Original Tamiya 1:12 1978 Lotus JPS Mk. III - 9/30/14

[imatt88]

Excellent!

[Jim B]

This is looking fantastic. Mario would be proud.

[DynoMight]

Great job on the decals, your attention to detail is great!

[Nacho Z]

Thanks guys! I'll try to post some more photos this weekend.

[Nacho Z]

Time for another installment!

Here I am test fitting the scratchbuilt tank. The body cowling will cover most of it.

I was able to put the cowling on the tub. The cowling is twisted and I had a heck of a time getting it epoxied down. By the way this is the second cowling. This first one was warped / twisted so bad I could not use it. I also mated the drivetrain to the tub. Lots of pipes and tubing to connect the two. Some were easy to do, some were a bear. Here are a couple of pics. I had a bit of a time trying to photograph this thing. It is big!

As always, comments and questions are welcomed.

[Cien1986]

Every time i see your progress... it always leave me speechless

i don't taste like tamiya.... it taste like fine build MFH kit...

[Jim B]

This is coming together nicely.

[sjordan2]

Looks fabulous. Superb, really. I might mention that one of the most-often criticized aspects I've heard about these kits is the center mold seam on the tires. I've never seen a tip for how to conquer that on these kinds of racing slicks. Any ideas?

Edited August 10, 2014 by sjordan2

[Cato]

I might mention that one of the most-often criticized aspects I've heard about these kits is the center mold seam on the tires. I've never seen a tip for how to conquer that on these kinds of racing slicks. Any ideas?

Yes. Use dense pipe insulation to stiffen the inner circumference and side wall. Then wire-wheel it on your grinder at low speed-CAREFULLY. You will have bloody fingers if you're doing it right.

That's how I did the very fragile GT-40 tires.

[Nacho Z]

Thanks for the comments guys. Skip, I know what you mean about the tire seams.

First, an interesting story. This kit, (again, it is an original), came with the wrong rear tires. I was asking my model buddies Gary Kulchock and Chip Wamsley about how to get the tires to fit on the rims. They pointed out that they remembered from way back that some of Tamiya's 1:12 kits had the wrong tires. We checked the ones I had vs. some other 1:12 kits and sure enough, mine were too small. Gary was kind enough to give me a pair of rear tires for this build.

Back to the seams. I was able to hand-sand the rear tires to what I feel was an acceptable level. The front tires had such a huge seam and a bit of a step that I thought by the time I sanded them down I would also have wiped out the wear marks, (those three hash marks across the face of the tire).

One other thing about those seams. I have a picture of the 1:1 car with brand new tires and there is a visible seam down the middle. Not a drawn on line but a seam. I lost a gold medal in an IPMS contest, (not this car and I got a silver instead), and when I talked to one of the judges about what I could have done better or what I did wrong, he pointed out the seam in the tires. Once again I had a photo of the real car with what sure looked like a seam on a new set tires.

I readily admit that 99.99% of any pictures you would come across of any race tire from any era would not have a seam. But 99.99% is not 100% . Anyone else care to weigh in?

[Scale-Master]

That is looking very sharp!

[Zeekodadi]

What can I say that haven't been said already. WOW amazing just the wiring is amazing alone add the rest and it's just ___________________damn I'm lost for words but one of my favorite build for sure.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Zeekodadi

[Cien1986]

Looks fabulous. Superb, really. I might mention that one of the most-often criticized aspects I've heard about these kits is the center mold seam on the tires. I've never seen a tip for how to conquer that on these kinds of racing slicks. Any ideas?

Will RC tire truer help? it trim the rc car Tyre to shape perfectly round for high speed rc racing..

some highend model equip with automatic blade... so it just work like lathe

Edited August 12, 2014 by Cien1986

[Cato]

Will RC tire truer help? it trim the rc car Tyre to shape perfectly round for high speed rc racing..

I believe those RC tires are solid foam or rubber-like tires. You would need to stuff them like I said above. But should work very well with a light touch.

[Cien1986]

I believe those RC tires are solid foam or rubber-like tires. You would need to stuff them like I said above. But should work very well with a light touch.

yeah you will need it.... in rc we will trim the tyre directly with the rim... so just put the rim with tire installed then take a spin...

[dantewallace]

Nacho Z. You have a PM sir!!

[Nacho Z]

It has been too long since I updated this thread. Time is going by too fast for me. Work has me covered up in a bad way. Oh well, I always tell my guys I would rather be overworked than under employed.... .

First off I want to prove that I really do put my blood, sweat and tears into my models. (It was just a small puncture wound.)

In the next picture you can see that Tamiya would have you push a piece of black vinyl tubing unto the radiator. Not gonna happen! The kit piece, (the stub), is not long enough to put the three fittings on so I had to lengthen it. I used 1.5mm rod for the extension. I sanded the stub down flat so I could join the rod to it. How to keep it lined up and straight? I used the aluminum tubing as a sleeve to keep the pieces lined up. I let the glue set up and dropped the fittings on.

I will cut the rod down and install the braided line into the red A/N fitting.

I was able to finish installing the front radiator and the associated plumbing. I have great reference pictures of the front radiator and the braided line but have zero reference pictures of how the hard line is plumbed at the rear of the car. I know from pictures that the braided line goes into a hard line back to the engine. Where the hard line ends up, I have no idea. I did the best I could with the knowledge I had.

