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June 2018
- From: Ohio (USA)
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Tamiya 1/18 Nissan R381 Racer (Plastic Kit)
Posted by DRUMS01
on Friday, July 6, 2018 12:50 AM
OK, I was asked by several of you to show my work of the very old (1960's era) Nissan R381 (previously race by the Prince car company). I am copying this thread I created on another forum here to share it with you. It was molded in 1:18 by Tamiya in the early 70's. As some of you already know, it was designed with no suspension or chassis detail. It was a battery operated motor toy. Here is the box top to show how the desired result should look):
VEHICLE HISTORY:
The Nissan R381 was a racing car developed by Nissan Motors in 1968 for use in the Japanese Grand Prix. It was the successor to the Nissan R380-II, which had been originally developed by the Prince Motor Company. Following the defeat of the Nissan R380-II at the 1967 running of the Japanese Grand Prix, Nissan set about developing an improved car for the 1968 event. Aware of the new CanAm series in North America that ran under the new Group 7 classification, the new R381 became a much more powerful and faster car in comparison to the previous model. Knowing that the original Prince GR8 Straight-6 would not be powerful enough, Nissan planned to use a new Prince-built V12. However the engines was not completed in time (partially due to this being the first time Nissan or Prince had constructed a V12), so the company turned to a Chevrolet 5.5L V8 which produced nearly 450 hp, twice the amount of the Prince GR8. Also borrowing from CanAm, most notably Chaparral, large rear wings were placed on the new design. These dual wings placed side by side could be driven by hydraulics that moved either the left or right wing up or down in order to increase cornering ability. For bodywork, the R381 was initially an evolution of the R380's coupe design. The rear tail was lengthened and the engine cover made flat in order to increase rear downforce in conjunction with the rear wing. The back of the car was also made flat, with a Kamm tail effect. However, upon becoming aware of the new Toyota 7 car which also ran in Group 7 rules, Nissan chose to cut the roof of the R381 off. A thin windshield was all that remained, while a tiny rollbar was placed on the engine cover. Debuting at the fourth Japanese Grand Prix, three R381s fought alongside three older R380-IIs as well as three of the new Toyota 7s. Several Porsches also made up the field. The entire Nissan contingent performed well, taking five of the top six spots, with a Porsche 910 taking second. The R381 of Moto Kitano took the race win. Following the Japanese Grand Prix, the R381 was replaced by the newer R382, which featured an entirely Nissan-built engine. In 2005, Nismo restored an R381 and now currently runs it in exhibition events along with the rest of the R380 series. Note that the "restored" R381 has some minor differences from the kit (and the car when raced) like the lip spoiler, the wheel color and knock-offs, the mirror posts, front radiator air extractor trim, sponsors and locations, etc.
KIT:
As previously mentioned, the kit was designed and molded in the early 70's to be a motorized toy. The kite body comprised two parts for the front; one for the windshield and door hinge area, two doors and two pieces for the back of the car. That represented the entire body, substructure, chassis, etc. Likewise the actual kit is also different in many ways from the actual car as raced. While the box top indicated it has movable suspension, it is a joke and nothing like the actual car (a curved single piece of plastic for each side of the rear, and for the front a simple flat slab and two part axle stub, all grossly out of scale. In the photo below you can see the entire front and rear suspension provided in the kit (all six prices). You can also see part of the internal tube chassis that I was in the process of creating along with the front inner fender slats which are part of the uni-body. The holes on top of the fuel cell sponsons are for the door hinges. Behind them are more holes that need to be plugged. The white plastic by the front suspension will be further detailed and used as part of the structural support for the front suspension and steering linkage. Once done, nearly all of the lower chassis will be various shades of black or very dark gray (except the exterior to the fuel sponsons which will be white as the body). The tube chassis will be gloss black. I found a neat "YouTube" video that show some of the car disassembled. While it gives me some nice details if I freeze the frames, it does not show the exposed chassis or rear suspension details; check it out:
https://www.youtube....h?v=0vbT_H0hqBc
RESEARCH:
The rear suspension looks very similar to the McLaren and Ferrari's of the period.....the rear wing linkage is different than anything else though. I did notice some differences in this photo versus other detail pictures such as the weber carbs here look like a dull cast silver with polished stacks while other sources show them in a gold tone with both steel and polished stacks. Some photos show them with individual screens on top and others do not. The exhaust in other sources are silver and even orange. The engine in this car is an American Chevrolet motor. Of interest is the transmission oil cooler behind the right rear wheel fed by a vent from the top of the body. The similar vent on the other side of the body is feeding the hose to cool the external transmission housing. There is bracing in the rear body also shown that is not in the kit. The screen on the photos and actual car is much thinner than what is provided in the kit; that plastic kit part will have to be replaced with brass or metal screen. The "L" shaped hose in the front of the intake manifold is for the water cooling provided from the front radiator. Between the engine and transmission is a structure with attach points for the shocks, upper and lower wheel hub linkage, sway bar attach points, etc. The wheels in this photo are all black, but race footage shows them as gunmetal centers with a polished lip and three point spinners in the center. The kit does not provide ANY accurate suspension, connection points on the bulkhead, or inner fender well parts.
This front photo shows bracing in the nose section, air collector boxes and brake ducts for the front, two radiators and a coolant storage tank, 4 cylinders for the brake / clutch. On thing strange is the open area straight through to the cockpit (no sealed compartment). You can see the steering linkage and even a glimpse of the shifting linkage by the driver seat. Another area that will be difficult to replicate is the fender well where the fuel cell and lower body are sealed (the kit has nothing there).
ASSEMBLY:
Here is a look of the kit; as you can see it is missing all of the internal structure, wheel wells, and chassis detail. The body is also missing inside the rear body intakes and the side intakes are solid (not functional). there are open areas for the "A A" battery compartments that I mentioned in my initial message.
1) plugging, putty, and sanding the various "toy" holes in the lower body:
2) Here is a photo of the kit wheel and my wheel. The kit does not provide any brakes other than a halo ring that was molded as part of the wheel. I removed it, sized a brake rotor and caliper, painted them and this is the result. I noticed in the stock wheel photo that I left my modified disc and caliper behind the halo ring (oops).... :rolleyes:. Also, I am not quite convinced that the wheel lips were actually chrome. If I am correct, I think they were either painted silver or machined and not polished. Can anyone else confirm that or not? Also I've seen both silver and gold calipers, who knows which is accurate? (or are both depending on the race?)
I finally have some progress to show. I have finished the front fender wells and open bulkhead. I was reluctant to move forward until I got more details on the car. I got the information I needed from a Japanese book on the 380 series. While I cannot read Japanese, the photos are outstanding. The construction was difficult as it required 4 scratch built parts and three kit parts to align perfect on both the inside and wheel well for the right and left sides (with some putty), here is the results. In the first picture you can also see where I cut out the holes for the front lower suspension and steering rack.
All I need to do before I paint the cowl and sides white is to add the brake duct boxes and the rear inner fender wells (both from scratch). I have kept the front simple kit suspension piece on the car until I align the new parts (still to be built). I am also working on the rear of the body as the side intakes stop immediately at the outer body when they should actually go back into the body around 6 scale inches.
The photos in the book also show a full belly pan beneath the engine. I did not think it was covered, so I am glad I waited for the book before cutting it out. There are access holes for the oil pan, etc. Another thing different on this car is a combination of square and round tubing that makes up the inner chassis. I will be making this from brass and aluminum.
"Everyones the normal until you get to know them" (Unknown)
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1/35 Churchill Mk IV AVRE with bridge - DONE
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