Tamiya 1/24 Alpine Renault A442B Turbo #2 24H LeMans (D. Pironi/J.P. Jaussaud)

[flashman1957]

Beautiful work and great photography! Very inspiring. Thanks much for sharing for us to enjoy.

Cameron

[360spider]

Originally Posted by is200_adelaide

Looking great! You did well with the decals for such an old kit

Originally Posted by lemansnut

Looking great so far Alex! Can't believe those are the kit decals. I remember mine being much more translucent.

Mike

Well, don't know what to say. Got the kit off eBay, so I assume these are kit decals as they had Tamiya logo on the back and were packaged in typical Tamiya manner.

Originally Posted by sjelic

Alex you certanly recovered quickly from long modeling abstinence, paint/decal/clear looks flawless and also extremely quick. Well done!

Its like riding a bike Sasa!

Originally Posted by flashman1957

Beautiful work and great photography! Very inspiring. Thanks much for sharing for us to enjoy.

Cameron

Thanks all! I'm on a home stretch!

[360spider]

All right folks, time to wrap this one up.
Headlights and covers were painted. Covers needed a white surround, and headlights are chrome-plated one-piece, so had to mask and paint the trim black.



Turned out fine:



The cockpit glass was masked off and trim painted:



Everything installed – glass, headlights, antenna, mirrors:



Taillights were painted and also put in. I also installed the rear wing:



And finally, the model was married with the chassis for good:



Turned out great. It’s a neat little curbside kit, and I enjoyed building it. I will definitely build more of these curbside Tamiyas in the future – they are quick and fun builds.







But, this is not all. I was hesitant to put the racer figure in the cockpit, as I didn’t’ want to make it look like a toy. But I did want to use him in a different setting. Since this is a LM racer, I wanted to replicate the scene where drivers were running towards their cars at the start of the race.

So the figure got chopped into few pieces – I gut the torso from the legs, and re-positioned his hips a bit, then cut off his legs at the knees, and repositioned that as well. The torso was glued at a slightly different angle, and I stuck the hands as if he was running.



It turned out pretty good, though, I still need to work on proper positioning next time – from some angles it does not look very natural.



After some putty work, here is how the dude looks in primer. Painting next!

[Jayban]

Excellent build

Just one addition - the top of the car canopy (the frosted area) was a silver reflective surface

Jay

[chris24]

Ooops... the last time the drivers ran to their cars to take the start was in 1969. The year my compatriot Jacky Ickx cross walked the track in sign of disagreement but eventually won the race 24 hours later for a few meters.
The year John Woolfe killed himself in the first laps certainly because he didn't take the time to fasten his seatbelt...

Superb OOB build anyway ! It confirms that it needs very few extra things (antenna, lights ?) to look even more gorgeous.

[360spider]

Originally Posted by Jayban

Excellent build

Just one addition - the top of the car canopy (the frosted area) was a silver reflective surface

Jay

Yeah, it was definitely silver-ish, but definitely not reflective, more of a see through, and i thought kits' frosting replicated that finish well, where additional silver coat would be way to much.

Originally Posted by chris24

Ooops... the last time the drivers ran to their cars to take the start was in 1969. The year my compatriot Jacky Ickx cross walked the track in sign of disagreement but eventually won the race 24 hours later for a few meters.
The year John Woolfe killed himself in the first laps certainly because he didn't take the time to fasten his seatbelt...

Superb OOB build anyway ! It confirms that it needs very few extra things (antenna, lights ?) to look even more gorgeous.

I know they didn't run at the time anymore, but not building a historically accurate diorama here. Just didn't want to throw the pilot in the trash.

Thanks!

[heyes57]

Hey 360 Spider. Just love these le mans prototypes. Have this kit myself and have ordered the replacement decals. Just one query.....how did you deal with the side skirts which are a brush-like material clearly visible in the last photo.....paint, brush substitute etc.....?

Regards
Richard H
Cheers & Beers

[360spider]

Originally Posted by heyes57

Hey 360 Spider. Just love these le mans prototypes. Have this kit myself and have ordered the replacement decals. Just one query.....how did you deal with the side skirts which are a brush-like material clearly visible in the last photo.....paint, brush substitute etc.....?

Regards
Richard H
Cheers & Beers

I did not. Its a box-stock build, as mentioned in the beginning.

[flashman1957]

Originally Posted by heyes57

Hey 360 Spider. Just love these le mans prototypes. Have this kit myself and have ordered the replacement decals. Just one query.....how did you deal with the side skirts which are a brush-like material clearly visible in the last photo.....paint, brush substitute etc.....?

Regards
Richard H
Cheers & Beers

In the late 1970's, the British magazine Scale Models International had a good build article of this kit, and that builder simulated the side skirts by applying a wet coat of enamel paint to a contrasting color sheet plastic card (either black/dark gray paint on a white card, or light gray paint on a black card, I can't remember which), and used a clean stiff-bristled brush (toothbrush or similar) to gently streak the wet paint all in one direction. After the paint dried, he then cut narrow strips to simulate the brush skirts and attached them to the body. The result looked convincing.

Cameron

[360spider]

Pardon my ignorance (and laziness!), but what was the purpose of the brushes there anyway?

[heyes57]

Firstly to 360spider, these skirts are from the glory days of motor racing when "ground effects" were starting to be explored, they kept the moving air under the car instead of leaking out from the sides. Secondly to flashman1957(same vintage as me???), I remember reading that article and didn't the author build the 3 cars that ran at Le Mans including the Calberson machine with the red decals. Would like to get a hold of that mag again for that article.

[flashman1957]

Originally Posted by heyes57

Firstly to 360spider, these skirts are from the glory days of motor racing when "ground effects" were starting to be explored, they kept the moving air under the car instead of leaking out from the sides.

Exactly. In fact, the prototype Lotus 78 ground-effects F1 car from 1977 originally used brush side skirts, but Lotus found they weren't the best solution for sealing the under-car airflow (they wore out too quickly and air leaked past/thru them too much), and developed sliding hard skirts to replace the brushes. With that example, I don't know why Renault used brushes more than a year after Lotus switched from brushes to hard skirts.

Originally Posted by heyes57

I remember reading that article and didn't the author build the 3 cars that ran at Le Mans including the Calberson machine with the red decals. Would like to get a hold of that mag again for that article.

Yes, I believe all three of the cars were built in the article. I do remember that for one of them, the builder had to stretch the chassis and body because that particular car was longer than the other two. An impressive modification and way beyond my skills then and now.

I may still have that magazine issue at home. I'll try to remember to look for it this weekend, and if I find it, I may try to scan the article and get it to you somehow. I can't promise anything, but I'll see what I can do...

Cameron

[heyes57]

That would be great Cameron. I also found a link to an archive site that may have a copy. Awaiting their reply.

Richard

[flashman1957]

Originally Posted by heyes57

That would be great Cameron. I also found a link to an archive site that may have a copy. Awaiting their reply.

Richard

Richard,
Just FYI that I found that magazine (August 1980 issue). Turns out that article in this issue is apparently part 1 of 2, but I haven't found the issue with part 2 in my collection yet. I'll check again, but even if I don't have part 2, I will still get the article I have to you. May take me about a week or so to do it, but I'll get it done.

Cameron

[heyes57]

Thanks M8