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The Lotus 72D has been released as a model kit many
times by different manufacturers and in several scales. In 1/8 scale by
Grip/Entex already in 1975. A new edition came in 1983, launched by Revell. In
2021, Pocher announced that they would release a new kit of the Lotus 72 D/7,
driven by Emerson Fittipaldi in the 1972 English Grand Prix at Brands Hatch,
where he also won the race.
I had already started my own research and looked for reference
images and information. I also joined a Facebook group and got a lot of tips.
The kit was released in the UK before in the EU, so many had already started
their builds and discovered inaccuracies.
The objective of this tutorial is to share with the reader the
work done, not only to assemble the kit, but also to get the most out of it,
adding details and missing parts, painting where necessary, etc., always guided
by the references. to which I had access. Hoping it is useful to others.
To me, judging by the assembly method, it looked like Chinese
PCT made most of the 1:8 kits on behalf of various distribution brands, but I
soon noticed that the Lotus 72D/7 kit was different and is likely made by
another manufacturer. The quality seemed high, well on par with what I was used
to from PCT. Most of the parts on the engine were cast in Zamak, which is a zinc
alloy.
Building
The Lotus 72 kit was delivered at the beginning of January
2023. "Made in China", it said on the outer box. Inside was a beautiful box. The
parts were packed in bags, cartons and Styrofoam trays. Many parts were attached
to sprues, and everything was pre-painted and ready for assembly. But it was
clear that there would be a need for both polishing mold lines and touch-up
painting.
I followed the assembly instructions and started with the
engine. There was a lot of information on the web and I also saw model builders
who scratch-built the engine in 1/8 scale amazingly true to life with the help
of 3D printed parts and micro bolts. It bothered me a little that Pocher had
chosen to only use one kind of silver color for the engine, except for the
camshaft covers, which were black.
I wanted to vary with several different tones, so I started by
repainting the parts for the engine block and cylinder heads, which are actually
an aluminum alloy casting. I went through lots of pictures and saw that apart
from the main parts of the block and cylinder head, there were many different
components that were individually cast and then bolted together. Some parts were
sometimes painted black, sometimes not. I kept trying to compare with pictures
of surviving originals and pictures from Brands Hatch 1972. It was still hard to
see everywhere and I later had to redo some as I made new discoveries.
I brushed with Humbrol 56 Aluminum and sprayed semi-matte
black. The engine parts were not cast in the same division as the original, so I
had to look carefully at pictures of how it would be. I also painted the water
and oil pumps, and Aeroquip fittings. I also added and painted a lot of bolt
heads.
However, the assembly instructions, despite updates and
corrections, were not very informative. Really bad ones, even. For example, the
names of the details were not specified. I had to find that out myself in my
research. Although, on the other hand, the search for
facts gave me extra knowledge.
The parts must change color with each other
Several parts of the engine had incorrect color. For some
reason, the colors on the throttle controls had been reversed. The top should be
black and the bottom silver. In addition, they had made a rough simplification
of the green throttle slide (not always green), and its return springs. See the
picture on the right. The upward spring is a fastener to the air scoop above the
intake trumpets (See here).
After repainting, I made the throttle slides with its details.
Compare with the kit's grossly simplified solution on the right, which was also
cast together with the cooling water line. The blue hose connectors are also the
wrong color. In all the pictures I've seen, including the ones from Brands Hatch
1972, they were black rubber.
More on this later (
See here). I made the return springs
from a guitar string, the small fittings from aluminum sheet from a beer can.
The protruding brackets on the left throttle unit are for a
cable duct to be installed later. The small brackets sticking up (red arrows)
are for the fasteners for the air scoop. I also prepared for the fuel return
hose between the units. This was missing from the kit (blue arrows) (
See here).
Then I assembled the parts, puttied and painted the joints.
This meant that I
could not use screws as intended, but had to glue some details instead.
Many details are still missing, but here is an overview of
what can be seen in the pictures.
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1. Water pump right side.
2. Water pump left side.
3. Scavenge/de-aereator oli pump.
4. Flexibel "Oldham" joint.
5. Oil pressure pump.
6. Oil filter.
7. Coolant line out.
8. Belt drive housing for drives pumps
and ignition/injection distributor.
9. Clutch housing.
10. Fuel injectors.
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11. Throttle slide units.
12. Cam shaft covers.
13. Exhaust headers.
14. Bracket for rear shock absorber.
15. Oil in.
16. Oil out.
17. De-aereated oil return.
18. Coolant line in.
19. Fuel pump.
20. Coolant temp sensor (see page 14).
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I then started with the gearbox and drive
shafts. The first thing I did was going through all the details to see what
could be improved. The brake calliper, made by Girling,
was missing brake pads and details, so I cut off the
simplified screws and made new parts. The caliper detailing turned out
really well.
I removed all paint from the brake discs, drilled and filed
the half moon holes at the hub. Then I glued the sides together, painted and
completed the details of the hub. I puttied the joints at the vent holes before
painting with a mixture of Humbrol orange, matte black and silver. Then I
clamped the discs in a drill and sanded out the brake pad grooves. Finally, I
waxed the shiny surface to
prevent oxidation.
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