Group Build: Lotus Super Twelve

I love the oil radiator - I'm guessing it's tiiiiiny?

Those tires look HUGE for that car. They seem so much larger than scale 345s. A really nice build you have going on here.

Great progress, i like the silencer pipes you made, i cant wait to see this thing together!

Since last update I have made mounts for the mufflers. I took a strip of styrene and taped it really hard with
several layers of masking tape around a spare piece of the aluminum tube I used for the mufflers.
Then put the tube in boiling water for 20 sec. Cool it of with cold water and you have made perfect rings of styrene..

I used the same technique for the diamond plate footsteps on the rear muffler mounts.
Small diameter wires are used as locating pins.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01094sm.jpg

I have also made the left side headers today. Bought a different kind of solder, it's 5% silver in it and is much harder to bend
but it polishes really nice. Pretty tedious work to "snake" the pipes to the muffler. I can't glue them yet because they can't be removed in one piece. I must assembly the whole header pipe by pipe after everything else is painted and the engine is glued in place for the last time.

Now I only have to make the right hand side exactly the same... :)
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01103sm.jpg
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01107sm.jpg

It's beginning to look like one of these!:rofl:

http://www.heritagefield.co.uk/images/tractor_pull1.jpg

nice work. that header looks amazing!

nice work. that header looks amazing!
I agree, especially in that last pic, this is really looking good.

Amazing job, Martin!
The header/exhaust system just stopped me in my tracks :eek:

Thanks for sharing how you shaped the styrene-I know I will be using that idea.

Capital job all round so far. Looking forward to what's coming.

Thanks everybody. Your comments really helps my motivation !

Veyron: you have got to admit my headers looks a little better than the hillbillys' tractor pulling stuff though.. muhaha :)
Great picture :)

Finished the right side headers. Boy what frustrating work trying to duplicate the first side, especially when I can't
glue anything togheter and the pieces keep falling off. Gah, but now its done.
Some small adjustments to the pipes will be done at final assembly to get the spacings even and straight, and then polishing
and heat stain.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01111sm.jpg

Had to mock up the car to how everything is looking.
Not so much more fabrication left now before painting.
Seats, radiators, lights, and of course a lot of details to add during final assembly.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01114sm.jpg
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01117sm.jpg

Looking good. Duplicating headers is REALLY painstaking

Jeezuz! That thing looks like Testosterone on wheels!!!!

I kind of regret that mine's going to be a boring ol' OOB now :(

holy cow! that's awesome! never thought it'd be that tough looking. it needs some sort of wing though front and rear. there'd be no way that car would get ANY traction without some downforce.

Klutz, there is nothing wrong with OOB, it takes just as much talent to make OOB look good as it does all the fabricating and custom work in the world.

WOw, now this is some insanely cool model shaping up!

I really love everything about this car, and the most even is it's insanity!

All the details you ve done are going to add to such a nice finished result, but I think and this is completely IMHO ... you should redo the air filters, they look quite toyish compared to all the other great stuffs on the car. If you can do these pieces realistically in scale, i think it will be even greater, as they are a decorative part on their own on your model.

Just my two cents, and don't get me wrong, I m only saying this to make your model even MORE awesome!

Oli

WOw, now this is some insanely cool model shaping up!

I really love everything about this car, and the most even is it's insanity!

All the details you ve done are going to add to such a nice finished result, but I think and this is completely IMHO ... you should redo the air filters, they look quite toyish compared to all the other great stuffs on the car. If you can do these pieces realistically in scale, i think it will be even greater, as they are a decorative part on their own on your model.

Just my two cents, and don't get me wrong, I m only saying this to make your model even MORE awesome!

Oli

Question! Where are the front brakes?! Or can't we just see them...

Jeezuz! That thing looks like Testosterone on wheels!!!!



:iagree: :thumbsup:

bigfrit: I must say that I agree regarding the air filters. They have been bugging me the last week. I thought of a blackwash and/or repaint since I'm not happy with the colour, but I'm not sure what to do yet.

Does anyone have Ideas for replicating conical filters?

bigfrit: I must say that I agree regarding the air filters. They have been bugging me the last week. I thought of a blackwash and/or repaint since I'm not happy with the colour, but I'm not sure what to do yet.

Does anyone have Ideas for replicating conical filters?
http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=25_32_55 ?

In your neck of the woods. Well, on the same island at least ;)

Does anyone have Ideas for replicating conical filters?
It won't replicate a pleated look filter, but you can simulate a foam filter/filter cover with flocking. I used Klutz's double sided tape method to make mine- the line where the tape edges come together simply cannot be seen. You can pick the color for the filters this way, which will be pretty visible the way you have them mounted- black, grey, red, or something to match the body or interior color.

I love the way the exhausts are coming out- a bit of heat staining and they will look spectacular. THis is going to be one cool little build when it's done.

I'm beginning to wonder if it is going to need some spoilers? Nothing too big, but it looks like it just screams out a need for some downforce.

