Lola T800 CART - 1984 - Mario Andretti
Apr 10, 2023 11:07:20 GMT -5
Michael Chriss, csl, and 2 more like this
Post by diego204 on Apr 10, 2023 11:07:20 GMT -5
Hi all!
I’m Diego, from Italy. I wrote my first post about two months ago in the thread of the Parnelli VPJ2 opened by Lance in the section dedicated to the cars of the years 1963-1978.
Again, I’m sorry for my bad English…
I would like to show you the Work-In-Progress of the Lola T800 with which Mario Andretti won the 1984 CART Championship.
The body (in scale 1/43) was modeled on the computer by me and printed by a friend (a 3D printing professional).
Almost all the other pieces are built from scratch, apart from rims, tires and little else.
As for the version of the car, initially I thought of building the one with which Mario won the opening race of the championship in Long Beach.
Studying the photos I found, however, I discovered that during the championship there had been some evolution in the configuration and two small NACA were added to the sides of the engine fairing and also two small wings on the sides, right in front of the rear wheels.
The whole thing seemed too nice to exclude him from the model and so I changed my mind and drew a version of the car that I could define “evolution".
I have "pierced” the bodywork wall under the NACA and surround the rear of the air intake with a small recess in which then insert a rectangle of thin metal made from a photoetch to give the idea of the reduced thickness of the body and leave the air intake open.
You will notice, in the photo of the 3D printed body, that the printed front wings turned out curved.
This was the only problem with the 3D printing: actually I had exaggerated in the attempt to reproduce exactly the thin profile of the wing and the resin, during the solidification phase, did not make it and deformed... My fault, of course.
To avoid the inconvenience I cut off the wings, thinking to replace them with two others made from aluminum foil. In the photo you can see the slit (obtained by cutting with the saw) that housed the steel rod that serves to join and keep the two wings well aligned.
Initially I thought that the body would be printed with a semi-transparent resin and that I would have been enough to paint the windshield with a hand of “smoke” to obtain a result very similar to the original.
Contrary to what I thought, the body was not printed with semi-transparent but opaque resin, and I had to remove the opaque windshield that had been printed.
Having "gone down hard" with the file I did some minor damage that I fixed with the Tamiya Putty, as you can see.
Later, I designed a master from which to obtain a classic thermoforming to be used as a windshield.
With a little good will you can see - in the circle - also the NACA with in its place the photoetched rectangle, already grouted to the body.
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The model is almost finished. Remain to glue the wings and tires.
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That’s all, I think...
Please, if I was not clear enough do not hesitate to ask!
Thanks for your attention and patience! See you soon...
Diego
I’m Diego, from Italy. I wrote my first post about two months ago in the thread of the Parnelli VPJ2 opened by Lance in the section dedicated to the cars of the years 1963-1978.
Again, I’m sorry for my bad English…
I would like to show you the Work-In-Progress of the Lola T800 with which Mario Andretti won the 1984 CART Championship.
The body (in scale 1/43) was modeled on the computer by me and printed by a friend (a 3D printing professional).
Almost all the other pieces are built from scratch, apart from rims, tires and little else.
As for the version of the car, initially I thought of building the one with which Mario won the opening race of the championship in Long Beach.
Studying the photos I found, however, I discovered that during the championship there had been some evolution in the configuration and two small NACA were added to the sides of the engine fairing and also two small wings on the sides, right in front of the rear wheels.
The whole thing seemed too nice to exclude him from the model and so I changed my mind and drew a version of the car that I could define “evolution".
The rendering of the 3D drawing and the printed body:
I have "pierced” the bodywork wall under the NACA and surround the rear of the air intake with a small recess in which then insert a rectangle of thin metal made from a photoetch to give the idea of the reduced thickness of the body and leave the air intake open.
You will notice, in the photo of the 3D printed body, that the printed front wings turned out curved.
This was the only problem with the 3D printing: actually I had exaggerated in the attempt to reproduce exactly the thin profile of the wing and the resin, during the solidification phase, did not make it and deformed... My fault, of course.
