Kawai Williams FW09 - the ugly one

[JM]

Never thought to get that far but I finally managed to finish the Kawai Williams FW09 Kyalami 1983 version. I started it more than seven years ago but got fed up building it and stuffed it away again. My original plan was to convert it into the winning 1984 Dallas version. But last year I got a 1984 Studio 27 FW09 at a HLJ sale. After initially thinking about throwing the Kawai kit away I decided that I might be able to turn it into the 1983 Kyalami version. So after securing a decal set from our friend JamesB I restarted. It really is a strange kit. The plasic would not really be bonded with my usual plasic glue. Parts did not really fit and needed a lot of modifications. Had no joy building it and I'm not at all satisfied with the result. The worst thing is that the cowling does not fit. There is a gap between it and the chassis. But I simply did'nt want to spent anymore time with that monster. There is just one thing that fits: the kit is as ugly as the real thing was a quarter of a century ago. I think even Patrick Head once admitted that this was the worst car he ever designed. It's so bulky and looks more like an agricultural device than a sleek racing machine. Look:

[Jacques]

Hi JM,

thanks for showing us this one. I always heard so many bad things about this kit. It looks quite well to me.

In the Technik Museum of Speyer they have a FW09B and it is always interesting to see what the different F1 designer did in 1983-84.

I love it !

[vekkuli]

Looks like a fine Build of the one not so easy Kit

[JamesB]

If it's ugly, it's ugly!!
Ypu did a nice job, and those decals look good on it
As you say, little more can be done with that kit.
annot imagine what was thinking Patrock Head to do this after the clever yet peaky FW08.
The 08 had a tall sides, stiff chassis. And this monster had prbably the lowest chassis sides on the grid just to welome the brutal V6 Honda power, plus that horrific nose....
Good build mate
PS: I like the "agricultural device" qualification: makes me think of another car often referred to in the same way: the Rally Nissan 240RS, another hammerhead...

[jaykay]

The original is definitely not a looker

Respect for stickking with the kit and turning it out so well that it looks like the kit is worth buying

[smirkoff]

Great job! Congratulations for going with this one to the end. In my many years of modelling it's just the second Kawai FW09 I've seen built!! The other one, btw, was in a Model Graphix "Renault F1 Special" article about 15 years ago. It was a heavily reworked kit by a master japanese modeller.

[alexpayne]

My congrats for sticking with it, I did file mine away in the one marked BIN!
Atb,Alexp.

[CBartholomew4677]

It's so bulky and looks more like an agricultural device than a sleek racing machine.

Maybe the green is "John Deere green".

Nice work on the kit, looks great especially considering what it came from.
Cheers,
Chris

[lumpulus]

Anything with Honda Power is beautiful to me!

[jordan]

JM, You did the best you could..I did try to build it and it ended against the wall.. I am not gonna try to build one again,so I think
you did a HELL of a job to make look like this..WELL done !

Alex Nahooy.