The Tamiya 1979 Williams FW07

Another car that looked quite sharp, when it was finished.  The un-clear coated decals have yellowed considerably since then, however.  This was the first car I ever put real metal mesh over the engine intakes (at the back) on.  And it was the first I ever used some very thinned, clear blue and clear yellow to simulate heat discoloration (square plate in front of the rear wing) on.  I was pretty happy with my work.  This kit, by the way, can easily be made into the next year's car - which was more successful I think - by sanding off the "batman" sidepod wings, to get smooth sidepod corners.  But you'd need a somewhat different aftermarket decal set.

The Tamiya 1979 Ligier JS11

I was very proud of this one, when I first made it.  The sky blue and the white (rattle can) painted areas met well - and it was the first time I'd ever mask-taped around curves.  And after applying the red stripes, any roughness between the two colors was invisible.  I also used my technique of cutting all the excess clear bits out, between the letters / numbers, so the car looked sharp when finished.  I also gave the chrome plated wings, and upper sidepod "gills" a couple mist coats of Gunze (now Mr Hobby) smoke color, to tone them down - a trick I learned from a now-ancient modeling magazine, and still use today.  And I used the then-new Modeller's meta look foil on the insides of the rear wing endplates.  Twenty years on now, however, all the white decals have yellowed considerably.  And that's even with this kit, like all my other original kits, having been kept in its box for most of the time.  The "Gitan" decals, by the way, came with the kit - tobacco sponsor decals weren't banned yet, then.

The Tamiya 1978 Ferrari 312T3

Another one of my oldest builds, and one of the first I had to do a masking paint job on.  At first, I just painted the entire body red, and used the white decals that came with the kit.  But the white decals showed through / were too thin, so I got another body, and did this two-color (rattle can) painting.  I also did more engine piping detail (not shown) on this one, than with any other model I'd made previously.  Gave me valuable experience (e.g. clear fishing line brush-painted clear yellow, is great for fuel lines in the engine bay).  Unfortunately, the red paint on the upper cowling has cracked on this one.  I'm not sure if it was moisture in the air when I spray painted it (can't remember what the weather was 20 years ago), or if I laid the red layers on too thick.  So with that (and the yellowing, un-clear coated decals), it's not a build I'm too proud to show off anymore.  But it was fun building it.

The Tamiya 1978 Brabham BT46

A classic car.  Too bad Tamiya didn't make this kit into the (in)famous "fan car" version, which was the same chassis.  I (rattle can) sprayed this one with a plain Gunze (now Mr Hobby) red, which is still quite vibrant today.  And I used a "Royal Blue" can spray for the blue areas, from Tamiya, which doesn't seem to be available anymore.  The actual car has an interesting history.  Niki Lauda won two (1975 and '77) championships at Ferrari, then switched to the Brabham team, and wore the number 1 on this machine.  Then driving with the less competitive Brabham team for two years disappointed him, and he retired from F1 for the next five years.

The Tamiya 1977 Wolf WR1 Ford

Another of Tamiya's earliest 1/20 F1 models.  I used the original gold decals for the body and rear wing, and they've darkened with age now.  No clear coat under or over them to protect from oxidation.  The rollbar, side radiators, and engine intakes were on a tree already spray gold out-of-the-box.  Can't remember what blue I used for the body, but it would've been a Tamiya or a Gunze (now called Mr Hobby) (rattle can spray) color which may no longer be available.  The actual car has an interesting history.  It won the first race of 1977 in the hands of Jody Scheckter, and was competitive for the rest of the year.  Then in '78, when the Wolf (nee Hesketh) team's new car wasn't competitive, this car was pulled out of a museum, and given to Bobby Rahal - later a three-time CART champion and the ’86 Indianapolis 500 winner - to drive in the '78 Canadian GP.  It was Rahal's one and only F1 drive.

The Tamiya 1977 Lotus 78 MkIII

Another of Tamiya's original 1/20 F1 kits.  I built this kit twice, back in the day.  Used clear 1mm Modeller's tube for fuel lines going to the engine intake trumpets.  And as with most of Tamiya's older models, I had to order an extra set of decals because all the yellow ones showed through / were semi-transparent with one layer.  No clear coat on this one.  But I very carefully cut all the clear, excess bits between the letters out, with a fresh cutter blade, after the decals had semi-dried for a half hour.  And overall, the decals and the paint job still look good today.  You can still see "shininess" between the letters.  (Although, now we know that Tamiya should've made these decals a more beige color..)

The Tamiya 1976 Tyrrell P34

I think that this (or the McLaren M23) was the first kit that started the 1/20 F1 genre.  Mind you, Tamiya didn't invent the 1/20 scale.  Other Japanese manufacturers were making 1/20 road car kits in the 1970s and '80s (which you can sometimes find in second hand shops here), but only Formula One kits have lasted.  This kit came with a geared axle, and electric contacts if you wanted to install an electric motor in an extra, laughably oversized DFV engine to hold it.  (Tamiya wasn't the only manufacturer that made kits to hold electric motors and batteries back then, either.)  This is another build with no clear coat - just the recommended Tamiya (rattle can spray) paint, and lots of hand polishing.  There was no "super fine" polish back then, so tiny surface scratches are visible, up close - or maybe I didn't have the cleanest polishing rag.  I remember I had to order an extra set of decals, to double up all the yellow and white ones so they wouldn't show through / be semi-transparent.