My Kmart Lola T-8800

[Art Laski]

MY son asked me to build the second kit we bought to replace the part that got lost in his build, so I thought I would go for it and do my first Indy car. So I'm looking for references for the Lola T-8800, and I am coming up pretty empty.

The best shot of the car with the cowl off I can find is actually on the box itself. Are there any better reference shots out there anywhere?

Thanks!

Art

[Deleted]

Art,
Here is a picture of Mario's 87 engine. Should be pretty close to 88's.

Stu

[img src="http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/sbenford/87marioeng.jpg"img]

[Art Laski]

Thanks, Stu. Everything helps!

-Art

[Art Laski]

I got started on this one and am having fun with it. I'm using this to try some new things and get an Indy Car under my belt! I'm trying to get it done in time for Cruisin' for a Cure contest this weekend. Boy, I have a long way to go!

The dash actually looks much better than the picture indicates:


I put a carbon fiber decal on the cockpit sides, but it's hard to see in the pictures, and in person as well.












I had to scratch build the shifter lever and the weight jackers. Somehow I lost the kit parts. I didn't have a good reference for the weight jacker, so I tried to copy what I remembered the kit part to look like. I think it's too big, but in the cockpit it looks OK.




Thanks for looking!

-Art

[illeagle10]

Looks like you're off to a great start!

Jim

[2lapsdown]

Great stuff! The engine and gearbox detail is really nice, sure looks like metal to me. This promises to be a real nice build.

John

[Deleted]

Excellent work. Engine - gearbox looks super!
Tom T.

[stuboyle]

The exhaust heat shield boxes are not part of the kit are they?

[Chris]

Art, Great work, it is looking real good. Try coating the carbon fiber decals with a coat of semi-Gloss clear (interior parts and Gloss for exterior parts) it will add some depth and bring out the carbon fiber pattern. I cant wait to see the Paint..Chris

[SWT500]

You really captured the look of the engine/gearbox assembly. It has the multidimensional flat, used look that the real cars had. You need two small lines, one an Aeroquip -4 and a similar size medium blue plastic line to capture the breathers. They protrude out from the gearbox above the undertray on the driver side. WONDERFUL JOB!!

[stonecold44]

Sept 22, 2010 10:59:05 GMT -5 stuboyle said:

The exhaust heat shield boxes are not part of the kit are they?

Yep, they come with the kit, but most of the builds I've seen didn't use them (mine included)

[stonecold44]

Really looks great. What did you use for the rear axel?

[Art Laski]

Sept 22, 2010 13:27:59 GMT -5 SWT500 said:

You need two small lines, one an Aeroquip -4 and a similar size medium blue plastic line to capture the breathers. They protrude out from the gearbox above the undertray on the driver side. WONDERFUL JOB!!

You wouldn't happen to have a picture, would you? I received some good responses on reference books, but not enough time or money to get them for this build. I found a bunch of pics of other Indy cars online, but it gets hard to tell what's going where.

[Art Laski]

Sept 22, 2010 12:18:02 GMT -5 Chris said:

Art, Great work, it is looking real good. Try coating the carbon fiber decals with a coat of semi-Gloss clear (interior parts and Gloss for exterior parts) it will add some depth and bring out the carbon fiber pattern. I cant wait to see the Paint..Chris

Thanks, Chris. I pondered using some clear, but thought it might look more like the real car if it wasn't shiny. But I like your idea of the semi-gloss. If I have time, I might try it.

[Art Laski]

Thanks for all of the other kind comments. The heat shields did come with the kit, as was mentioned, but I melted them to distort them a little to look like the real thing a bit more. I then put on some BMF, then sprayed it with some Tamiya clear yellow, then some Tamiya smoke and a little wash to heat stain and dirty them up a bit. The look on the box is what I was trying to emulate.



The axle is just some K&S aluminum tubing. I also borrowed on Chris' shrink tubing idea to create some CV joints.

[Calvin]

Nice!

