Lotus 78

[Rizzo]

I've just started this one after making a Tamiya Lotus 79. I actually prefer the looks of this one- the 79 was copied so much it looks a little generic now. The kit though, is far older than I'd realised (almost as old as the real thing!), and very different to the modern Lotus 79 kit.

The chassis needs a bit of work before anything is glued together. First of all, the front wing was quite badly warped, and sticking upwards at about 10 degrees each side. So to fix that I've fixed a brace to the inside of the nose. This pushed the sides out to where they should be and straightens out the wings in the process.

The other modification needed is to remove the great big lump that sits in the sidepods- I guess this is where the battery goes on the original kit. The nose has also been updated, with the missing triangular cutouts added behind the wing.

The upper suspension arms are made as one block, with a great big lump of plastic holding the two sides together. I've cut this out, and will hold the two parts together with brass rod. This means that they can be fitted one the chassis is painted too, but does leave some holes in the chassis to fill.

[Rizzo]

I had some spare parts left over from the EJan Andretti figure I have, so will use that for the driver (Gunnar Nilsson). There's no way to fit the driver once the chassis is glued together, so I'll have to get the figure finished and painted first.

First job was to make a new seat- the kits seat is a funny shape. I just squished the figure into a lump of milliput.

Then with the seat holding things together, I added some wire arms:

And then sculpted them with milliput. Not really happy with how the hands look, but they're not too visible once all the body panels are on.

Added the head... temporarily, I'll only glue this on once the chassis is painted. The head is from a Tamiya mechanic. I've also increased the height of the rollbar- the kit one is for Andretti.

And finally added that fire proof thing that both Nilsson and James Hunt always seemed to use. I added some temporary seat belts with masking tape while making this, to be sure it won't get in their way later on.

Next I need to get it painted- but have to wait a few weeks for the paint to arrive (the one bad thing about MrColor paints is having to get them all imported) So, I guess I should get started on the engine.

[colin]

Very nice so far, what filler are you using, it looks nice and fine and seems to feather in nicely when sanded

Edit;Just realized must be a high build spray filler

[Rizzo]

Thanks Colin Yep, it's just Halfords filler primer- great for bits like that with some difficult seams. I don't get on with it as a base for gloss paint though, so just use it to check things before the proper layer of primer goes on.

[Steve Noble]

Nice start, love the figure

[Hamden]

This looks to be an interesting build I will follow this with interest

Roger

[Rizzo]

A little update to the figure: shading is done, so it's just seatbelts that are needed before I can add it to the chassis and glue it all together.

And I've been doing a little on the engine too.

This is how the real thing looks:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img812/7840/lotus7808.jpg

So there's a few problems to fix with the kit parts...

First, the brake ducts are completely missing, and while the intake for them is there, it sticks straight back, and there's no way to connect it up to any duct you add in. So they've been cut off and reshaped with milliput and plastic tube.

Then the anti-roll bar from the kit is behind and to the rear of the gearbox. Maybe it's from an early spec of the car? I have the Studio27 photetch set though, which repositions this to above the gearbox as well as adding in a few missing details such as the battery.

The calipers have been detailed a little, but are still a long way off from the real thing. There is another Studio27 set to replace them, but the prices are really crazy, so this will do.

[72twink]

Another 78 fan here so will be watching this one, especially as you're building Gunnar's car, here are my 43rd versions by Spark - are you going red or black?

[Rizzo]

Those Spark models have some amazing detail for the size! Mine will be the JPS version- the red did look great though. I've always thought Nilsson was underrated because of how much the cancer effected his second half of the season- at least there was that win in Belgium though.

[72twink]

History could have told a very different story had he not been suffering, at least his legacy has helped and continues to help many others.

[Rizzo]

Did a bit more on this one in the last week...

Corrugated ducts done with fishing line, now need to get this all painted:

Updated the shocks with springs:

Added in some of the missing panel lines and rivets:

And finally with some paint on

I tried a mix of F'artefice and Tamiya decals to start with. The Tamiya ones are thinner so I thought the carrier film might be less visible- but they're also translucent and all of the lines fell apart once soaked in water... So I gave up on them and stuck to F'artefice decals for the lot. Definately worth getting if you're making this kit, although they seem to be difficult to get hold of. What is it with Tamiya and decals though, seems to be the one thing they do badly?

[Rizzo]

I've got the engine attached and started adding in the rest of the parts around it. Still plenty more wiring to add, as well as the anti-roll bar and wing support.

[Hamden]

This is progressing well - looking forward to the next installment

Roger!

[Rizzo]

This is progressing well - looking forward to the next installment

Roger!

Thanks I'm not making much progress tbh, but not much left to do on this one. But I can't help myself, so I also have two 72's started too

[72twink]

72's ......... Yes please!

[Red 5]

Looking fantastic , driver really sets it off .

Red 5

[Rizzo]

The wheels are on- unfortunately it's only at this point I realised the ride height is too high both front and rear. The updates I made to the front suspension would have made it really easy to modify, but too late for that now. But anyway, updating the rear to match would have been much more complicated, and a RedBull style rake wouldn't look much better.

Now I just need to get these bits finished.... will be fun trying to get the rear wing aligned

If you use the Studio27 PE, be careful with the fit of the lower rear wing brackets. The PE gearbox plate shortens the distance between the two attachment points on the gearbox by about 1.5mm, but their own PE set doesn't account for this, so the wing supports won't fit Would have been a really easy fix early on, but was pain to sort out at this stage.