Lotus 72D by DocRob - Tamiya - 1/12 - Plastic/Metal - The Legend

[DocRob]

Some progress at last. I finished the cockpit tub with the seat, fire extinguisher, and paddings and installed it into the body. The front suspension is only temporary installed and proved to be very fiddly to assemble. If it would be movable remains to be seen, but I doubt it, seeing the design. I also installed the radiators with their PE grills into their fairings.
I have a lots of mishaps with this build lately, which are no fault of the kit, but mine. I airbrushed the three color front rims for the third time now, always finding some inacceptable flaws. Same with some of the firewalls and inner traverses, where the AK polished aluminum color showed some flaws, possibly a reaction with the plastic, despite being primed with gloss black. Overspraying, this time with Alclad led to the same result and I finally used Tamiya´s LP gloss aluminum, which worked.
I´m not used to these kind of issues, I usually plan my approach thoroughly and do it once. Everything there´s something new, even with what looks like routine.



Cheers Rob

[gsdpic]

Looking good, glad you are overcoming your mishaps.   And yea, the suspensions and exhausts on these F1 cars always seem to be fiddly to assemble, three or four hands would be useful to have.

[DocRob]

4 hours ago, gsdpic said:

Looking good, glad you are overcoming your mishaps.   And yea, the suspensions and exhausts on these F1 cars always seem to be fiddly to assemble, three or four hands would be useful to have.

Thank you Gary, poco a poco, little by little is the way to go. Today, I finished painting the rims with the black hubs in front and the chrome rings. You are absolutely right, F1 cars are stuffed with lots of aggregates and structure in minimal space, always a bit delicate to get together.
Was your front suspension and steering really working in the end? From the design of the parts, it seems almost impossible.

Cheers Rob

[gsdpic]

45 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Was your front suspension and steering really working in the end? 

 

My steering works fine.  The suspension, not really.  The front wheels move up and down a bit but I think that is mostly (or maybe entirely) due to the looseness of the connections that snap together.  Fortunately the kit has small, clear disks that sit under the car to support most of the weight of the model and provide an appropriate ride height.
 

[DocRob]

13 hours ago, gsdpic said:

My steering works fine.  The suspension, not really.  The front wheels move up and down a bit but I think that is mostly (or maybe entirely) due to the looseness of the connections that snap together.  Fortunately the kit has small, clear disks that sit under the car to support most of the weight of the model and provide an appropriate ride height.

Thank you Gary, that was, what I thought, the steering may work, but the suspension, hmm, there were some too loose fitting arms and these tiny cups holding the wheel, ...
The under body supports will help for sure.

Cheers Rob