The file has been updated with new Informations. You can find the link in my signature.
Update 15-08-12
Informations about all races the 102B competed in during the 1991 season have been collected within a 102 pages long pdf file:
*link removed because of an update. The new link is in my signature*
Original post:
A few month ago there was a thread in the Wanted section in which a studio27 decal sheet for the Lotus 102B was requested.
Somehow it resulted in a discussion which versions of the 102B can be build with the Tamiya kit.
I got excited and started to take a look through the references I had of this car, which turned out to be a big task if you try it for every race. With this thread I would like to share my results with you.
I am not going to post all the images I have, as I have 40MB of them. If you need more, please let me know.
Footage
Sometimes the car configuration changed during the race weekend, which results in some trouble for modelers to find out which version was the one that was raced on Sunday. This link with footage of the 102B might be a big help then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhBTCVoV ... e=youtu.be
If the video is blocked because of the music, here is a link with just the footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEy-lVV- ... e=youtu.be
The Tamiya kit
With all the modifications being done on the 102B in just one season it must have been extremly difficult for Tamiya to pick up one configuration to make as a kit. In the end they went for the most successfull version: Round 3 - San Marino
For all the other races of 1991 a few minor or major modifications are required to build the kit in a realistic version. In terms of decals there are two sheets available: The original decals by Tamiya and the replacement decal sheet by studio27.
At this point it should be said, that both sheets have the same error. The logo of the company "Schlumberger" is done in the wrong way by Tamiya and studio27:
As I don't have the studio27 decalsheet I at least wanted to know which decals are included. I did a search on the web and found this:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VIS ... 0688761206
If I criticise studio27 it happens because of this picture. In my opinion there are way too many decals missing!
Now let's start:
Round 1 - Phoenix
When the season started Team Lotus was still in the progress of re-organisation. After having lost Camel sponsorship at the end of 1990 and the Team being close to be shut down, Peter Collins took over the Team. Mika Häkkinen, who made his debut in F1, was the number 1 driver alongside Julian Bailey who had already driven for Tyrrell in 1988. While Bailey failed to qualify being the slowest of the 30 entries, Häkkinen was very successfull with a 13th grid position! He retired with an engine failure.
At this race the 102Bs had a different engine-cover in comparison to the Tamiya kit. The kit has a rounded airbox, while the one being used in Phoenix by Team Lotus looks more like the airbox being used in 1990. Additionaly Häkkinens car had two air outlets in the race. A small one on the right, and a large one on the left. As Phoenix was a street circuit the rear wing had a high downforce configuration with three upper wing elements. Appart from that the most significent difference was that elf petrol was used. During the weekend both cars changed a bit. Häkkinen and Bailey both drove at one point cars with a dark Lotus logo on the nose and without Lotus logos on the rearwing. Then there was also a version for both drivers with the yellow logo on the nose and Lotus logos on the rearwing. The later version is the one which was used by Häkkinen in the race. There was also a small decal on the front wing endplates with something writen like "Concept by Lotus" and that small piece of bodywork which was usually attached between the rearsuspension parts was not used at this event. By the way: The steering wheel on both cars is black!
As Tamiya and studio27 designed there decalsheets with the BP-logo on the dark-green decals it is not possible to make this car with one of the before mentioned decal sheets. Studio27s decalsheet includes a "Lotus Cars USA" decal, but the writing on the rear wing was "Lotus Cars U.S.A." Another decal missing is the small decal on the ending plate of the front wing. Additionaly the small yellow decals on the green bottom line should be in a different order:
I just noticed that I should have placed the Schlumberger and the Momo decal a bit closer to the ground.
Round 2 - Interlagos
For this round Team Lotus switched from elf petrol to BP. Bailey failed to qualify being last once again, but Häkkinen did as 21th. He finished the race a few laps down on Senna in 9th position.
The enginecover was still the early version which is not included in the kit. The rearwing fits to the one in the kit, but hat still the same writing as in Phoenix with "Lotus Cars U.S.A." and Lotus logos at the front and without Lotus logos at the back. The steering wheel is still black. The order of the yellow decals on the green bottom line is still the same as in Phoenix. During the race Häkkinens car had no air outlet in the left and a small air outlet in the right sidepod.
The studio27 decalsheet is not such a big help for this version because of the wrong "U.S.A." decal. The required Lotus logos for the rearwing are not included in the Studio27 sheet, but it shouldn't be to difficult to get them from anywhere else. Tamiyas decalsheet doesn't have the "Lotus Cars U.S.A." decals. Bodymodifications are once again a different airbox and air-outlets in the sidepods.
Round 3 - Imola
This race saw the best result for Team Lotus in that year. Both cars made it on the grid for the first time in 1991 on the positions 25 and 26. In a race that is remembered for numberous retirements both cars came through and scored points. Häkkinen 5th and Bailey 6th.