Awesome work on this rocket! :grinyes:

I kinda agree with the filter thing. I would maybe recommend using MPWR's method It can look really good, with say a red element and black plastics. Or even if u wanted to stick with a finned type maybe smaller fins and a wash.? :2cents: I know whatever you do it will turn out great, keep up the awesome inspiring progress!

you are insane!!!!!! that is like putting a veryon motor in a honda!!! sweet can't wait for more progress.

That I would love to see, although the W16 Quad-Turbo Veyron motor is about half the size of a Honda. LoL

I like the all black engine. It adds a special touch to it

The seats are a bit of a problem in the tiny seven. I didn't like the kit "sofa cushions" but all other seats were simply
too wide. I decided to cut up a pair of porsche seats (from an old tamiya 959).

In the sequence picture below you can see the step by step workflow.
-1 and 2: I tried to cut along the seams to hide the cut.
-3 and 4: I wanted as much width of the backrest as possible so I let it go in over the transmission tunnel.
-5: here you can see the difference compared to the uncut seat.
-6: I also had to make room for the sidewall reinforcement plate that I will use to strengthen the body.
-7: The finished seat ready for primer, sanding and paint !

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/seats.jpg

Looks good man. I've started up on my LS2 again... I would do the same thing that you did to your Viper buckets, but since I have the transaxle sticking through the passenger compartment, I don't think it'll work, hahahaha.

That is seriously out of this world, love the insanity!
As for the airfilter maybe try a bright green or a brighter tone of red as the "performance" filters usually are

I've been checking in on this project and I am amazed by what I've seen. I love the exhaust system you have going. Wonderful craftsmanship.

Great method of cutting down the seats there,keeps all the stylistic aspects of them but shrinks them down a bit. Nice progress keep it up!

Not got much done during the holidays, but now i'm back on the horse again !
Must finish this beast because my next project is on it's way from HLJ.. :)

Today I have been working on the cooling system to get this 6-liter machine to work properly.
I have extended the main radiator downwards so it peeks out underneath the nose cone.

To add cooling area of the radiator I made two secondary radiators that will sit on
each side of the nose cone connected with brackets (the copper wires) to the main
radiator. They will be plumbed with hoses to a thermostat on the main radiator.

Not a pretty solution, but this machine is not about beauty, just brutal power and functionality... :)

Here are some pics of the mock up. Need some adjustments of the positioning to go
free from the fenders

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01133sm.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01136sm.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01137sm.jpg

radiators look like tombstones....awsome build

Dude, I sure hope you don't hit any rocks!

Hey Martin, might I offer a bit of design critique? The body has great flow, and sort of a racing stance. I see why you want the "auxilary" radiators but the positioning of them would create a ton of drag, and they also look misplaced in the design.

There are a couple areas where you could place them. One being in front of the rear fenders and creating ductwork similar to the look and positioning of radiators in openwheel MR cars, like F1. Another thought is to blend them into the front fenders either in front or behind. If you do it behind you could put them on a slope and integrate them into the flow of the fender. Just be sure to put a rock guard in front of the radiator.

Just a couple ideas, but I'm interested to see where it goes. Keep on!

Are those air-brakes on the front to make all that power more manageable? ;-)

Hey Martin, might I offer a bit of design critique? The body has great flow, and sort of a racing stance. I see why you want the "auxilary" radiators but the positioning of them would create a ton of drag, and they also look misplaced in the design.

There are a couple areas where you could place them. One being in front of the rear fenders and creating ductwork similar to the look and positioning of radiators in openwheel MR cars, like F1. Another thought is to blend them into the front fenders either in front or behind. If you do it behind you could put them on a slope and integrate them into the flow of the fender. Just be sure to put a rock guard in front of the radiator.

Just a couple ideas, but I'm interested to see where it goes. Keep on!

Agreed!

Also, how about a V shaped radiator / angled twin rads inside the nosecone? This would give much more surface area than just the existing central radiator, but without the aesthetic compromises :)

Yea idk if im really feeling that radiator idea, they seem very added on and kinda kill the meanness. I mean you already would not need as much cooling power as the full MB due to almost the entire engine being exposed to outside air, and secondly the engine isnt going to be under as constant of a load due to the incredible power to weight ratio, and the gearing. But i suppose if you felt like you really needed them i might suggest something more along GTmike400's idea, will the full racetype applications. Out of them id suggest in front of the rear wheels with a cowl n some mesh, also help the weight balance a bit :lol:,

well keep up the progress! i know you will come up with somethin.

Not had time to do as much as I had planned during the holidays. Oh well, but I think we can agree that the radiators are not to everyones liking :)
I'm thinking of maybe putting a radiator and fan in a cutout in the rear wall of the "fuselage".
Or maybe I'll just paint the ones I made and see how it looks. I still think they can look cool with some detailing.

