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

With Skyline done, time to start on another pretty box...

Tamiya 1/24 Alpine Renault A442B Turbo #2 24H LeMans (D. Pironi/J.P. Jaussaud) this time - original 1979 release in a shelf-worn box!

This one will be strictly box-stock - only parts that come in the box will be used. Building this for a box-stock contest on a Russian website.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1924/45053287821_0324e706a3_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1954/45053287801_c1132fc0fa_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1947/30117748877_82e9214d31_c.jpg

Nice to see one of these built. Haven't ever seen on "live".

Nice to see one of these built. Haven't ever seen on "live".

Haha, ain't this the truth.

Yep, looking forward to this.

Wow, not seen one of these in a long while.

I'll be watching for sure.

Philip

First time I see 1979 Tamiya decals that are not yellow. At least they seem ?

Welcome back to building, Alex! Always admire and appreciate your work.

Now, I just need to get my own butt in gear and work on the several stalled builds I have. Two that must be done by middle of next month and one that I want to finish by mid-December. Nothing like pressure, huh? :lol:

Cameron

Time for an update!
The scoop halves were painted flat white on the inside, as this is the color they should be, and there is no way to do it once it is assembled.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1903/45117411722_f227ca779e_c.jpg

The body was assembled, panel lines scribed, flaws cleaned up, and light coat of white primer sprayed:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1939/45166166931_505607e184_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1954/45117410022_020e6cac0b_c.jpg

Since headlights buckets supposed to be white on the real car, and decals do not cover that area, they needed to be sprayed white. I also sprayed the louvers on the front fenders, as I wanted to cut the decal in those spots, and wanted to avoid touching up much. Decanted some white paint:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1941/45117407822_773d188b9f_c.jpg

Painted headlight buckets and louvers, then masked it off for the base coat:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1912/45117406882_585058db08_c.jpg

Painted all the panel lines and hard to reach areas first:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1956/45117405262_841b39385e_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1922/45166164211_9ccd6ced09_c.jpg

Basecoat done and masks removed:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1921/45166162481_1c00659a09_c.jpg

Also painted and primed bunch of other parts:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1927/45166168981_0b4dbd6d74_c.jpg

Wheels were stripped off their gaudy chrome and mounted for paint:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1974/45117394642_382cef9ff2_c.jpg

Primed and painted with Model Master aluminum plate buffing metalizer, buffed, and mounted on tires:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1936/44444132754_bcc831b33c_c.jpg

Centers and bolts were painted. Since contest is strictly box-stock, I will stop here, but possibly add some more detail to this later on:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1908/45117392742_5f46a80c8b_c.jpg

Once the paint was dry, I lightly wet-sanded the body, and started decaling the body. What a nightmare. Decals held up, but were really tough, and it took a lot of effort, setting solution, and heat to make them conform to various curves and crevices.

In the middle of decaling session:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1954/44254861185_0b6be86bda_c.jpg

Finally, after almost 2 hours, I was done. Ready for clearcoat:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1908/44444138514_361335eb6c_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1979/44254857995_7151e5c560_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1910/44444135974_f11e06b030_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1977/44444134714_d45aa9f3ab_c.jpg

Clearcoat next!

Exemplary work !

Great job with the difficult decals. Although you didn't say, I'm assuming you used the kit decals. The rules for the contest you are building for may require the kit decals be used, but I believe standard "Out of the box" rules do allow using aftermarket decals (page 3 of the 2016 IPMS rules here: http://www.ipmsusa.org/national_contest_committee/files/2016_national_contest_rules.pdf)

Just an FYI for anyone planning to build this kit, Indycals recently released a replacement decal sheet for this kit: http://www.indycals.net/decals/canam/78renaultalpine.html

Cameron

Great job with the difficult decals. Although you didn't say, I'm assuming you used the kit decals. The rules for the contest you are building for may require the kit decals be used, but I believe standard "Out of the box" rules do allow using aftermarket decals (page 3 of the 2016 IPMS rules here: http://www.ipmsusa.org/national_contest_committee/files/2016_national_contest_rules.pdf)

Just an FYI for anyone planning to build this kit, Indycals recently released a replacement decal sheet for this kit: http://www.indycals.net/decals/canam/78renaultalpine.html

Cameron

Thanks. Yes, I used kit decals. They were ok for the most part, only 2 tore up and started falling apart, which I mostly took care of.

Interesting that Indycals provide the the front black part as 2 decals - they have obviously built the kit and fixed the issue of the decal bubbling up and not wanting to line up right - this was the area I struggled the most with kit decal.

Another update, as I’ve been able to work on this model over the weekend and the past couple of evenings and get the body clearcoated, sanded, and polished. Turned out great.
Dashboard was also detail-painted and installed together with the firewall:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1970/31362203008_caa325abfd_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1934/45186166772_0df3d6801e_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1966/43423410380_5512c188a9_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1901/44325679495_626455d420_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1902/44325678055_f569b1dc3c_c.jpg

Some detail of the decals/clear and dash:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1933/44325680495_1bb956a5b3_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1937/45186165882_25114c176b_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1969/45186165322_e370a1eeda_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1977/31362202338_548992161a_c.jpg

The back of the body shell was painted flat black by hand. I have also attached the rear part of the body previously sprayed flat black:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1910/43423409710_c9b3ec938d_c.jpg

Then I switched my attention to the chassis. The bottom is molded as one piece, and calls for some creative detail painting to make this look like a real thing, but I think I succeeded for the most part:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1965/43423409480_4f4c4630fc_c.jpg

I have painted separate engine parts in various shades of aluminum, steel, and magnesium, and drybrushed the molded part of the engine before assembling everything together. Not quite like actual separate engine, but convincing enough:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1964/43423408320_a70fbd9e53_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1915/43423409110_9cc9be81d1_c.jpg

The front and the rest of the chassis plate was painted black, then scuffed, then raised parts drybrushed, then it was painted with very diluted flat black, and brushed with a wide brush while it was still a bit wet to create worn-looking surface:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1908/43423408600_6b885cecd6_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1964/43423407900_60721ed2cd_c.jpg

There is not much to the interior on this kit, and since this is a box-stock build, this is just what this is:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1958/43423406930_ee338ddfa1_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1965/43423407250_f9e06599ff_c.jpg

And then I temporarily married the two for a mock-up:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1966/43423406580_aab6657bc1_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1911/43423405830_52c9e24b57_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1946/43423405150_df6b7cc9e6_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1922/43423404610_c27bc1a77c_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1936/43423404110_a13731fa03_c.jpg

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

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

Mike

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

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

Cameron

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

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.

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!

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

Cameron

Thanks all! I'm on a home stretch!

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.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1912/43507345630_bb81797caa_c.jpg

Turned out fine:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1974/45322484351_a1f5cebd28_c.jpg

The cockpit glass was masked off and trim painted:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1951/45322486561_80da9ffb92_c.jpg

Everything installed – glass, headlights, antenna, mirrors:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1956/43507342110_8342848995_c.jpg

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

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1933/43507343740_8b2241b725_c.jpg

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

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1954/45322481901_76def3c49a_c.jpg

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.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1936/45273675472_262dab8950_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1930/45273673822_43e82c7c6f_c.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1915/45322487941_559bb038d8_c.jpg

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.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1959/43507344890_bbb33e6388_c.jpg

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.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1968/45322485741_6b8bc528b6_c.jpg

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

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1932/45322480581_1c24ed9632_c.jpg

Excellent build

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

Jay

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.

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.

https://msmproduction.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/alpine_a442b_b.jpg

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!

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.


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...:wink:

Cameron

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

Richard

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. :cool:

Cameron

Thanks M8