Hasegawa Datsun 240Z Safari Rally

[Windy37]

During the many times I had to wait for bits dry / set on the Peugeot build I have been doing the groundwork on the next item onto the bench ; the 1971 Safari Rally winning Datsun 240 Z . This will be the first Hasegawa kit I have built in maybe 20 years and the subject is the oldest car I will have built . I find the Safari rally intriguing , with specific heavy duty cars , months of practice and Kenyan testing and flat out driving on open public “ roads “ . For the Japanese manufacturers it was , and still is , of huge importance . This car , driven by Edgar Hermann won by 3 minutes from teammate Shekhar Mehta . The third placed car was 2 hours 11 minutes behind !

   The box and contents , body masked for painting. Lots of tiny detail Safari specific parts , not so many decals as this was the time before sponsorship took hold . 

 

The long bonnet is Matt black , which I masked up and sprayed . I also masked the windscreen surround so I could catch that with the paint too . 

 

The reveal , a bit of bleed to tidy up but not so bad . 

 

Then I masked the bonnet and prepared to paint the body . I agonised about which red to use ; the box seems to be a maroon red , rather like the sister Datsun Violet Safari car . However , research shows it is actually a bright red , of which I have in stock in the form of Tamiya TS49 which has done many a rally car in my cabinet . The instructions show the underside of the chassis is also red , so I am going to spray that lightly to let the black discolour the red as I don’t think it would be done to a fine standard . The nosecone will also get a dose of red too . There is a lot of holes that need drilling in the bodyshell for the fitment of steps and grab handles , again the true sign of a proper Safari car . 

 

The masking tape removed some Matt black , which was nice of it , but everything else looks good . The chassis will get a coat of Matt clear to take the shine off , otherwise it’s how I want it to look . 

 

Thanks for looking at my new project 

Gary . 

[Vesa Jussila]

Chassis colour is good one. It's makes different look in model.

[keefr22]

[Anteater]

Over 40 years ago, a mate of mine actually did the Safari rally in a 1300cc Toyota. The top speed of their car was around 90 mph but they found it impossible to keep up because the required average on some of the stages (which you should remember were unsurfaced public roads that were still open to normal traffic) was 100 mph. Just think about that for a moment...

[Windy37]

That's what I find so interesting about the Safari . They didn't fit those wing mounted spot lights for no reason !

Gary

[Hamden]

Nice project 240 is one of my favorite cars so I'll follow along

 

  Stay safe               Roger

[ceeb555]

Great start to a little seen and underrated Rally car. The Safari details will make this quite unique.

It’s surprising any car makes the finish given the rough terrain. Especially in those days given the length of the stages

Really nice job on the body

Looking forward to following another of your builds

Chris

[stevehnz]

Nice choice of subject Gary, this is one I have squirrelled away, I saw the Safari Rally start in Nairobi in 1984, the day we flew out unfortunately otherwise I'd have tried to see more but like you, I've long had a fascination for it so I'll be keeping an eye on this build.

Steve.

[keefr22]

12 hours ago, Windy37 said:

That's what I find so interesting about the Safari . They didn't fit those wing mounted spot lights for no reason !

Gary

 

Watch out for the elephants....!!  🐘 

 

Keith

[Windy37]

After a couple of busy weekends , and more to come what with daughter leaving for university and Trackrod rally , I have cracked on with the big Datsun . Lots of tedious detail painting is offset by being able to have a big build session . 
  Below is the start of the underside build . Very strong looking suspension parts , not a leaf spring in sight ! The first part to fit caused trouble ; I couldn’t get the gearbox to sit properly to allow the bracing above it to sit in place . A bit of carving did the trick , but not a good start to my renewed Hasegawa experience ! The coil springs actually look like proper competition car items .So many kit springs are so tightly wound they look like they are on full compression after a heavy landing and therefore hard for us modellers to paint . 

 

Underside virtually complete . After the earlier problems all the other parts fitted easily and where they were intended . 


 

Interestingly on the rear suspension arms , one side has a flat top , probably a plate on the real car , the other side doesn’t .

 

At the front are very detailed radiators and a set of air horns , Safari essentials ! The horns were held onto the sprue in six places , causing no end of anxiety when trimming up on such a delicate part . 

 

I made a start on the interior which is a very 70 ‘s sea of semigloss black ….. Interior photos of the actual car are thin on the ground so I’ve improvised a bit . The floor covering is a piece of completely unnecessary foam packaging from a pack of supermarket raspberries !! Cut to size it’s looks about right . 

 

That’s all for now , thanks for looking 

Gary . 

[Anteater]

That's looking brilliant already and you've hardly started! I love the detail of the air horns. Ref the gearbox, quite unusual to hear a report of fitment issues on a Hasegawa kit. 

[keefr22]

Yep,great start Gary!

 

12 hours ago, Windy37 said:

Interestingly on the rear suspension arms , one side has a flat top , probably a plate on the real car , the other side doesn’t .

 

 

Are they identical parts, but flipped over?

 

Keith

[Windy37]

9 hours ago, Anteater said:

That's looking brilliant already and you've hardly started! I love the detail of the air horns. Ref the gearbox, quite unusual to hear a report of fitment issues on a Hasegawa kit. 

Thanks ! Don't know how much of the air horns will be visible once the bodies on unfortunately 😕  I think the fitment issue is there to immediately lead the builder into a false sense of security !

 

26 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

Yep,great start Gary!

 

 

Are they identical parts, but flipped over?

 

Keith

To be honest Keith , I never noticed the difference until I had glued it into position . A strong rear set up though , built to last !

Gary . 

[Windy37]

Can't believe it's been a month since I last posted an update on the 240 Safari build . Time flies ...

