Grastens

Now THAT'S domination Thank you so much! I am absolutely thrilled to have placed so well this round. I definitely had time and weather conditions on my side; being able to use a clear, dry parking lot was truly an advantage. I will get to work on a track design

It looks fantastic! I mean that inside and out - the heat-shrunk cables tucked away are particularly neat. I may carry out something similar with my own Hotshot...

Thanks - good call on the PayPal activity; didn't even think of that! Will investigate...

(Note for moderators: I have wavered on whether to create this topic in the "General Discussions" forum or the "Sales, Trades, & Wanted" forum. If you feel it is better suited to one or the other, please feel free to move it accordingly.) Years ago, I listed my Tamiya Buggy Champ 2009 for sale: If I recall correctly, it was sold to an infrequent forum user who was looking for a runner, and promptly shelved it once he found it was not to his liking. I needed the money badly at the time, but I could not help but feel a bit sad when I heard it was not getting used... I used to have records for everything I sold in this hobby; however, they were accidentally erased from my hard drive I can no longer remember the name of the user who purchased it, either. If the stories are still true of the car languishing on a shelf somewhere, I would really, really like to buy it back... So, in the off-chance that somebody knows someone with a heavily-used dark-green Buggy Champ 2009 sitting on a shelf somewhere... Otherwise, perhaps what I am really looking for is a half-decent example. The car was originally sold in to a user in the U.K., and with its possible current state, I believe it may still be there. If it still has its original pieces: - The bodyshell is painted in TS-43 Racing Green, and is cracked at the rear - a strip of electrical tape was the fix, if I recall. The shell was finished with the standard-issue decals, but with the addition of two modern-font 'Tamiya' scripts near the rear, inspired by this example built for a review: - The driver figure is also in green, with red shoulder stripes on the suit, and the helmet is green with a red horizontal stripe. - The cage pieces (shell and rear bumper) were painted in aluminium (Testors X-11, I believe), and are scuffed - the shell part may even be broken. - The shell has its two front lights; the rears broke off long before it got sold on. - Wheels were painted black, and the rear tires probably still have excessive wear from the positive camber out back. - I believe the car was sold with its aluminium chassis plate, which was finished in black, but heavily chipped during use. - I had fitted GB-01 Aeration dampers to the car before it was moved on. - Electronics were stock; at the time, it had a Tamiya TEU-101BK ESC and a standard 540 motor. It may have had the larger pinion gear. I wish I had more pictures, but those were also lost in the hard drive fiasco, as well as Tinypic's decision to monetize their platform There is, however, a small photo gallery on the main TamiyaClub site. It is quite the long shot to be tracking down a single car, sold to somebody who may not even be on this forum anymore, but stranger things have happened before... In the chance that they can still happen, I am willing to find out.

Welcome to TamiyaClub! And with such a fascinating build, too I am sure a good number of us would be interested in reading about the backstory and how it all came together!

Nice! My first ever Tamiya was the F103RS - the GT-One, to be exact. ... Is that what this is going to be? (although I know there are plenty of other models using that same chassis)

