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Thanks as always for the likes and comments or for just looking in. @DocRob I have the Ferrari 312B in my stash with its 12 cylinder engine. I imagine that exhaust will be more challenging....though maybe not since there are two collectors on each side, each with just 3 headers in them, so I'll be doing 4 sets of 3 pipes each instead of 2 sets of 4 pipes each on the DFV. I've now attached the engine to the tub. Once done, there were 4 coolant pipes to attach between the back of the tub and the engine and 2 suspension members from the back of the tub to the uprights. The latter were just a little bit tricky to get in place. You can see all of those pieces in the second picture below. I've also included below a picture of the under side of the car and engine. I meant to include a picture of the underside of the engine in the last post but failed to do so.

Thanks all for the likes and comments and especially @Egilman for the suggestion. I painted those springs with micro kristal clear and then with Tamiya XF-63 German Gray. The latter was supposed to be flat but over the kristal clear it still has some sheen. I tried a bit of micro flat on top but that did not change it much. Regardless, it looks much better than it did before in my opinion. Of course rereading his comment reminds me that I forgot to dig up the photo etch hose clamps I have to see if they could be added to good effect. I also added the exhausts and wrapped up the rest of the rear suspension, so with that the drive train is mostly done. There are a few more connections (both hard pipes and flexible braided lines) to be done when the engine is connected to the tub and there is an oil cooler with a few more braided lines that attaches to the supports for the rear wing. I may add a few more lines as well, such as some lines to the brake calipers. I've found some decent pictures of the back of this car so will look again at those for ideas. As usual, the exhaust was a bit tricky, though I tried a new trick that helped. I don't recall where I read/saw this trick. But I put just a small dot of white glue (actually the micro kristal clear again) on the 4-to-1 collector and in the engine block exhaust ports and let it get a bit tacky. I then put the exhaust headers in place and the kristal clear held them but still allowed a lot of maneuvering, which is needed for those exhausts. Oh, I guess I also used a dot or two of gel CA on the engine block port for a couple of the headers. Once all was in place, I added a droplet of the Tamiya extra thin cement to each of the gaps where the parts met, on both ends of the exhaust headers. But with this milestone I figured I would get out the "real" camera and the little photo booth and take some better pictures, instead of just the at-the-bench iPad pictures I've been uploading to this log thus far.

Beautiful!

Thanks. I had thought about trying some PVA but had not thought of the micro kristal clear, which is very similar but a bit thicker. I have some of that stuff, used mostly for instrument panel gauges, so maybe I'll give it a try. I did shorten both springs by about an eighth of an inch and that also helped. Hmm, I also have some photo etch hose clamps that I could add to see if that looks good. Thanks, and yes on this model it is a solid part which I painted flat black then highlighted the screen texture by dry brushing some silver. I thought about trying to make a replacement out of some real metal screen material and also saw that MFH had some parts as well. But on this car, that screen ends up covered by the air scoop that is above/behind the cockpit so I did not bother.

Thanks, Gary, for the compliment and to everyone else for the likes. I continue to work on the drive train. I've attached the engine and gearbox, and done some of the bits that support the rear suspension, but there is more work to be done there. I am not crazy about the two springs that serve as the hoses between the air scopes and brake cooling duct. I might need to rethink that. I could at least shorten the spring and I think that would help but I am considering other options as well.

Thanks as always for the likes or for just looking in. I've reached, or almost reached, two different milestones. I have completed the main tub, except for instrument panel. I am thinking about adding some connections/wiring harness to the back of the panel and that is why I have not mounted it yet. On the second picture of the tub, in the cockpit you can see a small lever, I believe to adjust the suspension. That lever was not connected to anything so I added some thin brass rods running fore and aft. The yellow wire to the distributor was another addition based on a photo I saw. The kit suggested using the same black wire as for the spark plugs. Next up is to continue working on the gear box and all the rear suspension bits that are attached to it, as well as the exhaust.

Thanks! I swear as I was doing this, I wondered to myself if distilled water would leave fewer water spots. Next time I'll try it. I also think I should wear gloves more frequently when handling the body parts to leave fewer finger prints.

Wow, that looks fantastic. The shovel that popped up in the last photo is a nice touch!

I've done several coats of X-22 gloss clear on all the body panels, they are looking good. I've also started working on the engine and gearbox, as shown below. I did hit one snag: on each side of the engine near the bottom are a series of 3 or 4 parts, oil or water pumps I believe. Somehow I lost one of the pieces that make up the mechanism on the right side of the engine. I was able to scratch build a piece to go in its place. Not an exact duplicate by any means but no one will notice.

Welcome aboard, Dan. I assume that is Chapel Hill, North Carolina? Nice part of the country, I lived in Raleigh for about 8 years, many moons ago.

Well done, that is a fine looking model. You wrapped it up pretty quickly once you got back to work on it.

Thanks to everyone for the likes. I've now completed all the body panel decals. Next I will probably alternate between working on the engine and applying several layers of clear coat (Tamiya X-22 plus Mr color leveling thinner) to the body panels.

Haha, I thought that would have resulted in tinting it more brown than usual Great progress, those ship's boats are tiny!

