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Post by Chris Wright on Sept 28, 2014 16:20:16 GMT -5
This is a first for me, a work in progress. I obtained from Mark in trade a Penelope Pitlane Lotus 24. As nice as the resin body was, it was obvious that it was a modified Airfix Lotus 24 from the 60's. Now to say this excellent shell was a little on the large side would be a small understatement. So out came the razor saw, and 3/16" was removed from the width and about 1/2" from the length. So here are some cell phone pictures of the work in progress, I'm using a chassis from another Lotus I'm building (I know the shocks are in the wrong place, they should be behind the rear axle). The correct chassis is on it's way. First the initial cuts, and opening up of the engine greenhouse. Overhead shot showing how slim she's become, (a little too slim on her bum, she needs a little more curve there). Note the monogram Lotus 33 exhaust will be resized. Also the cutouts on the engine cover are sized differently intentionally left to right, a transistor box to go on right hand side. There not a lot of photo's of the 24 on the web, I found a few displaying both left and right sides, and yes it is asymmetrical. Her tail-cone requires a little rounding out, and the shock absorber cut-outs need to be enlarged. The shock absorbers will be placed behind the rear axle. Modification of her tail, making it a little larger and slightly more voluptuous. Windscreen now test fitted, and exhausts resized, they'll be finished black. (the 24 wasn't as flashy as the 25). As it is now, with finessed windscreen, mirrors and exhausts. I'm hoping I can install a 050 motor...probably not, it'll be a 030 but at least the shell is very light. Full suspension will be sorted out when permanent chassis arrives from Andy Brown. Waiting for paint, decals, clear coat and a miniature Jim Clark....or maybe a Trevor Taylor. Although Jim never drove a 24 in a G.P. he drove one several times in non-championship races.
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Post by Peter Seager-Thomas on Sept 28, 2014 16:33:01 GMT -5
Nice one Chris.
One of the great features of urethane resin is its versatility. So forgiving when chopped and glued, hopefully as few times as possible.
Interestingly the Lotus is one of the original Airfix cars I'm trying to sort out for my 'vintage' RTR racing....
Peter.
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Post by Andrew Rowland on Sept 29, 2014 6:00:02 GMT -5
Oh yes, great to see your mastery at work Chris, so clean even in the raw. Keep it up and thank you for taking the time. Andi
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Post by old23 on Sept 29, 2014 10:36:06 GMT -5
I have one of those PP shells and have been wondering how to tackle its problems. Chris, thanks for posting your process and giving me the impetus to move forward. However, I do wish you had given us a picture of the original body with the surgical cuts marked. Was the 3/16" removed from the centreline? And where did you manage to take 1/2" from the length?
Stewart
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Post by Chris Wright on Sept 29, 2014 11:42:16 GMT -5
Hi Stewart, Well I guess my cuts were too accurate, or my cell phone photo's not hi fidelity enough. the photos shown are raw resin, unfortunately you can't see the cut lines. I used the photo below to get the correct width, I just set it to the correct wheelbase (90"). The car below is a modern re-build of Innes Ireland's car but it gives you the basic accurate dimensions, the nose is a little short in the photo because of the perspective. I've also included a blue print, as a guide only. I took 3/16" out of the centre-line. About 3/8" off the engine cover (cockpit end). And 1/8' off the tail cone. (note that the tail cone will need a little more width added, to match the photo, and look correct). The body depth is O.K....actually it's a little shallow. You'll find that nearly every team that ran this car had their own idea on how to cool the engine and supply air to the carbs. So every engine cover had different shaped and positioned holes in it. If you need reference photo's give me a holler, I've assembled quite a few.
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Post by Phil Kalbfell on Sept 29, 2014 18:24:10 GMT -5
I have never been happy with the look of my Jim Hall BRM version, but at least I know why now, as I started with the same body before altering the engine and gearbox covers. Great build and has inspired me to do another body and reposes the car from the Grndkids! A larger pic of the blueprints would be helpful!
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Post by Chris Wright on Sept 29, 2014 18:26:57 GMT -5
I have never been happy with the look of my Jim Hall BRM version, but at least I know why now, as I started with the same body before altering the engine and gearbox covers. Great build and has inspired me to do another body and reposes the car from the Grndkids! A larger pic of the blueprints would be helpful! Here ya go Phil
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Post by old23 on Sept 29, 2014 18:57:51 GMT -5
Chris, what do you use to securely bond together the halves of the resin body?
What putty do you favour for filling and smoothing over the joins? And do you use something else for building up the profile of the tail?
