KIT:

Marsh Models 1/43 Skip Hudson Lola T-70

KIT #

 MM24H

PRICE:

 $49.99

DECALS:

 One car

REVIEWER:

Scott Van Aken

NOTES:

 Multimedia kit

HISTORY

Designed by renowned race car engineer Eric Broadly, the Lola T-70 is for many of us, one of the most pleasing car designs ever done. Built to meet a Group 7 specification that required the car to have some semblance of road-worthiness, it had to have the ability to install lights, have two seats, two doors, carry a spare tire and luggage.

Normal power-plant was a small block V-8 of some sort generally in the 275-350 cubic inch range. Many were powered by Chevrolet engines, but you could also find Fords and Buick/Olds/Pontiac (BOP) engines as well. The car was initially raced in 1965 and was the most widely used sports racer of its type through 1967. Literally dozens of teams fielded the T-70 and it saw a great deal of success during that time, winning the initial Can Am in 1966 driven by John Surtees.

Without a doubt, the most beautiful of the T-70s was the one driven by Skip Hudson during 1966/67 with the Lancer racing team. Though not a top contender due to chronic under-funding, the car sported a redesigned upper rear deck area that set it aside from others in the field. Sadly, this car did not survive having been totally destroyed in a crash at Riverside while shooting a movie.
 

THE KIT

For those of you who have had no experience with short run 1/43 car kits, this one is pretty typical of the genre. Not that long ago, there would have been no resin in it and the body would have also been done in metal. When I went through a stint of building these kinds of kits about 20 years back, that is how they were done. However, the level of detail available in resin has changed things a bit. As you can see, the 'frame' and many other bits such as the roll bar, wheel inserts, seat and such are in pewter. This kit has two frets of etched metal for various inserts and for the cockpit tub, dash and spoilers. In fact, the larger sheet is a generic Lola T-70 offering and not all will be used. The wheels are a combination of turned aluminum, pewter and etched metal. The tires are a single piece and are a hard rubber, so there is no fear of these splitting as time goes along.

The body is held to the frame with two screws. Care must be used when applying these and the smart builder will want to predrill the holes prior to using them to prevent problems with the resin splitting. The detail level of the metal bits is quite good as is the resin body. The edges on the resin parts will need some clean up as will the various openings of the body. No air bubbles were noted, which is a big plus. The vacuformed windscreen fits into the opening quite well during a test fit.

Instructions are a little on the basic side for those of us used to building aircraft kits. It consists of an exploded view of all the parts with color information supplied where it is needed. Frankly, it is more than adequate for the build as there are not a lot of parts involved. The other side of the single sheet instructions contain color images of the completed model and decal placement. No definitive color is recommended other than a silver that contrasts with the decals. Decals look to be quite good and are printed in Italy. (Marsh is a British company).

 

CONCLUSIONS

The kit looks just super in the box and should be a relatively simple build for those who are used to dealing with resin, etched and cast metal. Though it won't be a large model, it will be a beauty.

REFERENCES

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