Pete75

Thanks very much Josh?. I'm especially pleased you like my new collapsible diorama that I used here for the first time; the retro UK signs might not totally suit most other builds, but they do fit the Lotus at least!

Thanks guys, appreciate it ?

Cheers Atin! The good thing about brushing, I've discovered, is you can sand the surface back & touch up as many times as you like ?

Nice start Atin! I've just gotten around to taking under glass pics of my build I finished earlier this year. I found it a pretty challenging project, but it taught me a lot & it increased my love for the car. Definitely one I want to do again, or maybe the Fujimi 512TR. Will be following ?

Welcome Dave - never mind that life stuff, time to get building again! ?

Great job sir. Love the engine detailing & weathering. Brings back memories: it was one of the first cars that beguiled me as a small boy, along with the Triumph TR7 ??

Thanks very much Chang! Although the interior was tricky, I was delighted to discover that the windscreen affords a full view of the cabin, right down to the carpet; so at least all the work isn't wasted!?

Thanks Trevor, much appreciated. The stance turned out better than I had thought, but I'm sure you're right about the wheel dimensions being a bit off. Before I started, I think I would've chosen the Esprit Turbo as my favourite (more masculine etc.) but this build has converted to the S1: Guigiaro's original lines have such elegance that I don't think they needed messing with! ?

Thanks Nigel - I see you are a local! I had to look it up, I didn't know PW was the old code for Norwich. ? For any non Brits that may be curious, UK plates used to start with 3 letters, the first indicating the year of registration and the second two the place. PPW indicates 1975 and Norwich, which is the nearest city to Lotus HQ in the county of Norfolk. I also discovered that if the car had been registered in Guildford, it would've been PPK... ?

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 ?