Awwww

Second and third days of racing: I purchased sidewalk chalk to mark out the course, deciding it would be more efficient than knocking over cones and/or hockey pucks. It gave me the opportunity to create a bit of a backdrop/scene for my attempts Joining the Ferrari 312T3 were: And: As before, I am using the overflow lot at the local park. I have seen maybe one or two cars at a time using it, which leaves me plenty of space to drive. It was on the second day that I actually put down the chalk, and it was still around by the third day. Rain is expected tomorrow, so hopefully most of it should wash off - not for my sake, but for the lot's. Day 2 was another session with the Ferrari 312T3, using the sponge foam tires. This time, the rear wing just broke off, and so I raced it again without it. I improved my result, which was a good sign, although the steering was still acting up. The Super Striker did not record a time, with its battery being flat. Day 3 was when the Ferrari, Lancia, and Super Striker all got in the action. I began with the Lancia: I was immediately impressed by how easy it was to drive. I had swapped out the 13T brushed motor for a milder 20T unit, and the result was a very docile car that responded well to the controls, if tending towards understeer. My first and second runs were nearly identical, with a good racing line being easy to find and follow. I was quite pleased with its performance, especially as I managed both runs on one battery charge. An attempt at a third run lasted a handful of laps before the battery went flat, but it owed me nothing at that point. To boot, it produced a bit of a raspy note not unlike the original 037s as it accelerated. With full lights, cockpit, and engine bay, it was quite a sight and experience! I found driving it to be most enjoyable, even if I suspect I will not place very high with it. The Ferrari 312T3 was next, and was the focus of my efforts (and camera!): Having spent a full session on the foam sponge tires, they had noticeably more grip today. It helped that conditions were dry and mild, but I noticed that the car spun a lot less on the tighter corners of the circuit. Coming from the 037, which handled nicely but still required close to full-lock steering for almost every turn, I had to dial back the steering for the 312T3 since it was so responsive. The combination of decent grip and sharp turn-in made for a very good run (by my standards), and I was quite happy with the result I tried again on the rubber tires and special 3D-printed wheels, and was back to the same issues with instability. It still had enough grip for some photography (but not on the circuit)! The camera seems to like it, after all There are others, but then, this is a "race report" or something like that... The rear wing stayed on; unfortunately, I broke one of the exhaust pipes while working on the car, which had me disappointed. More glue! In between these cars was the Super Striker, which proved very disappointing. With a dry track, the tires had too much grip and tended to skip as the car turned. The left rear tire started peeling off the rim, which was just as well since the battery went flat about halfway into the first run... The servo tended to cut out as the power ran low, which messed up whatever lap times were going to be recorded, so in the end I had to retire it for a DNF. The second session was even worse, though I had finally switched to the mini-pin rear tires (hence, the different-coloured rims in the photo). This time, the (freshly-swapped and allegedly-charged) battery went flat after about a minute, resulting in a second consecutive DNF. The Super Striker therefore did not record a time... But two out of three is not bad, as the saying goes, and I still had plenty to be satisfied with as I packed up the racers: The biggest revelation had to be the 037. For anybody driving 4WD touring cars regularly, perhaps it would not be, but this particular Lancia had spent most of its time on loose dirt or dusty tarmac. Therefore, presented with a clean asphalt track, it handled a lot better than I thought it would. Most importantly, it was a lot of fun, and brought a smile to my face as it buzzed around the circuit As I had serviced the 312T3 prior to today's session (motor cleaning, fresh friction plate grease, refreshed differential, along with new servo and ESC), it was satisfyingly quiet as it zipped along. It made me think of the build-up to Round 18 and "the wish to fly around Brands Hatch in a 1:1 F1 car." (or something like that!) It was probably the main reason I elected to enter the Ferrari into this round. The Super Striker definitely needs either sorting or lower-grip conditions to be competitive - heck, even a fresh battery would be nice! Since the 312T3 had been taking up most of the practice/race time, the Super Striker has been caught out with partially-depleted spare batteries. Between that and some charger issues, this buggy has had a rather unfortunate time since registering a solitary result on the first day of racing. The weather looks to be taking a turn for the worse over here, so this should put an end to my driving activities for the week... Best of luck to everyone else competing! I have the feeling this will be a particularly exciting finale As an aside: it looks like the Google form at the start of the thread is not accepting entries. @TurnipJF is there another link we can use in the meantime? Or should I try the same link again later?

