Post by David Mitcham on Apr 26, 2014 10:44:37 GMT -5
Hi
Here are some photographs on my proxy entry for the GPdG. Hopefully its going to turn out to be a reasonable representation of Jochen Rindt’s second place Cooper T81 at Spa in 1966 as shown below.
First the obligatory bit of history. Rindt started second on the grid behind Surtees (Ferrari 312 – the subject of Mark’s proxy entry) and ahead of Stewart (BRM P261 2 litre). This was the year of the torrential downpour on the first lap which eliminated half of the field. Surtees led away from the start and managed to avoid the sudden rain storm. Rindt spun at least nine times at the Masta kink as the rain hit and a following Jack Brabham reported: “I’ve never seen a car spin so violently or so many times. Amazingly he kept tracking through the corners on line while actually spinning end for end. His head was snapping like a ballet dancer’s to keep track of where he was” (from Brabaham’s autobiography ‘The Jack Brabham Story’ with Doug Nye). By lap 4 Rindt had overtaken Surtees (partly because his tyres were more suited to the conditions) and he proceeded to lead the race for 20 laps until his limited slip differential failed and Surtees took the lead again five laps from the end. Rindt still finished second in the best GP race of his career to date. Incidentally this was one of the rare televised races on the BBC and I remember being enthralled as the drama unfolded and Raymond Baxter delivered his low key commentary.
So onto my build. I started before Christmas but a number of things have intervened since to make progress very slow. The photograph below shows the original chassis design and an unmolested Pre-Wing bodyshell which is an excellent representation of the car.
The next shot shows the latest incarnation of the chassis with Scaleauto motor, Dart wheels and tyres and slightly different chassis utilising a modified AB Slotsport rear bracket and offset SlotIt gear. Initial testing has been quite encouraging but I’m going to have to move guide plate back a bit as the guide is catching on the body.
The 3 pictures below show the body and some bits and pieces I have been working on. The exhausts have proved a bit of a headache and I’ve had several goes using different materials (copper, plastic, aluminium and hybrids of all three). I’ve finally settled (I think!) on all copper – yes I know its heavy but its easy to work with and, more to the point, is going to look the part when I’ve finished sanding the Milliput, done a bit more bending and shaping and applied paint. The fourth photo shows them in close up (prior to sanding and further shaping). Although the exhausts look simple on the full-size car they have some subtle bends and twists. (By the way there is nothing wrong with the Pre-Wing supplied exhausts – I just wanted something slightly more chunky - over-scale?!).
The other area I’ve been working are the injection trumpets and their mesh covers – see below. A bit more trial and error here too. In the end I’ve gone for a plate made of very thin tin sheet to hold the Pre-Wing trumpets on top of which will sit a hoop of 1/64 brass strip which in turn will hold a fine wire mesh strengthened round the edge with super glue. (Please see my post of 24 April about a company which supplies a range of mesh sizes). This whole assembly will be fitted to another tin plate which will be glued to the engine.
That’s about all I’ve done so far apart from a little work on an Immense Miniatures’ driver and a few small modifications to the engine area of the body which I’ll explain in my next post. I have plenty of photographs to help with the build the only significant view of the actual car I’m lacking is one of the rear but from the side and three quarter views I think it must have been much the same as that of the Monaco car for which I do have a good picture of the gearbox area and rear suspension.
Regards
David
Here are some photographs on my proxy entry for the GPdG. Hopefully its going to turn out to be a reasonable representation of Jochen Rindt’s second place Cooper T81 at Spa in 1966 as shown below.
First the obligatory bit of history. Rindt started second on the grid behind Surtees (Ferrari 312 – the subject of Mark’s proxy entry) and ahead of Stewart (BRM P261 2 litre). This was the year of the torrential downpour on the first lap which eliminated half of the field. Surtees led away from the start and managed to avoid the sudden rain storm. Rindt spun at least nine times at the Masta kink as the rain hit and a following Jack Brabham reported: “I’ve never seen a car spin so violently or so many times. Amazingly he kept tracking through the corners on line while actually spinning end for end. His head was snapping like a ballet dancer’s to keep track of where he was” (from Brabaham’s autobiography ‘The Jack Brabham Story’ with Doug Nye). By lap 4 Rindt had overtaken Surtees (partly because his tyres were more suited to the conditions) and he proceeded to lead the race for 20 laps until his limited slip differential failed and Surtees took the lead again five laps from the end. Rindt still finished second in the best GP race of his career to date. Incidentally this was one of the rare televised races on the BBC and I remember being enthralled as the drama unfolded and Raymond Baxter delivered his low key commentary.
So onto my build. I started before Christmas but a number of things have intervened since to make progress very slow. The photograph below shows the original chassis design and an unmolested Pre-Wing bodyshell which is an excellent representation of the car.
The next shot shows the latest incarnation of the chassis with Scaleauto motor, Dart wheels and tyres and slightly different chassis utilising a modified AB Slotsport rear bracket and offset SlotIt gear. Initial testing has been quite encouraging but I’m going to have to move guide plate back a bit as the guide is catching on the body.
The 3 pictures below show the body and some bits and pieces I have been working on. The exhausts have proved a bit of a headache and I’ve had several goes using different materials (copper, plastic, aluminium and hybrids of all three). I’ve finally settled (I think!) on all copper – yes I know its heavy but its easy to work with and, more to the point, is going to look the part when I’ve finished sanding the Milliput, done a bit more bending and shaping and applied paint. The fourth photo shows them in close up (prior to sanding and further shaping). Although the exhausts look simple on the full-size car they have some subtle bends and twists. (By the way there is nothing wrong with the Pre-Wing supplied exhausts – I just wanted something slightly more chunky - over-scale?!).
The other area I’ve been working are the injection trumpets and their mesh covers – see below. A bit more trial and error here too. In the end I’ve gone for a plate made of very thin tin sheet to hold the Pre-Wing trumpets on top of which will sit a hoop of 1/64 brass strip which in turn will hold a fine wire mesh strengthened round the edge with super glue. (Please see my post of 24 April about a company which supplies a range of mesh sizes). This whole assembly will be fitted to another tin plate which will be glued to the engine.
That’s about all I’ve done so far apart from a little work on an Immense Miniatures’ driver and a few small modifications to the engine area of the body which I’ll explain in my next post. I have plenty of photographs to help with the build the only significant view of the actual car I’m lacking is one of the rear but from the side and three quarter views I think it must have been much the same as that of the Monaco car for which I do have a good picture of the gearbox area and rear suspension.
Regards
David
Taffy
