Lotus type 78 by gsdpic - Tamiya - 1/12th scale - PLASTIC

[gsdpic]

Any interest out there in a build log for another Tamiya 1/12th scale F1 car?

[gsdpic]

I guess the likes indicate a yes.  I bought this kit a couple years back from ebay.  This is the original version of the kit.  In hindsight, I overpaid as you can now get the re-issued kit for about 125 bucks, with PE parts.  Oops.  At least the version I have includes the "John Player Special" decals as it was produced just around the time tobacco advertising was being banned in a few places, but not all over.  The current kit is referred to only as the "type 78" on the box and I assume does not have the JPS decals, though they are available from third party suppliers.

 

I've just started a bit on planning the build and started assembling some of the body parts in preparation for painting.  As with other older Tamiya kits, I am expecting a few fit issues and there are also some rather nasty ejector pin marks to deal with.   I'll likely build it mostly out of the box, with some third party seat belts, braided steel lines instead of the kit supplied rubber hoses, and maybe a few other things.

 

And this will be the third time I build a Tamiya Ford DFV engine, as I have already built the Lotus 49 and Lotus 72D. 

 

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, gsdpic said:

Tamiya Ford DFV engine

It's an ok rendition of probably the greatest racing engine ever built... but there were three that came before it, the Offenhauser, the Miller, and the Peugeot... All considered the greatest of all time... All 4 valves per cylinder DOHC...

 

The Cosworth is legendary...

 

Today, Honda is trying to make it up on that podium...

 

I'm in... 

[Canute]

I'm in on this build, too.

[gsdpic]

Thanks all for the likes and comments and joining in. 

 

I continue to prep the various body parts and panels and wings.  Some of these parts, especially on the front cowl area, the fit is surprisingly poor for a tamiya kit.  I guess they've come a long way.  Some of the parts are just about done, others I am waiting for the putty to dry so I can sand it smooth and others I am waiting for glue to dry before applying putty.  Once all are good to go, I'll use the splash paints dark gray surfacer and then probably use Tamiya LP-1 gloss black lacquer.

 

For the first time, I've been using the vallejo acrylic based plastic putty.  It is much nicer to work with than the lacquer based tamiya putty though I think you need to let it dry longer before sanding.  It is a little hard to see in the picture, but the tube has a built in pointy applicator which is very handy.

 

It is also interesting to contrast this with the Lotus 49.   Just about 10 years separate the two cars.  The "body" of the lotus 49 was not much more than a simple oval tube, which is quite different from this one.   The large increase in complexity in those 10 years is easily evident even in kit form; I estimate this kit has twice as many parts as the Lotus 49 kit.

 

[yvesvidal]

Great model. Thank you for presenting your build log.

 

Yves

[shipman]

Yes, I remember F1 cars of the period did look like the future, all angles and wedges.

You may be able to find aftermarket more authentic team decals; after all, JPS was a tobacco company sponsor, as were most of the teams at the time. Like WW2 German markings, political correctness is 'airbrushing' actual history away.

[gsdpic]

1 hour ago, shipman said:

Yes, I remember F1 cars of the period did look like the future, all angles and wedges.

You may be able to find aftermarket more authentic team decals; after all, JPS was a tobacco company sponsor, as were most of the teams at the time. Like WW2 German markings, political correctness is 'airbrushing' actual history away.

As mentioned in the second post, this is the 1977 version of the kit that includes the JPS decals.  But according to the instructions, already at that time, tobacco advertising was not allowed in Germany and England, so building it without the JPS sponsorship is not historically inaccurate, you just say you built the one that raced in the German or British GP, as they removed the JPS logos for those two races.

 

[shipman]

The entire livery of the car is based unashamedly on the branded cigarette packet graphics, so at that time, even without the JPS emblems, it was still a direct sponsorship statement.

If you were familiar with the brand, the statement was clear.

 

This hasn't been a deliberate attempt to side-track your build, just an observation which I felt had relevance.

Tobacco products are no ones friend and I don't advocate them.