Stay safe out there, Ferruz! If you were racing, you would have no problem beating me this round, either - on a very warm and windy day, I made my first attempt at the Mini Indy! Cars were the Super Striker and Ferrari 312T3. The former was modified with new front uprights and a more tarmac-friendly set of wheels and tires (which necessitated the new uprights), while the latter got a lightly-used Sport Tuned motor (replacing the more powerful yet recalcitrant Super Stock RZ) and its kit-issue foam tires with wheels (over the lovely 3D-printed types that featured in its build). The wind played havoc; I bought weighted cones to use to mark corners, but as I was putting the 7th and final cone in position, a strong gust blew them across the parking lot I was using! Taking it as a sign, I used hockey pucks instead, which seemed more wind-resistant. The Super Striker, being the car I used for Round 17, was the first one I ran. Initially, it was going to be the only one I would use for the day - especially as the wind managed to snap the rear wing off its stay on the Ferrari! The wheels and tires were touring-car-style width, but 4WD buggy-style diameter. The subsequent offset (or lack thereof) meant that I needed longer axles on the front uprights to make it work, which I had as a happy accident from an unrelated bag of spares. Thus equipped, I now had a better tarmac tread, tire profile, and a wider front track, which all seemed eminently suited to Round 18. Sure enough, on my first attempt, I put down a decent result, despite scattering the pucks (typical) halfway through. I am sure with more sessions, I can get an even better time - as long as the snow stays away... Towards the end, though, I had to widen my stance to brace myself against the wind, since there was a legitimate risk of getting knocked over! It was that bad. Looking over at the rear-wingless Ferrari, I remembered that Gilles Villeneuve once drove a lap of Zandvoort on three wheels (among other feats!), and thought: "What's stopping Gilles now?" Some test laps were very reassuring: with foam tires, the car had a lot more grip out of corners, even if the throttle still needed careful attention. So a second attempt was made, with the Ferrari 312T3. The circuit was measured out, and we did it all over again with a slightly-damaged (but still very scale-looking!) F1 car. Again, the test drive at Fiorano comes to mind... The car understeered at the one hairpin while oversteering everywhere else, and since the car was low and its bumper prominent, hitting the corner markers sent them sliding like... hockey pucks on ice! Should have seen that one coming... I think chalk is on the list for next time! And yet in spite of scattering corner markers all across the lot and spinning almost twice per lap, I finished only a few laps behind the Super Striker. Like Enzo Ferrari said to himself upon seeing Villeneuve: "Let's give him a try..." The potential is definitely there for a competitive result! For now, some more tuning (and glue) will be in order I believe I will continue with these two cars, amidst rumours of the Lancia 037 4WD-H joining the festivities, until the snow comes out... at which point I will make my run for last place with the Bruiser

@ThunderDragonCy did you get an in-stock notification for the High-Speed Gearset from where you ordered? I went through Model Build and it seems they have arrived - was curious if your source was reporting the same.

Thank you! You have played a massive part in this project, and for that, I am truly appreciative There was no way I would be achieving a decent standard for this model without the incentive to do your contributions justice! I look forward to seeing your build - if you happen to want/need a cockpit, I have enough spares for another one This is actually quite a wonderful compliment Thank you so much! As a former static model builder of dubious skill, I feel this is a good sign. And on today - a cold and windswept winter day - I took the Ferrari 312T3 for its first run: This session was part of an attempt at Round 18 of the Racing by Post series. The circuit of the month is a miniature Brands Hatch Indy course, and with Brands Hatch being the site of several memorable F1 races in the 1970s, it was only fitting! "Fitting" does not describe my driving and this car, unfortunately! It has been several years since I last drove a 2WD pan-car chassis, and all of those years showed in today's session. The combination of cold pavement and untreated rubber tires was a bad one, and it was apparent that the car still requires a lot of tuning and sorting before it can start lapping competitively. Still: few cars have looked so good spinning out of control I am reminded that Gilles Villeneuve's first test with Ferrari was at the Fiorano circuit around late 1977, where he impressed Enzo Ferrari himself despite spinning out repeatedly and posting subpar lap times! From humble beginnings... Either that, or I need to hone my skills on a snowmobile It was a bit underwhelming, but not entirely surprising. Instead, I spent the rest of the session experimenting with expo. settings for both throttle and steering, and seemed to find a configuration that made the car driveable. For the Racing by Post series, though, that means reduced acceleration on a track that requires lots of it. With some more tuning measures - namely differential preload and rear damper settings - I am sure I can sort it out! More underwhelming was the recalcitrance of the Super Stock RZ motor I had put into the car. I thought I had broken it in improperly, but after repeating the process, the motor was still reluctant to turn smoothly. Given the car's tendency to spin under any form of meaningful throttle, it made the decision easier to replace it with a lower-spec motor - at least until my skills improve! All of this has me understanding why Tamiya could have chosen to re-re-release this model with sponge foam tires. Regrettably, I will probably have to ditch those gorgeous 3D-printed wheels and rubber tires for the stock pieces, in order to be competitive in the Racing by Post series. As their creator had mentioned to me, I would have to grind out the reinforcing ribs in the stock wheels to clear the 3D-printed front brake ducts; the custom wheels dispensed with deep strengthening ribs for this reason. A minute with a Dremel and it was all cleared out, if not particularly aesthetically... Over on TamiyaBase, member PavelCC01 painted the centres in a golden colour, to good effect: He had also shortened the F104W chassis by 14 mm, for a 256 mm wheelbase. At exactly 1:10 of the actual car's figure, it looks good! I wonder if I can achieve the same effect with an F103GT and the F103 front suspension and axle... And so, today's modifications comprised refitting the stock wheels and tires, and replacing the Super Stock RZ with a lightly-used Sport-Tuned motor: Perhaps it is fitting that a 'black-can' motor should be the one in the back of this particular model. Among the positives from the otherwise-unproductive session was that the driver figure and cockpit held up throughout: And that it is still quite attractive with the polycarbonate shell and natural light: But that is just my opinion One thing I do know is that the rubber tires are well scuffed, which should add to its shelf appeal I would need a big sheet of sandpaper and have way less fun to get that effect otherwise! I look forward to sorting it out in the coming weeks. In the meantime, any tips on F104/F104W setup for pavement would be greatly appreciated!

