{"id":4452,"date":"2021-03-02T11:40:22","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T11:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/?p=4452"},"modified":"2021-03-02T11:40:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T11:40:22","slug":"tamiya-1-24-lotus-europa-special-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.jadlamracingmodels.com\/2021\/03\/02\/tamiya-1-24-lotus-europa-special-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamiya 1\/24 Lotus Europa Special 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A note from the Author<\/h3>\n

Hello fellow model makers! I’m John and, although I’m no expert at all – just a car enthusiast and keen model maker – but I always strive to improve and achieve the best results I can. I’ve built models from being a youngster – competition\/sports cars of the 60’s\/70’s are my number 1 ‘thing’ – and now I’m fully retired I can put the extra hours into this wonderful hobby.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Tamiya 1\/24 Lotus Europa Special (2020) \u2013 Mini Review<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What we have here is a very recent release from Tamiya – in it\u2019s re-boxed, with new parts, format. To the best of my knowledge the original release was about 30 years ago \u2013 and now we have this kit with new parts, including photo-etch, metal suspension springs, seat belts (choice of 4 colours), superb decals, metal transfers etc. As always with Tamiya this is very neatly packaged model with the usual clear instruction booklet.<\/p>\n

I was really looking forward to building this kit as soon as I saw it announced last year. A friend of mine owned one of these back in the day \u2013 not the \u2018Special\u2019 version \u2013 but it was certainly a special car \u2013 bright yellow and the lowest car I have ever driven to this day! And, in my limited experience, the most difficult car ever to get out of\u2026.!<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t done a full build review for this kit, but I have included photo\u2019s of some of the main stages of the build to show some of the detail that gets hidden on final completion. Just to say, at this stage, that this is a super little model kit \u2013 and, built out of the box, looks just great. The only \u2018extra\u2019 I added were some plug leads.<\/p>\n

Some stages of the build<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I used Tamiya Lacquer Paints throughout and used clear lacquer after the decals had been applied. I thought the gold coach line decal scheme might be a bit of a nightmare \u2013 but it wasn\u2019t. The decals were superbly accurate and behaved themselves perfectly. A buffing over brought up the shine. Some of you eagle-eyed modellers may have noticed there is no metal windscreen frame here \u2013 I opted for the black rubber seal look simply because anything less than a perfect metal finish against the black paint would ruin the look for me. But I\u2019m sure there will be plenty of folk out there who can do a really good job of it!! I also tried to bring the rather thickly moulded steering wheel to life \u2013 but failed miserably! A detail up replacement would be perfect.<\/p>\n