1979 Team Penske

[quattro]

Hello chaps.

Hope you are all well.

Popping these in down her on this section for two reasons.

First thing is to leave that absolutely fantastic Lola build by Sean up front in the Indycar section.
Wish I had that kinda skill.

Secondly because despite the comments about all forms of open wheel racers being accepted on here
these are at a scale and for a purpose that still sits just outside the forum norm.

But I am posting them because I have been inspired by what I have learnt over the pass few years from
the interaction with so many members on here. Not just about modelling subjects I have had a fascination for,
but all about the racing and the energy and fun so many get from it.
I have said thank you in the past but you guys really do not know how much pleasure I have derived from having
a whole new branch of the sport really opened up to me after years of just scratching the surface.
And where it is taking me.

And guess what? Its not a Danny Sullivan subject!

OK. Enough of that.
Did a recent post on sorting out an Arrows FA1 from 1978 converted from a resin slot car body in 1/32nd.
Well, the lad who puts those out also does quite a few mid seventies F1 cars, one of which was the Penske PC4.
Given the Andretti PC6 and PC7 models in 1/25th I had so much help with doing on here, I saw the possibilities immediately.

So...1979 Rick Mears Penske PC6 to start with. And yes it is a 1/32nd scale slot car.



The finished item sits next to a PC4 casting as it comes so you can see what was hacked about and changed.
In this case I mated the body with the rear end of a M23 slot car.
One thing I cannot change there is the ford badging when it should say Cosworth!
Decals by Indycals.
And one of the more involved parts of the process was getting the driver right and sculpting a Simpson Star wars lid!





Another issue was the wheels. No one does the four spoke chromed jobs run by Penske in those days so I had to
try and do my own. So glad I have so much spare photoetch knocking about.






Sure some of the proportions are off but that is what comes from working up a body to accept a chassis with a motor
and a guide blade. It runs nicely but I will make sure I have plenty of run off on the corners so we do not have a 
high speed meeting with a table leg or a skirting board!

Part 2 of the project is starting to take shape and that will be a PC7 again from the PC4 body.
Hopefully I will do justice to a Bobby Unser version of the car.







Again I know the blasted air outlets on the sidepods are too far forward just like I managed to do with my 1/25th
but in this case it is all about sorting out room underneath for the chassis, motor and mounting points.
That is the stage I am at with this one whilst looking to artwork and create decals for the great man's helmet design.

Forgive the long ramble at the start of this post but this is all taking me off in a direction I did not ever think I would go.
But I am so very happy I can explore it now.
I have an idea to look at doing more from 1979 such as a Parnelli and a M24 but that will be off in the future somewhere.
Oh. And I have a 1980 Chaparral slot body coming too which could be interesting.
All this keeping me going until the next lot of 1/25th cars that tickle my fancy manifest themselves.
Will post more on the PC7 when things progress.

Keep well chaps.


Joe

[indy]

Joe, these slot cars are great. To make an IndyCar from an F1 car is a transformation!

Great subject, too, gotta love this driver!

Looking forward to the PC7, very nicely done on the PC6.

Jordan

[indycals]

Very impressive. And you got the rear wing correct!!! In 78 the PC6s had a double element rear wing which was replicated in the AMT kit. When Mears won in 79 he had a single element rear wing (and AMT just re-used the 78 double element wing thinking nobody would notice and they were almost correct on that point).

[Gary Davis]

Great looking pc6. I'm looking forward to the PC7 build for sure.

[quattro]

I only got the rear wing right because I paid attention to the posts on here.
I do recall reading the comments made by Michael in the other threads in this forum about the rear wings.
Therefore my 1/25th Andretti PC6 has two elements and my Andretti PC7 has just the one big un.

That is just one aspect of this forum that makes it so bloody brilliant!

I won't start naming all the names because you know who you are. But yeah.
I really did sponge up all that knowledge and all those observations. Cheers chaps!

[quattro]

Progress on the PC7 but not as much as I would have hoped. Bin a tad busy of late with other issues.
But starting to see the light at the end of the pit lane.

One thing about doing these slot cars is that it is almost a two part kit.
The car and then the driver and more to the point the helmet.



I have gone for it as best I can and went for the Indy 500 lid with the silver strip across the top of the visor.
I have also tried to add the two metal rings on the left side of the lid that had the restraining lead and clip
attached to help Unser's neck cope in the corners.
I think later in the year he ran with a white strip with his name on it with Goodyear and Simpson logos at the two extremities.



One other thing I have realised is that looking at all the various images I have,
the model is like a weird melange of the different configurations it ran in through 1979.
I slapped on the extra panels down the flanks but I do not think it ran like that at the 500.
I will put on the green 'skirts' at the end once I know how much clearance I have to play with.
Will chuck in the pipes in the pod air outlets and might put in the reflective heat resistant strips
at the leading edges of the pods.

Do find this car fascinating given all the guises it ran in. Hope to get it all done in the next few days.

[Calvin]

Looks great!

[quattro]

Dawn til dusk.

Found the time today because there is too much else to do for the rest of the week.

Have to sort out a day to run them in competition with each other.

Guess I had to show them on a left hand curve!




Had the various elements ready to go.

Skirts on.
No pipe work in the pod outlets but maybe one day when I see some better reference.
Mears looks all laid back whilst Uncle B looks like he is ready for it.
Fitting the driver figs can be a challenge.

The rear wheels are for running which is why no Goodyear decals as they do get swapped out over time like the real things.
Just be wasting decals over time.
I have sourced some nice rears that I can do the four spoke config with and would use them for display
but not for messing about on the track with as I would put the logos on those.




If I was to do more of these I think I would think about using a cricut for the styrene panels.
Scratch building is fun but sure you all feel the same about repetition in what we do.
Cricut would give me consistency in everything as it goes together.



Have looked at maybe exploring the possibility of doing the 1979 Parnelli cars and the McLarens but I really cannot get on
with the 1979 Sneva colour scheme. Ugglliieeeeee. But love the Rutherford colours.
The 1980 Chaparral slot kit arrived the other day.
Will check with the forum expert on that subject on the differences between the 79 qnd 80 car in due course.
I have the 1979 decals to scale from Indycals already.
One other car really intrigues me. The 1978 Arco Graphite Eagle.
Would have to study that allot more before even trying to put it together but what an amazing looking machine.

All for the long term I think.

Cheers chaps.


Joe

[jj66]

That's a good looking conversion!

[indy]

Great job, Joe. Cracking job on Uncle Bobby. You really nailed the look which is even harder when trying to adapt a slot car chassis base. Do these cars simulate Bobby losing 4th and Rick roaring by? LOL JK

Jordan

[quattro]

Just to wrap up on the PC7. On any Indy 500 entry I guess.

Jordan's comment got me thinking about what actually happened in the 1979 500
so I had a look at the race coverage available online.

Should have put a solid line down the track with Bobby pulled over to the inside and Mears passing on the outside!

Something I should remember is to always look at the race coverage.
Got the Penske at Indy tome. Mega book.
That showed me the car ran without the extra vertical panels along the length of the sidepods once I had bothered looking.
And the tv coverage showed me that this blue and white car ran with red rear view mirrors!

I did say it was like a mash of all the different bitz and pieces I had in terms of reference from that year,
but amazing how much I actually find out about what could be or not be on a build AFTER I finish......
Even when I thought I had found everything I needed in terms of ref.

As my teacher used to say. 'Must try harder....'

[Gary Davis]

That PC7 really turned out GREAT Joe! You did a fabulous job.