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Background There have been some beautiful Grand Prix cars in the post-WWII era. My personal favourites include the ‘shark nose’ Ferrari 156, in which Phil Hill won the world championship in 1961, when 1.5 litres was the rule, and the only Eagle-Weslake built, which Dan Gurney drove. The Lotus 72, however, may be the most iconic Grand Prix car of this – and perhaps any – era. Someone said the 72 was basically a standard chassis for the time. Colin Chapman and Maurice Phillippe, however, changed the shape of GP cars for the next 50 years and we’ve not seen again livery as refined as the JPS design. I wonder how many different models of the 72 have been produced and how many kits Tamiya has sold of its 1/12th scale version, which it has re-released a few times. There have been 1/8th scale versions too and Pocher is soon to release its own kit in this scale. I bought the Tamiya kit intending to model the R5 ‘D’ chassis driven by Fittipaldi when he won the Italian GP at Monza in September 1972, taking the world championship. In principle this might have been fairly straightforward, as the kit is based on a ‘D’ and Tamiya provides numbers and other decals for the ’72 Monza GP. The trouble, as many modelers well know, was with ‘additional detail’. I could find only a few photos with specific details of that car. Recognizing how things change from race to race and particularly from year to year, I’ve tried to be careful when inferring details based on pictures from other races, but without a complete picture some guesswork is inevitable. Another a drawback of modelling a car raced 50 years ago is that after 1972 all existing chassis were converted to ‘E’ and then later specifications, while many of the pictures you find online are of recently restored cars. Ian Wagstaff’s book, Lotus 72 Owners Workshop Manual, provided invaluable information, though in that, too, many of the photos are of rebuilt cars. The book includes Tony Matthews’ excellent cutaway drawing of an early 72D which also served as a useful guide, while Mike Oliver, who wrote the definitive book on the 72 (unfortunately I don’t have it), kindly sent me some photos with hard-to-find details. With one exception – drilling 16 holes in the 1.2mm brass tubing of the rear anti-roll bar for the adjustable drop-links to the uprights – I use hand tools and a small ‘pen’-type electric drill extensively. With an adjustable chuck, it accepts PCB micro drill bits, burrs, as well as sanding and polishing bits and the carbide cutoff disks that I seem to use for almost everything. Though recently completed, I’d lost track of when I started this model. My earliest photos say it was essentially five years ago. Since then, I retired and moved continents, from the USA, near Washington D.C., to the Southern Cape coast of South Africa. Why additional detail? Over the years I’ve made and collected all kinds of models, from railway-related ones – although I never built a layout – to household product miniatures, including – in the late 50s – some of the UK-made tiny reproductions of everything from packets of Player’s Navy Cut cigarettes to boxes of soap powder. The reason has always been the pleasure of a miniature version of something; and the more it replicates in its details the ‘look and feel’ of the prototype the more I enjoy it. If you compare some of today’s highly detailed tiny cars in HO scale – they have interiors, opening boots and bonnets, and even some engine detail – with, say, their diecastMatchbox counterparts, which I loved as a child, you get a sense of how ‘toy cars’ have improved in detail and accuracy. The early 1/12th scale Formula 1 car kits weren’t the precise scale models we get today. Tamiya’s earliest kits included a small motor and batteries, so, in spite of their general quality, the manufacturer sacrificed accuracy and detail for ‘play value’. This changed over the years with improvements in manufacturing techniques, a wider variety of materials being used, more competition and, not least, modelers wanting more accuracy. Even though the detail in Tamiya kits is marvelous, big scale kits allow and even encourage detailing, which, besides replacing (remaking) parts, often means substantially modifying the parts I do use. I thought I’d begin with photos of the ‘finished product’ and work backwards to earlier stages, to show the construction. That said, as I’ve not kept a careful photographic record of the construction, this will be a bit random. At the same time, I thought it might be interesting to compare details on the model against the prototype, using cropped sections of photos I’ve collected. We’ll see how it goes! [Apologies if this is confusing. I've redone some of the photos because they weren't properly lit and weren't particularly clear]

