Lotus 98T - 1986 - Ayrton Senna - 1/20 Tamiya Converted

The Lotus 98T was a development of the Lotus 97T of 1985. Of the four chassis built three were assigned to Ayrton Senna, now in his second year with Team Lotus, and one to team mate Johnny Dumfries.

Designed by Gérard Ducarouge and Martin Ogilvie the chassis featured a lower monocoque than the 97T as a result of a regulation change stipulating a reduction in fuel capacity to 195 litres. The powertrain consisted of the new Renault EF15bisturbo V6 engine driving through a Hewland gearbox.

The EF15bis was to appear in two forms, the standard engine and the "D.P." engine which featured pneumatic valve springs for the first time. At the end of the season Renault introduced the revised EF15C which in addition to the D.P. valve gear also boasted common rail fuel injection and much revised water cooling through the cylinder head reducing the likelihood of pre-ignition (detonation). Power figures for this period of F1 history are largely speculative as most engine manufactures freely admitted that their test beds would not have a sufficient power rating to measure the 1.5 litre turbos output at above 4 bar boost. It is generally accepted that the Renault EF15 produced between 1,200 bhp (890 kW) and 1,300 bhp (970 kW) at 5.5bar boost.

The gearbox came in two variants, a conventional five speed and a new six speed. The six speed was very much a development gearbox and was largely unreliable. While Senna opted to run only with the five speed, Dumfries was tasked with testing the six speed. Both gearboxes featured Hewland internals within a Lotus designed casing.

Other notable innovations of the 98T included a two stage ride height adjustment, water injection through the intercoolers, an early form of barge board (also present on the 97T) and an advanced (for the time) fuel consumption micro computer.

During the 1986 Formula One season the Formula One paddock was very much alive with speculation as to the legality of the Lotus 98T. The increasing rumours prompted Peter Warr, then Lotus team manager, to issue a press statement after qualifying for the German Grand Prix, calling for the rumours to stop or for the teams to officially protest the car. While the rumours died down, they did persist, although no protest was ever lodged.

The kit was built on 2013. The Convertion is not so accurated, but it is fine, at least, It is on my collection. Tabu Design decals were used.

  

WIP - September 16th

I am working on them.

Ferrari 641/2 - 1990 - Nigel Mansell - 1/20 - Fujimi

The 641 was a developed version of its predecessor, the 1989 Ferrari 640 designed by John Barnard. The updated 641 design was overseen by Steve Nichols, and was powered by a 3.5 litre V12 engine, first with the type 036, and later in San Marino with the updated 037. The car scored 6 wins in the 1990 season (Prost 5 wins, Mansell 1 win) Incorporating the semi-automatic gearbox developed during the previous season, the car was seen to be technically advanced. The aerodynamics were reworked and the chassis given a slightly longer wheelbase than its predecessor. Ferrari's major coup was signing reigning World Champion Alain Prost from McLaren to partner Nigel Mansell. As such, Nichols designed the car with Prost's smooth driving style in mind. A variable inlet trumpet system on the engine was tested throughout the season, but did not become standard equipment.

Prost worked hard on improving the reliability of the gearbox and also worked behind the scenes to bring the whole Ferrari team closer together. Prost's development work helped the 641 chassis to be extremely fast and competitive, and he scored five wins, including a remarkable victory from 13th place on the grid in Mexico, and challenged his nemesis Ayrton Senna for the championship. Although the car occasionally struggled in qualifying, it appeared to have the edge on the McLarens in race trim. However, the famous collision between the two drivers at the Japanese Grand Prix sealed the drivers' championship for Senna and the constructors' championship for McLaren. Prost finished runner-up in the championship and Mansell finished 5th and scored 1 win, including an excellent performance in his last race for Ferrari at Adelaide, where he finished 2nd and almost won that race from Nelson Piquet and his Benetton. It would be another seven years before Ferrari would challenge for either championship again.

This is the Fujimi kit and since the Alain Prost decals were damaged, I decided for Nigel Mansell and it was easy replaced by some extra decals I had from other cars built inthe past.

This kit was built on 2013

WIP - Ferrari 641/2 - 1990 - Nigel Mansell - 1/20 - Fujimi

The 641 was a developed version of its predecessor, the 1989 Ferrari 640 designed by John Barnard. The updated 641 design was overseen by Steve Nichols, and was powered by a 3.5 litre V12 engine, first with the type 036, and later in San Marino with the updated 037. The car scored 6 wins in the 1990 season (Prost 5 wins, Mansell 1 win) Incorporating the semi-automatic gearbox developed during the previous season, the car was seen to be technically advanced. The aerodynamics were reworked and the chassis given a slightly longer wheelbase than its predecessor. Ferrari's major coup was signing reigning World Champion Alain Prost from McLaren to partner Nigel Mansell. As such, Nichols designed the car with Prost's smooth driving style in mind. A variable inlet trumpet system on the engine was tested throughout the season, but did not become standard equipment.

Prost worked hard on improving the reliability of the gearbox and also worked behind the scenes to bring the whole Ferrari team closer together. Prost's development work helped the 641 chassis to be extremely fast and competitive, and he scored five wins, including a remarkable victory from 13th place on the grid in Mexico, and challenged his nemesis Ayrton Senna for the championship. Although the car occasionally struggled in qualifying, it appeared to have the edge on the McLarens in race trim. However, the famous collision between the two drivers at the Japanese Grand Prix sealed the drivers' championship for Senna and the constructors' championship for McLaren. Prost finished runner-up in the championship and Mansell finished 5th and scored 1 win, including an excellent performance in his last race for Ferrari at Adelaide, where he finished 2nd and almost won that race from Nelson Piquet and his Benetton. It would be another seven years before Ferrari would challenge for either championship again.

This is the Fujimi kit and since the Alain Prost decals were damaged, I decided for Nigel Mansell and it was easy replaced by some extra decals I had from other cars built inthe past.

the kit is almost finished, missing cockpit and some exterior details.

Honda NSR 500 - Luca Cadalora - 1996 - 1/12 - Tamiya Converted

The 1996 year had begun full of hope for Luca Cadalora, Italian driver of 500cc Class who was expecting a significant result ahead. After leading the YZR Yamaha for the last 3 seasons (1993, 1994, 1995), Luca was convinced that would be necessary to drive a Honda NSR 500 in order to fight against Mick Doohan, twice in row champion of the series already in that year.

Despite the 2 victories (Shah Alam and Nurburgring) Luca and his fabulous white NSR, would finish the season in 3rd place, just behind the oficial "sisters" lead by Doohan and Crivillé, oficial drivers of Honda Team and sponsorshiped by Repsol and HRC.

After he certified himself that would not be possible to get the status of official driver for the next year (1997), the Italian driver decided to go back home (Yamaha). After all, the colors and sponsorships that Luca had brought on his Honda NSR in 1996, are remembered as one of the most beautiful scheme, because it had a clean decoration in comparision to the other bikes that usually used to bring many sponsorships. Nevertheless, Honda NSR was known for its sucess history as one of the best bikes of all times and Cadalora was recognized as a great driver.

It was used Ragged Edges - Legends Decals - built on 2013