AMT Dan Gurney Lotus Racer

[unclescott58]

I just got this in the mail today. Here’s a little peak of what’s in the box. Not a lot. But, considering the size of the car, I expected that. Over all I like what I’m seeing. But one thing. The instructions. 

Unlike most instructions from Round 2. Including ones that look close to the originals in several recent reissues. There are no painting instructions on this instruction sheet. I know the body should be white. I’m guessing since it’s power by a small block Ford engine from 1963, that maybe was painted black? Or since it’s an aluminum engine, aluminum? What about other things. Looking at the box art, it looks like the seat may also be black? Yet, in the back over my mind, I thought that the real cars seat to be blue? I’m not sure on that. What about the fuel tanks? Aluminum? Steel? Again black? What do I paint them? How about the non chrome plated suspension parts? Were they aluminum or steel? Or something else? 

A minor point maybe. But, on trying to build the car as accurate as I can, it would be nice to know what color to paint parts. Off to the internet to see what I can find on the real car. 

[Jim B]

Thanks for posting this. I'm looking forward to getting this kit.

[unclescott58]

Boy. Is there little, to nothing showing this exact car online. And very little is shown in color. There are few already built kits one can find out there. These bring out a question. The instrument panel and steering wheel are red? And from looking at those built up kits, my assumption of seat being blue appears wrong (I wonder where I got that idea?). 

Any help on painting instructions one can give, would be greatly appreciated. In the mean time, here are the only color photos of the real car I could find online so far. 

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by unclescott58

[unclescott58]

With the more research I’ve done, I’m painting exterior body panels white. Other things like steering wheel, instrument panel, seat, suspension coil springs and radiator black. All other non-chrome parts, aluminum. 

The question of the red steering wheel and instrument panel I’m seeing on other builds online? The British Racing Green Lotus (29/3) that Clark drove may have had that. Along with a red seat. But, I don’t believe the Gurney car (Lotus 29/1) had that at the time of the ‘63 Indy race.

Edited August 19, 2022 by unclescott58

[unclescott58]

I’m guessing from looking at response to this thread, there is little to no interest in this kit by most modelers. Which makes me suspect that this reissue will not be a big seller for Round 2. Meaning that the likelihood of see more Indy car kits from this time period being reissued, are slim to nil. Too bad. I like them, and would like to see more of them back on shelves. But then again, my tastes sometimes do not follow the norm. 

[bisc63]

Ha! I like 'em, too, but I just don't know enough about them to make any helpful comment. I guess I'll feel my way along when i do build one. I would love to see some more kits from this era in racing.

[RancheroSteve]

Actually, I was so interested in this kit that I bought a clean, half built, mostly unpainted original a few years back off eBay. I didn't figure it would be reissued any time soon, if ever!

I also have the Replicas & Miniatures one piece copies of the tires. Part T-25, not sure if he still sells them.

[RancheroSteve]

There is definitely some room for confusion over what the correct interior colors should be. For more on the story, read this:

https://imsmuseum.org/lotus-29-1/

[Mark]

I've already got a couple of earlier issue kits, and also don't know much about the subject matter, so I can't add anything of value to the discussion.  I'd suspect Round 2 can sell out one production run of this, or pretty much any, car kit they can run.  With little to no repair and maintenance on the tooling, that translates to "one run can turn a profit".

[niteowl7710]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

I've already got a couple of earlier issue kits, and also don't know much about the subject matter, so I can't add anything of value to the discussion.  I'd suspect Round 2 can sell out one production run of this, or pretty much any, car kit they can run.  With little to no repair and maintenance on the tooling, that translates to "one run can turn a profit".

Presuming that it didn't need any serious tooling cleanup or anything, I'd wager that Round2 has more costs associated with transportation in most of these reissues than in the actual production of them.

Edited August 23, 2022 by niteowl7710

[Justin Porter]

I have a pretty strong contingent of open wheel modelers in my shop who have looked over, and unfortunately passed over, this kit on my shelf. At the current MSRP, it's the same price as Tamiya's Honda RA272 kit which makes it a tough sell when it's clear it's the "wrong" scale for open wheel cars (1/25th instead of 1/20th) and it's a significantly older kit even than some of Tamiya's older 70's vintage clunkers like their 312T3.

[TonyK]

I really like this kit but already built it a long time ago so no point in buying another one. I hope it sells well.

[Phildaupho]

Your post made me go back and have a look at my post for the Dan Gurney Lotus I built 9 years ago. I built it for a friend so have not seen it since then. I found it a very interesting and enjoyable project.

 

[bisc63]

2 hours ago, Phildaupho said:

the Dan Gurney Lotus I built 9 years ago

Phil, thanks so much for that reminder and link

[Jim B]

5 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

I have a pretty strong contingent of open wheel modelers in my shop who have looked over, and unfortunately passed over, this kit on my shelf. At the current MSRP, it's the same price as Tamiya's Honda RA272 kit which makes it a tough sell when it's clear it's the "wrong" scale for open wheel cars (1/25th instead of 1/20th) and it's a significantly older kit even than some of Tamiya's older 70's vintage clunkers like their 312T3.

