Current Project
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Current Project
Rob Walker Lotus 21 Rob Walker founded his team in 1953, debuting in the Lavant Cup Formula 2 race, entering a Connaught for driver Tony Rolt, where he achieved a third place finish. The Rob Walker team had an auspicious debut season, with 8 victories in the British Club Racing Series. Rob Walker Racing abandoned the club racing series and concentrated only on large, international events. In 1960 the team switched to Lotus and decided to focus on only one driver, Stirling Moss. The car I'm modelling is a representation of the 1961 Lotus 21 driven by Stirling Moss. |
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Stirling Moss in the Rob Walker Lotus 21. |
I'm starting with a fantastic Dave Jones fiberglass shell. I've cut out the openings and test fitted the driver and winscreen. |
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I'm using the Beardog Racing 1.5L F1 chassis with BWA wheel inserts and slim can motor. The gear is a 1/43 gear made by Ranch Design and fits on a 3/32 axle. I had to contour the outer edge of the gear just a bit to get it to fit in the 21's narrow rear end. The front tires are from a Scalextric Cooper Climax and the rears are urethane copies of the Cooper's rear tires from Paul Gage. |
The rear suspension was test fitted and will fit directly to the body shell when complete. The shell fits beautifully on the Beardog chassis. |
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The shell has been sanded, all pits filled, sanded, more pits found and filled, and primed. After drying, the color, Tamiya blue, was added. From Beardog himself, spray a light mist coat, wait 15 minutes, spray a wet coat, wait 15 minutes, spray a 2nd wet coat, wait 15 minutes, spray a 3rd wet coat, wait 2 - 3 days for the paint to completely dry. Patience grasshopper! The tabs you see in the cockpit are what hold the mirrors in place which in turn holds the windscreen in place. The mirror post will fit through a hole in the windscreen and then through the tab and will be secured with glue on the inside of the tab. The tabs are virtually invisible with the mirrors and windscreen in place and you don't have the glue mess to deal with on the windscreen. Another nugget from Beardog.
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Work is finally complete and another lesson on patience, something I usually have very little of, has been learned. Once the paint was throughly dry, I applied the Pattos decals and let them dry for 24 hours. Once dry, I used Tamiya clear and followed the same steps as the color. Spray a mist coat and wait 15 minutes. Spray 3 wet coats waiting about 15 minutes between each coat. Set the car aside for 2 - 3 days while the clear cures. After the clear cures, take a super fine polishing stick and wet sand the entire car but stay away from the edges. Wash the car and then use Tamiya fine polishing compound and a soft cotton shirt to polish the entire car to bring out the shine. Wash the car again and buff. When painting the primer, color, or clear, you want the paint warm. Place the can in very hot tap water for about 10 minutes. Do not heat the water on the stove or it may become too hot. From experience, that can cause the concave bottom to become convex and will propel the can skyward at a very rapid pace.
The tabs that hold the windscreen are barely visible and make attaching the windscreen much easier.
The driver, Jack Brabham, and dash came from the Scalextric Cooper and has been repainted to resemble Moss. Unfortunately, I could not carve out the chubby cheeks. |
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The rear suspension is piano wire attached directly to the body shell. |
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