1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Models in progress... including non-F1 models.

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vrba
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1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by vrba »

I bought the SRC double kit (1972 + 1974 Lotus 72) many years ago and finally decided to tackle them both properly, as much in parallel in possible.

So far, the most progress have been done on the rear end of the 1972 version, where the engine/gearbox/suspension/coolers assembly has been mostly finished (with a lot of scratchbuilding). The photos are of my usual bad quality but still they are very grainy even for my low standards (especially visible on the exhaust pipes).

Anyway, the whole assembly (missing the detail paint touch-ups and rear wing supports) looks really nice in reality and I hope that the bodywork will follow soon.
DSC_0131.jpg
DSC_0129.jpg

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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by vrba »

The Project 34 Tyrrell currently has the priority, but I found some time to work more on the 1972 Spanish GP Lotus 72D.

I changed an exhaust pipe on each side of the engine to make it stick very wide in order for a radius rod to pass under it.
I completed piping on the oil reservoir.
Then I corrected the aeroquip hoses coming out of the reservoir (they must go criss-cross).
And last, I added the rear wing supports built from surplus parts of the P34 kit. The supports are visible sticking up on both sides of the gearbox.

That brings me to a question for the fellow forumers:
From Spanish GP, Lotus moved the rear wing a bit further back. That changed the mounting a bit.
From the photos of the real car, it's visible that the first vertical rods were not used any more and were just sticking up in the air. Therefore, there must have been an additional wing support on top of the oil tank.
MFH's kit uses the same way of mounting as in the pre-Spanish GP races - that's wrong and unfortunately I cannot understand the real mounts from their kit. I was also unable to find a photo from Spanish or Monaco GP showing the mysterious mount as it's deep under the wing.
If somebody has a photo showing the underwing mount, I'll be most grateful!
DSC_0040.jpg
I painted the body black. At first I contemplated painting sidepods separately and cluing them to the main body at the end but, considering that I widened them by 1 mm and reshaped them and the main body somewhat, the only way for the sidepods to fit neatly to the body was to glue them before painting and fill and properly work the seam line.
DSC_0039.jpg
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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by alexpayne »

Great stuff, I love these early SRC kits, very emotive. Keep up the good work.

Atb,AlexP.

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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by vrba »

The exhaustive investigation about the rear wing mounts produced the results, not quite the ones I expected.
The oil tank as I built it (slightly modified from the SRC original and very similar to what is in tte MFH kit) is wrong. Not just slightly wrong but completely wrongly shaped.
It's a pity because I already built all the details on it, piping, tubing, lids, etc. and now I'll have to remove it and leave it aside for some possible 1971 72 project in the future.

Already for the Spanish GP, Fittipaldi's cat 72/7 had a new conically shaped tank.
The rear wing was mounted on a new tubular structure at the front (I'm still searching the good detail photos of it but I should be able to build it to look good enough) and on top of the oil tank at the rear.

I am yet to confirm if this conical tank was already the same as used later in the season with the "bungee" rear wing (present in Tamiya's 1/12 kit), or it was slightly different. In both cases, I'll have to design and build it from the scratch.
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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by ewestra »

Hopefully this will help you...

http://gdist43.com/archive/lts72.pdf

Eric

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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by vrba »

Thanks Eric. Kamimura-san's work is more than perfect for the 1974 car. His precision and attention to details is breathtaking.
In the mean time, I am slowly progressing with designing the oil tank for the 1972 car. It's really an obscure version used only for several races before being further modified.
DSC_0074.jpg

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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by vrba »

Time to restart the project!
Actually, I ditched the so far done rear end parts and decided to restart the project with as much fidelity as possible.
So, now the rear end for the cars is based on This Way Up Cosworth DFV engine and Hewland gearbox (coming with brake discs and calipers). Everything else is scratchbuilt, from the CAD drawings I prepare step by step.

The shock absorbers have been modified from Tameo base:
IMG_1872.JPG
The uprights have been modeled in Milliput:
IMG_1876.JPG
IMG_1877.JPG
On the right one can see the oil tank. Little is known (and all the kits and models are wrong) that Lotus 72 R7 had early conical tank in Spain. The photos are very hard to find but I managed to trace some. In the bottom sit the air intake boxes for the oil coolers, modeled from 0.2 mm aluminium sheet.
IMG_1879.JPG
The drawings:
cad.JPG
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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by feelgood »

Breathtaking! Your attention to detail is stunning…. I am sure the end result wil be worth all your efforts!
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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by Brabham »

it is really gooood. Lotus 72 JPS is iconic car of the era and one of my favourite cars ever and the way you tackle it is very inspiring. I have made this SRC kit some time ago but I still have one more Lotus 72 to start (not decided if 1972 or 1973 season). So, I will definitely follow and copy (if Im only able to).
Pavel
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vrba
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Re: 1972/1974 Lotus 72 SRC 1/43

Post by vrba »

The small frame that goes between the gearbox and the oil tank and to which the exhaust pipes will be attached has been built:
IMG_1904.JPG
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