Lotus 72E, Ebbro, 1/20

Hi

it's been a while since I last finished a race car model, but today I have a new one to show. I already built the Rindt and Hill Lotus 72s made by Ebbro, and now I also finished the later E version used in 73 with JPS war paint.

Many parts are identical, plus the changed cowling/wings and some details. Ebbro kits are very nice to build, if you haven't tried one, you should. I only have some small criticism: The plastic is a bit strange; although I washed the sprues, on some parts paint or even primer didn't really stick at the first try, maybe I should clean them with alcohol or something else first. The instructions are a bit lacking in terms of parts colour, and many will know about the "Petarson" misprint on the decals of the first issue, but fortunately the other driver was Emerson Fittipaldi, and so you can cut off part of his first name to correct this ;)

I built it the usual way: basically OOB, except for added wires and hoses and a belt made from Leukosilk and etched buckles. I also used a Tabu fill-in set for the missing decals. I painted with TS14 and 21 and a couple of Alclad colurs, with Mr. Super Clear on top, all using Airbrush. The blue and touch-ups on golden parts are paints from Gundam markers.

One thing I changed was my polishing method: I used to do the usual routine of using 3200 Micromesh, then 6000, 12000 and finally polishing paste. But the problem with that method is, that first there are some places you may not reach that good or where you might damage the paint, and then you see differences in shine. And second, I could not always get the deep shine I like. Here I first laid down some layers of clear coat, polished with 3200 MM to get rid of orange peel and decal edges, and then added another wet layer. The result is a nice smooth deep shine. Not as perfect as with a polishes professionally, but real cars usually are not perfect either, and I like it this way.

Hope you like it, and I'll see if I do another car while waiting for the 1/12th Eagle or build something little space-related in between ;)

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_00.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_01.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_02.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_03.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_04.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_05.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_06.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_07.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_08.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_09.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_10.jpg

http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_L72E_11.jpg

Very nice build!