Nacho Z

They all look good Jonathan. I'm surprised with myself that I'm drawn to the Hilux!?!? Just goes to show what a nice job you did on it.

How cool is that?!?!?!?!

Wow, that is such a nice model! You really do amazingly clean work. Thanks for sharing this one with us!

Time for another post. I am putting the drive train together and getting an idea of how big this thing is. The drive train alone in nearly 1/2 foot long. Next up is a portion I will call "Fun with Radio Shack wire". The kit supplied suspension springs looked a little anemic to my eye. I made my own. Next up is the ducting. Tamiya gives you two spring like pieces that are flexible. The problem I encountered is that they are undersized, diameter wise and very unruly. Think of a Slinky. So I made my own. I selected the appropriate sized drill bit and made them long enough to have smooth curves while keeping the coils close together. After I got the duct work in place I made a mixture of white glue and water. Now here is the part that I just don't remember for sure. I know I tried to tint the mixture the shade of gray I wanted. What I don't remember is how it worked out. I am pretty sure the color took and mixed in evenly, (your results may vary.) I brushed the mixture on the duct work. Some of the wider spaces took several applications. Here is how the springs and the duct work turned out. Much better than the kit supplied parts.

Here is a look at the gauge cluster. It is close to the 1:1 but not an exact duplicate. And a picture of it mocked up.

Looks good John! I really liked the first picture. Very cool.

Very nice!

That has just the right look to it. Great color and details!

I don't think I can come with something that hasn't already been said about this. Great job!

Love that paint, Jim. Good looking model!

It looks really good Curt. You do such nice work. Another great looking model from your workbench!

I'll continue on with the drivetrain. A little detail painting to make it look more interesting.

Beautiful!!! Very, very clean. Thanks for sharing it Karsten.

Nice Ferrari, Eric!

I'll continue on with the engine. I was going to use the original clear tubing on the engine but it was so stiff and brittle it just kinked at the slightest bend. That is why I had to go to the aftermarket and by MFH tubing.

I like it Danno! I think it is a cool look. Like Tulio said, I think you improved it .

Thanks Ian! See my post above this one. When I started this kit there was really nothing out there, just some generic pieces. Tamiya re-issued this kit a few years back and then the after-market came up with quite a bit of things. Last I looked, most items are listed as "out of stock".

Thanks Henry! The braided line and A/N fittings are all Detail Master items. They are about the only after market items I used on this model. For this 1:12 scale kit I used #3, #4 and #5 sizes. The clear tubing is a mixture of tubing I got from work and a few sizes I got from Model Factory Hiro. I also made some by stretching the ends of pipettes. I will post pictures of this later. As far as a wiring diagram, I only had pictures from a couple of books. As I understand it, the Ford Cosworth DFV is essentially the same in a number of F1 cars. If you can find any pictures of the DFV from that era, it should be a good baseline to get you started.

She looks good in black!

The radiators and pipes have been installed. The beginning of the engine. No detail painting has taken place yet. I put a 1:43 F1 car for size comparison. Again, I did not want to go out and buy a lot of after market parts. I cleaned up the kit parts and added some paint.

Niiiiicccceeeee

This is not my genre of autos but I know a great model when I see one. Just had to compliment nice work. She looks great Marty!

Wow Jake! Very, very nice. Great job on the paint and decals.

Jake, I'm a big fan of all race cars and really enjoy seeing them here. F1 cars are not the most popular subject on the board. Nice to see yours. Looks great! Thanks for sharing.

Here are a few photos of the front end of the car. Brake system and fire extinguisher. I also replaced the kit springs with ones I made. I also made new pipes that run from the side radiators. The kit parts had huge "steps" in them were the two mold halves did not line up.