Decided to put the
doors open Evo VI on hold for a while and have a crack at a slightly unusual Evo VII. Mika Hakkinen was always one of my favourite F1 drivers and this year he tried his hand at rallying. He drove this Lancer Evo VII WRC2 on the 2003 Arctic Lapland Rally.
The kind folks at Studio 27 recently released a rather nicely done set of decals for the car so the countdown has begun.
There are a few modifications needed to convert the Tamiya Evo VII to a WRC2. Most of the changes are to the nose, reshaping the cooling inlets and moving the side duct on the bonnet from the left to the right. Already made a start, still needs straightening out and deepening at the front. Filled in the vent and will need to cut a new one on the other side.
Obviously the Arctic Rally is a snow rally, but I've found a few pictures (like the one below) with Mika's car sporting what seem to be regular 15" gravel wheels.
So to simplify matters I'll just use some Enkei's out of Tamiya's Evo VI kit. Brake discs for the front are from a Safari Subaru kit.
Quite a bit of Carbon Fibre decaling to do. All these pieces will need to be at least partly covered in some kind of CF or Kevlar.
If time permits I intend to have a go at building a light pod too. Should be able to modify one out of another kit. Hmmm… I wonder if it has a bare carbon fibre finish…
I'll keep you posted!