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Hi everyone, I'm starting to assemble this Ebbro Kit: by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr to make this car: Lotus 49 Jim Clark Became the pole sitter of 1967 Italian Grand Prix Source:Carthrottle.com "The 1967 Grand Prix of Italy at Monza is considered by many to be one of the best Formula One races in history. It was also Scotsman Jim Clark’s best drive of his career. The irony is that Clark didn’t even win the race, merely coming back from a post-pit stop deficit of nearly a lap to overtake the entire field before yielding to a fuel shortage. In the 1967 Italian Grand Prix at Monza after starting from pole, Clark was leading in his Lotus 49 (chassis R2), when a tyre punctured. He lost an entire lap while having the wheel changed in the pits. Rejoining sixteenth, Clark ripped back through the field, progressively lowering the lap record and eventually equalling his pole time of 1m 28.5s, to regain the lost lap and the lead. He was narrowly ahead of Brabham and Surtees starting the last lap, but his car had not been filled with enough fuel for such a performance: it faltered, and finally coasted across the finish line in third place." Source: Formula One Art & Genius A quick look inside the box: by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr by Rodolfo Masti, on Flickr

Background A couple of years ago, inspired by the pictures I saw of others’ efforts, including some on this site, I decided to try my hand at modeling again. The last time I tried was so long ago that cyanoacrylate glues probably hadn’t been invented and acrylic paints weren’t widely used. Tamiya was just beginning to market some 1/12 scale kits, and, fortunate to have parents who indulged me, I built a Lotus 49 and Honda. It was certainly long before the arrival of the internet. The Lotus 49 in Gold Leaf livery always appealed to me. Chapman’s chassis/engine combination influenced the design of F1 cars for years to come and the early 49s before they sprouted wings, were some of the loveliest F1 cars ever. The cigarette sponsorship, too, changed F1 racing (not necessarily for the better) and Lotus were almost the first to swap national colors for commercial sponsorship (John Love in South Africa, driving under Team Gunston sponsorship preceded them by a few months). When looking for a prototype to model, Hill’s car at Jarama in ’68 became the ‘obvious’ choice. His winning the Spanish Grand Prix shortly after Jim Clark’s tragic death probably saved Team Lotus. The model I enjoy making the small parts that are visible at 1/12 scale and hoped to build a model that captured the look and feel of the 49, with many of the details of the prototype including wiring and plumbing, while not being too obsessive about rivet counting. When I started this project I didn’t know much about variations over the life of the car (e.g. what distinguished a 49 from a 49B). In the course of researching and building the model, I’ve learned a lot: both about these cars and, unfortunately, about modeling. This has been as much an exercise in rebuilding and repainting as it has been in ‘building a model’. I’d not used a proper airbrush before and, when I started, believed the way to glue polystyrene was with polystyrene glue! The obvious lesson has been, ‘it’s not a good thing to learn - i.e. to experiment - while you’re building ‘the' model”. Now that I've finished it, I thought I'd show the building process in reverse. Starting with the finished model, in due course I'll add some pictures of details and parts in the earlier stages. Having no access to a prototype on this side of the Atlantic, I relied on photos off the web - with enough searching there are many. I later bought Michael Oliver’s wonderful book and was given Ian Wagstaff’s 49 ‘owners manual’ as a Christmas present. Both proved invaluable. Michael Oliver was kind enough to send me some photos including the only one I have of Hill's car in the Tasman series with it's nose off (important because these races preceded Jarama). Peter Morley sent me a stack of photos of chassis R3 at Beaulieu, from which I was able to see details not visible in other photos, and Doug Nye sent some beautiful photos of the car during the race at Jarama. My grateful thanks to them. Very little of the model consists of Tamiya parts out-of-the box. The basic body shell was widened by 6 mm because the block is a bit too wide. This part was easy, but I didn't realize it would mean vacuum forming a pair of windscreens, nor did I reckon on how much work would go into trying to get the nose 'right'. The block of the DFV and transaxle, known to be inaccurate in this model, were heavily modified as later pictures will show and the entire front end is scratch-built, as are the rear ‘fir tree’ subassemblies for the rear suspension (lots of stainless tubing here!) and all the peripherals on the engine. Needing to remake the uprights, rocker arms, brake calipers and hangers, I asked Brian Fawcett if he'd be willing to cast parts for me (he has his own line of excellent castings including correct transaxles and gearboxes for the 49). Brian did so out of the kindness of his heart and I can't thank him enough. While I tried to keep the purchase of 'third-party' parts to a minimum in order to limit the overall cost, I finally gave in to purchase the CNC machined wheels from Scale Details after having failed to produce a passable shiny aluminium painted finish. The wheel nuts unscrew to remove the wheels.