My first session for Round 18 involved the maiden run for the Ferrari 312T3: On a suitably cold and windswept day, I took it out for a shot alongside the Super Striker. Unfortunately, it looked more like Gilles Villeneuve's first test with Ferrari than his first win The story goes that he was invited to test for Ferrari at Fiorano in late 1977/early 1978, where he impressed Enzo himself despite spinning multiple times and turning in rather disappointing lap times. After about three(!) attempts, it became clear I would not be posting a worthwhile result, and so my entry is on hold - back to the pits for this one! The combination of untreated rubber tires on cold pavement surely did not help, but it is obvious that the car needs a lot of sorting before it can be competitive for this round... On the other hand, the Super Striker feels well-dialled in! Both cars have some motor issues, though, with the Ferrari's Super Stock RZ being particularly rough (especially for a brand-new motor!). I did not post a result for the Super Striker yet, but am confident I can put in another decent finish this time! I am still quite surprised I was able to finish as high as 9th for Round 17 - and the first driver not named TurnipJF or Ferruz With some motor maintenance (and maybe some more negative front camber on the Super Striker), I believe I have what it takes to put one inside the top 20! And probably not the Bruiser

Brands Hatch, eh? I may need to bring out the Ferrari 312T3 for this one And the Bruiser When is the deadline for submitting times?

No more competitive runs for me in general - I brought out the Bruiser for my second attempt

In my opinion, Tamiya's Ferrari 312T3 has always had a fantastic scale presence. As mentioned way earlier in this thread, this 312T3 will run an MTroniks Sport-Tuned 20 ESC, an HPI SF-10W servo, and a Tamiya Super Stock RZ motor, now all hooked up to a Spektrum SR215 receiver. The receiver that had been in there previously is now in the Super Striker, so the newer SR215 takes its place. The only other mechanical/electrical modifications are full ball bearings, a Hi-Torque Servo Saver, and the F1 Turnbuckle Tie Rod set. As this chassis is modelling a classic F1 car, I figure that keeping the motors relatively mild and the stock friction damping systems will contribute to its character. And so, thus concludes the build thread! Thank you for reading - it has been quite a long journey, but for me, I believe it has been well worth it. I hope you agree Again, the spectacular work of speedy_w_beans has really elevated this project, and it has been a privilege to showcase his efforts on this project as well. Until next time: Salut et merci, Gilles!

Speaking of "look at the finished car," I took "a few" photos! A friendly reminder that speedy_w_beans and his brilliance with CAD and 3D printing have given us this: And these: Seriously: without these, I probably would have never been driven to achieve a high standard with this project. Thanks, speedy! Maybe I am posting all these photos to make up for the ones I lost with Tinypic But then, I usually get camera-happy when I finish a project!

