Armour modeller builds an F1 car

bossy122
Yeah, this probably isn't the kit you want to start your F1 collection with, it's really bad. I don't know if you've gotten to the gearbox or worse still; the exhausts, but none of it lines up properly. Those early Tamiya kits were BAD compared to the later kits. From about the BT 46 going on is when the quality improved. M23, JS11, Lotus 78, 312T, Wolf and this P34 were all more glorified toys than models.

Jakko ‌
TBH, the only reason I bought it is because I've always liked the oddball appearance of the P.34. Luckily, I'm not planning on starting an F1 model collection at all, so not a problem there at least 🙂 I very quickly noticed the kit is showing its age, and it seems to have also been available in a motorised version (see the battery compartment in the floor plate) so I guess that also contributes to it being less than stellar …

As for the gearbox, I did get to that already, but it's still loose from the engine — that's why I need the glue clamp to hold things in position to fit the exhausts. Those are easily the worst part of the kit I've encountered so far. Fiddly to clean up because of the bends and the stupid metallic-coloured plastic, they're hard to fit even with the rear exhaust pipes temporarily in place, and the fourth pipe pushes everything out of line even when the glue has dried on the other three …

bossy122
Fujimis P34/2 is a good build.

Jakko ‌
If I had known that a year and a half ago (and seen it at the model show I bought this kit at on a whim 🙂 ) I would have gone for that one … as it is, this one is going to get finished! 🙂

bossy122
Ooh. Just realizing this is the Japanese GP. That PE rear wing support wasn't fun for me but maybe your armour building skills will help with that. I got one picture of my completed project, went to move it and the whole thing crumnled on me. I had to go back and change to the #4 Depallier car. Be sure to watch the markings in the instructions as I believe each car had different Japanese text on it.

Jakko ‌
There's a sizeable sheet of etched parts, but they're all pretty large compared to what you get in typical aftermarket AFV sets, so it didn't phase me, no 🙂 I've put together the vertical sides by now, which was slightly tricky but not too bad. The exhaust pipes were worse, but I haven't got to the "cage" that holds up the rear wing yet, that might change my mind 😉 Still, being a Serious Armour Modeller™, I own a folding tool, which will probably make it easier to put those parts together.

The Japanese text in the markings is transliterations of the various names from Latin letters to their corresponding katakana, so yes, I do need to be careful to put the right ones on 🙂

Martin Oostrom
Keep it up Jakko! You're doing fine for an AFV guy 😁

Jakko ‌
Thanks 🙂 Still, the further I get with this kit, the more I agree with @bossy122 that this was probably not the best kit to pick for my first F1 car in 35+ years, and the second ever in my life (I built the Surtees TS 16/03 (Matchbox PK-305, 1:32) when I was young, that's it 🙂)

bossy122
Don't feel bad, i've been building F1s for 20 some odd years - including 2 Tamiya P34s - and had my ass handed to me TWICE last year trying to complete ONE P34.
When I saw your completed rear wing PE thing, I recalled that a big problem I had was getting that contraption mounted to the gearbox/rear end/ what have you.

Jakko ‌
Oh, I don't feel bad about it — though I kind of wish this one was done already so I can start on that Sherman BARV I've been wanting to build 😉

As for the rear wing, I test-fitted it when the glue on it was dry and it seemed to go on easily enough. However, I'm hazy at the moment on how it's supposed to STAY on …

bossy122
Yeah, that was the problem. Like I mentioned before; I went to move mine and it all crumbled.

Jakko ‌
I guess I'll take that hurdle when I get to it 😉 For now I'm making good progress, having just painted the body etc. blue so the end is starting to get into view …

bossy122
Onwards and upwards!

Laurent VILLANUEVA HELLER ForEver
super !

Jakko ‌
Thanks, but you clearly haven't seen it up close 😉

bossy122
Result! But I think your funnel cover is on backwards.

Jakko ‌
Is it?

/me checks instructions

Damn, you're right … I didn't pay enough attention to the instructions, and kind of assumed that the curved part would be at the front. I think I should be able to pry it off and fit it the other way around. Thanks for pointing it out 🙂

bossy122
That's okay. I have a Lotus 97 with rain tyres, one of which has the tread going the wrong direction.....and I cannot get that wheel off without fear of destroying the suspension arms. And hey! If you want to, Jody needs a head rest cushion on his headrest mount. Those Tamiya goofs made one for the 1977 P34 kit, but not previous ones.....go figure.

Jakko ‌
The cover is held on only by some superglue to the air intakes, so it will probably come off — though I haven't tried yet. As for the cushion, is that what the central pillar behind his head is for? I was wondering what the point of that was.

bossy122
Yes, there should be a little pad on that. I made my own out of Super Sculpy for this kit. Like I said, for the '77 Monaco version, they finally thought to make their own to go along with a few other new pieces on a new sprue.

Spanjaard
looks really good, well done
Funny, my first F1 (and only so far), was just the same as you 🙂

Jakko ‌
@bossy122, I told myself I was not going to even try and correct this kit's faults, because it's so far out of my area of expertise. I'm just going to leave it like this, but thanks for the information anyway, it's always good to learn little details like this 🙂

@Spanjaard, Thanks, though it has a lot of bits that could have been done a lot better. Especially by someone more used to car kits and gloss paint than I am 😉 That stuff is hard to spray neatly …