Lotus 49B Ford F1

Completed 6 April 2026

This is a commission build. The client had started the build, but had not stripped the chrome from the kit parts, which means that they didn't stay stuck for long. Basically, I must strip everything down and build the kit. Thankfully he hadn't progressed too far. 

The kit must be built to represent Lotus car driven by Graham Hill at the 1969 South African Grand Prix.

This build did no go too well but it's complete. Oddly enough, the problem wasn't doing shiny, but rather the actual building. 

Tamiya glue did not stick to the plastic - I suspect that it's because the the plastic was from 1969 and back then, they didn't have the glues we have now. The only thing that worked was superglue with accelerator. As you can imagine, this was a messy business.

Also, the decals were flimsy and did not adhere too well. When I had to mask a section to respray a patch that I had messed up with a superglue run, the masking tape pulled the decal off - despite having applied two layers of clear over the paint job. 

Nonetheless, the client is happy so who am I to argue?

(click to find out more)