The nose part has been assembled and sanded. The front wings will be spraypainted separately, although they will be sprayed in the same color as the nose. But I don't want to give the impression of a nose + wings being 1 part.
After the white primer coat, I applied Zero Paints white 'for Team Lotus/Gold Leaf cars'. It comes in a set with the red and gold paint which I applied also after careful masking.
I also did some work on the tires and rims. I downtoned the heavy chromes wheels with some Aclad 2 "Klear Kote Flat". I also added the valves on the front tires; I still have to find the correct position of the valves on the rear tires.
Watch out when you build the Silverstone version: the n° 5 decal is positioned wrong on the instructions. It should be turned towards the left hand side from the driver's view.
At the rear, I removed all the instruments because they were too small and did not offer the possibility to make the necessary cable connections. So I replaced them by aftermarket parts, the instruments as well as the connections.
I added the wiring to the dashboard rear, as well as the safety belts in the cockpit. The shoulder belts have been prepared as well. I also replaced the small bolts of the fuel cap by metal wire.
Something missing in the kit is the support in the nose of the car, where a fire extuingisher should be fixed. I decided to add this construction for more realism. I used metal wire to assemble the supports.
First I planned on replacing the intakes by aluminium turned parts, but the original kit parts looked so good once painted with Alclad, I decided to use them.
Next I fixed the rear suspension and the first scratchbuilt parts: the springs holding the exhaust and the rear wing supports which I replaced by metal wire.