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Richard Bungay
68 articles

Lotus Renault 97T, Ayrton Senna’s first win -1985 Portuguese Grand Prix.

October 12, 2020 · in Automotive · · 19 · 6.7K

Kit: Fujimi 1/20 (GP03)

Accessories:
Studio27 Carbon decals (ST27-CD20032)
Tabu Sponsor decals (TBD230)

Paint:
Zero Paint 2K Primer (ZP-3014)
Zero Paint Lotus F1 JPS Black (ZP-1121)
Zero Paint Diamond 2K Clear (ZP-3006)

Album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98961263@N00/albums/72157716361172533

All my models: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98961263@N00/

Photo Editing:
Adobe Lightroom
Helicon Focus (focus stacking)

I didn't have this kit in my stash until recently when I decided it would be nice to have Senna's first winning car (and first pole) from the 1985 Portuguese GP. Senna overcame torrential rain to win by over a minute - the legend was born. Only 9 cars finished the race with 20 retirements (one car was not classified).

This is a very good kit. It's a bit fiddly but I find all F1 kits that way. I ruined the rear suspension and had to order another kit to replace what I had ruined. At least I have a spare set of rain tyres for another kit - I love the look of F1 rain tyres. Unfortunately the tyres had the appearance of being under inflated - ie. they bowed inward in the centre. I contemplated how to fix this for a while then it suddenly dawned on me - wrap the rims with a thin strip of duct tape to raise the middle of the tyre. It was really hard to get the tyres on the rims after applying the tape but when I finally wrestled them into submission, they looked great. Is there anything duct tape can't do?

Enjoy and comments welcome.

Richard

Reader reactions:
13  Awesome

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.


19 responses

  1. Very slick looking machine

  2. Excellent craftsmanship throughout and a great result.

  3. Lovely finish Richard, well done.

  4. Beautiful job on this, Richard, definitely a F1 classic, although, for me at least, the legend began in British F3, not to mention the drives in the F1 Toleman Hart, particularly the Monaco GP where he should have won, again in the wet, but the race was stopped, some would say prematurely. By the way flicker isn't available here in China so I can't view the other photos, any chance of posting a few more here? Thanks.

  5. I really like the rain tires on the corners. The JPS paint jobs are a classic livery.

  6. This is a fantastic result, Richard. Excellent craftsmanship indeed!
    I liked what you did with the tyres.

  7. 🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
    An exceptional build of this classic F1 racing car and what I consider to be
    one of the unsurpassed scheme of the series. Beautiful work overall and a great luster
    on the paint job. Nice work on those tires Richard.
    Nice work on the photography, thank you for sharing them.

  8. JPS - a real classic.

  9. Flawless paint work and craftsmanship throughout , well done .

  10. Beautiful Job, I can just how tough those decals are on a black finish. Great work!

  11. Richard, @rbungay
    This is a magnificent build ! I like EVERYTHING about it... from the flawless black finish to the decals. It's very hard to get a black color paint to look nice and smooth, but you have done it well.

    I pressed the "liked" button too.

  12. I love that JPS black-gold formulas, thank you for sharing your great work.

  13. Nice work. The only discrepancy in the livery is the ELF markings on the rear wing ends. At the Portuguese Grand Prix his car only had the Goodyear marking on the wing ends. I'm a detail guy so I look at everything. Anyway, great work. I have this car in works now.

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