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Fittipaldi"s Ride- 1/12 Lotus 72 JPS!


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This is Tamiya's Lotus 72D in classic JPS (John Player Special) livery. This is the latest issue of the vintage kit, which includes a really nice photoetched fret with details like the radiator and oil cooler faces, racing harness, brake discs and fasteners. What it doesn't include is the JPS sponsor decals, which are apparently omitted these days due to the ban on tobacco advertising. Fortunately, the aftermarket has solutions... a Japanese company called F'Artefice provides an excellent set of replacement decals. Paint is Tamiya Black with Tamiya Gold accents. No clearcoat was used on the finish, which was polished out with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Polish.

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The engine bay responds really well to some fairly basic detailing. The clear lines are from the kit. Ignition wire is from an old USB cable, with the boots made from the too-thick tubing the kit provides for the wires. The battery was detailed and wired as well. The exhaust pipes were stripped and painted Alclad Chrome and heat-stained with Tamiya clear acrylics. PE hose clamps are from Tremonia.

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Up front, the kit tubing was used to plumb the master cylinders. Plastic bolt heads were used to detail the front suspension joints. The back of the dash was detailed with various colors of wire and cable... I couldn't find any really clear pics of the back of the dash, so I just tried to make it look good. I just realized I forgot the brace between the dash and the body... gotta add that!

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The printed racing harness is from the kit as well. It's really beautiful with the PE hardware.

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I got a hold of a vintage Tamiya Driver Figure to go with this model. It is supposed to be a "generic" figure but really seems to be modeled closely on Fittipaldi. Here he is painted and decalled.

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And here are some shots of car and driver together... I played around with some filters here.

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Edited by jaymcminn
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Thanks, guys! Bruce, this is the 1/12 scale kit. It measures about 15" when built. John, I really appreciate the comment... your Lotus 78 build inspired me to pull this one out of the "someday" pile. This was a really great kit, especially given that it was engineered some 40 years ago. This won't be my last 1/12 scale Tamiya F1 kit either... I have Niki Lauda's Ferrari 312t waiting in the wings. Next up, however, will be a few relatively easy 1/24 builds. It's been a while since I've done a "shelf model", and I have a few projects in mind.

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