Back to the driver figure: By shortening the arms and legs and shaving the bottom of the lower half, I was able to get the driver to sit lower in the chassis. I also came to find that the back of the helmet was getting hung up on the cockpit assembly, and the elbows were fouling the sides of the assembly. Shaving away the elbows was unproductive, so I did the same to the cockpit sides instead, to much better effect. The proportions of the figure remind me more now of the Kyosho buggy driver figures: As a reference: ... Well, maybe not that extreme! But in my eyes, it looked a little less right than what I originally had. Nonetheless, I was on a mission. Since everything was out anyway, I took the time to repaint the seat in a more-accurate black - it had to be X-1 Black, since I was nearly out of XF-1 Flat Black, and misplaced my X-18 Semi-Gloss Black: The seat harness I was using for the project used a tall nyloc nut to secure everything. By replacing it with a flatter Tamiya 2 mm nut, I was able to get the harness to sit closer to the driver's torso, thus keeping everything more proportional. The original nut next to the Tamiya part: I adjusted the buckles for scale sensibilities, too. I had to do that almost exclusively with tweezers, since they were quite fiddly. The tweezers worked quite well for that! The shrinking driver figure was another reason I had to adjust the harness, but in the end I needed to drill new anchor holes anyway. The solution I came up with is definitely not scale, but gets the driver nice and snugged down in the cockpit: All the straps nearly converge to the same point! If nothing else, it looks neat. Back in the cockpit, everything looked promising: Some minor retouching was needed, since I was making the mistake of handling the figure and cockpit with some still-soft paint. A bit more carving of the cockpit base also helped everything to sit lower. The assembly on the bare F104W is quite striking: At last, the completed cockpit was reunited with the completed shells and chassis: And sure enough: Success! I was elated with the outcome As with the real car, a line drawn between the front rollover pylon and the rollbar will not touch the driver's helmet, which was the objective of the rework. I can also now look at the finished car and not keep seeing a 7-foot driver at the wheel

As I slept that night, I came to the revelation that I could shave off the bottom of the driver figure yet still keep enough of it to retain the partial-depth cockpit look. If I approached it at the right angle, I could even drop the driver the 10 mm or so that I would need to get a more scale appearance... The next day, then, I made the move to undo some of my work: Essentially, I had released the harness and removed the seat and driver from the cockpit assembly. By virtue of the limited space, I had to remove the steering wheel as well to get everything out (just like the real thing?). Regrettably, Tinypic made the decision to monetize their platform - regrettably for me, since every photo of this build thread has since disappeared as a result. However, I still have this picture of the driver figure at a very early stage: It was this shape that has remained largely unchanged throughout the rest of the build. Note the depth of the lower body sitting on the cockpit base. I came to understand that I could remove a fair amount of material from the bottom of the lower body and still preserve the visual effect of a driver sitting in a cockpit. At the same time, I could modify the base itself and the moulded seat to achieve an even lower position - between the two, I could potentially achieve the required driver height I wanted to add some more realism. I carved and sanded away, and in the process managed to break the right arm So I seized the opportunity and cut the left one off, too It was fortuitous, since it led me to discover that the driver figure was also too long to really settle into the cockpit, so this was the perfect scenario for me to then shorten the arms as well as the legs to create a better fit. This is why the driver body has additional putty seams near each elbow. While that was all setting, I got to work on the ABS shell, cutting out all the decals at once like last time: I remember that one reason I shelved this project was because I was frustrated by my inability to realize my vision for the finished product. This was embodied by the lack of a smooth finish on this particular shell, and came to represent my shortcomings that I felt would prevent me from completing the project to a high standard. My propensity for orange-peel finishes had already attracted some negative attention on my other builds, and its appearance on the Ferrari 312T3 was especially discouraging. After thinking about how to refinish the shell, I decided that I was overthinking everything and just got to work Besides, with money being in short supply, I could not exactly afford more paint to try again... I was in it now! The lower white stripes on the sidepods behaved oddly; one wanted to stretch way more than the other, and plenty of trimming and massaging under heat were required to get them to cooperate. They were the first decals to go on, being the lowest-numbered, which meant the rest of them proved little trouble. I eventually dispensed with the numbered order, though, when it became clear that it was making me put on decals without benchmarks that I could have had by applying other easier decals first. A sharp X-Acto knife, some tweezers, window cleaner, patience, and a hair dryer got me quite far indeed: And in that moment, I began to wonder why I was so worried about orange peel in the first place. The result was quite aesthetic even as it was! Next to the polycarbonate shell, it feels... crisper: This makes sense, since the lines are more pronounced on the ABS plastic shell. The additional detail also helps it to stand out, as does the paint; the ABS shell got TS-8 Italian Red while the polycarbonate shell got the slightly less brilliant PS-2 Red. The effect was the same even though that red coat was backed by PS-1 White by virtue of the painting order for the shell. But I was not quite done yet with the polycarbonate body, because I remembered that I had acquired a whole other parts tree for a second set of rearview mirrors. I wanted to add a pair to the lightweight shell, knowing that it was not moulded with its own side mirrors and feeling the shell was incomplete without them. Some quick coats of X-7 Red and some X-11 Chrome Silver for the mirror faces (I misplaced the other chrome sprue I had for this occasion), and they were ready to install. I drilled two holes each to mount them on the shell in a manner similar to the ABS body: And in my mind, the shell has been improved:

