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Editor note: We have a nice photo array as well as a full article in the following links  Lotus 98T / Photo array - Lotus 98T Renault . Conversion of the Tamiya Lotus 99T into a 98T 1/ 20 scale

The John Players Special Lotus of the 70’s and 80’s had one of the most classic looking paint jobs to appear on a Formula 1 car. Colin Chapman’s cars driven by such drivers as Emmo, Mario, Ronnie, Elio, Nigel and Ayrton Senna even added to the impressive image. The JPS livery appeared in gold or yellow on black.

I got the decal sheet from F1S for the conversion of a Lotus 99T to the 98T car of 1986; the last year for the JPS livery to appear in F1.

Construction

I used the 1/20th scale Tamiya Lotus 99T kit for the conversion. The major change from the 99T to 98T is in the size of the cowling over the larger Renault engine. I increased the size of the 98T cowling by adding very thin strips of Evergreen Styrene plastic and Tamiya putty to this area and then sanding into shape.
The side pod radiators are also larger on the 98T consequently the side pods have been shortened just aft the intake area. Also different contours appear on the 98T intakes.
The third major area of conversion is in the clear windscreen on the 98T. I used clear plastic for this addition.
Another addition is interesting in that the aero deflectors in front of the intakes (barge doors) start to appear during this period. I built these using styrene plastic. The four attachment posts are made from spur material heat stretched.
 

Testors #1247 gloss black was used and highly polished. Carbon fiber decals were applied to the front and rear wings

The Tamiya 1/20th scale driver was used and painted as Ayrton Senna. A very thin clear plastic was used for the visor. The visor was tinted green using a clothing dye.
 

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