I bought two kits with the plan of using parts from one on the Tamiya Lotus 25 to make a late version. I have now decided to build both kits as Lotus 33. One as a 1964 car and the other kit as a 1965 car. The two first cars (chassis R8 and R9) had the same cockpit tub as the previous Lotus 25 while the rest got a modified tub. The Lotus 33 kit is the Tamiya Lotus 25 kit with new parts added by Ebbro but it retain the early tub. There is a late model 3D printed cockpit tub to be found though. So I started to assembly the kit. From a post (https://forum.f1m.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=32291) I had learned that the body sides don't fit at the rear as they are straight and don't follow the curve of the cockpit tub. Using hot water I managed to bend the sides so I could glue the parts together. The fit didn't get 100% so I had to clamp the parts together while the glue set but I got a good fit in the end. But there are stress marks in the plastic after this. I tried to fit the upper body after this and found a small miss alignment but after enlarging the left hole in the tub a bit it fits fine. The problem with the sides has made me hesitant to get the 3D printed tub for the next build. There will be tensions in the rear wanting to split the joint and knowing how brittle super glue is I feel that it is a large risk that the joint will break. Perhaps I should try to convert the tub instead. There are a more visible difference between the 1964 and 1965 versions than the cockpit. The 1964 car had the high mounted exhaust pipes of the Lotus 25 while the 1965 cars had them low mounted. Both types are in the kit as the original Tamiya parts had the early exhaust. I have a Lotus 25 that I started but the project went to sleep. I brought it out to build the engine to see if it will fit inside the Lotus 33. If it doesn't fit under the engine cowl I need to think about this. I have painted the body's green and need to let the paint set before doing anything more. While waiting I will finish the Lotus 25 engine. I found some pictures from 1964 and 65 with the body parts of and some pictures showed the gear box with a golden hue. It was a good opportunity to get some colour in there so I first added clear yellow over the grey metallic I had painted the gear box with. Then I added e coat of clear orange followed by Tamiya smoke. I'm not entirely happy with the result but it will add a spot of colour at the rear. But getting it out of the sharp photo light the yellow almost disappeared and it look more like antique bronze.

hi everyone !🙂 this is my tamiyaI 1/24 lotus europa special the kit is easy to build,I made some modification and add some detail parts on this beauty.. hope you guys like it!! and here is the building video if you are interested🙂

My first post on here after lurking for sometime. Having not built a car model for many years, I've recently got back into it and this my latest effort. It's the Tamiya kit built pretty much straight from the box with just a few bits of additional piping/cabling in the engine bay. It's an older release of the kit that I think I must have had in my stash for around 20 years, so it didn't have all the additional etched detailed and turned aluminium parts of the latest version. Finish is Zero Paints BRG and AK Extreme Metal Aluminium with MR Colour Super Clear on top. I found the kit to be trickier than I expected with some issues fitting the bonnet that required surgery to the oil filler and repositioning of the headlight mounts but otherwise a reasonable kit.

A recent build on here of the reboxed Doyusha 1:24 Aston Matin DB5 got me thinking about which Bond cars are available as model kits: The aforementioned Airfix / Doyusha DB5 A recent Fujimi Lotus Esprit S1 in both regular and submersible guise Tamiya's BMW Z3 (although with the wrong wheels) Tamiya also did the Aston Martin DBS specifically as the one from Casino Royale. For fans of the original David Niven / Peter Sellers Casino Royale, there is Heller's Bentley Le Mans tourer, also reboxed by Revell (incidently, the Bentley in the books was a different bodystyle). Revell's BMW Z8 For fans of OHMSS, there is the Air Trax resin DBS. AMT have recently released a '71 Mustang as the one from Diamonds Are Forever as a Bond tie-in AMT's Sunbeam Tiger could be tweaked into the earlier Alpine, to represent the car from Dr No. Wasn't there also a mooted but never launched Revell full detail Aston Martin DB5? However, the notable missing one seems to be the Aston Martin V8 Vantage from the The Living Daylights. As a child of the '80s, this was the first Bond film that I saw, and also saw Bond return to a Q Branch edition Aston Martin for the first time since Thunderball (the DBS in OHMSS didn't appear to have any of the special features and played only a very minor role). Oh well - I guess we can only dream...!!