One thing about doing decals, it is easy to see the progress from one picture to the next. I felt like when I was working on the tub all the pictures started to look the same. I now have the decals on the left side of the car pretty much complete. In the picture below, the middle part of the side pod is just taped on. The stripe decals there were all one piece spanning two parts of the model. So I just taped it together for now. Once the decal is completely dry, I will carefully cut it and then untape the piece. I believe that piece is meant to remain unglued and removable to display the details within the side pod. I've also noticed that these old Tamiya decals do not like the decal setting solution, even the less strong micro-set. I have a few decals that have some permanent wrinkles. For now, I am just using water to wet the model surface before placing the decal and while maneuvering it into position. Now I just need to do these same 13 decals on the right side of the car, then the decals on the rear wing and a few other miscellaneous ones.

I've started on the nerve wracking decals. Those thin stripes on these lotus cars are tricky but so far it is going well. And yes, I decided to do the #6 Gunnar Nilsson car instead of the #5 Mario Andretti, just to be different. I think the front wing piece has all its decals on. The large piece in the middle is the one I need to complete in order to complete the tub and proceed with the next steps in the build (though I could detour to work on the engine if I need a break from decals). I think there are 10 more decals, 5 on each side, on that large middle piece. On the right are some little squeeze scissors. I got those as part of the micro-mark bundle for making your own inkjet printed decals. I thought it was sort of a gimmick, but now I have learned better. Those little scissors are great for cutting out decals. These older Tamiya decals seem to have a lot of clear decal material around the printed parts so at least on some of them I have been carefully cutting very close to the printed decal and that is much easier with these small squeeze scissors.

Thanks for the comments and likes, as always. My break for the four day weekend trip turned into a much longer break, but I've done a bit more work in the last few days touching up the paint on the body panels and adding a few more details to the tub. The main thing I've added are the two radiators, each with two pipes going back toward the engine. I think that completes the tub, and I think I have the body panels in pretty good shape. So I guess next I will work on putting the decals on the body panels and then clear coating them.

Looks good. Unfortunate that you had the little detour but I, for one, like the polished tank with pinstripes better than the original black and white.

@acaron41120 MSW sponsor Bluejacket has something they call silkspan. I've not purchased/used it, and not sure if it is 'true' silkspan to quote tmj. I just recalled seeing it on their web site. Here it is: https://www.bluejacketinc.com/shop/rails-and-sails/silkspan/r1300-18-x-24/ Perhaps @MrBlueJacket can comment on it.

I just use a generic office chair, but I recall seeing an interesting chair recently in the "What did you receive today" shore leave topic. Maybe @Moonbug can comment on his Vyper.

Thanks for the review. Looks like a great kit, though all those decals look a bit scary. Great to see someone creating new kits of new, current race cars.

Thanks as always for the many likes. I am back from my little break and have been painting the body panels. I planned to use Tamiya LP-1 with the airbrush but then I realized I did not have as much of that on hand as I thought, but I had an old rattle can of Tamiya TS-14 gloss black from the days before I bought my first airbrush 3 or 4 years ago. It felt pretty full so I decided this might be a good opportunity to finish that can and toss it. I had not used one of those rattle cans in quite a while and it was definitely an adjustment. Compared to the airbrush it was like painting with a sledgehammer. For the most part it went ok, though I did get too much paint on the two side pieces, leading to some sags and runs. So once those thoroughly cure I will sand them down and respray. Some of the other parts have some minor flaws to be sanded and resprayed...for those minor flaws I will likely use the airbrush and the LP-1. Once those issues are patched up I will start applying the many decals and then clear coat everything. Anyway, here's a picture of most of the painted body panels. The two side panels with are not shown here.

Thanks as always for the reactions, comments, or just looking in. Here's another very brief update, as I've added a few more details to the main tub, like the fuel pump and the front bulkhead, seat, shift lever, and steering column. I have a few more to do, mainly radiators and associated pipes, as well as some ideas for additional details, such as brake lines for the front brakes. But soon I will need the main upper body panel, so I need to get back to painting the body panels and then applying decals and clear coat. But first I have a 4-day weekend trip coming up, so I am taking a bit of a break from this build and from everything else.

Looks great! The deck is so smooth and everything fits together so tight. Regarding the mast hoops.....I also was not crazy about the bright brass rings and made my own out of wood. I checked my build log but it looks like I did not explain the process. As I recall, I made a wooden tube using a bunch of shavings from a plane. I carefully planed some scrap bass wood trying to maximize the length and width of the shavings then glued them around a dowel that I had wrapped with either wax paper or foil. The shavings were already naturally curly so it was a simple matter to glue them around the dowel. Once the glue cured, I carefully sliced the tube as I slid it off of the dowel to create a bunch of hoops.

Thanks as always for the likes and comment. I've made a bit more progress with some of the equipment in the side pods and the front suspension, as shown below. I added the battery cables...none were supplied in the kit...and replaced the kits black vinyl hoses with braided metal ones. There's a fuel pump still to be placed in that left bay and the two loose lines will attach to it. but before that, the instructions have you work on the front bulkhead and various equipment attached to it...brake and clutch cylinders, radiator, fire extinguisher, etc. Here are some pictures....

Thanks all for the likes and thanks CDW for the comment. The primer is Splash paints dark grey surfacer. I've started working on the main tub and the front suspension lower arms. This is pretty much steps 1 through 3 in the instructions. These bits generally went together well. the tub is painted with Alclad aluminum, the suspension with Tamiya LP-5 semi gloss black lacquer. I am not sure, but I think the lacquer semi gloss black is a bit flatter than the regular Tamiya acrylic X-18 semi gloss black.