Tamiya 99T>98T Conversion

Hello

I know this questions probably been asked a million times but....
What are the major bodywork mods needed to do an accurate conversion of a Tamiya 99T to a 98T? I've looked at a lot of reference pics and it seems to me that the front wing side boards and the rear wing side boards are the only major changes, both of which luckily come with the kit. Besides the obvious (black paint and decals) can anybody fill me in on anything else?

Thanks.

Actually, you're in a spot of luck since Tamiya modelled an early season car for the 99T, before Lotus changed the front & rear wing end plates. Therefore you can confidently model a 98T, w/out mods, OOB - however the rims are not exactly right. Ploughing through my Roebuck F1 book for '85 seems to show pretty much the same wing layout for most of the season - rear vanes aside, which of course are race specific.
There was a store in the states (scale race cars?) had an a/m set of rims on their site as coming soon for some time, but a no show I believe.
HTH

There are fundamental differences in body shape, largely as a result of the difference in size and shapes between the Honda (99T) and Renault (98T) engines.
Bodywork - The most obvious result of this is the shape of the engine cover bulge, which is extended further back on the 98T and eliminates some side edging as well. If you carefully compare pics of these cars in that area you will see what I mean. Similarly, a comparison will show that the sidepod front intake and side outlet areas are also different.
Windscreen -Another big difference is the windscreen, which becomes a solid part of the body on the 99T.
Wheels - many modelers paint the rims silver with a gold inner. This is the wrong rim for that treatment. Better just paint it black if you can't find the right rims.
Cockpit - different gauges and switches

Take care when checking reference pictures that you are looking at the 98T - quite often the 97T shows up, and that's subtly different (angled front wing leading edge, rear diffuser etc).

BTW, while the black paint is an obvious differentiator, the early and later versions of the 98T used Olympus and later Delonghi stickers. The black 99T wheels would be fairly correct for a later version, but the early version would need proper gold and silver rims (similar to the Renault RE20 pattern).

Good luck with this one - it's a real looker!