Profile Photo
Robert Aspinall
22 articles

Lotus 49 MFH 1/12th scale.

January 9, 2023 · in Automotive · · 29 · 1.4K

I was fortunate enough to get the chance to build one of these incredible kits.

It wasn't without its challenges though. The decals especially those around the nose cone were difficult to apply being thick and the wrong shape. In the end I removed them and painted the yellow sections. The nose wouldn't fit over all the detail and I had to remove a lot of the resin to reduce the thickness of the casting. I couldn't get the inner screen to fit in the correct place on top of the body and settled for fitting it flush behind the edge of the body.

I added almost a thousand .60mm resin and foil punched rivets as well as some tiny alloy tube fittings to the injection lines, instrument panel connections and low tension wiring to the ignition system. I also added a loose, baggy finish to the seat from Miliput and PVA glue.

I spent fifteen months on and off building this kit.

Thanks for looking.

Reader reactions:
16  Awesome

18 additional images. Click to enlarge.


29 responses

  1. An absolutely superb result, out of a challenging kit, Robert!
    A beloved subject!
    Congratulations!

  2. Spectacular! A masterpiece model. I don’t usually like auto models but this one really is the real car shrunk down

  3. Fantastic, Robert, a classic model of a classic racing car. You’ve made a great job on this but I’m surprised you had to make as many additions and modifications as you did. MFH kits don’t come cheap, and you don’t see many built up, so this is a treat, thank you for sharing it with us.

  4. Miniature modelling moving into miniature engineering
    Fantastic model Robert

  5. Well done, Robert!

  6. Now that's what a race car should look like [to me],nicely done.

  7. Beautiful! One of my all time favorite race cars.

  8. Jim Clark was my favorite racer when I was a kid. Formula 1 looks very different today !
    Your Lotus is exquisitely beautiful !

  9. Absolutely stellar build, and excellent photography to show off all your hard work. You made the most of that kit and built a model that looks like you could climb into and drive away. A testament to your skills.

  10. Amazing work on this Rob, it'd be nice to see it in the flesh ,why not come down to the Bolton IPMS show later this month ... She'd look nice on the 580 table

  11. Outstanding Lotus, Rob. Best I've ever seen. Bet that set you back a pretty penny. The plug wires, plumbing and screen mesh covers really make it. I would like to hear more details about this kit.

    • Thanks Eric. They certainly are comprehensive kits. I'm not sure of the price as I built this for a friend but I know they are several hundred pounds so that adds to the pressure. It's definitely a multi media kit with etch, white metal, resin, turned alloy and rubber components. The engine has full internal detail which I built but didn't add because I was wary of the weight of the model causing the suspension to sag, having said that I did cut and polish a piece of acrylic to support the rear end.

      8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  12. Superb work on this Lotus, Robert @robert-aspinall
    A lot of details and great paintwork.

    • Thanks John. I didn't want to clear coat the model because I didn't want an overly shiny finish, cars of this era don't look that polished. The rivets I added does mean that I wasn't able to buff the paint as evenly as I wanted as I didn't want to burn through the paint.

  13. Superb! My favorite era of race cars.

  14. This is my favorite type of Formula 1 racing car, Robert (@robert-aspinall). I have liked this type of racer since I saw the movie Grand Prix with James Garner many years ago. Well done on a difficult machine.

  15. Brilliant result of a classic car. Beautifully done.

Leave a Reply