The configuration of Häkkinens car fits to the one of the Tamiya kit. His car had a new engine cover which is the same as the one in the kit. Bailey still used the old one, but the rest of his car is the same as Häkkinens. At one point during practice Baileys car had no advertising bellow the Lotus-stripe on the airbox, but when the race started everything was back where it should be. The steering wheel on both cars was red from this race onwards. Another little detail I just noticed while watching the footage of the race is, that on the backside of the uppermost rearwing element you will find a black stripe below Lotus Cars. The big Lotus logo in front of the driver was introduced here for the first time.
As the Tamiya kit seems to represent this car you get everything you need to build it with the kit. The only modification required would be the engine cover if you want to build a Bailey version. Studio27 decals can also be used of course. The green stripe on the bottom of the chassis has the correct positions for the small yellow advertising:
Round 4 - Monaco
At Monaco Julian Bailey had his final attemp to drive for Team Lotus. He failed to qualify with 27th place, while his Teammate Häkkinen did so in 26th spot. He retired with an engine problem caused by an oil leak.
Monaco was the race with the most different versions. The Lotus cars seemed to change each time they went on the track! The rearwing was set up to high-downforce which resulted in three upper wing elements. The extension of the upper frontwing became black from this race onwards. During the weekend a new aerodynamic device in front of the windscreen was introduced. When it appeared, it appeared in black (both drivers), yellow (Bailey) and red (Häkkinen)! There was also a new nose which was tested on Häkkinens car.
This nose seemed to be Lotus reply to Tyrrells nose from the previous year. The frontwing endplates were much bigger on this nose then the standard elements.
When Häkkinen was driving the car with the standard front wing a new aerodynamic device appeared in front of the windscreen. There was also an air-outlet on the right side. Baileys car now also had the new round airbox and no air-outlet in the sidepods. At one point during practise he drove a car that looks very similar to the Tamiya kit. Only the rearwing needs to be modified and the Ollocks decals are needed for the airbox.
In terms of advertising it should be mentioned that the Komatsu decals on the sidepods were now the slightly bigger silver once, and that the Ollocks decal did not always appear on the cars. With all these versions it became a hard task to find out how Häkkinens car looked during the race. I went through most of the race footage and found out that Häkkinen drove the car with the normal front wing, the red device, Ollocks advertising on the airbox and probably also the rearwing, a small air-outlet on the right and an closed sidepod on the left.
This picture was taken seconds after the start and shows Bergers McLaren with a damaged nose from hitting Piquet. In the background Häkkinens Lotus can be seen. Appart from the closed sidepod you might notice something red on the uppermost rearwing element. I suppose this is Ollocks advertising, but I haven't seen any pictures yet which would confirm this and the footage of the race is not such a big help either...
The Tamiya kit needs some modifications to be done in the race version. The main problem would be the rearwing with it's additional elements. An air-outlet should not be to difficult to be done and the small device in front of the windscreen should be also no problem if you can do a copy of this part which is included in Tamiyas Lotus 102D kit. The new front wing would be a big challenge of course. In Terms of decals you would get all the decals you need from the studio27 decalsheet unless there was really an Ollocks decal on the rear wing. Tamiyas doesn't have any 'Ollocks' decals. The green bottom line is the same as being used in Imola. From this race onwards the silver Komatsu decal must be used on top of the sidepod.
Round 5 - Montreal
Johnny Herbert replaced Bailey at Lotus, but with his sportscar contract to drive for Mazda it was clear, that another driver would have to drive for Lotus in 4 races. Herbert tried the new frontwing during practice, but failed to qualify being the slowest of the 30 runners to enter qualifying. Häkkinen made it on the grid in 23rd spot. He retired on lap 22 when he missed the final chicane.
In Canada Lotus used the long sidepods with the big air-outlets for the first time and from this race onwards you will find the aerodynamic device in front of the windscreen on every Lotus 102B. Because of that I am not going to mention the device or the long sidepods again. Canada saw the second and most probably also the last appearence of the new nose section. I haven't seen any pictures of later rounds in which a Lotus was using this nose again.
From this race onwards it becomes difficult to recreate this car using the Tamiya kit. The long sidepods are a big task to be done and I wonder why nobody came along with a transkit yet. Anyhow, if you succeed doing this modification you should have all the required decals to do this car with the Tamiya sheet. 'Should' because you would need another Tommy Hilfiger decal for the rearwing. The Tamiya decal sheet has two in the right size (decal 52), but they are also needed on the chassis. So you would need a second sheet from Tamiya, or the studio27 sheet. The backside of the upper rearwing element remains "Lotus Cars". Because of the long sidepods the positions of the yellow advertising decals on the green bottom line had to be changed again to avoid some of them disappearing in the sidepods:
The Schlumberger decal should have been a bit closer to the ground...