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Post by Chris Wright on Sept 29, 2014 23:27:47 GMT -5
Chris, what do you use to securely bond together the halves of the resin body? What putty do you favour for filling and smoothing over the joins? And do you use something else for building up the profile of the tail? Hi Stewart, I cut the resin accurately with a razor saw down the center line. I stick a full sheet of medium-fine sand paper to a flat board using "Spray Mount" which you can get at any office supply store. Mark off 3/32nds from the cut on each half of the body, or use the photo supplied to accurately estimate exactly how much to sand off. Place cut side down on sandpaper and sand to that line, keep body half flat on the sandpaper, sand gently but firmly, make sure sand line is straight. SAVE THE RESIN DUST. Glue the two halves back together using the very viscous super glue (the real runny stuff). I do a little section at a time, the thin stuff sets off very quickly. Fill any gaps with resin dust, apply more super glue. (use a toothpick to apply glue, or you'll have a helleva mess on your hands). You can also use baking soda as filler, but resin dust works much better. Get fine glass-fibre cloth from the RC airplane dept of you local hobby store. Place strips on a piece of paper and spray with spray mount. Place strips of glass-fibre cloth over seam on inside of body, press flat, and the soak with super glue using a cotton swab. In a pinch you could also use fine cotton cloth, but glass-fibre cloth is better....hey go crazy like the Germans....use carbon-fiber cloth Sand any irregularities on the exterior seam flat. If any gaps remain, fill with more dust and repeat sanding. To build up the tail I used off-cuts from the BRM engine cover supplied with the P.P. kit. Glue on the same way as joining the body halves, fill gaps with resin dust, and super glue, you shouldn't need any filler. You can use thick styrene plastic to do the same job, place strategically place blocks of resin or plastic to each side of the tail cone, and sand to shape. (lots more dust)...oh yes, I have bad COPD, resin dust is really nasty, USE A BREATHING MASK, available at you local drug store. Hope this helps, Chris
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Post by Phil Kalbfell on Sept 30, 2014 0:40:12 GMT -5
I use talc and super glue mixed as a hard filler, great where it will get bumped. Thanks for the big Bluprints, Chris, scaled and printed , just waiting for the resin to set in the mould!
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Post by Chris Wright on Apr 26, 2015 19:35:23 GMT -5
Slowly but surely, received a few chassis from AB Slotsport, so it now has a chassis under it. Got the grill inserted, and one of Marc Tyler's little Jimmy's complete with the correct helmet. Have to paint the wheels yellow, exhaust and ignition box black and maybe a bit of motor detailing. I don't believe Jim ever drove a 24 in anger at a GP, but he ran one at quite a few non championship races.
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Post by munter on Apr 27, 2015 3:09:31 GMT -5
Beautiful, I enjoyed that thread start to finish.
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Post by Ember on Apr 29, 2015 19:18:19 GMT -5
Looks grand Chris. Maybe one day I'll get a quality finish like yours. For now I'm just happy to have survived my first one.
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john
Boy Racer Hasn't Got Licence Yet
Posts: 4
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Post by john on Jan 30, 2021 12:30:32 GMT -5
Newbie on here, I haven't done my 'introduction' piece yet, but thought I'd just dive in.
I came across this post while I was trying to find out if the Airfix Lotus 24 was a reasonably accurate representation of a particular car, particularly with respect to engine cover details. I think I've concluded that it isn't. The closest I've found is '948' in which Jim Clark won the Lombank Trophy at Snetterton in April 1962, and which was written off with Trevor Taylor behind the wheel at the Belgian GP championship race not long after. Even in that short period, the engine cover had had some quite big holes cut in it. A lot like the 25, really, beautiful sleek bodywork chopped about just so the cars would go faster/last longer.
Can anyone come up with a suggestion for a real 24 with the Airfix configuration?
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john
Boy Racer Hasn't Got Licence Yet
Posts: 4
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Post by john on Jan 31, 2021 10:08:07 GMT -5
Excellent - I've found out how to insert images without using a hosting site. These pics are of a 1/18th Sparks model of Jim Clark's Lombank Trophy winner at Snetterton on 14th April 1962 - the first race, according to Motor Sport, with Coventry Climax V8s involved. Jim won, but arguably only because Stirling Moss had severe transmission trouble during the Race. Stirling was fastest (just) in Practice and set fastest lap during the race. Nine days before that fateful Easter Monday at Goodwood....
First pic shows the left side - similar to the Airfix version, except that Airfix had to put 4 mini-inlets, Spark could leave it as an open slot.
Next, the other side - a mirror image, but without the Airfix "dimple". I think I've answered my own question - the Airfix Lotus 24 engine cover version didn't actually exist. And of course it's too wide, but that's already been covered.
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