I’m just documenting a quick project today.
I picked this MRRC/Airfix Brabham BT49 at a swap meet for £5.
The rear tyres obviously well past their ‘use by’ date, and it needed a good clean but it was a solid little base.
I liked that it housed a Scalextric Johnson motor. Should anything be wrong with it, there are plenty of replacements available. Generally speaking though they can be coaxed back into life.
I wrote a guide to rebuilding Johnson’s motors a few years back, which you can find here: https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/2018/01/03/how-to-rebuild-a-scalextric-johnson-motor/amp/
I gave the body shell a good clean.
I had planned to do the original Parmalat livery that the real car raced in, but the only company I could find making the decals to fit this shell were based in Australia.
The shipping cost and wait time put me off, so this one will be going in a fantasy Jaegermeister livery. (Maybe a privateer purchased a BT49 from Brabham in the early 1980s.)
Here’s the body shell in the base orange.
Because the rear tyres were so far gone, I bought a set of wheels for what I believe are a 1990s Scalextric Formula 1 car from Pendle Slot Racing. They’re the same diameter.
Then it was just a case of adding the decals and details. Most of my parts are Army Painter, barring the white for the helmet which is Pro Acryl’s Bold Titanium White.
It’s a great little car now! It runs well and I think the Jaegermeister livery suits it! You can certainly see it going round the track haha!
Thanks for reading about this quick little rebuild. Sometimes it’s nice just to get a quick project done for a quick bit of satisfaction.
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By Richard Francis