  Firstly,  @keefr22 the suspension that is different , is flipped , so plated top one side , plated bottom the other side . Now thats cleared up heres the completed underside . First car ive built with rear drum brakes ! And surely that exhaust must have got  damaged a bit ! 

Onto the interior,  a 1970s sea of semi gloss black vinyl . There's a few photos ont' net of the actual sympathetically restored car so I have added some details to help brighten things up a bit . Like storage pockets and picking out the chrome details and adding a map light from a piece of wire. The camera shows dial details  that will now be hidden forever ! Interesting the door openers are at the bottom of the door , must be Z car thing .

The seats are a light blue grey colour ; I used matt light grey . Decals are provided for the seat harnesses,  but I have chosen to use masking tape I coloured Sharpie black. Mainly because I dont have any black electricians tape ... I then added PE buckles which for once threaded easily !

Two spare wheels are carried along with a petrol can and a jack . The roll bar is literally that !

So with the spares in place I used wire to make a carrier frame as per real thing. The harnesses are secured under the spare wheels as I couldn't make them fit anywhere else ... room is tight in the back ! I've also made a wheelbrace which in this photo is still drying in position. 

This being an early 70s car the colour scheme is too the point and therefore very easy to decal up . Here's the bodyshell in the spray booth having some Mr Hobby B501 applied , matt black bonnet masked off . 

 

Thanks for looking 

Gary. 

[ceeb555]

Looking really good Gary. Love the details you are putting in. These older rally cars had quite simple but effective schemes.

2 spare wheels were essential and a wheel race was a must.

Looking forward to your next steps

Chris

[Windy37]

13 minutes ago, ceeb555 said:

Looking really good Gary. Love the details you are putting in. These older rally cars had quite simple but effective schemes.

2 spare wheels were essential and a wheel race was a must.

Looking forward to your next steps

Chris

Thanks Chris . One of my bugbears about modern motorsport is the terrible,  messy liveries and colour schemes on the cars. From F1 to club level . In my eyes the sponsors names get lost in the mess . How can that be advertising 🤔 🙄 This old Datsun tells you the companies involved and you remember them . Maybe I should become a marketing man !

Gary  

[keefr22]

13 hours ago, Windy37 said:

the suspension that is different , is flipped , so plated top one side , plated bottom the other side .

 

That's what I was trying to say Gary - it looks like the same parts fitted 'upside down' on either side - quite clever as i.r.l. you wouldn't need to be faffing about with two different spares ? 

 

Really good update again, the masking tape belts look effective, quite a subtle texture not 'in yer face' like ribbon! I use masking tape seatbelts in aircraft models but they're so thin you don't see texture. Never thought about using them in a car model, shall give it a go in the next one!

 

And are those drum brakes on the back (they look like Minifins) - bit old school for a works team even in the 70's if they are!

 

Coming on really nicely

 

Keith

 

 

[Windy37]

39 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

 

Thanks Keith.  I presume their drums on the rear axle , but I agree I  thought they would have ran discs . Were Minifins a component  ? The name pre dates me !!!

Gary .

[malpaso]

Minifins were a UK proprietary aftermarket aluminium finned drum.  This was a simple over-the-counter upgrade on your mini or the back end of various sports types.  Rear disc set ups (in UK) were I think complicated by the legal need for a mechanically operated hand-brake.

Finned aluminium drums all-round had been a thing for a while, US makes used them a lot as did Ferrari, all of whom were apparently allergic to the “not invented here” disc brakes for a long time!

Tamiya’s latest 240ZG has the same finned drums on the rear, not sure if that was standard on a “cooking” Z as the ZG was a JDM homologation special so the fins may have been part of that process to allow use in racing or rallying?

The 240z rally model is coming on great.  Tempted to jump mine ahead of the ZG I’ve barely started!

[Windy37]

Thanks @malpaso. You learn something everyday !!

Gary .

[Windy37]

Just a small update this week . The window trim on the 240 is good old fashioned 70s chrome , which was always going to be a problem to achieve with paint so I opted to try Bare Metal Foil for the first time . Referring to @Spiny' s many mammoth BMF ing sessions i bravely gave it a go . And this is the result , on one side at least . The car has a body coloured rain gutter so the BMF goes underneath on the thinnest strip of plastic , but with patience and careful manipulation conforms well. I folded any waste into the inside of the bodyshell. 

I'm really pleased with this first attempt at BMF ing .

 

Thanks for looking 

Gary. 

[ceeb555]

Gary, that is a great result with the BMF, especially for a first attempt. Very impressed

You are right that silver paint doesn’t look right so BMF was the right option and you nailed it.

Well done, nice progression

Chris

 

[Vesa Jussila]

Good progress there. Somehow I like this period cars. They were closer to production vehicles then.

[Windy37]

1 hour ago, ceeb555 said:

Gary, that is a great result with the BMF, especially for a first attempt. Very impressed

You are right that silver paint doesn’t look right so BMF was the right option and you nailed it.

Well done, nice progression

Chris

 

Thanks Chris . I think the thing to use with BMF is a sharp knife , a sharp cocktail stick and a damp cotton bud - and steady patience  !

 

35 minutes ago, Vesa Jussila said:

Good progress there. Somehow I like this period cars. They were closer to production vehicles then.

Thanks Vesa . I'm enjoying building an historic rally car . Somehow wish the WRC regulations would allow production based cars again  .

Gary .

[Spiny]

Got to agree that BMF was the way to go. It's a real time-suck, but you've done an excellent job of it there, especially given it's your first attempt. Well worth going down the BMF route I'd say.

 

Glad my reports were of use to you. Interesting you refer to mammoth BMF sessions, once the Micra is done the next one is a 1960's American car so that will be a mammoth foilin build!