jaymcminn Posted May 3, 2023 Posted May 3, 2023 This is Tamiya's 1/12 scale Caterham Super Seven BDR. For those who aren't familiar, the Caterham 7 is a continuation of the Lotus 7, which was originally introduced as an easily buildable kit car by Colin Chapman in 1957. When Chapman discontinued production of the 7 in 1972, Caterham bought the rights and the 7 has been in production ever since, continuously being updated and modernized. The 7 is built of aluminum panels over a steel tube frame with fiberglass fenders and nose cone. The Tamiya kit represents an early 90s "BDR" featuring a Cosworth-tuned 1.7 litre Ford engine producing 150 horsepower, more than sufficient to properly motivate a car weighing roughly half a ton. The Tamiya kit is breathtaking. The entire body is made of aluminum except for the plastic nose and fenders. About 90% of the assembly is done with hundreds of screws and bolts. The attention to detail is excellent, and it looks fantastic when done. I decided early on to show some, but not all, of the bare aluminum panels and decided on Splash Paints Bentley Racing Green for the main body color. The tip of the nose cone is Tamiya Camel Yellow. The interior is Tamiya Dull red. The chrome plated metal exhaust was airbrushed with Tamiya clears and Vallejo Metal Color with Tamiya Weathering Master soot at the tip. Interior carpet is provided by Tamiya as pre-cut self-adhesive pieces and the seat belts are the pre-printed fabric kit pieces. Kit details like the K&N-branded air filters and soldered front grille piece really help sell the realism of the finished model. The only major addition I made to the kit was the wind deflectors which I scratched from clear styrene and aluminum sheet. They add a great finishing touch. The number plates are a nod to the most famous Lotus 7, the car Patrick McGoohan drove in "The Prisoner". His was KAR 120C... since mine is a later car in a Prisoner-inspired color scheme I went with KAR 120D. This was a fantastic build with some minor frustrations, mostly due to fitting tiny screws into tight places that would be a bit of a faff on a 1:1 Caterham. The final result is an excellent model that lives up to its reputation as one of Tamiya's best! Anyway, enough talking... on to the pics! 4
happy grumpy Posted May 3, 2023 Posted May 3, 2023 This is just awesome. I am drooling all over my keyboard. It looks like a photoshoot from a magazine. You did an excellent job on the car and the photography. A real gem. Bravo.
jaymcminn Posted May 3, 2023 Author Posted May 3, 2023 Thanks Mario! Just phone pics with my Google Pixel 6 and the lighting rig I usually use with my DSLR. One thing I just noticed is lots of fingerprints on the aluminum bits... she's going to a show in Largo FL this weekend and I'm definitely gonna have to polish those out!
Rich Chernosky Posted May 3, 2023 Posted May 3, 2023 Jason...the Caterham kit is definetly the crown jewel in the Tamiya line. And you have definetly done it justice. Up in this neck of the woods we have a Caterham dealership not to far from here. I see them quite often at Watkins Glen. They are a real step up from the Lotus 7 and very fast.
jaymcminn Posted May 4, 2023 Author Posted May 4, 2023 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Rich Chernosky said: Jason...the Caterham kit is definetly the crown jewel in the Tamiya line. And you have definetly done it justice. Up in this neck of the woods we have a Caterham dealership not to far from here. I see them quite often at Watkins Glen. They are a real step up from the Lotus 7 and very fast. I imagine the engineers at Tamiya taking a look at Pocher kits and saying "yeah, but what if it all fit?" when they were developing this kit. I love Caterhams but can't even imagine driving one on the roads on this side of the pond. My 95 Miata is a lot bigger than a Caterham 7 and I feel invisible while I'm driving it! Edited May 4, 2023 by jaymcminn
Rich Chernosky Posted May 4, 2023 Posted May 4, 2023 12 hours ago, jaymcminn said: I imagine the engineers at Tamiya taking a look at Pocher kits and saying "yeah, but what if it all fit?" when they were developing this kit. I love Caterhams but can't even imagine driving one on the roads on this side of the pond. My 95 Miata is a lot bigger than a Caterham 7 and I feel invisible while I'm driving it! Jason...I have built 2 Pochers (an F40 & Testa Rossa) and also 2 Caterham kits, so I know all too well what you are saying. I also owned a Toyota MR2 which I raced in SCCA Solo II events for several years. Every once in a while a Caterham would show up to one of our events. I got to sit in one. They are quite small and if you have feet larger that size 10 you would not be able to work the pedals. The MR2 had more passenger room but it was not much bigger than the Caterham.
Gluebomber Posted May 4, 2023 Posted May 4, 2023 Super nice build, Jason. I'm building a similar car in 1/24 and I'll be using your pics as reference material. Great Job!
espo Posted May 4, 2023 Posted May 4, 2023 Beautiful looking finishes and great mechanical detailing.
Ulbo Posted May 5, 2023 Posted May 5, 2023 Perfect built, details, weathering, engine bay, paintjob... superb?
jaymcminn Posted May 5, 2023 Author Posted May 5, 2023 Thanks! I kept the weathering very subtle. I wanted to get the look of a well-maintained weekend toy.
Rattlecan Dan Posted May 6, 2023 Posted May 6, 2023 Man! That's Gorgeous! Great work. I'm in Largo/Clearwater area. Would like to know where the show is at. If you would?
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