Tamiya Lotus Seven Buildup

[MajorA]

I saw this thing at the hobby store and there was no way i could pass up a 12 dollar model . I decided on TS-51 Telefonica blue as a nice color and started on the outside. The chassis and body is all kinda one piece so the masking and such was kinda tricky. The build went mostly smooth with a few bumps. The hood has a couple dimples on it but a couple layers of clearcoat made them less noticible. The interior was painted black with grey seats because the pink that they called for looked way too . The engine is pretty detailed from the box and i dident add anything. The pics follow and any comments are welcome.








thanks
Matt

[mech0t0]

I am so used to green for Lotus Seven Telefonica blue is very difference to me ..... Engine colors are Very realistic!!!

[bigfrit]

Yep, this great little car does look nice the way you build it , in TS-51.

Olivier

[primera man]

I remember our club "kit-bashed" this kit kit a few years ago and i was quite impressed by the detail of it. Its a pity i didn't take pics on the night as you would have been quite shocked by what some people done to them !!!
Nice looking job in blue for a change.

[Midnight Racer]

Great build.

[Luka3000gt]

Stunning!!!!
I love the colour choice.
Only a thing, next time apply some BMF under the front lights' glass

[Jay!]

Very sweet build...!

What's the kit's "stock" motor? Ford Cossie something... or Rover maybe? I don't recognize it.

(But I'm thinking a B18C5 or maybe an RB26DETT would look incredible in its place...)

[simdel1]

Originally posted by jay@af
Very sweet build...!

What's the kit's "stock" motor? Ford Cossie something... or Rover maybe? I don't recognize it.

(But I'm thinking a B18C5 or maybe an RB26DETT would look incredible in its place...)

yes its a cosworth...a 1.3 litre version if the write up on the instruction manual is to be believed

i am building a lotus 7 at the moment, but it will be far from box stock. i have already finished making one of the new seats, and started detailing the engine bay

matt, your example looks pretty good

[MajorA]

Luka: Im about to show my noob-ness by asking what BMF is?

Jay & Simdel: It is a 1.3l cosworth with webber carbs. The motor is extremely accurate from what ive seen in pictures of original lotuses(sp?). A real challenge would be to convert this thing into a modern lotus replica. http://www.birkinamerica.com/ sells a us-spec replica using a ford Zetec 2.0l motor that is aparently very nice. I saw a birkin with a Turbocharged Zetec from a ford focus attached to a quaife 6speed sequential gearbox at a car show once, very nice :.

[gtr206]

great built dude...

[simdel1]

Originally posted by MajorA
Luka: Im about to show my noob-ness by asking what BMF is?

Jay & Simdel: It is a 1.3l cosworth with webber carbs. The motor is extremely accurate from what ive seen in pictures of original lotuses(sp?). A real challenge would be to convert this thing into a modern lotus replica. http://www.birkinamerica.com/ sells a us-spec replica using a ford Zetec 2.0l motor that is aparently very nice. I saw a birkin with a Turbocharged Zetec from a ford focus attached to a quaife 6speed sequential gearbox at a car show once, very nice :.

BMF is bare metal foil...basically thin aluminium kitchen foil with a self adhesive backing

sorry, i would prefer to build the REAL modern lotus 7. the car is still been made by a british company called caterham. the company bought the production rights from lotus in 1972 i think. so in essence, caterham still make the original 7. although now it has beter engines (like the rover ''K'' series) and some other extras...

click here for the real modern lotus 7

what looks like it would be cool to do would be to do one of the high reving bike engine powered 7's

[MajorA]

Caterhams are the "original" replica but they are very difficult to get over here in the US (get meaning obtained and registered). Brikin has a rolling chassis ready for registration for like 15grand, all you need to do is pop in a motor and a transmission.