Copersucar 1975

Finished models...
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JM
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Copersucar 1975

Post by JM »

At the beginning of last year, I obtained a partly built Iritani Copersucar FD1 kit comparatively cheap at eBay. Researching for some reference pics I naturally came across some other Copersucar and Fittipaldi pictures. There and then I realized that I found most of them quite good looking. Searching a bit more I found out that every Copersucar/Fittipaldi from 1975 until 1982 was available in 1/20 except for the very last one, the Fittipaldi F9. So I went hunting for all those kits and managed to get them all within a few months. I try to built them in chronological order so the first batch displayed today are the 1975 cars.

The FD01 was only raced at the first race of 1975 in Buenos Aires. It proved difficult to drive and Wilson Fittipaldi crashed it during the race. The car caught fire and was destroyed.
Within the short time until the second race another car was finished, the FD02. It was changed extensively, relocating the radiators, reshaping the engine cowling and adding a high air box.
The FD02 was then replaced mid-season by the FD03 which had changed front suspensions and a slightly different cowling and different front wings. I built the Monza version were Arturo Merzario drove the car as a one off after Wilson Fittipaldi had broken his wrist in an accident the race before.

Now for the kits. The FD01 is from Iritani. Easy to build, no issues. Nothing added except for fabric seat belts. The FD02 and FD03 are old ACE kits. There are quite rare and I was lucky to get them finally. Though they were quite a handful to build. First of all, the instructions are … sparse. I searched literally hundreds of reference pics to find out how the parts should come together. I’m still not fully convinced I did it everything right especially at the back regarding the rear wing support etc. I discarded the white metal parts for the side pods (they had to be assembled from three pieces each) and scratch built them from PS sheets. I added the meshes in front of the radiators, used opaque front brake ducts and added fabric seat belts. All in all, I’m quite satisfied with the result though it could always be better. And even they were difficult to build I'm glad ACE did provide them in the first place.

So here is the FD01 resembling the car driven by Wilson Fittipaldi in the 1975 Argentine GP:

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FD02, Wilson Fittipaldi, Brazilian GP:

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FD03, Arturo Merzario, Italian GP:

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And here all three together:

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I hope you enjoy.
In the meantime I have already built der 1976 FD04 in its Brazilian and Spanish version of Emerson Fittipaldi and are currently working on the Fittipaldi Monaco and the Ingo Hoffman French GP cars. I hope to finish them all so I can show the 1976 batch here soon.

nsdias
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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by nsdias »

great!!! congrats!!!!

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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by notfound404 »

Superb. Great to see something different from the usual.
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Jeff
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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by Jeff »

Awesome, those Copersucars/Fittipaldis looked great
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Indy1977TX
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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by Indy1977TX »

These cars do grow on you. I love the progression, wonderful work!

Jordan
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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by marlborored »

Very nice array!! Well done!!
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JamesB
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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by JamesB »

Such a good job, Jens. As usual. Hmmm better said improving one every trilogy :)
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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by DiemenRacer »

Very nice!
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vekkuli
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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by vekkuli »

Welldone :) !
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Emersonsquirrel
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Re: Copersucar 1975

Post by Emersonsquirrel »

Brilliant work! I'm a big fan of the Copersucar Fittipaldis too. I seem to remember that one of the Brazilian manufacturers did make the F9 as well, possibly RTN? If not I'm certain that Teles from this forum has scratch-built one and would be the person to speak to about how to go about it.

Looking forward to the next batch!

ES
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