My build of the Airfix 1/32 Lotus Cortina (M8C) It was built for the ATF 14th Anniversary Group Build and you can read about this build here. Dave

Hi Everyone, Thanks for having me! I'm a total newbie to Britmodller or indeed posting models on any forum but this place seems to have some really high quality builders/artists. I want to improve my techniques so I'm here to learn from the best. I could quite easily just lurk on here, appreciating everyone's efforts but I've forced myself to post this in order to get better at this great hobby! Nothing like a bit of pressure to get the best out of ya! Like most, I stated modelling as a kid then had a short break of about 25 years. A few years ago, I got the Tamiya Williams FW14b 1/12 scale as a present. After such a long hiatus, I thought I best buy a couple of kits to remind myself what to do. I finished those over a couple of years then something clicked about a year ago and I've really got back into it. I've still not touched the Williams because I am a) scared and fully aware I don't yet have the technical ability to do the kit justice, or at least to the level I want. The great thing about coming back to modelling is being able to now buy all the cool kit that does make a big difference to the finish including airbrushes and really sharp knives which I wasn't allowed when I was 7. I mainly build cars as that's my interest but I do have some nice planes to build so I'll maybe do one of those next. So this is my fifth model since I started back and it's the fourth car. It's a Lotus Type 78 1977, Ronnie Peterson car. The kit is a Tamiya, which in my limited experience, are really easy to work with and excellently made. For painting, I used Tamiya TS-14 for the body with a (probably too thick) Zero paints 2pk lacquer gloss finish. I used Tamiya acrylics for all the parts that weren't metal. For all the metal parts, engine, gearbox, exhaust etc, I used various paints in the fantastic Alclad range. I did try to weather the exhaust with Alclad's 'manifold' paint as well. The photos are actually quite kind to the gloss black finish because I managed to get a good amount of dust under each layer. I have since read a great painting guide on here so I'm looking forward to using that on my next project. I'm still happy with the smoothness of the gloss, though I would say that's got a lot to do with how good the Zero paints system is. Anyway, feel free to make some constructive criticism as I am fully aware there is loads of work to be done yet!

Anothrer favourite subject in a larger scale, the Tamiya Lotus 49b of Graham Hill. Another great kit that is a pleasure to build.

I got back into the model building hobby a few months ago after a 15+ year hiatus. I've focused on 1/72nd aircraft till now but decided I'd also enjoy getting back into building race cars. I get the most enjoyment from 1/43rd scale cars, though it seems to be a dying niche for kit builders. Picked up this U.K. Made Formula One models Lotus 99T on eBay. I've finished it as Senna's car from I'm not sure what particular race. It's built box stock with exception of making the seat belt labels from some scrap decal and paint. Finished in Tamiya Camel yellow and two part urethane clear. I generally prefer curbside kits such as most Tameo, BBR or Provence Moulage, but I did enjoy painting up the engine bits for this one.

Lotus 91 Formula 1 Car, pics thanks to Stuart.

Lotus 102 Formula 1 car, pic thanks to John.

Lotus 78 Formula 1 Car, pics thanks to John.

Was looking at the Studio27 website and came across this... http://studio27onlineshop.com/shopdetail/000000005819/ I had no idea this was coming. Too expensive for me though. Now, can they make a Britten?