Next is another side shot of the radiator and plumbing. It is a VERY tight fit where the braided line runs through the front suspension. There is not a lot of room to maneuver the thick line or fittings. I had to do a lot of planning and testing before I cut the braided line and rod to their final length.

At this point, I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel and for the first time I don't think it is a train heading my way. I have finished up the plumbing from the previous post and can flip this thing right-side up. I am currently just polishing out the paint of the final body parts. I have talked to the guy I am building this for and explained that I am not going to put a mirror finish on this model. I also am not going to clear coat it. I have plenty of pictures of this car while it was being raced and it DID NOT have a perfect paint job. Nice? Yes. Perfect? No. Did all of the pinstriping line up on all of the body panels? Nope. Shoot, the body panels themselves did not alway line up. Nicks and scratches in the paint was common. This may sound like an excuse to do a half-arsed paint job or decaling job but it isn't. It is the way I'm going to build it. With that being said, and with the possibility of opening myself up to criticism I will show you a picture of the level of finish I am going with. Glossy with a hint of orange peel. One other thing to remember. The size of the parts in the photo are at least half what you see. The fact that the picture is zoomed in exaggerates the orange peel.

Let me know what you think! Comments, questions and even constructive criticism are welcome.

Edited September 1, 2014 by Nacho Z

[DynoMight]

WOW! I forgot about this one! So it's true, you put your blood sweat and tears into your models! haha. That is very very very VERY shiny!

[imatt88]

Nacho,

Killer work, my friend. I agree with you about the finish/condition of the cars. I don't think anyone will question you build techniques

From the pictures I've seen, most body panels don't fit very well, and the paint jobs are ok at best.

I have a Tamiya 1/12th Ferrari 312T driven by Niki Lauda that I have been doing some research on, and one thing I've noticed is that nothing fits

So I will do my best to make the car look nice, but I won't be filling any seams like I do on my aircraft kits.....

Great work,

Cheers, Ian

[Nacho Z]

Nacho,

Killer work, my friend. I agree with you about the finish/condition of the cars. I don't think anyone will question you build techniques

From the pictures I've seen, most body panels don't fit very well, and the paint jobs are ok at best.

I have a Tamiya 1/12th Ferrari 312T driven by Niki Lauda that I have been doing some research on, and one thing I've noticed is that nothing fits

So I will do my best to make the car look nice, but I won't be filling any seams like I do on my aircraft kits.....

Great work,

Cheers, Ian

Thanks Ian. I hope you share that Ferrari with us. Most of the pics I have of the Lotus are of it in action. She is a beauty from a distance. The pics I have of it up close show lots of nicks, scratches, worn off paint, etc. I'm sure they looked good leaving the shop, not so much at the end of a race weekend.

[Nacho Z]

Time to add some of the body parts. I was able to get the front radiator ducting and the front suspension fairing on. Tamiya kits are great but they are not perfect. I had a heck of a time getting these two items to fit together. Also the fairings did not want to fit over the suspension. It took a lot of work getting it all to fit together and properly. As always, I have to clean up a few things. I also did another mock-up.

First up, driver's left side is on. It is a shame that a lot of work is going to be covered up.

Next, driver's right side.

And another quick mock-up with the front cowling and engine air intake cowling.

[dantewallace]

Nacho. Are the side panels removable for showing?

[Nacho Z]

Nacho. Are the side panels removable for showing?

Not really desinged for it. My final work is displayed with most panels off so as to display the work in the side pods and the engine. I'm sure you could use small magnets to allow the side panels to be installed / removed. The rear body side pieces, (behind the rear tires), connect to the side panels. Without the side panels in place the rear body pieces will not sit in the correct position.

I will be posting pics of this area soon. I will try to remember to point it out.

Also, for Dante, I can shoot you a PM with more info if you would like.

[Nacho Z]

Here is another part of the build that I struggled with. I am talking about the harness. I wanted to scratchbuild all of the hardware myself and actually made a number of the fittings. But nothing looks as good as metal. I had a PE set that was designed specifically for this car. It is made by Acu-stion. I used their hardware and I can tell you it is not correct. (Actually, I used very little from the PE set. Nothing seemed correct or to fit the kit parts correctly.) It has to do with 2" vs. 3" belt widths. Theirs is all the 3" variety and even then they are not correct. As I have said before, this is not a perfect build and some concessions have been made.

The first picture shows the evolution of the straps, from right to left. My wife was a real trooper with this process. We bought several types of tape to use for the straps. She tried several ways to color the straps. Everything from markers to food coloring to clothing dyes with mixed results. We finally found a good combination of tape and marker. The tape texture is not perfect but I like it. I actually attempted to sew in the stitching but the results were less than stellar. My wife also helped me with the Willans logo on the belts. That process was also difficult. I had no instructions on how to thread the belts so I looked on the internet for pictures. I think I have them correct. The end results may not be good enough for a professional builder but for a guy who is trying to do as much scratchbuilding as he can with a limited amount of talent, I can live with them.

Installing them on the car also gave me a few problems. Due to rivets detail where the belts mount on the body I have very limited glueing surface. I drilled a hole and ran a small piece of brass wire in it. I peened the end of the wire to hold the hardware in place. Since these pictures were taken I removed the black on the pin that holds the harness on to the body.

I installed the harness on the car. I used plain old Elmers glue to hold them to the seat. I tried to get them to lay as naturally as possible. I also installed the roll hoop and the steering wheel.

[dantewallace]

Excellence!!