Just a short post for this one. The Tamiya Tyrrell 020 was the first kit I completed after I rejoined the hobby after spending my teenage years doing other things… I finished the kit in 2010.
Although it was the first kit I completed, it was the second I had started. I had bought the Tyrrell at the same time as a Lotus 107B, and I had started the Lotus first. Anyone familiar with the Lotus kit will know it was a terrible choice as a first kit to cut my teeth with! Long before I had discovered the magic of Micro Sol or spray paints, the Lotus gave me a very hard time indeed, and I soon gave up with it. It’s a project I’ve yet to revisit, such is the daunting task of getting its complex livery right.
A sensible first Tamiya F1 kit
The Tamiya Tyrrell 020 was a much better choice for a first kit. It has a nice, simple one colour livery and only a few decals have to be applied. I built it straight out of the box and brush painted the entire car. I created the grey-metallic colour by mixing Citadel acrylic paints left over from my Warhammer days. They’re great – I’m still using them today too for detail work!
Some of the white decals didn’t go on particularly well, therefore I added white paint to some areas to get a better finish. Generally however, the result for a first kit was good. You might notice the dull-looking Pirelli tyre decals. These came about after I attempted to make them look ‘race-used’ by spraying Tamiya PS31 over them. Suffice to say I was unhappy with how they came out and once I had a new set of tyre decals I replaced them!
It’s not a kit I take to shows very often because it’s not one of my best. But as my first completed F1 car as a serious modeller, it deserves some attention now and then! I took the above photo at the Bloxham Steam Rally back in 2011. It hasn’t been out to many shows since sadly.
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