To avoid the inconvenience I cut off the wings, thinking to replace them with two others made from aluminum foil. In the photo you can see the slit (obtained by cutting with the saw) that housed the steel rod that serves to join and keep the two wings well aligned.
Initially I thought that the body would be printed with a semi-transparent resin and that I would have been enough to paint the windshield with a hand of “smoke” to obtain a result very similar to the original.
Contrary to what I thought, the body was not printed with semi-transparent but opaque resin, and I had to remove the opaque windshield that had been printed.
Having "gone down hard" with the file I did some minor damage that I fixed with the Tamiya Putty, as you can see.
Later, I designed a master from which to obtain a classic thermoforming to be used as a windshield.
With a little good will you can see - in the circle - also the NACA with in its place the photoetched rectangle, already grouted to the body.
In the next pics: some stages of the realization of the front wings and a box with the various pieces - obtained from tubes of various materials - that make up the pop-off valves of the turbocharger that are seen emerging from the dome
For the rear wing, I found the main element rummaging through the scrap box and slightly adapted it. The vertical planes, the flaps and the triangle that unites them have been made of brass sheet. To keep all the pieces in the correct position while the two-component glue was drying I built a kind of support with various bits of plastic (you can see it in box 3).
Here all the pieces that make up the rear, generally in aluminum, apart from the lower triangles of the suspensions, made of brass in unique piece. The gearbox-wing support comes from a kit never built, but I did not like the wing support and I then cut it off and made another from scratch with various pieces.
It’s a shame that, once mounted, practically all the rear had to be painted in matt black, making it difficult to appreciate the details. As a matter of fact, I wanted to keep the natural brass/steel of some pieces of the axles, not too dissimilar from the original ones that are in unpainted metal. The cylinders for lifting the car, vertically next to the wing support, are made of natural aluminum and the fixing bands are imitated with black decal stripes.
For the rims, I adapted the laser cut six spoke flanges to generic rims that I already had at home. In box 1, a flange removed from the support but still with the adhesive plastic attached. After removing the plastic (box 2) the triangles and the central circle have detached themselves. In boxes 3 and 4, the flange fits comfortably inside the turned rim.
At this point it was enough to paint the round flat part inside the rim in matt black and insert the flange, cemented in its place by the paint being dried.
Some phases of the construction of the seat and the ordinate that supports the instrument panel and the steering wheel.
After the primer and painting, begins the application of decals - also these designed by me and printed by a specialized service on a transparent decal sheet
The thermoformed windscreen with the two diagonal slots on the sides, through which the pilot can clearly see the mirrors, and the holes to fix the mirrors
In random order: in box 1 the seat on which I laid a first coat of grout together with the two aluminum panels between which it will then be wedged. In box 2 the various elements of the fire extinguisher that will then be placed in front of the seat and its support in plastic. In box 3 the body with the two small panels that partially faired the vents of the side radiators. In the box 4 stuff varies already ready: seat, fire extinguisher and steering wheel; the visible part of the mechanics that can be seen from the rear hole of the fairing engine with, bent, the turbo exhaust; the group of valves to be placed under the fairing engine; the front wings.
Some phases of the realization of the lateral radiators: the small one on the right (in box 1 the plate already traced with which the fairing is realized) and the big one on the left, on whose upper facade I have finally applied a photoetched grid.
The side wings made with an usual technique: external support in bent brass sheet and little wings obtained by cutting the front wing, in white metal, of another model.
A phase of the construction of the mirrors, first glued to the windshield and then painted in red. For the effective mirrors I used little pieces of chromed tape.
The model is almost finished. Remain to glue the wings and tires.
The windshield has been painted (only in the inside part) with two spray coats of “smoke” (Tamiya TS-71)
And after putting it all together…
That’s all, I think...
Please, if I was not clear enough do not hesitate to ask!
Thanks for your attention and patience! See you soon...
Diego