Hi everyone, Here are some pictures of my second F1 model. I tackled the Ebbro Lotus 49 in 1/20, Ebbro's first kit. I used Indycals to finish this as the Rob Walker Racing Team privately-entered car. Swiss ace Jo Siffert drove this car in the first half of 1968 season. He drove the car in this guise in the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix, where he failed to finish. After a string of DNF's, the 49 was replaced by a winged 49B that Siffert would use to win the British Grand Prix that year. I used Tamiya TS-55 through an airbrush for the Rob Walker blue. I stripped the chrome and sprayed Alclad chrome over the shiny bits. The rest of the car was finished up with Vallejo acrylics and Testors metallizer. Scratchbuilt bits include brake lines, spark plug wires, fuel lines, and a brass radiator pipe. It was a very fiddly and often frustrating build, but an impressive kit nonetheless. I will definitely be trying some of Ebbro's newer kits in the future. I particularly liked that I didn't have to mess with doing belts - Siffert never had them in the car! Comments and critiques always welcome. Thanks for looking, Jake

I've started this new kit of a fascinating but short-lived car from my favourite F1 team. It's the first Ebbro kit I've tried and so far it looks good. I went for the Essex livery as I like the blue, although I may end up with the Courage black and chrome 88B too if this build goes well. The kit comes with both plain blue plastic for the chrome side panels and chrome decals, plus a chromed plastic set, giving several options on these parts. Following a thread on the F1M website I'm going for the blue panels and adding chrome decals. I'm hoping that someone will come out with a carbon decal set as I still haven't found a sheet of carbon decals that exactly match the carbon used on the tub. I'm sure there will be plenty of aftermarket parts for these two cars in the near future, with Acu.Stion announcing lots of detail parts already. I went with Tamiya TS-50 for the Essex blue and it's a lovely colour (I don't know how accurate it is but it does look nice!) Here's a link to the kit and Hobby Search's usual very helpful photos of the kit and instructions: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10324889 I took advantage of a sunny winter's day to put a coat of Mica Blue on the upper body cowl. That's about all I've done so far! That's it for now. I also need to finish my Aoshima McLaren F1 GTR so progress may be slow. It's winter here in Australia and my spray booth is in the shed so I need warm days for spraying and the Mac needs a gloss coat. I plan to wait for a decent carbon decal set before finishing the tub on the Lotus, so let's hope someone brings one out soon! Cheers, Kev.

As the title says its the Tamiya Lotus 99T. I'm not one for fine detailing things(dont have the skill yet), so to spice things up a bit i bought the Studio 27 Carbon decal set, a set of Camel decals (because they never look right without the ciggie ones) and a Goodyear tyre stencil to spray onto the tyres for that little bit of authenticity Really nice kit to build, except for the rear wing causing me massive problems. It cant be completely built and then attached to the engine it has to be built onto the engine so i had to part build it, spray then try and attach to the engine. When glue and paint mix you know what happens then once fitted i noticed it was wonky so i had to break it apart and have another go making even more mess with the glue. Doesnt notice too much in the photos but can be seen slightly on the inside of the end plates. The silver paint on the "Honda" on the engine isnt great either, im just no good at fine details that small I used all Tamiya paints and body was sprayed using Tamiya rattle cans. Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking.

I'm deliberately trying to step out of my comfort zone. As a first step I built a Renault RE30B in the recent French Fancy GB. Emboldened by that, I thought I would have a go at another Formula 1 car. So this is my first post in the vehicles section of BM. I hope you'll be gentle with me. My problem is that I tend to get a bit obsessed with things... I also like to build a series of models which show how things evolve and develop over a period of time. So with those two things in mind, here is a long term project I intend to work on over the next five years or so. I hope to show the development of Lotus Formula 1 cars. Have a gander at The Stash... I did mention obsession, didn't I? So I think I will kick off with a Lotus 72. The JPS Lotus 72 is probably my all time favourite Formula 1 car but I'll leave that one until I get a few of these under my belt. So here goes nothing...

For the last week or two I have been building the Lotus Esprit Sport 300. I am a big fan of British cars and the Esprit was a favourite of mine during the 90's (still like it ). The engine is mostly finished and I am now working on the chassis. The engine has not been glued to the chassis yet, just put it there for the photos. This kit has been a joy to build so far, especially compared to the E-Type I built before this one.

Working my way through the excellent Ebbro kit but I am in need of a suitable dull, semi matt gold paint for the wheels, preferably brushable. Does anyone know of a decent match for the kit decals? I figure Zero or some such do an exact match but looking for a more readily available option?