Banzai!...1/20 Honda F-1 RA272
22/2020
After the Talbot, this is my dad´s second racecar build in a row after a 25 year hiatus regarding cars. Being used to military aircraft and vehicles, it didn´t turn out that bad.
When you are spoiled by modern Tamiya kits which build themselves, this kit was a bit unfamiliar. The kit was first released in 1996.
Body to chassis and nose to body fit needed some work. Some parts were a bit warped, also had to remove the seat again because the angle was off, do some sanding and cutting to improve it and insert it again. So the whole model is slightly crooked.
Built it OOB, only added brake lines with elastic thread. Didn´t extra detail the engine because it is more or less fully covered. The airintake behind the driver should have a grid, Tamiya missed that. When my dad finds a suiting one, he will retrofit the model.
Build thread here
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235078767-banzai120-honda-f-1-ra272/#top
Model shows the car of US driver Ronnie Bucknum in 1965.
Great result on a lovely car, Reinhard.
Kudos to your father!
Your beautiful build of the old Honda F1 car brings back memories, especially of the great American driver, Richie Ginther, who drove the #11 Honda F1 car to victory in the the Mexican Gran Prix, in 1965. Your build is excellent and captures the look of the Honda racer perfectly.
It appears that Honda is still making news in F1, because they just announced that Honda is quitting F1, with the reason given so Honda can concentrate on zero-emissions technology, or something like that. The news report did not mention anything about Honda's participation in the Indycar racing series, however, or any other racing series for that matter. F1, like so many other racing series, is going through some serious changes right now, apparently due to the revenue downturn caused by the pandemic. Let's hope that this premier series is able to weather the current storm, and has a bright future.
Anyhow, your little Honda F1 racer is great, and nice to see.
This was my first exposure to Tamiya. I built Ginther's ride. It is a gem of a kit and your Dad did a fine job on it. The one thing I thought was neat was that the nose cone and engine covers were held on by screws. (And the engine is a piece of art too. I would like to see how tiny a piston from a 1500cc V-12 would be!)
Looks good Reinhard, your dad did well, --------
Josh, not as tiny as one from Honda's RC 166, 250cc 6 cylinder GP motor cycle, or Moto Guzzi's 500cc V8 !
Honda have a racing history as good as any, both in cars and bikes, and this car is an important part of that history. Nice job on this classic kit.