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Post by old23 on Nov 13, 2014 21:40:59 GMT -5
Well, this is it.
I’m staking a claim… swearing a solemn oath… posting the banns in this cathedral of open wheel scratch building for all to see. Some will say I’ve “jumped the shark” -- or perhaps that should be sharknose -- but the nabobs of negativity won’t divert me from my path because…
I’m on a mission.
At the outset I must credit some fellow named Mark Hubris (I think I've got that right), and his thread in this forum somewhat prosaically entitled “The Complete Grid 1967 French Grand Prix”, for providing the initial inspiration for this quixotic quest. The voice in my head said, “If Mark can do something as foolishly impractical, idealistic and romantic as that, well, so can you Stewart!” I should add that the voice sounded a lot like Sean Connery’s Edinburgh burr, so I was pre-disposed to obey.
But which race should I choose? Well, I’ve always been a big fan of the early 1960’s Grand Prix cars. They were the ones I discovered and read about in the pages of Road & Track and Motor Sport. They were also the cars my friends and I raced as slot cars when we were first captivated by the hobby in 1964-65. Clearly, I am still captivated all these years later, having built and entered half-tonners for seven annual VRAA and three Tasman Cup proxy races. So, “my” Compleat Grid would have to represent a Grand Prix race from the 1.5 litre Formula One. And what better one to choose than the very first official race of that era – the Grand Prix Automobile Monaco 1961.
Ahhh, Monaco! The Alpes Maritimes! The blue Mediterranean! The money! The glamour! The starting grids restricted to 16 cars!
Here is the complete Entry List:
But that’s 21 cars in total: a tad too ambitious for this builder. Perhaps I could cadge a couple of Emeryson shells from Phil-down-under, but even on the shortened list of the official starting grid there are a number of, shall we say, “scratch building challenges”. Who makes a Cooper T55 or T51? BRM P48/57 anyone? What about a Porsche 787? There’s enough to keep me occupied with just the 16 qualifiers.
Thinks… if I ignore the non-qualifiers… and if I maintain my typical productivity of 2 cars a year… why, I can be finished in only 8 years… if I don’t build anything else. But I will build other cars… There’ll be a GPd2015, won’t there? And maybe some other projects as well, so let’s give it 16 years. No wait! I have one car already built! So, 15 years then? Yes, only 15 years! Maybe I’ll still be kicking around in 2029? Will you still be reading this forum? In that case, I’d better get busy, hadn’t I?
Stewart
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Post by old23 on Nov 13, 2014 22:14:08 GMT -5
And I've got one done already. That was quick, wasn't it? Actually, this car was built 5 years ago for the 2009 season of the VRAA Proxy: The Yeoman Credit Team Cooper T53 driven by John Surtees to a scintillating.... DNF. Oh well, it sure looked pretty in that blue and red livery.  Here is my version with the Scalextric shell mounted on a basic piano wire/BWA Bracket chassis.   I've got to remember to add the race numbers to the rear of the engine cover. At the time I built the car, I hadn't found any photos of the rear end.  One of the things I love about this era of Formula One is the number and variety of privateer teams that filled up the back, and sometimes the middle, of the grid. A post on the next car to be built might take a while longer. I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed; whether to prioritize grid order, or race finish order, or to simply let inspiration guide me in my selection. Stewart |
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Post by David Mitcham on Nov 14, 2014 9:17:47 GMT -5
Hi Stewart
Ambitious? Yes, but its a great project and I admire you for taking it on. If all the cars look like the Cooper the grid will look amazing. I'd like to have a go at an Oulton Park Gold Cup grid - my home circuit when I was a boy in the '60s - but my rate of production is lower than yours!
Best Regards
David
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Post by David Lawson on Nov 14, 2014 9:23:24 GMT -5
Good luck with the project.
About 7 or 8 years ago I planned to build one of each car from 1966 as for my money it is one of the most varied and interesting seasons ever.
I bought all the Charlie Fitzpatrick shells and planned to carve the rest, bought all the motors and wheels and here I am all those years later and still haven't started the project.....
David
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Post by Phil Kalbfell on Nov 14, 2014 16:06:58 GMT -5
My Emeryson would need some mods to make it into the versions you need, but you are welcome to a couple,I also have some John Bacon early Coopers here that can easily be remoulded . Will have to check BUT they are 2.5 cars so probably A T51.
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Post by old23 on Nov 16, 2014 13:09:32 GMT -5
Thanks Phil. I will be in touch. Also, it looks like Betta Classic might have a fibreglass version of the T51.
