Pete75

Thank you sir. Not a patch on your awesome Cobra: that's really something! ?

Thanks very much Tommy. I remember having a diecast model of the submarine version that fired (and quickly lost!) little plastic missiles. This was before my first Bond cinema experience, which was Octopussy in 1983: this only had an Alfa Romeo 155 which, although cool, doesn't compare to the Lotus! I totally agree about the Esprit Turbo, someone really should do a kit as it was awesome! ?

Thanks guys, appreciate it ??

My latest completion. I used the 2016 Fujimi kit as part of the 2020 Cannonball Run group build. Exterior sprayed with Tamiya cans, then sanded & polished; interior brush painted using mixes of Revell Aqua. More build details at WIP thread. Questions/comments welcome. Thanks for looking ??

Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). "Wet Nellie" was amphibious and featured retractable wheels and a revolving dashboard etc., but in land mode she was essentially the same as the first production Esprits that rolled out in 1976. No "twist" here, I've just had fun trying to build a curbside replica using the Fujimi kit. The exterior was painted and clear coated with Tamiya rattle cans, then sanded & polished before masking off everything for the black details. The interior was painted using a brush and a lot of micro masking tape for the (not quite) tartan and chrome. I mixed the colours to represent the actual car rather than how it appeared on screen. (Although the 007 upholstery looks grey, it’s only because the movie makers messed about with the colour grading of the film: the fabric was actually standard green/red tartan. And, yes, the carpet was orange!).

Kill Bill

Goodfellas

Interesting JC!! I liked the theatrical version, then got it on DVD; it had three alternative endings, none of which were the one I saw, and none of which I liked. Way to go if you want to alienate fans!!?

Sweet. Glad you're back on it mate. Now THAT'S a set of brakes!?

Productive weekend! Nice looking kit ?

Eleven months, one pandemic and two kits later, build #6 is a wrap with a fortnight to spare before the CBR group build deadline. This was my first experience of a non-Tamiya kit and it’s been interesting to see how Fujimi measures up. Tamiya kits definitely seem to include greater interior & mechanical detail but this had a solid simplicity about it and went together really nicely. The only criticism I have (apart from a missing sprue) is that the window masks were porous: NEVER again! The stance turned out better than I was expecting. I basically set the suspension as low as possible without resorting to any major surgery: I only really had to notch out the exhaust to make room for the rear assembly to go upward. The rest of the remaining work was finishing the shell, with a lot of touching up and polishing. I was grateful to have a second set of license plate decals as they were slightly too big for the plates and quickly turned fragile. Cheers for looking ?

Not obvious, but very valid. Space for 2+ seems a reasonable stipulation ?

The Spy Who Loved Me - Lotus Esprit S1 Put me down as a finisher. And it only took 11 months!!? Thanks again to Anthony for running the show ??

She's a beauty - great chrome work. And thank you for running this thing; it's my first group build and I've loved it! ?

Welcome ?

Thanks JC, great diagram ?

Thanks very much, Anton ?

Thanks Trevor, that's a really useful insight. It hadn't occurred to me the tire profile my be the issue, but now I look at it I can see your point. The wheels are certainly (hilariously) narrow by today's standards: I'm building a contemporary Lamborghini at present, and the side by side comparison of the rims is unreal, to the point where I feel something is wrong somewhere!! ?

Thank you guys, appreciate it ?

Not too far away now. The rescue kit arrived from Italy: not cheap in these odd times, but there is a group build deadline to be met, so needs must. Anyway, she's finally on her feet: More than any kit I've attempted (this is only #6) I'm concerned about the stance of the S1. This is because most other builds I've seen (certainly some of the Nichimo ones) don't look quite right. I don't know if it's because the wheels on these things are smaller many motorcycle wheels ?, but I've put some effort into getting the relative front/rear height looking ok. We'll see! Rather than persist with the brake fluid bath on the old body I started again afresh. This time I used the correct white primer & it looks MUCH nicer. After the colour & clear coats, plus the usual sanding & polishing, it's on to the black detailing. There is a lot of masking to be done - so much so I have run out of tape before I could finish! The kit calls for chrome surrounds for front & rear glass, plus side repeaters. These were certainly present on many of the roadgoing production models but not the movie prototypes which look much nicer without, IMO. Plus it's less work, which sounds good right now!!?

Lotus Esprit S1 - The Spy Who Loved Me Very nearly there. She's on her feet & most of the black detailing is done on the body, but I ran out of masking tape. When I signed up in January I didn't think I'd be still toiling in November!!

I was recommended this stuff by Aizu & it's never failed ?

Thanks very much ? The belts sure wouldn't look as good without using your R34 build as a reference! Your CF detailing & wiring also provide interesting ideas for the future. This is great kit & my only warning would be to thoroughly test fit the four side windows: they very nearly floored me at the last moment!!?

Yep, I like it ?

Thanks JC - will come in handy ?