Tamiya Lotus 25 conversion

[Orso]

I know that I will regret this. I started on a Tamiya Lotus 25.

 

But as usual I can't build something out of the box. I decided to build mine as a car without the yellow stripe from the 1962 season. The thing that worried me was that I meed a new windscreen for this.
It took many attempts but I think I have a template for it now.

 

I'm not sure this was a good idea or if I'm just going to ruin a kit. I started by filling the openings in the sides.
A couple of incisions with the saw was needed to make the upper part narrower at the back.
But the engine cover must also be higher and I'm not sure how to fix it.

 

I will improvise. I made a couple of cuts and added material to it.

 

I found a good side view in a book and my conversions so far match the image very well. The nose should be a little longer though so I started by adding plastic to the front,.

 

That gave me some material to reshape.

 

I think I got the basic shape of the car now. Time to start scratching some Weber carburettors.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Orso

[Bengalensis]

I have never done any research on the 25, but what I see here looks promising 

[Malc2]

Great start - my favourite F1 car.

 

Malc.

[Toftdale]

Great start.   I've never seen this done before so I'll be watching along with interest - Andy 

[Orso]

I was wrong. I was far from ready with the basic shapes. I was sent some pictures of the original and I just had to rework it.

 

I added plastic inside the engine cowl to get more material to work with and then I sanded down the large bulges so that the cowl's shape follow the rest of the body.

But now the engine doesn't fit inside the cowl any more so the smaller bulges visible on pictures must be added. I probably have to alter some of the exhaust pipes as well.
I also made a cut to be able to lower the cowl at the rear getting a slight slope to it. I still wonder if this conversion was a good idea.

[Orso]

It's getting a bit tricky. Trying to find where the new smaller bulge for the valve covers goes? I did some measuring and cut a hole, hopefully in the right position but the cowl didn't fit. I had to sand off some material inside the cowl to make it thinner so that the valve covers have some space at the top. I have temporary glued the engine in place so I can fit everything out. The glue have to set before I can continue. I have been thinking on how to make the new bulges. I have been thinking of making new out of Miliput or Magic Sculp, but got an idea. I will search my spare parts looking for some 1/144 scale drop tanks. With some luck I can find something useful.

 

But I couldn't find any drop tanks, instead I Found something that perhaps is even better. Nose bulges from an SAAB recce Lansen.
Still I can't get the engine cowl in place. It hits the top of the valve covers. I can't grind off any more material on the inside as the cowl is getting to thin.
I think that I made it to narrow at the back so I need to add some material to it. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Orso

[Orso]

 

 

I got some new pictures of the real car showing that the engine cover shouldn't slope like I made it.

 

So I had to rebuild it.

 

But the mix colours makes it hard to see how it really looks so I need to get some paint on it.

[Orso]

I am surprised that I didn't break the engine cover earlier considering that it has became so thin.

 

But of course it was bound to happen and so it did when I was almost finished.
Well the new bulges are in place and the damage has been fixed. Sadly the cover doesn't fit as good as before but it will probably work.
Now I need to build some Weber carburettors before I can continue bur finding out the size of them are problematic.
Anyone here that have some basic measurements of the DCNL-4 Type 38?