I was very kindly invited to attend the BRM annual dinner on Jan 26th by Neil Trundle (McLaren) and Tony Mantle (BRM Chairman). This was a real treat and privilege with my hosts offering great generosity in looking after me, along with the club members and guests showing genuine interest in the results of my model making work.
It was Neil’s idea to offer this opportunity to put my models on display and invited me to take part in a presentation from the lectern. This was in the form of a double-act between myself and Doug Nye, Motorsport journalist. Whilst we ran through a series of period photographs and those of my models during and after building, a question and answer session between Doug and I formed the bulk of an explanation as to the ‘how’ and ‘why’, these models came into being.
Emphasis was on the unique nature of the choices modelled, the great lengths I go to ensure accuracy and that ‘just-right’ look, the research and eccentric effort to achieve an end result. I took along the Matras MS10 and 11, my Lotus 49 (R1 GLTL, Jarama), a McLaren M19C, the Tyrrell 006 and a brace of Brabhams (BT44 and 44B).
The meal was very enjoyable and the immediate company around our table was fascinating, enabling me to make new friends, acquire some new contacts and generally become educated as to the world of real mechanics. I was very fortunate to be sat next to one of the mechanics (Preston Anderson) who looked after John Watson’s 4th place Hexagon Brabham BT44 at the Osterreichring in 1974 – remember that? In addition, Preston was most helpful, amongst others also, in helping me unpack and pack away all the cars and their associated bits and pieces. In the background, ran a selection of films from the 50’s taken from Doug Nye’s ‘Motorfilms Quarterly’, chosen to feature the career of Tony Brooks, present as the Guest of Honour and who presented the 2012 trophies to the winners of various mechanic-related awards. Tony was available for discussion and autograph signing whilst opening the eyes of those of my generation, to the bravery and skill of 1950’s Grand Prix racing.
I wish to express my thanks to Neil Trundle, Tony Mantle and all present for making me feel very welcome.
There will be a few photographs appearing on Twitter (mrof1models) for you to enjoy and get a flavour of the event, so watch ‘that’ space over the next week or so.
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Raison D’Etre
If anything I have made brings pleasure and a degree of wonder, please do give God the glory and praise, for it is merely the talent He has given, that I am exercising. Amongst the F1 designs I have incorporated as wall tiles in my workspace, are two with the Bible texts John 3 v 16 and Romans 10 v 9 which help me keep my mind focussed on what really matters. Do give them a read. These models were built as one-off, hopefully unique cars of the 1970's mainly (some late 60's and fewer 90’s and later) which I am now prepared to sell from my personal collection, to the right special people. Over the years, I have been unable to accept commissions due to lack of time and an over indulgent approach. Each model is a museum-display exhibit and they are not in any sense 'working models'. Over many years, I have built 1/12 scale F1 models almost exclusively, each being in the order of 12-14" (30-36cm) long. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, my aim was to increase in a small way, the 1/12 scale representation of Grand Prix car entries to the F1 World Championship that were not available commercially, as kits to be built. Since 2010, Model Plus and Model Factory Hiro especially, have supplied more and more of these older subjects to model makers. The models shown here, perhaps represent my desire to own the the full-scale car, yet that is not feasible or practical (unless you are Bernie Ecclestone) and each of my models feels like the real thing to me, having often spent so much time with the actual car. The photographs of the original cars were taken with special permission. Out of respect to the owners of actual Grand Prix cars or race 'shop owners, these photos are not available for further distribution, nor are my own inexpert engineering drawings. The models are built with the idea of 'no effort spared' and to look as realistic as possible. I will go to eccentric and sometimes otherwise unreasonable lengths to replicate every detail of design and engineering in order to satisfy myself that I have something properly accurate. This includes the concept that all bodywork should be removable in the same way as on the full-size car though not actually with working miniature fasteners of course, but instead faithful visual representations of these important details. In this way, I am able to allow the model to reveal the engineering within. Additionally the underneath of the car is also modelled, for there is much to be enjoyed regarding 'how it all works' from seeing what is not normally visible. I have felt that in this way, these models may serve to educate interested folk as to what makes a Grand Prix car 'tick', for access to the real thing is rare and makes this aspect somewhat mysterious. I have shown some of those I consider the better models at shows, but do so relatively infrequently due to the effort and logistics of getting to often far-flung venues, not to mention the potential accelerated ageing effect on the models themselves, in transporting them. Inspiration comes from the great model makers such as Henri Baigent, Gerald Wingrove, also my friends involved in the same hobby and in particular folk like John Shinton here in the UK and especially Andy Matthews from America who produces 1990s 'gems', which are wonderful to study. Hopefully that covers everything; now all it remains is to enjoy! MRO, August 2010 (updated November 2023)