No more from me on this. I look foreward to the completion of your build of what was a fine car.

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, gsdpic said:

But according to the instructions, already at that time, tobacco advertising was not allowed in Germany and England, so building it without the JPS sponsorship is not historically inaccurate, you just say you built the one that raced in the German or British GP, as they removed the JPS logos for those two races.

And that make it accurate to history.... Even if it isn't how it is remembered....

 

And shows us that things that were very popular in the past might not be so popular in the future... Such are the vagaries of history when its created by human beings...

 

I distinctly remember when the swastika of Nazi Germany was very highly admired around the world, now it is universally held as evil incarnate... (with good reason)

 

Humans being a self-aware social species, tends to whitewash there bad history by removing it from the books... But thankfully, (unfortunately maybe) that doesn't change the truths of history...

 

Tobacco money helped build one of the best and most beautiful race cars that was ever built....

[CDW]

I'm in on this one with you, Gary. Looking forward!

[CDW]

On 5/28/2024 at 3:52 PM, shipman said:

Yes, I remember F1 cars of the period did look like the future, all angles and wedges.

You may be able to find aftermarket more authentic team decals; after all, JPS was a tobacco company sponsor, as were most of the teams at the time. Like WW2 German markings, political correctness is 'airbrushing' actual history away.

I bought some of the black and gold packs/box myself back in that day. 

 

PS: some in my family farmed tobacco in South Carolina. After picking, the leaves are hung in a barn to dry out. Just a drop of that liquid residue that drips down, if accidentally ingested, will make the person sick as a dog. I was always told it was the strong chemicals that were sprayed on it to keep it insect-free that caused the severe nausea. I wouldn't doubt that's not why smoking it causes such turmoil with a body.

Edited May 29 by CDW

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

I wouldn't doubt that's not why smoking it causes such turmoil with a body.

I don't doubt it either, in fact, they go one farther... once they are fully dried and they collect the drippings, they crunch up the residue and cook it to extract EVERYTHING they can get.... Then they cook it down into a very powerful concentrate and allow it to steep.... Then they soak specially formulated rice paper with the solution for a few days to allow the paper to take up as much tobacco solution as they can, then they dry it again and shred the paper...

 

That is the "Tabacco" that they stuff into cigarettes'... The only thing left from the tobacco plant are the chemicals that make up the nicotine, and the residuals from all the pesticides and growth compounds they use... (of course as highly concentrated as possible, once hooked they don't want you getting away) The fastest way to get drugs into the body without access to the human vascular system, (needles) is through the lungs... Is there any doubt as to why the illegal drug makers worked ceaselessly for 30 years to develop a form of cocaine/morphine that is smokable? (known as crack?)

 

Yeah, I was a red and white, cowboy hat customer for a long time... Probably too long...

 

[Jack12477]

A bit of medical research history: (from Roswell Park Cancer Center website)

 

"1938

Morton Levin, MD, begins collecting information about the smoking habits of Roswell Park patients. The data will later provide the foundation for his report "Cancer and Tobacco Smoking," published in 1950 in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The report is among the first to sound the alarm about the link between smoking and lung cancer".

 

Note the dates !

[Old Collingwood]

I  once  saw this  while  visiting  friends   -  

 

OC.

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

My understanding  is  Birmingham  had   ambitious  plans  to  create  a  mini  Monaco  to  promote  them selves  and  attract  people  to the  city,   they  put on these  Formula  3000  and   other   car  races  over a  few years   till  it was  all stopped.

 

OC.

[DocRob]

On 5/28/2024 at 12:10 AM, gsdpic said:

Any interest out there in a build log for another Tamiya 1/12th scale F1 car?

Absolutely Gary, these veneer Tamiya kits are a bit of a mixed bag, quality wise, like I encountered with my recent Renault RE20 Turbo build. With a bit of extra work, they will look very good in the end. I also changed a lot of the Tamiya tubing with finer tubes from MFH and braided lines, which looked more realistic. For my future Brabham BT44 build, I added some MFH funnels and other details to the highly visible engine.
These decals must be pretty old, I would test them before applying them to the model.

