Post by 1961redlegs on Oct 12, 2020 19:16:54 GMT -5
This evening I finished a replica of the Cooper T51 Jack Brabham drove to the World Driving Championship in 1959.
Installing the engine behind the driver wasn't a new concept by the 1950s, but the combination of John Cooper and the Climax engine helped usher in a change in open wheel racing. The car was a light, tiny machine, built in a garage and powered by a motor originally designed for water pumps. It was a vastly different approach of Scuderia Ferrari, who built exotic machines with engines specifically built to power fast cars. As unimposing as the cars looked, they were fast; the light cars and weight distribution resulting from a rear-engine design made for a nimble car that got through corners much more efficiently than the bigger, powerful front engine cars. In the hands of the nonpareil Jack Brabham, his protege Bruce McLaren, and Stirling Moss in the privateer Rob Walker Cooper, the cars won almost as a matter of course.
Enzo Ferrari loathed the success of the British teams, whom he derisively referred to as "garagistas." His Scuderia and other Italian marques, along with Mercedes had almost exclusively dominated the first years of Formula One. British cars had not really factored in Grand Prix racing to this point, but Cooper and the front-engined Vanwalls initiated an era of success for cars in green-cars that were light, forward-thinking, and driven by some of the most iconic drivers in the sport's history. Ferrari, while still a contender at times, wouldn't see consistent success again until the mid-to-late 1970s.
This car is a Fernando Pinto resin kit, built entirely from the box. I painted it Tamiya British Green (not Racing Green-which is lighter than the greens used on the Coopers), with tamiya rubber black wheels, and the chassis is painted in Krylon Shortcuts Chrome. I tried something new with the steering wheel, painting it Tamiya tan and then painting it Tamiya clear yellow to get a laminated, wood look. It looks the part and it's something I'll do in the future. The kit is fairly easy, the body needs some work and some sanding to get right, especially in the nose and tail, but it's nothing a moderately experienced modeler can't handle. I had one facepalm moment when I was cutting the windscreen with my exacto knife. I slipped and cut into the windscreen on the lefthand side. It's noticable, but with some careful gluing and use of floor wax, it turned out okay. It's not readily noticeable and doesn't mar what I believe is a pretty darn good looking little car. Thanks for looking!
Installing the engine behind the driver wasn't a new concept by the 1950s, but the combination of John Cooper and the Climax engine helped usher in a change in open wheel racing. The car was a light, tiny machine, built in a garage and powered by a motor originally designed for water pumps. It was a vastly different approach of Scuderia Ferrari, who built exotic machines with engines specifically built to power fast cars. As unimposing as the cars looked, they were fast; the light cars and weight distribution resulting from a rear-engine design made for a nimble car that got through corners much more efficiently than the bigger, powerful front engine cars. In the hands of the nonpareil Jack Brabham, his protege Bruce McLaren, and Stirling Moss in the privateer Rob Walker Cooper, the cars won almost as a matter of course.
Enzo Ferrari loathed the success of the British teams, whom he derisively referred to as "garagistas." His Scuderia and other Italian marques, along with Mercedes had almost exclusively dominated the first years of Formula One. British cars had not really factored in Grand Prix racing to this point, but Cooper and the front-engined Vanwalls initiated an era of success for cars in green-cars that were light, forward-thinking, and driven by some of the most iconic drivers in the sport's history. Ferrari, while still a contender at times, wouldn't see consistent success again until the mid-to-late 1970s.
This car is a Fernando Pinto resin kit, built entirely from the box. I painted it Tamiya British Green (not Racing Green-which is lighter than the greens used on the Coopers), with tamiya rubber black wheels, and the chassis is painted in Krylon Shortcuts Chrome. I tried something new with the steering wheel, painting it Tamiya tan and then painting it Tamiya clear yellow to get a laminated, wood look. It looks the part and it's something I'll do in the future. The kit is fairly easy, the body needs some work and some sanding to get right, especially in the nose and tail, but it's nothing a moderately experienced modeler can't handle. I had one facepalm moment when I was cutting the windscreen with my exacto knife. I slipped and cut into the windscreen on the lefthand side. It's noticable, but with some careful gluing and use of floor wax, it turned out okay. It's not readily noticeable and doesn't mar what I believe is a pretty darn good looking little car. Thanks for looking!
Pro Tech | MAD | Scale Motorsport
