Aussie race Mini Cooper's

[ShawnS]

First of all I just want to say a big thanks to everyone for their warm welcomes and nice comments about my builds.
Now for something at the opposite end of the motor racing spectrum. We all know and love our big cubic inch muscle cars but these little things filled out the grids and entertained the crowds with their own colour and style. The first one is the car that was driven by Charlie Smith and Bill Maher to first in Class B at Bathurst in 1964. Tamiya kit with home made decals. It's one of my cleanest builds.



The factory entered Mini of Foley/Hopkirk from Bathurst 1967. It's got home made decals


I'd love to do more factory raced Mini's but good colour references are impossible to find.

Our most well known Mini driver was Peter Manton. Here are four of the many Mini's he drove.
Early Neptune version. I can't remember who made the decals.

1967 Tridents version. With home made decals

1969 Shell blue version. With spares box decals

1970 Shell yellow version. Decals by RooDecals. This was the first Mini that I made a few years ago.


I have about 10 more Mini's on my to do list but none in my stash at the moment.
Thanks,
SS

[Mustang_67]

Nice minis man

[tezza43]

"...one of my cleanest builds". Heck mate every one of your models is a clean build no kidding. These Minis certainly bring back some great memories and I'm so glad you are concentrating on Aussie race cars right now, as they have been neglected for a long time.

You may like to check out a couple I built on these threads:

https://ozautobuilders.forumotion.com/the-showroom-f5/allan-moffat-rx7-t123.htm

https://ozautobuilders.forumotion.com/the-showroom-f5/jps-team-bmw-635csi-t148.htm

You should easily recognise them.

Thanks for sharing.

[dv8v8]

[ShawnS]

Good work tezza, those are two of the many reasons I joined up here. Anyone who does an Aussie car gets a from me.
I also have those in my stash on the to do list.

[allan]

flying brick's,ya more mini's.

[Bryce]

Awesome - you do great work.

How did you make the "Tridents Racing Team" white text decal for the front fenders? That's the main thing holding up my Beechey Nova replica.

[Carps]

Cool stuff, I was watching a video the other night a touring car event at a wet Warwick Farm circuit where thewinning Mini just ran a away and hid from the big gun V8s.  Beat 'em by almost a full lap.

[ShawnS]

Awesome - you do great work.

How did you make the "Tridents Racing Team" white text decal for the front fenders? That's the main thing holding up my Beechey Nova replica.

Thanks Bryce. I made the decal by printing the Tridents Racing Team part on a clear inkjet decal sheet on my printer, It is actually just a black background with clear lettering that is then placed over a strip of white decal that I put on the fenders and that is what shows the lettering as white.
I did the basic artwork in Microsoft Office and made a printout on regular paper then I reduced it to the size I wanted on a photocopier and copied it on to a sheet with the other Mini stuff and printed it on to the decal sheet. If you have a graphics program on your computer (I don't), it would be easier than that. It's probably a simplified way of explaining it so don't be afraid to ask me to clarify anything.

"Cool stuff, I was watching a video the other night a touring car event at a wet Warwick Farm circuit where thewinning Mini just ran a away and hid from the big gun V8s. Beat 'em by almost a full lap."

Yeah Carps, I think I've got that footage somewhere too. A wet Warwick Farm was probably the only place a Mini could beat a well sorted muscle car though. Have you seen the footage of Manton and Foley in their Mini's going completely sideways with massive tyre smoke through turn 1 at Warwick farm? Amazing stuff.

[sports850]

They look magic ShawnS , I'm starting a similar line of Manton mini's but am finding myself bogged down on engine bay details https://ozautobuilders.forumotion.com/the-workshop-f4/peter-manton-s-997cc-mini-cooper-as-raced-in-1964-t1833.htm?highlight=manton .

By the way , useless trivia time , did you know the black one you've modelled there was also raced as a left hand drive car on one track (can't remember which track now , I've got it elsewhere and will dig it up) . Manton believed that the weight of a driver on the left side of the car would be an advantage for the track (Sandown ???) but a disadvantage elsewhere so he had a special steering rack made with two pinions . It only took about an hour to swap the steering collumn , pedal box and master cylinders

[ShawnS]

Thanks sports850. I did know that indeed. Part my motivation for doing the Neptune and Tridents cars were the articles in Mini Experience magazine and I think that story was told in the articles. I hope you can compromise with yourself about what details matter so you can get yours finished for us all to see.

[ShawnS]

Hi guys. It's a crusty old thread but I just had to drag it up to show my new additions. I have shown you my Mini 850 but that wasn't the only Mini that I was working on at the time, it was one of 6 that I had on the go at the same time. It started as a wreckscue on an old build that I wasn't happy with but then it turned into a total Minifest. So here are the others. In no particular order.
1961 Morris 850. Owned and raced by the Geoghegan brothers in 1961 and by Des West in the 1961 Australian Touring Car Championship at Lowood QLD. Tamiya kit with my own interior, grill and wheels.







1963 Mini Cooper driven by Aussie Mini legends Brian Foley and Peter Manton in the 1963 Bathurst 500.
Tamiya kit with my own seats and decals.




1963 Mini Cooper driven by Des West and John Martin in the 1963 Bathurst 500. Tamiya kit with my own seats and decals.





Mini Cooper S driven by Brian Foley during 1966-67 in various races. Tamiya kit with my own seats and various decals from my spares box. The wheels and flares are from the Tamiya Mini rally kit.





Australia's most well known Mini Cooper, The 1966 Bathurst winner of Bob Holden and Rauno Aaltonen.
Tamiya kit with my own seats and assorted decals from my spares box.





All 6 new builds from 2013.

My Mini collection so far, there is 1 missing as its currently getting a freshen up.

So there you go. I don't know what possesed me to do 6 Mini's at once but I'm glad I did, after 2 years of not having finished anything it feels good to know that I can finish a model as well as build one.

CheersSS

[allan]

One can never have to many mini's great work on them all

[truges]

Wow - These are really cool!! Nice work.

[DeeCee]

I don't know what possessed you either, but top job Shaun, they look great.

[Ray64]

Nice collection of 'bricks' Shawn

[RetrospectKustoms]

They are all freakin fantastic Shawn, great work! I love the lot of em.

[mgy125]

These are seriously cool! Nice work and great finish!

[silverfox]

These are brilliant builds, they look great . Tamiya Mini's are cool to build. Your decal work is real nice.

[Shunter]

I am guessing you like Mini's? Great job on all of them, nice collection.

[ShawnS]

Thanks guys.

I am guessing you like Mini's?

If I was to be honest, I am neither here nor there with real Mini's but they do come up nicely as models. They are my first choice for slump busting and I can put 4 Mini models in the same shelf space as 2 normal cars and that's a win in anyones language.


CheersSS

[dv8v8]

[blatdriver]

that is a lot of mini's nice work

[zenrat]

Nice.
A few of my mates had Minis as their first cars so i've always had a soft spot for them.

[ShawnS]

Big thanks for the pic at the top of the page. Not bad for a pic that almost didn't make the cut.

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