Thanks! They are holding up nicely - and look even better Everything looked better, too, once I began decals, starting with the one for the visor: I thought this was a nice idea, although since I was using a different helmet than the kit standard, I had reservations about whether or not it would fit. I need not have worried: I also thought that including the chin decal as part of the one sticker was clever. Incidentally, the kit does include separate decals for the sponsors on the visor, presumably should the builder decide not to use the visor decal. While I had already built a visor with my Super Striker project, I was not happy with how that one turned out, and so was content to use the sticker. The polycarbonate shell was the first one to get decals, since I still had some touch-ups to do on the hard plastic example. Everything went well initially: I would like to think that my decal skills are quite good, with plenty of practice by this time. However, projects like these keep me humble, as it was more difficult than I anticipated to get a good result. This largely had to do with my inability to line up any decals without reference points on the shell, and on one with complex shapes and contours like the 312T3, I really needed to pay attention. That being said, getting the stripes on was quite nice, particularly as the car was recognizably a 1970s Ferrari F1 car after applying them, and they were among the first to be applied. I did have to modify the decals around the cockpit, since they were designed for a shell with the flat driver torso area. As I had removed the one on this shell, the decals required additional trimming to sit properly. My projects of late have tested my fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Fortunately, I came through on the decal cutting: Although I nearly cut right through the Speedline decal when my hand slipped cutting the small circular battery sticker! The polycarbonate shell decals are all numbered between 49 and 91, since the ABS plastic shell uses numbers between 1 and 33, and other parts like the wings and driver helmet use the others. I took care to follow the numbered order for the stickers, and with some patience and a hair dryer, was rewarded with a clean finish: As if building up to the occasion, the number and name decals are applied last. Forza Gilles, as they say! The numbers took some deliberation. It turned out that I had only left myself enough room to put the nose number on an angle; references show that most of the time, the 312T3's nose numbers were relatively straight. The spacing was also played around with for the side numbers, with the recurring theme that they did not overlap the battery/electrical accesses on the engine fairing. This would have been easy with Reutemann's 11, but Villeneuve's 12 had less space between the digits. Eventually, I found a place for everything: Which meant the shell was done! I could hardly wait to put it on the chassis: And I didn't! The visual wheelbase disparity between the real thing and the version on the F104W is actually less pronounced than I thought: Of course, I could also be biased! I am endlessly grateful for the 3D-printed parts supplied by @speedy_w_beans - they have really elevated this car to another aesthetic level. Thanks, speedy! A few pictures in, and I remembered something: Compare that picture to: As before, the drivers in the actual 312T3 sat lower in the car than the figure here does. It is strange: at a glance, the car is proportional and looks every bit like a proper F1 car, but because I have spent so much time staring at pictures of 312T3s in period, this particular detail stands out to me. I wonder if I can get it lower... In the meantime, though, I am happy that the project more or less realizes my vision Still the ABS body to go! But after 3 years, I finally have a completed Tamiya Ferrari 312T3!

I enjoy watching videos of RC rally racing, but it would take a lot to take something away from the short-course truck and buggy racing scene in North America... Meanwhile, much of where I have been in Canada has been rather dead in terms of RC activity - usually, I am the only one with a car (or two). Southwestern Ontario in particular has had a good number of tracks and clubs close up due to lack of funding/activity Despite this, there seems to be some very reputable RC flying clubs in the area!

