Hello everyone,
Not much modelling progress to report on this time - dad and I returned from Le Mans late last night! Once again we had a great few days - drive down Wednesday, out and about to Blois on Thursday, open pit-lane on Friday, then the race itself. I'd say the weather was better than we could have hoped for given how it's been this summer, and the campsite - although surprisingly full - seemed slightly more relaxed this year. We certainly slept better this time, compared to other years...!
So, a few photos to give a flavour of the weekend...
First up, Audi no1 in the pits on Friday. Unfortunately the hybrid drive system was covered here, but you can see the large 'cake tins' they're using around the brakes and hubs, similar to F1:
Audi no1 again, but this time at about 12.30pm on Saturday. I managed to borrow a pass from a friend (thanks, Jean-Luc, Eric!) which got me into the paddock and pitlane on Saturday. Different vibe compared to Friday - you can feel that the serious business of the weekend is at hand, the barriers are down, and everyone is in their pre-race routine:
Aston Martin Vantage (GTE-Pro, no97 I believe) - again, Saturday:
Toyota LMP1 no7 - also Saturday:
Outside the pitlane they were preparing for some demo laps from three of the Matra sportscars from the early 70's. Behind the centre car you can see Henri Pescarolo and, I believe, Gerard Larrousse, and to the left with his back to the camera is Josh Hill. I used the stairs to the media centre to get a few shots, as there was no easy way to get close to the cars on the ground:
On Friday we managed to get into the paddock for the supporting Group C race. Mmmmm....Group C! To be honest I took more photos here than anywhere else, of which these are a handful:
Lancia LC2 (1984). This is a seriously good-looking car - just a shame that it's period race performance never matched! At the end of Saturday's support race it nearly caused a major accident on the start / finish line as it ploughed through at full speed despite the fact that two or three marshals were stopping the cars and turning them back into the end of the pitlane. Could have been very nasty, especially as the track was wet; fortunately the driver found a gap through the cars (and marshals)...
Nissan R90CK (1990):
Sauber-Mercedes C11 (1989):
Porsche 962 (1990):
...and this was just one of several 956 / 962's, most of which were easily accessible! As you can imagine, I took the opportunity to get some 'up-close' shots for future reference...
Finally, to steer this post vaguely back onto topic, I found this on a stall behind the main grandstands:
It's a 1/8 Jagermeister 935-K3, and it's fantastic! It didn't have a price attached (and I wasn't going to ask) but after investigation today it seems that it's by True-Scale Miniatures and it retails for about $ 3500! It made me realise what the Moby Dick could look like when it's finished, so it was a lucky find.
Also on the same stall, I spotted the Spark 1/18...Moby Dick! I've seen this advertised for the past few years but not actually found one for sale...so, as you can imagine, this one came home with me:
The smaller version is the 1/43 white test car, also by Spark, which until now is the only die-cast model I've found of the 935-78. The 1/18 is a nice piece and will be a very useful 3D reference - I'm not going to start over if I find a small discrepancy in a measurement, but it's always good to have something solid you can view in person, rather than having to rely on photos.
So, that brings me back to today. I'll get back into the swing of things with the project and hopefully have more progress to show on Sunday.
Simon - as this is the thrid time I've made fibreglass bodywork for a model, I'm trying to remember all the little niggles I've had in the past. Each layer on the roof section was a single piece of cloth, rather than using separate sections, so I've avoided the build-up you get where the pieces meet. Hopefully this should mean fewer ridge-lines to sand down at a later date, and a less rippled surface! Adding a single layer at a time also helped, although it obviously takes longer - it's too easy to get movement or air bubbles when putting multiple layers on at once.
Ian - you're right, no gutters! Plenty of
other little details to worry about, but no gutters! I don't think I could have moulded them successfully at the same time as the main roof, so they would have to be an add-on part. Hmm...probably some fine styrene detailing, perhaps? I'll worry about them when I make a regular 935...so in maybe three years?! By the way, your 917 is looking rather good, too!
See you all Sunday,
SB