British Racing Green paint on. SMS lacquer is pitched as being ready to spray from the bottle but I couldn’t make it behave and had to thin it nearly 50/50 to get it to lay on nicely.
The Indycal decals also did not fit . Perhaps it was my mistake in assuming they were engineered for the Tamiya kit . The only other 1/12 Lotus 49 kit that I am aware of is the MFH kit and at nearly $800. I can’t imagine there are many people buying aftermarket decals for it , especially since it comes with these markings and it is also apparently sold out . I suspect that the decals are generic and since they are offered in multiple scales they are simply enlarged or reduced as needed and not specific to any kit . If this is the case it is a shame because it would have been far better to have them too long and cut back as needed rather than have unsightly patches which is what I had to do . I will compliment them however in that they are thin , tough and settle down beautifully with Microsol.
Cosworth Ford DFV plumbed and wired. I wound up using Monofilament for the fuel lines to the injectors and leftover black tubing from the RC 166 build for the ignition wires as the 50 year old material in the kit was unusable .
If a 1/12 scale Colin Chapman should appear I may be in for one of his tirades as I don’t know the firing order and consequently the fuel and spark may not be happening in the right place and at the right time .
The tubing from the motorcycle kit was also smaller and more in scale. Tamiya supplies black tubing for the coolant hoses but the line from the rear of the right cylinder bank to the expansion tank was hard pipe on the real car so that was scratch built using a piece of sprue.
Richard,
Excellent progress as I would expect nothing less from you.
I’ve never used SMS paints but it doesn’t surprise me that you needed to thin them 50/50 for air brushing as there’s no consistency from one brand to another. I’d take that any day over the super thin primers most of these paint companies as they’re so thin that they can’t cover any variations in color worth a damn. The only two paint companies I use are Gravity of Spain and Scale Finishes. Their paints are truly ready for the AB, and the colors are dead on. The down side is that I’ve tried their gloss finishes and what they call Super Gloss isn’t what expected. So I’ve moved back to the Tamiya and Mr. Color Clear Lacquers.
As far as the Indy Cal decals being off somewhat, Micheal just scaled up his Tamiya 1/20 decals. For him to make perfect sized decals for every scale model in all the available scales, he’d really need to have the actual model as a test mule, and that’s not realistic for us to expect that especially on a kit nearly 50 years old. I can tell you that even with his decals for the Ebbro kit, I bought both versions: Yellow decals and masks for the Yellow stripes.
I looked as carefully as I could and you did an absolutely fantastic job with the nose cone lip and the duct and what I think is the gas cap recess. The transition from decal to paint is nearly a perfect blend.
Thanks gents . This is turning into the build from hell - fighting me all the way . While I am glad to have the Indycals available as obviously the old kit ones are worthless it is still unfortunate about the fit issue , especially considering the fix is so simple . If the stripes were made overly long they would work for all - just trim them to length. This is certainly a better solution than patching.
To add insult to injury ( and this is entirely my fault ) I put the Team Lotus decals on backwards. Short stripe is supposed to go to rear by number roundel.
Gotta laugh
Im doing a commission build for a customer of this exact kit, Jim Clark version - Dutch GP.
All the challenges you have outlined with your build is what I’m having as well. Had the same with the old Honda R 273 build as well with the tub. many layers of filler and styrene sheet to fill the gaps!
Spent last night working out the best way to fit the top part of the cowling to the side as I’m getting some fitment problems too. Managed to reduce the slight warping of the body with steam to close some of the gaps, but the age of the kit is certainly showing.
Ill upload some photos soon, sounds like were in about the same place with the build.
Tony,
Welcome to our site, you’re going to really enjoy being here. And please post pictures of your build. You might like to start a build thread so we can follow right along.
Hi Tony - Welcome-so there are two of us in this world with enough optimism/masochism to tackle this dinosaur.
Just a heads up if you are using Indycals and haven’t yet applied them . I contacted Michael the owner and informed him of the issues and he was grateful and would correct them . I don’t know how soon but you may want to reach out to him and ask .
All here would love to see pics of your work - feel free to post in this thread or start another as you see fit .
Cheers- Richard
Its a rebuild of an attempt buy the customers father, hes doing it as a gift back to him.
So its just come out of paint stripper, most paint came off no problem. A couple of stubborn bits Ill deal with soon.
Lots of filler in the bottom to remove the battery components, and the top is clearly warped a bit. Manged to pull it back into line pretty close with steam, and will hopefully clamp the rest and use epoxy or plastic card to fill in the small gap for the top part of the cowling,
Engine is certainly a 1st generation moulding, nothing like the other Tamiya mouldings of the DFV thats for sure. Ive also added mesh and a couple of other bits for a bit of detail.