It was the last time in 1991 that the positons of these decals were changed. They remained unchanged except the addition of the Eibach decal from Monza onwards.
Round 6 - Mexico
In Mexico both cars managed it to qualify with Häkkinen and Herbert in 24th and 25th position on the grid. Both drivers managed it to finish the race, but as most of the cars made it to the finish there were just the positions 9 and 10 for Lotus.
Lotus competed in this event with an unchanged car in comparison to Canada. At least I did not spot any difference between the two cars. I have to confess that I did not found many pictures of the Lotus cars at Mexico and the TV footage from this event had a very bad quality!
The car has to be build in the same way as in Canada
Round 7 - Magny Corse
In France just one Lotus managed it to qualify, but this time it was Häkkinen who failed to make it being just 27th fastest. Herbert did it as 20th and finished the race in 10th place as many cars made it to the chequered flag.
The car configuration remains the same as in Canada and in Mexico. In terms of advertising there was a change. I have pictures of the car in France with exactly the same decals as in Canda and Mexico, but during the race Herberts car already had Police advertising on the rearwing ending plates and the larger BP logos on the nose and on the sidepods.
Round 8 - Siverstone
On homeground Lotus made it onto the grid with both cars. Häkkinen was 25th and Herbert 24th. Häkkinen came home in 12th place despite having spun into the gravel. Herbert got 14th place. Brabham, AGS and Footwork were now forced to go into prequalifying from the next race onwards. Lotus was saved thanks to the good result from Imola, but to be honest Brabham had shown a much better performance in the first half of 1991. They qualified regulary in front of the Lotus cars and had just one DNQ. It might give you an indication on how unfair prequalifying was back then.
Both cars appeared in the same configuration. Yellow Hat advertising appeared on this car for the first time. On the rearwing ending plates the decal "Tamiya Plastic Model Co." was replaced by "Tamiya" from this race onwards with an exception of highspeed circuits.
The Tamiya instruction offers two versions to be build. The San Marino car, and another which is simply called "after San Marino". In terms of decals this version is the car from the British Grand Prix. So all required decals for this version are available, but there are of course the already known bodywork changes to be done.
Round 9 - Hockenheim
Johnny Herbert fullfilled his sportscar contract and was replaced for this race by Michael Bartels who failed to qualify in his first attemp being just 28th. His Teammate Mika Häkkinen was quicker and took place 23 on the grid. But during the race he had to retire in the pits with engine problems.
At Hockenheim - a highspeed circuit back then - a new rearwing with smaller endingplates was used. This resulted in a new Tamiya decal on the ending plates. All the other decals on the ending plates were the same. The front wing got smaller upper elements. To make it simple I would say, that they just removed the extension. Bartels car appeared in at least two different versions. One with Liqui Moly advertising, and one without. The later one was used in final practice on Saturday afternoon which means that Liqui Moly withdrew their support at one stage off the weekend. The car with Liqui Moly advertising had no Tommy Hilfiger decal on the nose and the same Yellow hat decal as it was already used in Silverstone. But when Liqui Moly disappeared Tommy Hilfiger reappeared on the nose, the Yellow hat decal was changed to a smaller, different one and a company called proconcept appeared on the sidepods.
Appart from the modifications required since Montreal also the wings need to be modified. New endingplates are required for this car. Most of the decals for this version are missing from Tamiya and studio27. Liqui Moly, Tic Tac, Auto Motor & Sport, Maho and proconcept are not included. Appart from Liqui Moly all of the before mentioned were also used on Häkkinens car, making it very difficult to build this version.
Round 10 - Hungaoring
Bartels second try brought him another DNQ as 30th. Häkkinen made it through qualifying being 26th. He finished the race in 14th position.
The rearwing being used in Monaco with three upper rearwing elements was used again. In addition to the sponsordecals from the last race Magyar Hirlap advertising appeared for this race only.
Another difficult conversion as the rearwing has to be modified again and most of the decals are missing
Round 11 - Spa
Johnny Herbert had no sportscar race on this weekend and took over from Bartels. He qualified the car (21st) as did Häkkinen (24th). In terms of race performance Herbert drove the best race of the season for Team Lotus and came home 7th with quite a few stronger cars behind him. Häkkinen retired with an engine failure that sent him off the track.
The car had again the small rearwing ending plates as in Germany, but this time with a different wing setting. As Bartels was not taking part, all the sponsors who supported him were not represented on the car, which made the car very similar to the one being used in Silverstone. During practice both cars were used with the big sidepod openings on both sides, but during the race at least Häkkinens car had just a big hole on both sides of the sidepods. I don't know if Herbert had the same configuration. In the race footage he was not to be seen despite driving such a strong race...
