Into the 1970s and the car below is I think 1970 as raced by Jacky Ickx . Motor gone from the earlier V12 to what is commonly called a flat configuration, still with 12 cylinders. Ickx won three races but Jochen Rindt won the title for Lotus.
Model is a fairly simple build from Scale Racing Cars(UK).

Missing at least one built car from the next couple of year. That is the 312B2 raced by Mario Andretti in 1972. This car had an unusual bulbous front wing and a long tapered head fairing that ran from the cockpit to the rear wing.
Onto 1974 and the arrival of Niki Lauda and the last of the 312B series. This 312B4 model was built from a kit by Italian maker Dallari and was considered quite high tech for it's day. It does have reasonable detail if a bit crude in places. Biggest problem for me was that when it was completed it's stance looked more suited to an off road vehicle. Not wishing to go to the trouble of rebuilding the model I took pity and crashed it instead. I had a lot of fun making this little scene which is supposed to show Lauda(in correct blue race suit and red helmet) being tended to by medical staff while a marshall signals to colleges. Fine mesh catch fencing from a military accessory pack and the cloth/etched metal seat belts from a F1 upgrade pack. Fine dirt and rubbish mostly came from the bottom of the bead blast cabinet at work and fixed in place with diluted washes of white glue. I like this scene and so did my son when he saw it staking a claim to ownership which he hasn't relinquished.
Photos date back a bit and a little out of focus.

Onto the rest of the 1970s and the introduction of some high detail super kits. Strangely given that the 1975 World Champ car driven by Lauda is one of my all time favourites I've yet to complete a good detailed model of that car. Best I had was a rather crude model from pioneer Italian kit maker FDS.
Passing over the '76 season where Lauda lost by a point to Hunt after his terrible accident at the German Gp next up is the 312T2/3 car from 1977. This car won Lauda his 2nd title. This particular model is from Italian maker Tameo, a leading light in high detail kits. It's quite interesting to compare the sharpness and delicate detail against the Meri kit of the 1978 car which will be next up.
With Tameo instead of cast metal brake rotors you get fine, detailed metal photo etched parts to built three piece items. The pressed metal parts that make up the tub look much better than Meri's cast metal unit. As was usually the case, the more detail, wiring, hoses etc, the less chance you have of fitting all the body parts together correctly, but I really wanted to show what was under the panels of this car so it ended in the semi stripped form as shown.
Around this time I had acquired a wonderful metal template from Japan that enabled me to airbrush tyre makers names to the tyre sidewall which looked much better than the usual decals. 

Since we're in the right period and just to prove that I can see more than red here's another very nice model from Tameo. Again mainly metal and in 1/43 scale.

Amazing stuff Cooks. Such detail. Keep em coming.

fantastic !!!!

superb craftsmanship cooks

1978 and the T3 of G Villeneuve. This model from Italian maker Meri was listed as a super kit in the pre sale blurb and it does have a nice level of detail but I think it falls down a little when compared to the Tameo kits for the earlier 1977 car and the upcoming 1979 Champ car of Jody Schecter.

A note about the bases used with many of the kits. Most were made from mdf with a routed edge and painted mid grey. The road or tarmac surface is usually fine grade wet n dry sandpaper for some texture which is them treated with various coloured washes depending on the surface required.

1979 and Jody Scheckter wins Ferrari's last drivers championship until Michael Schumacher in 2000. Very well detailed model from Tameo in their World Champ series.
Interesting to compare the previous cars and see the relocation of radiators, exhausts and other parts as Ferrari struggled to take advantage of skirts and developing under body aerodynamics. The width of the flat 12 motor was a hindrance in this effort.

cooks;

did you build any sports prototype racers like the porsche 917 ?

this year is the 50th anniversary of the iconic 917.

Yes I did Michael. Did long and short tail 917s, 917/10 and sunco can am car. Also the Can Am car Ferrari did for Amon, a Mclaren M8, Porsche 908 plus quite a few Ferrari sports racers from the early 50s up to the early 70s 312PB and Sunco 512. Mainly Le Mans cars but a couple of Pan Americana models.
Sadly never thought of keeping a photographic record. Best i have is this poor shot of one cabinet. Some Porsche models 3rd shelf from the top, Ferrari sports racers 2nd from the bottom.

i see the "pink pig "

Apr 8, 2019 23:18:10 GMT 12 michaelw said:

i see the "pink pig "

Well spotted. My daughter still has dibs on that one. I think she was about 6yo when I built it and of course it is just the right colour for a girl of that age

Unfortunately while I was building models there was never a high detail 917 kit in 1/43. Best I had(but never built) was an old Matchbox model of a 917/10 in Martini colours. I've always liked the colours of the Gulf sponsored cars but the Sunco 917/30 was the pinnacle as far as I was concerned. 

so the above cabinet is full of cars you still have ?

i watched the steve mcqueen film le mans last night.

the quintessential car racing film, charismatic lead actor, minimal dialogue, lots of car action.

the gulf porsches looked amazing, so pure of line, unspoiled by advertising logos.

for those who don't know....

the pink pig was a one off prototype, rolling R&D test bed for new parts and aero concepts.

the car ran once at le mans in 1971, qualifying in 7th before retiring after an accident.

the car was restored and is now on display at the porsche museum in stuttgart.