Funny you should say this, as I've passed up F1 kits as they are in that odd-ball (to me) Sci-Fi 1/20 scale.  What's up with that, anyway? 🤨

[Justin Porter]

1 hour ago, Jim B said:

Funny you should say this, as I've passed up F1 kits as they are in that odd-ball (to me) Sci-Fi 1/20 scale.  What's up with that, anyway? 🤨

The kind of funny history of 1/20th scale F1 kits is pretty straight forward. The Tamiya F1 kits of the mid 70's were designed to be able to be built motorized with the Tyrrell P34 as the originator of the line. To facilitate this, Tamiya designed the Cosworth DFV to be large enough to house a small electric motor and it worked out to 1/20th scale. The remnants of this design compromise remain on the P34 as it has a battery hatch still in place on the bottom of the tub.

 

As the Tamiya kits still managed to set the detail standard and were so highly popular, even after they ditched the motorized feature they continued with the 1/20th scale size. Their direct competitors (Fujimi, Hasegawa, Aoshima, Beemax, and Ebbro) have adopted the scale because of Tamiya's dominance in the genre and thus all of the aftermarket and so forth also being focused on 1/20th scale.

Which brings us to the modern day where builders of F1 expect 1/20th scale and 1/24th and ESPECIALLY 1/25th scale are oddities.

[bbowser]

1/24-1/25 open wheel cars are pretty small.  1/20 gets them on par with a 1/24 sedan allowing for more details.  I personally would prefer more 1/24.  I'll pick up one for the stash.

[TarheelRick]

Just happened to pick up one of these at the show and swap meet last Saturday.  Haven't opened mine yet but looking at the earlier post it appears this kit comes with two-piece tires.  If so, what glue is recommended for them.

[Bainford]

16 hours ago, Jim B said:

I've passed up F1 kits as they are in that odd-ball (to me) Sci-Fi 1/20 scale.  What's up with that, anyway? 🤨

I have too. There are a number of 1/20 scale F1 kits that I would buy if they were 1/24, but I just have no interest in building 1/20. When I do see an F1 kit in 1/24, I snap it up. There are a few.

As for the Gurney Indy Lotus, with a little care and patience it builds up nicely. I already have two of the MPC Indy Hall of Fame sets, so don't need any more Lotus 29s. Hopefully Indycals will produce more of their upgrade kits for this model.

[unclescott58]

20 hours ago, Phildaupho said:

Your post made me go back and have a look at my post for the Dan Gurney Lotus I built 9 years ago. I built it for a friend so have not seen it since then. I found it a very interesting and enjoyable project.

 

Like Rusty, I too thank you for the link to your build. It looked pretty good. Hopefully mine will turn out nearly as good as yours. 

[lucky 130]

I've built this model a few times, the first being a promo gift from FORD to people who bought a new car. This issue is not very different except for the horrendous tires( same ones as in the Watson roadster).  

[unclescott58]

1 hour ago, Bainford said:

I have too. There are a number of 1/20 scale F1 kits that I would buy if they were 1/24, but I just have no interest in building 1/20. When I do see an F1 kit in 1/24, I snap it up. There are a few.

As for the Gurney Indy Lotus, with a little care and patience it builds up nicely. I already have two of the MPC Indy Hall of Fame sets, so don't need any more Lotus 29s. Hopefully Indycals will produce more of their upgrade kits for this model.

Trevor, I get the impression from your post, that you may have built a Indy car or two in the past. And from your “icon” or what ever it’s called, you may know something about them. Can you confirm what colors Gurney’s car, especially interior components should be painted? 

[keyser]

7 hours ago, unclescott58 said:

Truly, Google is your friend. Use it. “Dan Gurney Lotus 29”. 
 

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1126676_indy-museum-returning-dan-gurney-s-lotus-to-its-original-colors

https://www.oldracingcars.com/lotus/29/

https://racer.com/2020/07/16/ims-museum-unveils-restored-gurney-lotus-29-1/

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by keyser
Even more links and video to properly restored 29 from same search phrase.

[Justin Porter]

18 hours ago, bbowser said:

1/24-1/25 open wheel cars are pretty small.  1/20 gets them on par with a 1/24 sedan allowing for more details.  I personally would prefer more 1/24.  I'll pick up one for the stash.

There are a handful of them out there. I've personally built Hasegawa's 1/24th Honda RA272 and Protar's 1/24th Ferrari 126C2. Both are very nice, but pale in comparison to their 1/20th scale Tamiya and Fujimi counterparts respectively. Plus neither has the aftermarket support from companies like Top Studio, Model Factory Hiro, or E Jan the way that 1/20th scale does. 

For folks who build specifically Indycars, things are a bit more wonky because you have 1/24th (Monogram's Kurtis roadster and 80's March chassis, plus the adjunct CART series Reynards from Revell), 1/25th (scores of kits from MPC and AMT ranging from Watson roadsters to 80's Penske, March, and Lola chassis, plus the IMC Lotus 38), and finally the lone 1/20th scale offering from Tamiya of the Newman/Haas early 90's Lolas. This of course ignores the tons of resin offerings from producers like Etzels, Jorgenson, Sellers, and others that were typically 1/24th or 1/25th.  

[keyser]

Marui did nice 312T, McLaren 23, and Tyrell 007 in 1/24. Fernando Pinto does killer Chiti nosed Hill ‘61, and Surtees ‘64 car, others in 1/24. 312T4 too. Not idiotic prices compared to most.