James' Matchbox 1/32 Surtees TS16/03 **DNF**

[JamesPerrin]

Cheers guys. I spent most of tonight holding the exhausts in place while glue dried and finally got them into position. I can believe that many a kid got extremely frustrated trying to build this kit.

At the Hudds show I bumped into AMW contributor Andy Davies and mentioned this project, he suggested that there was plenty of room for super detailing, I scoffed as I don't really have time for that kind of thing. Oh well I can blame/thank him for prompting me to add some plumbing from thin wire added to the engine blocks.





Pleased that I did.

[splash]

Brilliant work James, the wires really make a difference.

[ShaunW]

Excellent, very AMS and very worthwhile extra detailing James, great to see

[JamesPerrin]

Excellent, very AMS and very worthwhile extra detailing James, great to see

Glad you like looking at it 'cos here's some more!

Tonight I've complete the engine and rear transmission. Firstly the rear brake cooling ducts had their openings drilled out to add greater depth.



These then sit in a slot in the gear box and is probably the most positive join in the whole assembly. Some more steel tubing fitted underneath these and attach to the axle supports so it's pretty crowed back there. I didn't bother drilling out the engine trumpets as the air scoop sits on top, just spots of black paint. So some last lingering shots of the engine.

[jssel]

That is one beautiful motor James.

[gnomemeansgnome]

Dang that looks sharp.

[ShaunW]

Great work James, all of this will really add to the look of the finished car.

[shangos70]

Cracking work James, the engine looks great.

[TimJ]

Great job on the engine James.

[JamesPerrin]

Thanks guys. I returned my attention back to the tires. After looking at references it was clear that the sharp corners weren't correct and the tires of the time had a ballooned appearance. So I've started attacking them with my coarsest of sanding sticks in a effort to round them off. Before and after:



Another that became apparent was that the tires for the race the car is depicted from weren't the Goodyears whose logo is clearly emblazoned on the side walls. The car in fact ran with Firestones and even carried Firestone advertising. http://www.racingsportscars.com/f1/1974 ... 07-019.jpg; I guessing MB couldn't get Firestone to license their logo or maybe they had a contract with Goodyear.

[TimJ]

The tyre looks a lot better with the corners rounded off.

[ShaunW]

I agree, the tyres look so much better rounded off like that and scrubbed up to give a coarse appearance. Slick tyres are anything but smooth really, especially once they have done a couple of laps!

[JamesPerrin]

Right let's took about the body work, which has been rolling in the background while the engine stole the limelight. Firstly there are number of minor sink marks that need to be treated. Secondly the little raised rectangles on the nose are actually separate deflector that should be angled at about 30 degs to the body so these were sanded off. Thirdly the ends of the nose which is separate part should be blended into the rest to the nose.

In progress:



All done:



Annoyingly I have found that the nose is slightly twisted. The side walls help a bit but there is nothing to brace the extreme nose as there is no positive attachment to the floor pan. I might have to make some attachment .

[PaulBradley]

Nice work, James - the engine is most impressive.

[ShaunW]

Good start to the body James with some worthwhile correction work starting. Do you think the twisted nose might respond to a bit of hot water treatment?