Cheers Rob

[gsdpic]

6 hours ago, DocRob said:

Absolutely Gary, these veneer Tamiya kits are a bit of a mixed bag, quality wise, like I encountered with my recent Renault RE20 Turbo build. With a bit of extra work, they will look very good in the end. I also changed a lot of the Tamiya tubing with finer tubes from MFH and braided lines, which looked more realistic. For my future Brabham BT44 build, I added some MFH funnels and other details to the highly visible engine.
These decals must be pretty old, I would test them before applying them to the model.

Cheers Rob

Thanks.   The decals look pretty decent....far fresher looking than the ones with the Lotus 72D I built...though there are a couple little places where the color has flaked off.   Fortunately they include decals for two different drivers/cars so there are plenty of extra decals to test out before deciding whether to use these or get third party decals.

 

I've continued to work on filling/priming/sanding the body panels.  I think I am very close to being done with that, though once I decide I am done I'll let the primer cure for an extra day or two just to be safe.

 

 

[gsdpic]

I have finished priming, filling, and sanding the various body panels.   A few of the seams or ejector pin marks are still visible if you know where to look but the worst, most obvious ones are pretty well fixed.  I'll let these cure a bit more, maybe do some very light wet sanding with some high grit and then paint with the Tamiya LP-1 gloss black lacquer.

 

Meanwhile, I'll start working on the main tub and front suspension.  You can see a few of the suspension parts in the upper right.

[CDW]

49 minutes ago, gsdpic said:

I have finished priming, filling, and sanding the various body panels.   A few of the seams or ejector pin marks are still visible if you know where to look but the worst, most obvious ones are pretty well fixed.  I'll let these cure a bit more, maybe do some very light wet sanding with some high grit and then paint with the Tamiya LP-1 gloss black lacquer.

 

Meanwhile, I'll start working on the main tub and front suspension.  You can see a few of the suspension parts in the upper right.

That primer looks smooth as silk.

[gsdpic]

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. 

 

[Canute]

Looks like more of an eggshell/satin, Gary.

[gsdpic]

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....

[CDW]

The details look excellent!

[gsdpic]

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.

[gsdpic]

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.

[CDW]

1 hour ago, gsdpic said:

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.  

 

Once upon a time (30 or more years ago), I painted quite a few 1:1 cars and trucks in my garage/spray booth. I learned that when I got a run or sag, I just applied more paint until it evened out and pooled as a drip or drops along the bottom. I would lightly sop those drips and drops from the rocker panels or wheel opening to remove the drip and when it all dried, you never even knew there had ever been a run or sag. Invisible. You can actually do the same with your model though it's best to not get those runs or sags in the 1st place, but accidents do happen every now and then.

Practice on an old model as an experiment and intentionally make a run or sag. Then "spray it out" like I described above and try it yourself. Of course, it's not desirable to make runs or sags intentionally as a practice because too much paint can hide or obliterate detail in the molding you want to be able to see. It's just another thing to know and keep in your bag of modeling tricks and workarounds. 

[FriedClams]

Nice progress on this model, Gary.  Such clean work in the tub and I really like the added/upgraded detail - battery cables and braided hoses. etc.  Very cool.  Nice work!

 

@CDW great tip on mitigating paint runs/sags - would never have thought of that.

 

Gary

[CDW]

1 hour ago, FriedClams said:

Nice progress on this model, Gary.  Such clean work in the tub and I really like the added/upgraded detail - battery cables and braided hoses. etc.  Very cool.  Nice work!

 

@CDW great tip on mitigating paint runs/sags - would never have thought of that.

 

Gary

Gary, I should have added a caveat: this trick won't work as well with metallic paints. Metallic paints are some of the most difficult to paint. With those, I try and careful build my layers lightly until I get the depth I want. A run or sag with metallics leave a trail of metallic particles as they bunch up together. Been there and done that too. All part of a learning experience.

[gsdpic]

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.