Thanks so much for the kind words!!! As for the McLaren. Sadly it's not r/c. It's the old Entex (huge) 1/8th static kit released around 1977/78 in tandem with the Fittipaldi's Lotus 72D. I think Entex wanted to try and horn in on Tamiya's strangle hold on F1 modeling with their awesome 1/12th scale kits. The two Entex kits were also licensed to the Japanese firm Eidai/Grip who marketed them in Asia. Revell brought the molds, but only released the Lotus 72D and that's where the story gets nuts. The McLaren molds were either mistakenly destroyed or lost in the transition to Revell. One of the old timers at Revell told me that he was almost certain that they had purchased both sets of molds, but could not account for them not releasing the McLaren as Hunt was something of a world-wide sex symbol star at the time. Be that as it may, the Lotus 72D is easier to find and can be had for about $600 now. The McLaren is considered one of the true a "Holy Grail" kits (right up there with the ITC F-108 Rapier) and can go for as much as $2200. Although with a little effort and patience it can be found for a bit less.
Someone sculpted the Hunt figure for a friend in Belgium to go with the kit, but it's pricey! The McLaren is a straight-forward, but at times a very difficult build. The Lotus is somewhat easier as the suspension on the Lotus is a somewhat basic torsion bar layout. How Colin Chapman made torsion bars work for F1 is still a mystery. But, he did it! Genius!!! The McLaren's front end is much more detailed and is a independent type of layout. Yet, the biggest issue with these kits are the Ford Cosworth DFV exhaust pipes...just brutal, and a challenge for even master builders.
Kyosho is just about the only manufacturer that made r/c Formula One cars in this scale. Tamiya championed r/c 1/10th scale. I have built about 25 Tamiya's and built or restored all three Kyoshos' the Ferrari 643 (gorgeous car, absolute shit race car, as Proust said, "Ze car, She drive like a truck"), Williams FW-14, and the Jordan 192. All of these cars are robust and engineered beautifully by Kyosho!
Pix to follow on those. Geez! I've gone on and on!!
More to follow.
Best and thanks again!!!
-- Guy
Last edited by jumpugly on Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:31 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Kits mentioned in previous post...and yes, I am going back on my non-armor promise. Just for now...
Entex (Static) 1/8th scale Lotus 72D, Tamiya 1/10th scale r/c Tyrrell P34, and Kyosho 1/8th scale r/c Ferrari 643...
Just for now...