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Post by old23 on Dec 20, 2014 14:44:41 GMT -5
No build progress so far as I've been trying to finish off some older, half-finished projects. However, I am sorting through the body shells I have, and sourcing and preparing to order those I will need to complete this mad endeavour. Alongside my completed Yeoman Credit Cooper T53 are two Scalextric shells that I hope to modify into the Cooper Car Co. Team new, slimmer, T55's.  I have some good photos of the T55, but can anyone point me to some accurate scale plans of this car? Amongst my "in stock" supply of Dave Jones body shells, I found a couple of Lotus 18's, a Porsche 718 and a Lotus 21.  So that's the Walker/Moss and Scuderia Colonia/Michael May Lotus 18's taken care of. I'll need another shell for the UDT Laystall/Cliff Allison car. The other one (Henry Taylor) didn't qualify for the race. I have only a single Porsche 718, let's say for Dan Gurney. I will need another for Hans Herrmann. And what to do about the odd-looking Porsche 787 that Jo Bonnier drove in the race? The nose looks a lot like the later 804 while the engine cover is unlike either. Any plans out there for this car would help a lot. The one Lotus 21 for Clark is sufficient as Innes Ireland crashed in practice, destroying the car and didn't make the grid. I have managed to gather three Scalextric Ferrari 156 shells:  All will need modifications to match the three Scuderia Ferrari cars as raced. All three had shortened windscreens and body panels removed to expose the exhaust manifolds. Two will have to be changed to the narrow V6 form with the large central intake screen as raced here by Hill and von Trips. I managed to find a couple of these Scalextric packages of detail bits which will help with that.  Apart from the above, I'm going to need a Cooper T51-Maserati for Trintignant -- Betta, perhaps? -- and some plan of attack for the two BRM team P48/57-Climax's. A good scale plan of this car would help in determining whether Dave Jones's shell of the earlier P48 is a useful place to start or not. Stewart |
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Post by Mark Huber on Dec 20, 2014 18:32:12 GMT -5
I'm going to need a Cooper T51-Maserati for Trintignant -- Betta, perhaps? -- and some plan of attack for the two BRM team P48/57-Climax's. A good scale plan of this car would help in determining whether Dave Jones's shell of the earlier P48 is a useful place to start or not. Stewart Stewart. Perhaps you can print these two pictures after sizing them and make a decision whether you can cut down a Dave Jones P48. As you can see the P48 is a bulkier car, pretty much from the front wheels to the tail cowling. I don't have a top view of either car, but I suspect the P48 was slightly thicker through the middle than the P48/57.   |
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Post by Chris Wright on Dec 20, 2014 19:05:32 GMT -5
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Post by old23 on Sept 6, 2015 13:53:10 GMT -5
After a long delay, I'm starting work on this project once more. Here is a great shot of the starting grid ready to go, go, go.  My next car build is the Lotus 21 of my boyhood hero, Jim Clark. There he is on the outside of the front row. And here is another shot, his head cocked over, heading for the apex.  If I can complete the car in time, the Lotus 21 will be my VRAA Proxy Race entry this year in the GP1.5 class. It will be touch and go, but here is the progress as of a couple of days ago. The chassis under construction on the jig:  Off the jig, for now. It was time to work on the body shell from Dave Jones:  I drilled holes around the perimeter of the openings to minimize the chances of a slip of the cutting tool that would destroy the shell:  Small cuts were made between the holes and then the edges were filed/sanded smooth. This also cuts down on the volume of resin dust floating around my workshop.  Then it was back to the chassis to fit the suspension pieces. This has always been one of my most frustrating stages of an open-wheel build. The sourcing of some proper liquid acid flux has now made the job much easier. For the first time, I've been able to solder these parts onto the chassis without destroying the adjacent joints of the major chassis components. My soldering still isn't always pretty, but I'm making some progress.   And here is the finished chassis. The rear upper suspension will be glued into the body shell.  There's still lots to do and my target for completion is only 4 days from now. Old23 |
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Post by Aurora on Sept 7, 2015 14:10:01 GMT -5
Stewart, thanks for post photos and an update. It's nice to see progress on your grid. Now I'm off to study the rear end of your chassis design.
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Post by stuck on Sept 8, 2015 12:42:21 GMT -5
Can hardly wait to see this fabulous project completed. The 1.5-litre cars were truly beautiful and pure in concept. Contrary to popular belief they were also fast and claimed very few lives, thankfully.
Today's F1 drivers would probably raise a smile at the machinery we were happy to call Grand Prix cars up until 1966, but I wouldn't mind betting that Messrs Button and Alonso wish they were powered by something as reliable and dependable as a good ol' Climax from Coventry.
Laurence
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Post by old23 on Sept 12, 2015 19:22:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the interest, gentlemen. I put the finishing touches on the car Friday morning, just in time for the VRAA proxy race pre-season track test and photo shoot that afternoon.   I was thrilled with the quality and verisimilitude of the Immense Miniatures "Early Clark" head. I only wish I had the skills to paint figures as well as Ember does. Anyway, I had fun with the darkened goggles. They are transparent and, in the proper light, one can see the eyes behind!  The one black wheel is interesting.  I was able to confirm that the above picture is as the Lotus ran in the Monaco Grand Prix from a video on YouTube and a B&W picture in the Autocourse Annual report on the race. Can you imagine a current F1 team racing their car with mismatched bits? I can only speculate it was a result of Jim's big crash in the first practice session and the rush to rebuild the car in time for race day. Even with missing the two other timed sessions, Clark's first day time was good enough for the outside of the front row of the grid. So, that's a second car completed for the complete grid project. I wonder which car will call to me next? Old23 |
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