following
Michael
I forgot, before the cooling comes the mating. Probably the single trickiest requirement on this car was the joining of the engine to the chassis. Seven connection points to line up to join the two parts but after 50mins I got there.
The most awkward part was trying to line up two 0.5mm holes and at the same time slide a rivet in. It involved the rivet on the right. Really a job for a three-hander
And the underfloor body work for the engine to help with that ground effect.
Back to the plumbing.
cheers
MIchael
Nice work once again Michael .
Yet another cost associated with these kits may be the hiring of a lovely assistant to help when more than two hands are needed… just a thought.
Cheers - Richard
Michael,
With 5 connection points at the same time to align so that the engine/suspension can be matted to the body, seems like almost a impossible task with just two hands. Did you have to come up with some kind of jig to accomplish it? The pics show that you did a perfect job, and in only 50 min no less.
And yes Richard having a lovely assistant to aid in all aspects of the build requiring more then two hands, and or even two heads would be a major plus. But my better half would certainly have me committed for sure.
joel
Mine would have me executed…
Richard,
Being executed just might be better then life in an institution with no way out.
joel
Hmm surely a lovely assistant’s mandatory when more than one hand’s needed…? but that’s not important right now, just caught up with this superb build. Bravo Michael, are those slicks in the bags? 
Thanks for the comments - I am surprised, though may be I shouldn’t be, how we moved from having an assistant to an end of life discussion in just 3 posts. Probably a thesis in that somewhere
@Dioramartin Yes Tim, lovely fat Goodyear slicks, pre-painted 'n all. They’ll be making an appearance at the end of this build.
cheers
Michael
