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Post by dennis88 on Sept 3, 2018 22:35:43 GMT -5
As I'm waiting for the chrome to fully cure for my Lotus 29 it is time to tackle something else, Tameo's 1/43 kit of Jim Clark's Lotus 25 of the 1963 Formula 1 Season. The set's decals turn it into the car for the 1963 Italian Grand Prix (with yellow stripe), but I have decided to build it in an earlier version, that of Jim Clark's #1 as raced in the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa- Francorchamps. Arguably one of Clark's greatest wins in what was his most successful season, winning the World Championship (he won 7 out of 10 races that year) and coming in 2nd in the Indy 500. Clark started eight at the Belgian Grand Prix after gearbox problems in qualifying, but by the time the field had passed Eau Rouge on the first lap he was in front and would never give up the lead. Damp conditions were followed by a massive rainstorm, and Clark lapped the entire field at one point, although McLaren did get back on the lead lap in the final stages of the race, eventually finishing second, nearly five minutes behind Clark. The classic yellow stripe on the classic Lotus cars was introduced later in 1963, so the car will look a bit simpler and perhaps a bit different than the typical 1960s Lotus car you might be used to. This is one of Tameo's "World Champion" kits, resulting in more detail than you might find in ordinary kits. The Lotus 25 was not a big car to begin with, being powered by the small Climax FVMV V8 1.5 engine, and in 1/43 scale it is tiny. Michael provided decals for the Belgian Grand Prix, and I probably will be using a combination of his decals with the kit's decals. This being only the second Tameo kit I have built, I was surprised by the overall state of the pieces. Especially the body needs considerable work, which I have started. So far I'm about 3 hours in and there is more to be done, and then there's also some of the other pieces that need general cleanup. Looks like this might be a long project, but hopefully the end result will be worth it.      |
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robh
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Post by robh on Sept 4, 2018 7:58:35 GMT -5
I have this kit too and I'll be watching. The large parts count for such a tiny model is daunting. I wonder why Tameo hasn't gone over to resin for the main parts (tub, body, engine, etc. White metal is a pain to work with and doesn't take paint well either..
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Post by indy on Sept 4, 2018 10:57:20 GMT -5
Very cool. I love Clark builds and Lotus builds so this is a win-win!
Jordan
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craig
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Post by craig on Sept 4, 2018 21:36:30 GMT -5
Looking forward to more. I have this as well. So far I've built two Tameo super kits. They are much nicer than MFH 1/43 kits in my opinion.
Craig
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Post by dennis88 on Sept 12, 2018 22:02:08 GMT -5
A bit of a picture lacking update, but an update none-the-less. Have been working on the build and things are slowly starting to take shape. Pieces were prepared, which was quite a bit of work, and small pieces were primed with mr. metal primer. The body was primed with alclad white primer and filler. After making sure the body was nice and smooth using 3200-4000-6000-8000 grade micromesh I gave it several coats of Tamiya British Racing Green. That has been drying for a couple of days, and I probable give it a few more days, before giving it a light polish to make it as smooth as possible. After that I will start with the decals (not that many on this kit) and seal it all up with zero-paints semi-gloss clear. Have not used that before, so I'll be curious to see how that will go. While generally these older F1 cars do not have much of a shine, I think a few thin coats of clear will definitely improve the looks of the model. Only after that is all done will I start putting the engine and all other parts together. Also worked on the windscreen, which as typical is a small vacuformed piece I am supposed to cut. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this neat? This is the one thing that I have messed up on pretty much all my models so far, and while it doesn't look bad, the edges are still a bit rough, and it doesn't appear to fit entirely correctly either. Also, any suggestions for glue? There have been a small subassemblies in process, such as the wheels, the steering wheel and some parts of the engine (painted part alclad gunmetal, aluminum and Tamiya flat aluminum. I'm planning on giving some of these a light wash once it gets further along. At the moment only the wheels look good enough to show: I used Tamiya lemon yellow (X-8 I believe) and brushed this on. In hindsight, it probably would have been better to airbrush this, but it doesn't look bad. The rear wheels are a lot easier to put together than the front wheels, which are harder and not easily assembled:  The next update will hopefully be a bit more substantial. Dennis |
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Post by indy on Sept 13, 2018 11:02:41 GMT -5
Great work. It will be interesting to see the shine after the semi-gloss clear. To my eye the period pictures show a nice shine but in scale, that can be difficult to get right.
