Red Bull RB6

O Red Bull RB6 foi o carro que levou o jovem alemão Sebastian Vettel ao seu primeiro título mundial, projetado pelo mago Adrian Newey, o bólido tinha surpreendentes soluções aerodinâmicas. O carro venceu nove corridas na temporada de 2010, cinco com Vettel e quatro com o australiano Mark Webber. Excelente kit da Tamiya, escala 1/20. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, held at the Yas Marina Circuit in November 14th, was the final race of the 2010 Formula One season. It was here, at the moment when Sebastian Vettel took the checkered flag, that history was rewritten as he overtook McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton to become the youngest ever Formula One Champion. The car with which Vettel achieved this extraordinary feat, the Red Bull RB6, was considered by many to be an aerodynamic marvel. It was the brainchild of famous Formula One car designer Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer, and the mechanics team of Red Bull Racing, and its design was an evolution of the previous year’s RB5. Among its destinguishing features was a V-nose formed by the pronounced edges on the upper surface of the nose and a “shark fin” engine cover, an aerodynamic innovation which was first introduced in the RB4 in 2008. Within this fin was another aerodynamic feature known as the “F-Duct” system. In this system, one duct channeled air from the top of the induction pod to the underside of the rear wing while another would channel air to the rear wing flap. The latter duct was fed from an intake in the side pod but this air would normally pass through a snorkel and into the left side of the cockpit. When the driver blocked this snorkel with their arm, air would be allowed to pass through to the underside of the rear wing flap, which effectively reduced downforce and drag to enable an increase in maximium speed. Another notable feature of the RB6 was its blown, or exhaust driven, diffuser. This device directed high-speed gases from the low-mounted exhaust to pass above the stepped diffuser to help generate a greater amount of downforce. However, the flow of exhaust gases may weaken at low engine RPMs and result in a loss in performance. To prevent this, the engine’s fuel injection and ignition timing were precisely controlled to ensure that the flow of high-speed exhaust gases was always constant. In addition, the RB6 incorporated a pull rod rear suspension system in which the dampers and springs were mounted low and inside the gearbox to be flat, which had the effect of providing cleaner airflow to the rear of the car. The gearbox itself was also positioned several centimeters higher compared to the RB5 in order to secure unimpeded air channels for the diffuser. As with the previous year, power come from a Renault RS27 2,400cc V8 engine. This formidable RB6 enabled Vettel and his teammate Mark Webber to claim five and four GP wins respectively, although the season was certainly not smooth sailing for them. In fact, the competition was fierce and four drivers entered the season finale with a chance to claim the Driver’s Championship. 2006 World Champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari led the overall standings, with Vettel in third place and needing to win the race as well as hope that Alonso would finish in fifth place or lower in order to be crowned as the Champion. Starting from pole position, Vettel remained calm through the chaotic race, which included a safety car deployment on the opening lap, and took the checkered flag. Remarkably, Alonso was only able to finish in seventh place, which allowed Vettel to complete his miraculous comeback to claim the first Formula One title for himself and Red Bull Racing. Nice kit from Tamiya, 1/20th scale as usual.

Ferrari F2012

2012 foi a temporada com os carros mais feios já vistos, mas acho que historicamente temos que ter os modelos na coleção, então terminei hoje a montagem do Ferrari F2012 pilotado por Felipe Massa em Kuala Lumpur, kit Fujimi de excelente qualidade, escala 1/20 como é usual para os Fórmula 1. F2012 drove by Felipe Massa at Malaysia GP, the car was very ugly but the Fujimi's kit is very good. 1/20th scale as usual.

Família Lotus 72

Meus Lotus 72 na escala 1/20. Em breve o 72E da Ebbro entrará aí no conjunto. (não sei a razão mas o blog não está gravando minhas respostas nos posts, agradeço aqui às manifestações dos amigos, estou lendo uma por uma, vou tentar instalar um novo browser na tentativa de resolver o problema).

Lotus 72C

Mais dois kits Ebbro terminados, ambos conversões do kit original. Ambos Lotus 72C, um na versão de 1971 e outro na versão do acidente fatal do Rindt em Monza. Escala 1/20 como de costume, mas infelizmente não posso indicar com sendo bons kits, o plástico usado é vermelho o que por sua vez gera problemas com o uso do verniz automotivo, o que deveria branco se transforma em rosa claro... As Team Lotus principal Colin Chapman and chief designer Maurice Philippe started developing the new Lotus Type 72 for the 1970 season, they set to design a car that could run the full race distance on a set of softer and thus faster tires. To this end, Type 72 adoped torsion bar springs. They were of the progressive rate type with a relatively soft initial rate, gradually stiffening as roll angle increased. In an effort to further promote tire adhesion, the brake disks were moved inboard, necessitating half shafts to connect the disks to the wheel hubs at the front. This construction was very similar to the one seen on the gas turbine powered 4 wheel drive Type 56 raced at Indianapolis and the 4 wheel drive Type 63 F1 machine. Like in Type 56, Type 72 has a wedge shaped design in which upper body airflow is used to increase downforce. To achieve this design shape, the front radiatior were relocated in the middle, on either side of the tub. This brought the added advantages of concentrating weight closer to the center of the car for reduced moment of inertia and the shorter water pipes for reduced weight. Introduced at the second race of the 1970 season in Spain, Type 72 showed poor handling characteristics. The team thus decided to the have team ace Jochen Rindt race in the old Type 49C while second driver John Miles would race Type 72. Type 72B was promptly developed with a rear suspension devoid of anti-squat characteristics. It was followed by Type 72C which further deleted anti drive characteristics from the front suspension. At the wheel of Type 72C, Jochen Rindt went on to win in Netherland, France, England and Germany, making it four wins in a row. Adding the win in Monte Carlo at the wheel of Type 49C, Jochen Rindt collected a season best of five wins and 45 points. Type 72C and Jochen Rindt also took three pole positions, further proving their dominance. Following Rindt’s intimely death in an accident during pratice of the Italian GP, young Emerson Fittipaldi went on to win his first Grand Prix in the United States at the wheel of Type72C. This concluded the 1970 season with Jochen Rindt posthumously clinching the driver’s title and Team Lotus their 4th constructor’s title since 1968. Two conversions from the Ebbro kit at 1/20th scale, but I can not indicate as a good kit, the red plastic reacts with the clear, so what should be white turns pink in the end...