Was given the instructions not to go balls out detailing like my other builds (happy to share those if needed) as they cost a bit lol.
Oh and yes Im using Indycals for the decals. Have been using them exclusively for all my F1 builds for a long time now, excellent product and service.
Just finished a commission build of the big P34 of Depalliers (sorry about the spelling) and the customer picked up the mispelling of his name in the print lol, so watch out for that as well.
Tony,
As if this kit isn’t going to be a real enough challenge being Tamiya’s 1st 1/12 scale kit from the late 1960’s no less. The Cosworth DFV for what it is, looks darn good. The fuel and spark plug lines do really add a lot to it.
Looking forward to how you deal with the cowling once it’s done as Richard’s was an absolute horrible fit, yet his end result proves that it can be successfully done.
And yes, I’d love to see some picture of your recently completed of your 1/12 scale Tyrell P34.
yeah its coming along. Ive opted to use a combination of plastic strips and filler to close the gaps enough and use steam to pull the side in a bit. seems to be working out ok.
As for the P34, I’m super impressed at the finished build. Very nice level of detailing without going crazy to the nth degree. Paint and decals looks outstanding.
My only request is that before posting any pictures that you make sure they each have the correct orientation. The 1st pic for the P34 is in the portrait mode and the site doesn’t have an easy way to rotate pictures.
Couple of updates from my efforts on this subject over the past few days.
Started prepping the tub for paint, will do a couple of coats of grey primer, as the chassis itself needed a lot of love so needing to double check imperfections.
Wheels redone with Alclad HPA, and Engine and Transmission pretty much done.
Interesting comparison in size to the Ferrari F190 I’m building as well, both in 1/12 scale and the engine profiles are really interesting.
Tony,
I just love the Aluminum finish you’ve achieved on the those wheels. I usually use Alcad 2 Aircraft frame Aluminum but yours look so much better. Guess I need to experiment a little more.
And here is the state of mine - paint largely done - 2 coats SMS BRG - decals - 3 coats SMS gloss clear .
Only rubbing out done was primer and first coat green - afraid of losing rivet detail . Decal edges showing a bit and in the interest of full disclosure I got the Team Lotus decals on the wrong sides - the short line should be at rear by number roundel .
As the nose cone will be permanently attached I did not bother with paint / details that won’t be seen. Rear bulkhead and front bulkhead done with foil .
Wheel centers Tamiya semi gloss black. Wheel nuts and all suspension components except uprights are Alclad Hi Shine Aluminum over Tamiya gloss black . Wheels Alclad Aluminum over Stynylrez Black Primer .
Thankyou, yes I use the Alclad straight Polished Aluminium a lot for wheels, used it also on a number of other builds of mine such as the RE30B and Ferrari 312T
I used Indycals but in hindsight I should have painted it - I recommend you paint yours unless Michael has corrected the decals and even at that the roll around the lip is paint on mine and the blend looks much better in pics than it does in reality.
Cheers - RT
OK yeah thanks for the heads up. Was wondering if it would be better to paint.
Love Indycals decals but I find for the large tricky bits like we would see for the nose cone it might be a bit of a challenge. I had that problem with the Indycals decals on the BT44b nose cone and trying to shape it to all the curves, I learnt a whole new vocabulary with that one lol.
Richard,
Now your 49 looks fantastic. Both you and Tony have taken the very old 1/12 scale Tamiya kit #1, and have far surpassed any previous builds of this kit I’ve seen over the years. There both that good. Way better then this old timer could ever accomplish.
Your finished paint and polish job looks perfect in your pictures. I wouldn’t be concerned about rubbing through the gloss and paint layers to damage the rivets, as you shouldn’t get close to that issue. Once I’ve gotten to the gloss stage I wet sand with 6 or 8,000 then 12,000 Micro Mesh wet and let it do all the work. I then use one of the two 3 part polishing sets I have, one being Gravity’s and the other Novus. For wax, I use either Gravity’s or International Scale Modelers wax. Never had a single issue with damaging the gloss, paint, or plastic.
Interesting that both of you opted for Alcad 2 High Shine Aluminum. I’ve got 10 shades of Alcad but not that one. Will have to find a source locally for it.
As for getting a decal to roll over a nose lip I’ve seen a few Japanese master modelers do it to perfection by cutting wedges in the decal where it rolls over. That eliminates wrinkles, etc. Not that I’ve ever had the nerve to try it myself, but it’s an option that I’ll need for my Brabham BT44B Buddy Build with my brother next year.
One thing that both of you missed is my hand prints on the side of the cockpit coaming that yours truly applied when I actually laid my hands on the car in the pits at the 1967 Watkins Glen F1 GP. I’m sure that Chapman would have wanted it to remain there
joel
