Anyone build the Tamiya 1/12 Honda F-1 RA273?

[Ghostmech]

Being one of the first 1/12 scale kits from Tamiya, it's age really shows in engineering and fit, but it was impressive back in the day.  This is my first attempt at this particular kit and I'm currently working on the "snake pit" of exhaust tubes.  I've seen pictures from Tamiya as too the placement of the primary tubes coming off the engine, but there really seems to be no actual mounting points.  They just seem to "hang" in the vicinity of the engine "valley", but there is no actually mounting for them.  It really doesn't make any sense as to where they actually mount to.  Anyone have ideas from you past experience?

BTW, I have built a few 1/12 Tamiya kits in years past including the Ferrari 312T4, Renault RE20 Turbo & the Martini Porsche 935 and though fairly complex, they were all great builds without issues.

TIA

Ghost

[Rich Chernosky]

Keith...that kit is not an early Tamiya...it was their very first 1/12 kit.  It was issued around 1968 and was state of the art then with many working features not found anywhere else.  By todays standards it is not so much.  Still, it is an impressive kit and can be made into a great model but many areas will have to be re-engineered.  Of particular note is the exhaust. That was the way it was engineered at the time.  I bought this kit from my good friend Oscar at Auto World just as it was released. He sold over 1500 of these and received an award from Tamiya for his efforts. It was my introduction into the world of 1/12 . Some 70 kits later I have not looked back. I have a re-issued kit and plan a re-build of this as my kit is very dated.  Do some research on this site and the web.  I have seen in the past some very creative and detailed builds of this kit. Its been around a long time and still a favorite of detail builders.  Good luck and post your results here.