I think I still have 9 cars left that are shown in the cabinet Michael. A couple of built kits and some factory builts including 3 Alfas.

Onto the 1980s and the start of a long fairly fallow period for Ferrari with only a couple of constructors titles as compensation. This was the beginning of the Turbo era with rapid advances in ground effects and aerodynamics changing the game virtually from race to race. Ferrari has changed to a 1.5 litre V6 motor which never seemed to match the best of its rivals and ongoing handling problems added to their woes.
First up are two 126c cars with very short histories in the Ferrari F! story.
Number 1 is a rather basic curbside model of the supercharged car that Ferrari tried as an option to turbo charging. This car never raced and the supercharging system used was an unusual comprex unit.
The short exhaust of the supercharger can be seen exiting above the metal heat shield just in front of the rear wing. I had a couple of rather undressed female models sitting around so added them to a diorama along with a Villeneuve figure.

Next is the ill fated 126C2 that was raced at Long Beach in 1982. Trying to circumvent regulations on wing size Ferrari came up with the unusual twin wing. The car was raced and later disqualified . This is the 2nd super detailed kit from Meri Models and shows off the detail and layout of the early turbo car quite well.

More Pink Pig 





and Long tails........

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

Nice. The PP looks be be well done. About 1/20 scale?
Was never a big fan of the shape of the long tail 917 , on the other hand the Gulf sponsored short tails along with the Ferrari 512 were always the epitome of a real sports race car.
Interesting to see the change in body shape, venting around the front wheels and wings from the original in '69 through to 1971.

nice piggy oink oink



also not a big fan of the 917 long tail, the short tail K in gulf colours... mmmmm

and the mighty 917/30 can am car with 1000+ bhp, 1580 in qualifying tune !
at the hands of roger penske and mark donohue, these monsters crushed the mclarens and showed the world what turbocharging was capable of.

do you guys have any 917/30 models ?

Apr 12, 2019 9:59:15 GMT 12 michaelw said:

nice piggy oink oink



also not a big fan of the 917 long tail, the short tail K in gulf colours... mmmmm

and the mighty 917/30 can am car with 1000+ bhp, 1580 in qualifying tune !
at the hands of roger penske and mark donohue, these monsters crushed the mclarens and showed the world what turbocharging was capable of.

do you guys have any 917/30 models ?

Did build the Sunco 917/30 in 1/43 from a resin/metal kit. Nice little curbside model, but again long gone.

Apr 12, 2019 7:25:54 GMT 12 cooksferry said:

Nice. The PP looks be be well done. About 1/20 scale?
Was never a big fan of the shape of the long tail 917 , on the other hand the Gulf sponsored short tails along with the Ferrari 512 were always the epitome of a real sports race car.
Interesting to see the change in body shape, venting around the front wheels and wings from the original in '69 through to 1971.

Minichamps 1/18th, a nice diecast 

All my kitset model cars  are 1/24th scale and still in storage after our last move 


I like the Long tail 917's, the epitome of speed,  and still look reasonably balanced unlike a 512 Coda Lunga. The 1969 Model is the prettiest, but aerodynamically challenged. Agree, the 1970 model is just a bit  frumpy, but the 1971 LH in Gulf Colours just screams 'Beast' and was awesomely quick.

I certainly agree with your sentiment on the Gulf 917K's along with the Ferrari 512S/M being the Epitome of Real Sports Racing cars... around 68 through to 73 is my 'choice' period for Le Man's cars.

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

Apr 12, 2019 9:59:15 GMT 12 michaelw said:

nice piggy oink oink



also not a big fan of the 917 long tail, the short tail K in gulf colours... mmmmm

and the mighty 917/30 can am car with 1000+ bhp, 1580 in qualifying tune !
at the hands of roger penske and mark donohue, these monsters crushed the mclarens and showed the world what turbocharging was capable of.

do you guys have any 917/30 models ?

Yes, the Sunoco 917/30 in 1/18, again a Minichamps model.

The 917/30 finished what the 917/10 started

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

since we're onto things sports cars and Le Mans here are a couple of factory builds from BBR of Italy that I still have. The Alfa 8c is an all time favourite car. There is a highly detailed large scale model by CMC listed on Amazon etc but my two are 1/43.

coming up the years and another Alfa

alfa time

The 8C is really nice, but the 33/3 is the one I want to take for a spin.. very Lustful!

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

917/30 time...






one you don't see very often.. a 1966 906 Le Mans.. Long tail 

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

Michael sneaks in a Lancia, so must be Kitty time too then...

Never play Leapfrog with a Unicorn.

Always liked those Silk Cut cars.What model is the 917/30?