absmiami

I had only limited time here in Virginia - but i did some initial parts prep - and since i bought a Tam scriber - i decided to open the coupe hatch -

Red - really really really … red …. By the way - if any other forum members have this kit - or the convertible kit - on their Wbench - please feel free to post pix on this thread - it would be interesting to see other listers solutions to the curveballs that these kits throw at you …

The Revell of Germany XKE kit is a curious beast - hi parts count - very good replication of the stampings on the chassis - and sink marks - lots and lots of ‘em … and the plastic for the body and chassis is - famously - bright red … thanks, Revell …

Said relation has an unfinished basement - one end of the basement sits unused and uncluttered - i really really miss basements - having grown up in Pa - where everyone had ‘em - then choosing to live in Florida - where sadly - basements have been outlawed - so i made myself a holiday workshop - and dont worry - i found some additional light -

Spending holiday time w relatives in Virginia - The Hobbies Shop is just a short drive west on the Charlestown Pike …. Good selection of kits - great selection btw of puzzles - very wide selection of hobby paints - including Tamiya - so i thought - why not …

There is a living breathing hobby shop in Charlestown, WV …. Called - The Hobbies Shop ….

W O W

Excellent …

Great …

Bottle sealing tape …. Hmmm …

The 29 monocoque was slightly bigger - wider and taller and longer - than the 25 - to allow for Indy wheelbase and fuel tank size rules - but not much bigger - by removing/ sanding some width and some height - and by sanding the side/bottom contour - I’ll have a scale accurate Lotus 25 monococque …

This will be mine - Resin casting Hall of Famer Norman Veber cast this in dark gray resin - my master was made fr strips and sheets of Evergreen plastic - this is actually the casting for my Lotus 29 project …

So - this is what a Lotus 25 monocoque looked like …. And merry holidays one and all …

JB weld should work well …

https://www.flickr.com/photos/all_stood_still/S/72157633538102876/ this is one of Flickr's stars - goes by All Stood Still Its a great old post of the Jim Clark 50th anniversary ... features two restored late spec 25's great stuff

Now - about the monocoque - …

And the cowl was changed too - the later spec 25s and the 33’s had the mail slot opening at the base of the windscreen -

Comparing the body top castings of the Lotus 25 And Lotus 33 kits - the abbreviated tail was also used on 25s later in the ‘62 season …

Older white metal castings always required alot of work - lots of flash and mold lines to remove …

The parts count and engineering is the same as the Sharknose kit - i started by removing the sections of the upper body casting that should be seperate - and i removed the nose and cowling fr the eng cover … ill use the nose section and trans cover fr the lower body casting but not much else …

It's amazing that nobody ever produced a really good 24th scale Lotus 25. Christian Ghoul [sp] made one but sold very few. Tamiya of course did the later spec 25 in 20th scale - but I'm a scale snob - so its the Wills Finecast 25 kit or bust. No effort was made to reproduce the monocoque chassis - and there is no engine - but you gotta start somewhere ...

So the Lotus 25 - after some early challenges - carried Jim Clark to his first world championship - and is - to my mind - the first modern Grand Prix car. Wills Finecast produced this kit - 002 - and then the Lotus 33 kit. The 25 went through many changes - the kit builds the early 25 - with the full length engine cover - and the engine for most of 1962 was Weber carbed - fuel injection came later - The MotorSports Images on line site has wonderful black and white photos of the 25 exposed chassis at Zandvort - which is great - because the two or three surviving 25s have been restored to 1963 spec with fuel injection and abbreviated tails - and I've decided to make the early spec 25 ...

Team Lotus had its 8 cyl Climax bolted to two metal chassis extensions in what became known as the first monocoque grand prix car - the future had arrived ...