[SWT500]

I do not have a photo of this particular car. Everyone did them differently. They all ended up running through P clips on the wing post and hanging out on the driver side at the end of the gearbox. One ran from the catch tank to the rear of the car and I forget about the origin of the other. The plastic tube was about twice the size of the aeroquip line. It's been a few years since I turned wrenches on this car! Again, congratulations on a wonderful job so far.

[mrindy77]

The silver wrapper inside a cigarette package work great for these heatshields. I'm not a smoker but have a few friends who are and they give me there wrappers. the wrapper has little dimples in it that look identical to the real thing.

[shunter]

Nice work so far, i really did like this car.

[Art Laski]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

I tried to finish it for a show today, but it didn't happen. Around midnight last night, I realized I have about 2 weeks of work to do it the way I want it. Rushing it wasn't cutting it.

[2lapsdown]

I admire your decision. Of all the things I've learned about modeling over the years the most important thing is patience.

John

[Chris]

Good choice Art, I have been there and wanting to quickly wrap a project up but my supportive wife, Yolanda , always tells me to slow down and do it right. On the Lola T8800, I felt bad because I have thousands of Indy car pics and virtually none on this fine car, so I was browsing ebay and found a set of CART Yearbooks 6 books covering 1983 ? to 1994> (they cover 2 years in some cases) and bid on them, winning them for $6 plus $12. shipping.. so when I get them I should have some research photos for your project. They will fill a gap in my research library anyway so Hang in there and I will let you know what I come up with...Chris

[Art Laski]

Chris,

Thanks so much for that. I really could use more references. I have been able to piece together some information using other Lola T-8800's, but most of the pics are not Chevy engines, so there are some differences. Then I have also found Chevy's in other chassis, so I can make some educated guesses, but better references would be awesome. I truly appreciate your willingness to help. What a score on those year books!

Thanks,

Art

[shunter]

[Art Laski]

Thanks for the pics! The bottom one I had previously seen, but not the road course one. It's funny how I can notice that all of the differences in road course trim, besides just the bigger wings, since working on this model. One can really learn a lot about their subjects building models, which I think is part of the fun of it all.

[Art Laski]

Sept 27, 2010 12:49:11 GMT -5 Chris said:

Good choice Art, I have been there and wanting to quickly wrap a project up but my supportive wife, Yolanda , always tells me to slow down and do it right. On the Lola T8800, I felt bad because I have thousands of Indy car pics and virtually none on this fine car, so I was browsing ebay and found a set of CART Yearbooks 6 books covering 1983 ? to 1994> (they cover 2 years in some cases) and bid on them, winning them for $6 plus $12. shipping.. so when I get them I should have some research photos for your project. They will fill a gap in my research library anyway so Hang in there and I will let you know what I come up with...Chris

Hi Chris. Was wondering if you got your books and if they had anything useful? I'm still trying to sort things out a little, although I am making a little bit of progress...

[Calvin]

Sept 27, 2010 12:49:11 GMT -5 Chris said:

, so I was browsing ebay and found a set of CART Yearbooks 6 books covering 1983 ?

The 1983 book actually covers the 1982 season. I dont know why they do that on some yearbooks putting the year before on the cover....kinda dumb IMO.

I have the 1981, 1983-85 books and they are great!
I would like to find a 1982 (covers 1981) but from the research i've done, I guess they didn't ever make one?

[Chris]

yeah I thought they covered the years 87-88 but it covers 87 only, its dumb... I got the 89-90 also and somehow missed the 88-89 ... sorry Art but nothing, I am still looking nightly in all the books though. You would think being an Andretti car there would have been more pics of it!!! Chris

[Art Laski]

Chris,

Thanks for looking. Since I really just wanted to do a quick build in the first place, I'm not going to sweat the accuracy too much at this point. But I want to add some fun details to make it look interesting and get some modeling practice.

So, guys, when the finished model turns up on the forum, go easy on me!!!

[Chris]

Hey any model done is something to be proud of ! Detail or not, each is an accomplishment in its own right ! So be proud of your work ! Building models is about the Fun and Relaxation and not about impressing others.. At least is is for me .....Chris