This weekend I have started to Carbonize some stuff. Most of the car body will be carbon fibre.
Will just show a teaser of the cycle fenders.
To wrap the decal around the edge I made a lot of small cuts along the edge,
and then I wetted it with microsol and microset many times. I'm using Modeler's CF decal for this.
Works really well. Clear still needs a bit of polishing:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01142sm.jpg

I also extended the nose-cone. I cut off the grille surrounding and also made the
grille approx 3mm higher. It was then glued back in a more vertical position instead
of leaning forward. This was necessary to get the hinge to work without the grille hitting
the radiator when folding the nose-cone forward. I also closed the sides of the nose-cone
since I decided not to use the side radiators after all.. ;)

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01145sm.jpg

Keep it coming, Martin!
CF looks good :o

Beautiful carbon.

Wow! This is turning into some sort of monster! Keep up the awsome progress! Great idea with the seats too.

Oh, yeah! Beautiful work! I would like to have an overall view in a picture to get an idea, is this possible?

Thanks!

Bigfrit:
I think this is the only one picture I can provide for a while. I disassembled the car into molecules yesterday to start painting and detailing :)

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01114sm.jpg

Those exhausts are just the bee's knees!!!!

This is one of those projects that doesn't just look as if it could exist in 1/1 but should exist!!

VERY cool build :worshippy

Yes martin i agree with guys: awesome so far, also carbon comming out superb. Well your would be the badass, intimidating one and girlfriend of any good tyre shop :D but I'm pretty sure that mine is faster :D

Great progress. I really like those headers, in fact, the whole exhaust is looking good.

As alwyas: thanks for the inspiring comments !
So the car is now stripped down and I am painting and C/F:ing.
Putting on carbon fiber decals is pretty tedious work on curved surfaces.
I thought I should show my technice (or lack of one..) for decaling and see if I can get
some good tips from you guys:

First of all I always use a black base paint so any tear in the decal will be less visible. I cut out the shape of the decal roughly using a masking tape pattern. In places I know the
surface is really curved, I slice up the decal in thin strips out to the edge.
Pic 1: I then put it on using microset and a lot of microsol "bending" the strips around the surface.

Pic 2: Isn't it scary how bad the decal looks just after microsol :)

Pic 3: still needs a bit more microsol to "suck it down" to the surface in all places.

Pic 4: The edges of the strips are visible when dry since the decal overlaps a little, and if you look carefully you can see the interruption in the CF pattern, but it is not very
visible after clearcoating.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/cf.jpg

Do you think the decal could be stretched around, for example the wheel arc of the fenders,
wihout slicing up the decal ? I tried on the nosecone, but didn't have the patience, so I made a few strategic cuts .
Im sure it would look a bit more seamless, but on the other
hand I might get a few wrinkles that would be thicker, more visible than the overlapping slices?
Let me know how you do it..

For the nosecone I wanted it to look like the CF was laid up by two pieces of weave, so I used two
pieces of decal with the CF-stripes oriented at 90 deg to eachother down the middle.
Think it looks pretty cool..

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/nosecone.jpg

And after some clearcoating:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01176sm.jpg


Oh, and by the way: this is the new secondary radiator position. Think it will have a pretty good
airflow sucking air around the rear diff:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01150sm.jpg

The nose cone looks amazing!

The cuts on the wheel arches look a bit irritating but I have absolutley no idea how to avoid that.

The new radiator position looks A-1 IMO :thumbsup: (and doesn't that last shot bring home how wide this is now! :lol: )

Can't wait for the next update :D

Oh, I missed this update!

Superb carbonfibreing!

As Ski said, it's really wide!
Damn!

And also, I think this new location for your cooler is more appropriate.
You think the carbon will make it light again?

:) Good job, and I think the cuts in the carbon might go away after clearing, no?

Oli

Amazing carbon work, what a stunning finish. I like the placement of the secondary radiator. It could also work as a bit of a heat sink for the diff too.

Amazing CF work!!!

Woah...!

Mhhhhhh, superb CF finishing!

Love the carbon work there Martin! this project rocks :)

A small update just so you don't think I have forgotten about the Super-Twelve :)
Small in the number of pics, but a ton of work to get to this stage.

All of the CF-work on the body is done. as sson as the clear has hardened a bit more
I will finish the polishing process and start to assemble this beast.
The deadline is approaching very quickly I have noticed..

Just to give you an idea of where I am:

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk77/plexxi/lotus/DSC01178sm2.jpg

Wow superb CF finishing, Martin.

Sweet tasty CF! I love it!!!!!!:grinyes:

just beautiful, thats some rather well done cf work man..

Wow you can really see how wide this thing is now, similar proportions to a high end go cart. Man this lady has got some big hips,
and a huge a$$. :naughty: :naughty: lol

But incredible CF work, very painstaking i imagine :banghead:
Looking very clean and incredible cant wait to see it with its monster powerplant!!

I'm in love.....