1/20 RENAULT RE30B - Tamiya

[HuskerF1]

Hi, thanks for the kind comments!

This update is a bit all over the place since I worked on different parts of the car. For starters, the front suspension arms are done! On final assembly I'll be adding the corresponding bolts/nuts/washers, brake fluid lines and so on, but the main pieces except for the thin steering rods are finished.
The real thing:


I used the original parts but modyfied them according to reference:
Lower wishbones:




I originally tried a very thin putty line for the solder markings, and before painting it looked good:


But once I applied the paint they didn't look as good, solder lines were too thick:


So I redid those bu adding a very thin plastic card, sanding it to paper width and making small markings with the No.11 blade. I think this approach worked better in the end:


Dashboard
From the very beginning of this build I knew I was going to have to scratch build this one. Reference:


Usual procedure, draw the different pieces in illustrator, cut the alu sheet, poke from behind...ahem, heh... to create the ilussion of bolts, drill, etc.


First time I print my own decals and I'm quite pleased with the result. The biggest dial is the tachometer and the decal is just 3mm in diameter, so I was obviously worried about being able to actually print them. All decals were printed in transparent decal paper since I figured if I just printed the black parts, it could come out cleaner. A little yellow circle was cut from left over decals and placed behind the printed one, same with the other two but using white decal. The needles were cut from red and blue decal leftovers and carefully placed.
The three colored switches at the bottom were made from the excess part that comes with the rain light on some MM kits. It's not as brittle as clear sprue so I could cut them to shape without a problem, painted them with clear red/green and placed them over black painted metal pieces.


Using the same "lathe" dremel method explained before I made the switches from pins:


Finished dashboard
Doesn't matter how much I cleaned it before taking the pics, with this kind of macro zoom, little dust particles always appear, but in real life looks clean, promise!
All the decals on the right were printed just like the dials, using yellow decals as backing.






Finally, on the left, scratch built. Original on the right. Took a lot of time to make, but I think it was worth it:


The front anti-roll protection had to be done twice. First time around, the melat used was too thick and the part was just too tall.


On the second try I used diskette metal again and now the cowl sits nicely on top and dashboard fits fine as well.


Floor/Skirts
Thorough sanding on the back tips to make them more to scale. The rest of the floor is covered, so no excesive sanding was required. He're a comparisson of the original thickness (right) to the sanded one (left):






The kit comes with two pieces to form the front of the sidepods and skirts. The sidepod air inlet part (yellow) will be modified and the original skirt discarded completely. The new skirts will be made from six different parts, all shown below except for a very thin piece of wood that goes at the bottom of the assembly. Once finished, the skirts will (in theory) move up and down like the real ones.


Still a looong way to go! Thanks for watching, until next time!

[John18d]

Wow - you and jaykay are nuts - you two bring a whole new approach to 1/20 F-1. It's no longer good enough to build oob and just add wires - lol - very nicely done and great attention to details - John

[nugundam93]

very nice attention to detail!

[Archibaldi]

Hi !
The tamiya building manual says to paint the cam covers with X-3
Royal Blue... Photos of the prototype shows that it's definitely wrong.
Any suggestions ?

[HuskerF1]

top right and bottom left are from actual race weekends. top Left and Bottom right from the car as it is today, I don't know if it has the original paint or if it has been reconstructed or what.



From the actual GP pics, I'd say X-3 is close to being right if a bit too dark. The other two look to be too light and metallic looking for X-3 but then again, blue is one of the hardest colors to photograph properly.

Perhaps a mix of X-13 and X-3 might be more appropriate and give the right scale effect. Working on the engine is so far in my model that I haven't really thought about it but I'll probably go with a mix like that. Maybe something like X-3:2 + X-13:1 or a 3:2 mix. I'd even try a 1:2 or 2:3 if I wanted to show a bit more metallic look...will have to test it when the time comes.

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For anyone following this build - it's not dead, but work and other stuff has brought progress to almost zero. I hope to get back to it as soon as possible.

[Shunter]

Great to see this one still going. Excellent attention to detail, i am loving it...

[Archibaldi]

Painted with Mr. Color C-76, metallic paint

[PJE48]

Wow! Fantastic work. I have to keep up on this one.

Paul Erlendson