IanH Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Since my other build (Ferrari 312b) is taking such a long time, I thought I would quickly throw together this Kart kit from Fujimi as a quick Out of the Box build. We'll while cleaning up the parts I thought we'll I might as well add the throttle cable, and brake lines, as well as run some fuel lines... All pretty simple on a kit like this.. Noticed a few glaringly obvious mistakes with the kit too, which I considered leaving, but then thought what the heck, might as well give it a go to fix these things up... Firstly, the airbox extrude from the cylinder head... This should be on the carburetor, I since found out they didn't use and air box back in the day with this Kart, so I may/may not use it, but I modified it to fit to the carb, which left a hole in the cylinder head where the kit mounting was. I am busy working on filling this, and trying to get the fins to look uniform across the filler... Another thing which I noticed, is that the molded in tie rods are way too big for the scale, it would be the same thickness of the frame! Went to work cutting them out, and filling the frame to look like a frame where the tie rods were molded in. Last photo shows a piece of brass which I am going to use as the tie rods, I think this will be a much better scale fit. Quite happy with the outcome, and also decided to cut away the huge mounting tabs for the front safety bar on the frame, this should be a small connection point, not something as hideous as this, so I have cut them off, filled them, and have filled them to match the frame. A lot more work has gone into this that initially anticipated, but I am happy so far, and I think will be a nice quick assembly once done with paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 This is a facinating project and I had no idea Fujimi even made this kit. What scale is it and is the driver figure included. Look forward to seeing it completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 4 minutes ago, Rich Chernosky said: This is a facinating project and I had no idea Fujimi even made this kit. What scale is it and is the driver figure included. Look forward to seeing it completed. This is 1/20 scale, Fujimi even have the 1993 kart as well (I have both 😁). Yes, the driver figure is included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 3 hours ago, IanH said: This is 1/20 scale, Fujimi even have the 1993 kart as well (I have both 😁). Yes, the driver figure is included. Thank you Ian, looks like I will have to go searching. This should fit in well with my 1/20 F-1 collection. I am a big Senna fan. You are doing a great job with both your WIP's.I am following them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Ian...found one of these kits and couldn't wait to start it. I really liked your idea about the tie rod but as you can see I took it a step further. One of my pet peeves on models is non steering wheels. If it can be done I will do it. I am going to leave all the parts in brass. Not prototypical but I like to show off my handiwork. How is yours coming ?? Cheers Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Great start! I’ll be following! I’ve wondered about building one of these but I can’t quite visualize how big a 1:20 kart is...is it kinda 1:25 car size-ish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted March 9, 2021 Author Share Posted March 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said: Ian...found one of these kits and couldn't wait to start it. I really liked your idea about the tie rod but as you can see I took it a step further. One of my pet peeves on models is non steering wheels. If it can be done I will do it. I am going to leave all the parts in brass. Not prototypical but I like to show off my handiwork. How is yours coming ?? Cheers Rich Wow Rich, that's amazing skills and craft with the steering 👌 I haven't done much for a while now on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted April 27, 2021 Author Share Posted April 27, 2021 On 3/9/2021 at 6:23 AM, CabDriver said: Great start! I’ll be following! I’ve wondered about building one of these but I can’t quite visualize how big a 1:20 kart is...is it kinda 1:25 car size-ish? Apologies for the lack of response... Here is a photo of the kart against a ruler... Length of 8cm, which is just over 3inches depending on which side of the pond you are on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 2 hours ago, IanH said: Apologies for the lack of response... Here is a photo of the kart against a ruler... Length of 8cm, which is just over 3inches depending on which side of the pond you are on... Interesting! I just couldn't picture how big one of these would be - thank you for the response and photo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted November 30, 2023 Author Share Posted November 30, 2023 So after quite some time away I have dusted off this project and aim to complete it soon enough to get cracking on a few others... I had a look at the front spindles of the kit and compared to reference photos and redesigned matching spindles and 3D printed them. Reference: 3D design: Cut off the original spindles and modified the frame to fit the new parts: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Ian...those spindles look really good. 3D printing wasn't all that available to me when I did mine so I fell back on what I did know. Yours are definetly more correct than mine. Are you going to make them work. Looks possible. Will be interested to see how this turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted November 30, 2023 Author Share Posted November 30, 2023 Hey Rich, I am so tempted to just pop them on with glue, but it should be quite simple to keep them movable.... Just depends on what I do with the tie rods, haven't given them enough thought yet. Will think about this for a bit... In the meantime I'm busy with the motor, and busy printing a carburetor I designed to fit to the side of the motor, as the reference photos show the carb was on the side just above the crank sprocket, and not on the