BlrwestSiR Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Ok, the ADHD is strong with this one. That and I can't find one of the prop blades for the B-24. I need to stop putting parts away for safe keeping. So let's see how I do on this one. Inside the box: The body panels are stamped aluminum. In the regular kit, they're left NMF but for this release they're painted in a blinding yellow. One piece main chassis. It's ABS so fairly resilient. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubertB Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 I thought you were going for a lemon or a banana 😂 ! Hubert 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belugawhaleman Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 A lemon, or banana, or my AMX-13. Very nice, and pre-painted! Cool 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GusMac Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Ah, the mid-life crisis killer! Heard too many stories of people (actually us males) of a certain age with too much disposable cash buying these then wrapping them round trees are the road holding and power aren't quite in sync. Looks like a great kit Carl, looking forward to seeing how it builds up. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted June 30 Author Share Posted June 30 2 hours ago, GusMac said: Ah, the mid-life crisis killer! Heard too many stories of people (actually us males) of a certain age with too much disposable cash buying these then wrapping them round trees are the road holding and power aren't quite in sync. Looks like a great kit Carl, looking forward to seeing how it builds up. Being one of Colin Chapman's most successful designs, it doesn't have much excess to it. Except for maybe power. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark31 Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Looki g forward to see this build Mark 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Nice to see this one started Carl, I won't buckle in, too confined space for my liking, but will be a spector all the way. If I only could lay my hand one one of the regular boxings. Cheers Rob 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubertB Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 21 hours ago, GusMac said: Ah, the mid-life crisis killer! Heard too many stories of people (actually us males) of a certain age with too much disposable cash buying these then wrapping them round trees are the road holding and power aren't quite in sync. Looks like a great kit Carl, looking forward to seeing how it builds up. As we lose brain cells after 30, maybe it’s more an issue of the driver misjudging that his money bought him extra piloting talents at mid-life ? These Sevens have actually amazing road-handling qualities. Whilst definitely heavier, my Cayman GTS is also amazing. But, frankly, I am not sure I’d ever be able to push it to its limits without overreaching my driving talent Back to the kit. That one piece ABS chassis is a remarkable piece of engineering and molding. Hubert 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaireckstadt Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Copy Mark! Have never seen this before. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GusMac Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 2 hours ago, HubertB said: As we lose brain cells after 30, maybe it’s more an issue of the driver misjudging that his money bought him extra piloting talents at mid-life ? These Sevens have actually amazing road-handling qualities. Whilst definitely heavier, my Cayman GTS is also amazing. But, frankly, I am not sure I’d ever be able to push it to its limits without overreaching my driving talent Back to the kit. That one piece ABS chassis is a remarkable piece of engineering and molding. Hubert Very true Hubert. Hard to find anyone who thinks they're a bad driver. 😁 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 Carl WOW, going to be a fantastic build top follow and enjoy. I'll be with you all the way and enjoying every update and photograph. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 Something a bit different for one of Tamiya's plastic kits versus their RC ones. Tamiya package their screws and other hardware into small bags. They then label the bag A, B, C and so on. On the back of the label, they provide a 1:1 scale drawing of each and every type of screw in the bag along with the total quantity. Any mix-ups during assembly therefore are on the modeler. Speaking of assembly, I go the steering rack together. Upper and lower rack, pinon and moveable arms at the end. There's rubber boots to go on too once it's all cleaned up and painted. Lastly our older cat Fur, had ensconced herself in the box. Makes it a bit hard to take sprues out without upsetting her. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 I assembled the shocks/dampers. I painted the bodies silver along with the brake rotors. I used Hasegawa's mirror finish self adhesive film on the shock shaft. Then the shocks were assembled with the pre-coloured springs. The transmission was next, a simple assembly. Lastly I removed the excess sprue bits from the chassis and cleaned up the seams. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 Not much gluing in the next few steps but some decent progress though. The rear upper shock mounts were screwed into place. These were followed by the rear bulkheads. Floorboards were up next. I then added the steering rack. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 Carl Terrific start and progress of the Lotus - going to be a fun project to follow and be inspired by as well. I've heard about Hasegawa's mirror finish self-adhesive film and have been wanting to give it a try on oleo shocks rather then going through the full Alclad Chrome process. Will be ordering some and testing it out. Thanks for the tip and pointing it out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 Here's the pre-finished body panels. They go on with a couple screws so no fears of glue smears. Next up is the front suspension brackets. Then the first arms themselves. These are cast metal and are pre-painted as well. Upper and lower arms in place. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 1 minute ago, Peterpools said: Carl Terrific start and progress of the Lotus - going to be a fun project to follow and be inspired by as well. I've heard about Hasegawa's mirror finish self-adhesive film and have been wanting to give it a try on oleo shocks rather then going through the full Alclad Chrome process. Will be ordering some and testing it out. Thanks for the tip and pointing it out. Peter, the stuff works really well. It's very durable, has some stretch to it and is very thin. Nothing like Bare Metal Foil. Just measure and cut to size. It's the same material I used on the fender but that had a carbon print to it. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 Carl I'm starting to look into all of the types of Hasegawa foils as they seem to have so many applications, as I just think about it. You're flying through the Lotus and it's an awesome and inspiring build for sure. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 Peter, I've got a few of them. They do a flat white one which I think would be perfect for the tape that you see on the front cowls of so many F4U Corsairs. There's a textured one for walkways or other coarse surfaces etc. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaireckstadt Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 Awesome and fast build Carl! You really compete with John…😉 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 Carl Thanks for the info and I'm checking it out as we speak 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 55 minutes ago, Kaireckstadt said: Awesome and fast build Carl! You really compete with John…😉 Thanks Kai! To be honest, it's the kit that's making this look so easy. Mostly it's just seam cleanup and then screw some parts together. The engine is where the more typical assembly starts. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 With the front suspension done, it was time to head out back. The Caterham has a de Dion rear suspension which is semi-independent. The diff is mounted to the chassis and the hubs are linked by a beam but free to move independently of each other. Here's the diff and driveshaft all painted up. And then mounted to the chassis. Next up is the gas tank. This wraps around the diff a bit so needs to go in after the diff. Next up are the axle stubs. One pair goes into the diff, then you attach a rubber boot to them, the driveshaft and finally the rear hub. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 (edited) Here's the de Dion tube that links the two hubs together. In the kit, it's diecast and pre-painted. The end plates need to be done in silver. I botched that up. So I stripped the end plates back to bare metal and polished them. At the same time, I decided to fill in the ejector pin marks in the tube. The end plates got masked off and I sprayed the tube in semi-gloss black. All done and unmasked. Edited July 11 by BlrwestSiR Fix typo 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 The shocks, and links were then added to the tube. The rear anti-roll bar was fitted to the subframe. That was then bolted in place along with the rear undertray and the rear suspension was done. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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