Jordan
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robh
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Post by robh on Sept 13, 2018 15:48:43 GMT -5
I find that outlining the edges of the windshield with thin strips of masking tape and then stuffing the molding cavity with blu tac or silly putty makes it easier to cut out. I usually cut it out with a pair of small and sharp scissors. I cut the outline a little large and final shape with sandpaper.
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Post by jamesharvey on Sept 13, 2018 17:27:36 GMT -5
I agree with the suggestion to use thin strips of masking tape to cover where you need to cut. I use a pair of fingernail cuticle scissors which are already curved to make the round cuts and then switch to straight scissors for the rest. I also use sandpaper or an emery board to smooth the edge and get rid of imperfections. Good luck.
Jim
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Post by dennis88 on Sept 13, 2018 20:00:38 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I'll keep on experimenting. What kind of glue would you recommend? Here's a small update I worked on yesterday and today, and it is kind of important, as it is the steering wheel. Center piece consists of 2 photo-etched parts, unpainted as the chrome silver looked good enough for me. The decal is tiny, of course, but looks accurate enough (don't think there's more detail that can get there. The wheel itself was painted with Tamiya matte red. I was debating whether to paint another layer but I think the slightly darker tint (the piece is molded in black) looks more realistic.   |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2018 20:50:20 GMT -5
If I recall correctly. the '63 Belgian GP was the only race that they ran without the screen over the carb inlets. I got this info from an issue of Motor Racing Replica News that was published when the Tamiya 1/20 kit was released, Since I had no suitable screen to use I built mine as the Belgian winner.
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Post by dennis88 on Sept 14, 2018 19:44:06 GMT -5
Heck, I hadn't even realized that and I looked at as many pictures as I could find. Stupid how some of the little things that are important you can overlook. I have finished decaling the body, and it's just drying before I will do my clearcoat experiment early next week. Some minor hiccups with the decals, but nothing major, and I doubt anyone will notice (but the slightly skewed 1 is going to bother me for ages, naturally). Did some more small detail work, but the major stuff can't really be done until tub has been clearcoated.   |
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Post by dennis88 on Sept 18, 2018 23:24:04 GMT -5
Little bit of a non-update, and not really a positive one either.
After finishing the main paintjob of the body and tub (a less than stellar result, but since all the decals were on that had to do) I started with the front suspension. This lasted about 15 seconds before a very tiny photo-etch piece that is the connection between the upper part of the front suspension and the tub went flying in who knows what direction of my garage (where my modeling area is located). So far it's been about an hour of searching and I have yet to turn it up. Will continue looking tomorrow, but if it cannot be located (it seems unlikely at this point) I will have to come up with some sort of solution. Ideas are greatly appreciated.
Usually I have a vague idea what direction a piece went (it has happened before, and probably will happen again), but in this case it just flew of my tweezers while fiddling with it and it could be anywhere. Sigh.
Hopefully a better update soon.
Dennis
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Post by pje on Sept 19, 2018 0:11:39 GMT -5
Dennis, get your vacuum cleaner out. Cover the hose end with some kind of mesh. A piece of panty hose works best. Then see if you can suck the part up. I’ve done this more than once.  Paul Erlendson |
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Post by Calvin on Sept 19, 2018 0:40:08 GMT -5
A piece of panty hose works best. Then see if you can suck the part up. I’ve done this more than once. Paul Erlendson What happens if you are in my age group and your girl doesn't wear pantyhoses, but only has this fishnet stuff?  |
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Post by racerbrown on Sept 19, 2018 6:43:09 GMT -5
[quote source="/post/87775/thread" author=" pje " times amp="1537333899"] A piece of panty hose works best. Then see if you can suck the part up. I’ve done this more than once. Paul Erlendson What happens if you are in my age group and your girl doesn't wear pantyhoses, but only has this fishnet stuff? [/quote] then you should be doing something other than modeling!  duane |
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Post by dennis88 on Sept 19, 2018 8:46:10 GMT -5
Yeah, I have to try that. Of course there's so much crap on my floor of the garage already that it's going to be a fun thing to do.