front as the kit has it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 Glad to see this one back on the bench - nice work with the design for those spindles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 Been working on a few things, here's a quick update on the steering column and fuel bottle. The kit parts shown below are for a more modern kart, and not how this DAP kart was raced. I cut the steering column and used 1mm brass to create the bars which look a lot closer to the real thing. Still some work to do on it, but much happier with the look already. I've also been playing around with some designs for the fuel bottle, here's an almost done prototype, not 100% happy with it, but hopefully the next version will be as I intend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted December 8, 2023 Author Share Posted December 8, 2023 The frame of this kit is also not quite right according to the reference photos, with the main difference being these bars on the side which the side pods of a more modern kart would fit to. These did not exist on the original, but had these smaller bars extending out towards the rear wheels. Removed the side bars, and busy recreating the smaller ones.... Still in progress, but trying to get this right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted December 8, 2023 Author Share Posted December 8, 2023 Pretty much satisfied with the modifications made to the frame. Need to now focus on the motor, then hopefully can start laying down some paint 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Great work! This is such a fun project to follow along with! Was it tough finding good research material on the 1:1 kart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted December 13, 2023 Author Share Posted December 13, 2023 35 minutes ago, CabDriver said: Great work! This is such a fun project to follow along with! Was it tough finding good research material on the 1:1 kart? Thanks - glad you're enjoying the updates, yeah this has turned out to be a lot more involved than I originally thought! Really enjoying the process myself. I wouldn't say it's been too difficult to find good research material, but there isn't too much out there. There's a few original photos/videos of Senna in the kart, but the quality and distance of the shots are not great. Found some photos of the kart and replicas in various collections, and found a YouTube video of a replica which has probably been the most helpful. Link to that video below: https://youtu.be/1sYUquH--Og?si=ousmAdVY1GINiyD2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugatti Fan Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Saw a pair of these built up at IPMS Scale Modelworld in November. Quite impressive little models. Lewis Hamilton started racing on karts. It will be interesting to see if any of his get kitted. I guess that many F1 drivers started out their racing careers by kart raciing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 8 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said: Saw a pair of these built up at IPMS Scale Modelworld in November. Quite impressive little models. Lewis Hamilton started racing on karts. It will be interesting to see if any of his get kitted. I guess that many F1 drivers started out their racing careers by kart raciing. As a Lewis fan, it’s tough to find a kit of any of his CARS, let alone a kart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 2 minutes ago, CabDriver said: As a Lewis fan, it’s tough to find a kit of any of his CARS, let alone a kart. I'd assume it's due to the byzantine licensing demands and rules with modern F1..seems to be very little out there other than some pricey 1/43 diecast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted December 22, 2023 Author Share Posted December 22, 2023 Small update on this, been spending some time working on the front bumper mounts, and have designed and added these tabs with bolt head which the bumper would bolt to. Struggling to get a quality photo due to its size! Have also started working on the exhaust, and have created this bracket for the exhaust which I will be able to connect the springs to once I get to final assembly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 A slightly disappointing update, finally got some paint on during the final hours of last year.... With the darker primer I've used a lot more coats of paint to get it this red, and yet it is still to dark for my liking. I tried for a few days to accept it, but I just can't... So by the time you read this, the frame will be stripped of all this paint, and ready for a lighter primer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 On 1/1/2024 at 9:15 PM, IanH said: A slightly disappointing update, finally got some paint on during the final hours of last year.... With the darker primer I've used a lot more coats of paint to get it this red, and yet it is still to dark for my liking. I tried for a few days to accept it, but I just can't... So by the time you read this, the frame will be stripped of all this paint, and ready for a lighter primer. We’ve all been there I’m sure - it’s surprising how badly most red colors will cover anything other than white or pink. Actually, I found a yellow primer in Ace Hardware a while back that worked pretty well too…but even a light gray can be too dark for some red paints. Don’t be discouraged, this is coming along great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 (edited) 8 hours ago, CabDriver said: We’ve all been there I’m sure - it’s surprising how badly most red colors will cover anything other than white or pink. Actually, I found a yellow primer in Ace Hardware a while back that worked pretty well too…but even a light gray can be too dark for some red paints. Don’t be discouraged, this is coming along great! Thanks, well at least now I know how to get a dark almost maroon red! Will post an update again shortly, have a new coat of red sprayed on over pink primer. Edited January 4 by IanH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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