Most of the required decals are included in both sheets except the Tamiya logo for the rearwing and the small yellow hat decal which is missing on Tamiya's sheet.
Round 12 - Monza
Herbert was absent because of sportscar racing again, so Bartels came back for another race. He once again failed to qualify as 28th. Häkkinen did so with 25th place on the grid. He finished the race in 14th place.
The car got the same settings as in Hockenheim, with the most significent difference being the change of the air-outlet which remained this way for the rest of the season. The rearwing changed during practice. The front of the upper rearwing element was used in white and in black. During the race the black version was used. The backside remained white with the Team Lotus decal. At least I have two pictures of Bartels car in the pits showing it from the front and from behind.
On the green parts of the nose Eibach advertising appeared for the first time and remained there for the rest of the season.
There was another example of local advertising. A company called "look" had advertising on the nose section. As a sidenode it should be said that this company already sponsored Lotus in the Italian Grand Prix 1990.
This car is almost as hard to be done as the Hockenheim version. At least the air-outlet in the sidepot should be much easier to be done this time. Maho, Tic Tac, Auto, Motor & Sport and pro concept advertising is missing once again. In addition to that there is also the look decal missing.
Round 13 - Estoril
Herbert was back and qualified the car in 22nd place, as did Häkkinen as 26th. Mika came through to finish 14th, but Herbert retired on the second lap with his engine on fire.
The car is almost the same as it had been in Spa. The only differences are the missing firestar decal on the front wing endplates, the larger rearwing endplates and that the transparent windscreen was changed to a windscreen being made of carbon fibre during the weekend. This carbon fibre windscreen would also be used in the last three events of the season. The uppermost element of the rearwing was partly black.
Round 14 - Barcelona
This was Bartels last try to qualify and he failed to once again as 29th. It must be said, that because Lotus was short of engines Bartels was not allowed to take part in the testing sessions before the race-weekend so that everyone already knew the circuit except him. Häkkinnen made it (21st), but went of the track on lap 5.
The wing setting is different once again with three upper wing elements on the rearwing. There is also a change in the advertising with the Police decal being replaced by Vogart for this race only.
Round 15 - Suzuka
For the Japanese Grand Prix Lotus got some new sponsors on their car, giving it a nicly new look. Both drivers made the qualifying (21st and 23rd) but Häkkinen retired on lap 6 after spinning of and Herbert had to stop with an electrical failure.
The wing settings for this version seem to be the same as the San Marino car. All the other parts have to be modified as usual... With all the local sponsorship the car got probably the most colorfull livery of the whole season.
It is a miracle for me how this could happen! Normaly you would expect of a Japanese company as studio27 to get at least the Japanese version of the car correct, but they failed once again! This time missing are the large BP decals for the airbox and the white Nichibutsu decals for the frontwing endingplates.
Round 16 - Adelaide
In the final round Herbert and Häkkinen qualified the car again on the positions 21 and 25. In a race that is remembered for being the shortest race in F1 history Häkkinen got on position 19. Herbert must have been driven superbly storming from 21st to 11th in just 14 laps! But with all the spray arround the track and the broadcaster focusing on the leaders and the cars spinning of, there was almost nothing to be seen of the Lotus cars in that race. The 3 points scored in Imola meant that Lotus finished the season on position 9 in the constructors cup. This brought them a lot of financial benefits which probably saved the Team at this stage.
The car is the same as in Suzuka, but has a high downforce rearwing once again with three upper wing elements. The advertising remained the same.
This version has the same problem as the before mentioned Suzuka car: No Nichibutsu-decals for the frontwing, and no BP stripe. Additionaly the Yellow Hat decal for the rearwing must be cutted to fit on two elements and one might consider to get a set of Icons '91 rain tyres for this car.
Additional versions
There are four (or five) more versions of this car I don't want to let out.
The pre-season testing car:
In fact it is an old Lotus 101 which was obviously used before the season started as it was designed already to carry a Judd V8 while the 102 had to be modified to carry this unit. The second driver alongside Mika Häkkinen at this time was David Brabham by the way.
The all-green car:
Driver-presentation?
Testing at Hockenheim
While searching the web I came across this pictures showing a Lotus with the 102 configuration, but in 102B livery in Hockenheim. I know that in the week before the German Grand Prix there was a testing session, so this car was probably used their to give Bartels a chance to get used to F1.
Racing at Essen:
And finally there is my personal favourite: A 102 driven by ME!
The car was connected with a computer, so you could sit in the car and drive a racing simulation. I think it was Microprose Grand Prix 3. I didn't liked the game as Grand Prix Legends was already released, but to sit in the real car was a great feeling!
That's it. I hope you enjoyed this thread and got some inspiration what to do with this rather unpopular Tamiya kit.
If you have some more informations or you notice a mistake I did, please leave a comment.
Merry christmas to all of you and your families!