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Post by pje on Sept 19, 2018 9:28:47 GMT -5
[quote source="/post/87775/thread" author=" pje " times amp="1537333899"] A piece of panty hose works best. Then see if you can suck the part up. I’ve done this more than once. Paul Erlendson What happens if you are in my age group and your girl doesn't wear pantyhoses, but only has this fishnet stuff? Calvin, you can walk into any drugstore, supermarket or department store and buy a pair for yourself. This is after all the 21st century. Paul Erlendson |
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Post by Calvin on Sept 20, 2018 1:35:17 GMT -5
[quote source="/post/87775/thread" author=" pje " times amp="1537333899"] A piece of panty hose works best. Then see if you can suck the part up. I’ve done this more than once. Paul Erlendson What happens if you are in my age group and your girl doesn't wear pantyhoses, but only has this fishnet stuff? then you should be doing something other than modeling! duane[/quote] You are right! Bye guys im done with indy modeling! Im moving on to a "different type" of modeling.  |
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Post by Calvin on Sept 20, 2018 1:38:21 GMT -5
What happens if you are in my age group and your girl doesn't wear pantyhoses, but only has this fishnet stuff? Calvin, you can walk into any drugstore, supermarket or department store and buy a pair for yourself. This is after all the 21st century. Paul Erlendson Oh sure! I realize Im a millennial, but Im more like you guys......  |
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Post by dennis88 on Sept 20, 2018 19:45:31 GMT -5
Well, I think that piece is a goner. The pantyhose trick didn't work, but at least my garage floor is clean again. Who knows where it went, but at least it is not a crucial piece. In fact, looking at contemporary photos, the front suspension looks a bit different than the model, so I think it is ok. I continued with the front suspension, which was not all that difficult. Also installed the seat, steering wheel column and shifter. All this went well. Then, in true fashion, it appears that the body does not fit the tub anymore now that the front-end has been installed. Not wanting to force it, I decided to leave that alone for now. I might want to display the model with the body off, as most people appear to do, so I think it will be ok. Some detail need touch-up paint, but we will get to that when the model is coming along. Have to take a break from building for now, as I will be traveling overseas next week, but hopefully will be back with more updates in a few weeks.    |
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robh
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Post by robh on Sept 21, 2018 6:52:06 GMT -5
Nice detail work. The missing part will turn up shortly after you either finish the model or scratch build a replacement.
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Joel
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Post by Joel on Oct 2, 2018 8:17:33 GMT -5
Dennis,
You're doing a fantastic job building the Lotus 25. It just amazes me how anyone can work in 1/43 scale even wearing an Optivisor. I struggle these days with 1/24-1/20 scale and I wear mine for literally everything while modeling
Looking forward to your next update once you get back to your bench
Joel
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Post by dennis88 on Oct 17, 2018 17:15:37 GMT -5
Back to the grind....not very happy because of my paintjob, but nothing can be done now, so I'll go ahead and finish it. Definitely not award winning, but as it is only my 2nd model have to give myself some slack. Definitely taking a break from this scale after this. Started work on the rear suspension, exhaust and other miscellaneous parts. Still a few more parts to be added here, but it is coming together quite nicely. The disc brakes are a very tight fit and I had to scrape off part of the paint just to make it fit.   |
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robh
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Post by robh on Oct 17, 2018 20:27:03 GMT -5
It's looking good. Surprising how large the engine looks in relation to the rest of the car given that it only had 90 cubic inches.
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Joel
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Post by Joel on Oct 18, 2018 8:43:53 GMT -5
Looking quite good after the paint has been applied. Sure sounds like you're selling yourself short on how the build is turning out. It's quite common to have to scrap off paint to get parts to fit as well as glued in place.
Keep the updates coming.
Joel
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Post by dennis88 on Oct 19, 2018 22:37:41 GMT -5
So here's probably the 2nd to last update. Still to install right now is the windshield and the mirrors. As I may have mentioned already the model has to be displayed with the body off at this point, as everything appears to not have been fitted as good as it could have, and the body doesn't quite fit the tub. I can already draw some conclusions after building this Tameo WTC kit: a) The new (Silverline) kits are waaaaay easier b) I need to spend more time practicing airbrushing (already done that since, but need more practice to achieve a perfect finish) c) Even though the model is not perfect, and I left out some minor detail on purpose to improve the easiness of the build, it should still display well. Going to take a break from 1/43 and work on perfecting my modeling skills with some larger (sportscar) kits, but I already have several 1/43 F1 kits lined up, as I do enjoy working on this scale.   |
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Joel
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Post by Joel on Oct 20, 2018 9:28:18 GMT -5
Dennis,
You're making steady progress towards the finish line, and that's the 2nd most important thing. The most important thing is to enjoy the build & the hobby.
Joel
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