Original Tamiya 1:12 1978 Lotus JPS Mk. III - 9/30/14

[Nacho Z]

Once I had the front suspension fairings on I was able to plumb and install the front rotors, wheels and tires. There is nothing in the kit to represent the brake plumbing but I did have a couple of pictures to go by. I gave it a shot and it turned out fairly well. I started with #1 size fittings from Detail Master, some wire, #1 braided line that was installed at the beginning of this build some 10 years ago and lastly, a "T" that I made by soldering two pieces of brass wire together.

I drilled two small holes in the brake calipers. Cleaned up the brass "T", painted it silver than used a blue marker. Fittings are made gold with a marker too. I used eyeball engineering to determine the size of the "T" and cut it to size.

I installed it as it was on the 1:1. I used thread as a cable tie. I ran the thread through wax to get the fuzzies down to a minimum.

There is enough line to allow the tires to be steered.

I tried to get some symmetry between left and right. Not a lot of room to work and the lines and wires have a mind of their own. I think they came out fair, not great. Please keep in mind there is distortion in the first two pictures.

[ferrarijoe]

Outstanding work Nacho. I have the same kit but haven't started it. Did you get the metal wheels (i think they are acustion) for this build intrested to see them and how they fit. Again great build

[Jaguar man 21]

Umm I'm struggling to find the right word to describe your build, amazing sounds good

[Nacho Z]

Outstanding work Nacho. I have the same kit but haven't started it. Did you get the metal wheels (i think they are acustion) for this build intrested to see them and how they fit. Again great build

Hi Joe, no, I do not have metal wheels for this. There are pictures of the kit's wheels on page 3 of this WIP thread. Thanks for the kind words!

[Jim B]

Great details on the brakes. Heck, great details all around!

[Nacho Z]

This will be my last workbench post. She is just about finished. I hope I was able to help someone or spark some interest. This one did not get a lot of feedback so it is hard to judge.

Here is the nose piece. The flag could have went in two different places. The guy I am building it for wanted it here. Note that the mesh screen has not been installed yet.

These side panels are 6" long. Look at the size of the ejector pin marks. They were all filled.

Next up are a couple of pictures to show the amount of work done on the underside of various panels. I normally would not put this much effort in to an area of a part that would not be seen, but I did for this.

And lastly, it is the small details that make for a nice model. I took the fastners, covered them with The Detailer and when dried, sanded them down.

[ferrarijoe]

Seeing your work makes me want to do mine and get rid of it at the same time since it won't be this nice when i finish.

[Nacho Z]

Seeing your work makes me want to do mine and get rid of it at the same time since it won't be this nice when i finish.

LOL Joe! I've seen your work and I have NO doubt that you would knock this puppy out of the park.

[codea]

John, I've bookmerked this page and poured over the pictures and your text, and watched with amazement the clean nature of this build. I am sorry that I have not commented before now, but I am not sure what I coould ahve said that wasn't simply admiring your work. I have this kit and have got back into modelling after a long break, and hope I can turn out something about 15% as good as yours.

Please keep posting pictures of your work as I am a big big fan. Congratulations and thanks again for sharing. Kind Regards from Down Under.

[Nacho Z]

John, I've bookmerked this page and poured over the pictures and your text, and watched with amazement the clean nature of this build. I am sorry that I have not commented before now, but I am not sure what I coould ahve said that wasn't simply admiring your work. I have this kit and have got back into modelling after a long break, and hope I can turn out something about 15% as good as yours.

Please keep posting pictures of your work as I am a big big fan. Congratulations and thanks again for sharing. Kind Regards from Down Under.

Thank you very much for the kind words! If you decide to start your kit and have any questions, let me know, I would be more than happy to help. I'll be posting pics of the finished model very soon.

[ferrarijoe]

Nacho how did the decals work for you. All of the older tamiya kits I have done are brittle. I have the ace models set for mine as well as tamiyas.

[Nacho Z]

I have the original kit decals and used them on the engine. I purchased a set of decals from Studio 27. The set only had the body decals. I had no problems with the kit decals, but again, they were the small engine decals.