The following day began with the chassis. I believe I had originally designed the cockpit to fit the chassis without modifications, but as I noticed some extra space between the top plate and the cockpit (excluding the clearance I left for the ESC and servo wires), I made an exception to that. It mostly involved shaving down the battery holder: I left part of the flange as "reinforcement," thinking that was its original purpose. This was accompanied by a slight rework of the central slot in the cockpit assembly, widening it to allow it to sit a bit lower. While I was at it, I ultimately made the decision to scratchbuild a rollbar: The picture shows the second attempt; the first one did not have the same shape as this one, being more circular. The stock kit piece has a sharper bend like on this one, and so I made this piece the one to use. The plastic spacers on the bottom of the bar are there to add surface area for gluing, for I elected not to continue the bar down to the top chassis plate. Instead, I extended the rear "shelf" of the cockpit assembly with some more 1 mm styrene sheet, and glued the rollbar to that. It was predictably flimsy, however, so I took some liberties with the support bar to add a bit more gluing surface area and structural integrity: On the actual car, the bar would continue extending back towards the engine, and at a shallower angle. For my purposes, though, this is acceptable. The added benefit is that the rollbar remains solid while being allowed to flex at its base, which helps body installation by making alignment more forgiving. From the side: Unfortunately, this particular car still fails the FIA's ruling on rollover protection: Formula Libre it is? I still think the driver's presence adds more than it subtracts, so I will leave it for now. As I write, the rollbar is getting XF-56 Metallic Grey: The rest of that base panel will be painted in X-11 Chrome Silver, to recognize that the rollbar mounts close to where the elevated monocoque ends: At time of writing, I have also drilled out the rollbar opening for both shells, allowing either one to use the new fabricated piece! Work continues...

Good idea. I wonder if a moderator would be able to pin this thread, even temporarily? Edit: thank you, moderators!

I think a museum - no, a shrine - would be more apt Nice room!

Thank you! And now it continues, with plenty of wire: What we see here are the wires from the gauge cluster, or depictions thereof. There is one for each gauge, with the exception of two for the dual temperature/fuel gauge on the driver's right. An extra wire was added to represent the ignition switch wire from the steering wheel, but proved too challenging to place - partly because even a successful arrangement would have likely come apart under driving... The thickest cable is actually a wire taken from an ESC lead, while the others are scale wire intended for spark-plug leads on 1:24 scale cars. They were the only cables I had with reasonable diameters; it was either those or solder. As such, the wires appear a bit small, but then, at least they are there! The basic layout can be seen here in this period photo: However, the two wires for the dual temperature/fuel gauge are run through a single conduit in this example. References like these proved elusive; at one point, I was using pictures of somebody's 1:12 scale kit build to figure out where the cables went. Nonetheless, I think the end result meets my expectations: This is also only the second time I have wired anything in a miniature car, RC or otherwise. The first example was my Lancia 037 4WD-H project, and that took several attempts... The spark plug wire was actually intended for that car, but I ended up using solder instead, leaving the wire for this car. I did not wish to run the wires well past the cockpit assembly, so I cut the ends and tucked them inside the back of the cockpit. I created these panels to hide the loose ends, reinforced with some styrene rod to keep the panels more or less in place: The gearshift was added back onto the assembly, this time mounted higher and slightly recessed into the cockpit. While less accurate, it represents a greater chance that it may actually fit this time: The eyebrows, pupils, and irises were also painted. I had attempted to paint the "reflex" in the irises, but somehow they never looked quite right. It is just as well; such a stylistic addition seemed at odds with the intensity of the real Gilles Villeneuve! The helmet, with visible lines from the scribe marks I made for laying down the narrow blue stripes: And another close-up of the gauge panel from the back: I finished the night by turning my attention to the bodywork. It was a matter of retouching the black paint for the polycarbonate body, while the ABS plastic shell got attention for its radiators, inlets, rear brake ducts, and other details: It also marks the first time that the completed cockpit and a shell have been united: I think the driver figure is still sitting a bit high, but there is no denying the scale presence that is added! I would do things differently given a second time, but for a first attempt, I am pleased with how it turned out