Updated: 20th April 2008

Scale 1/20 Kit Manufacturer Tamiya Grade-up Parts Transkit - Studio 27 Year 1988 Driver Nigel Mansell (GB) Event 1988 Hungarian GP	Donor kit: Tamiya Williams FW13B Plus: Studio 27 Transkit

After winning the World Driver's title in 1987 using the formidable FW11B, 1988 saw Williams lose engine supplier Honda and were left to wrestle with the normally aspirated 3.5 ltr V8 Judd engine and Hewlett 6 speed gearbox for the Williams FW12. They were vastly underpowered compared to their Turbo powered competitors and it was to prove to be a testing season for Frank Williams.

Having lost World Champion Nelson Piquet to Lotus, the drivers for the season were Nigel Mansell of England and the Italian Ricardo Patrese. There were also brief appearances for Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser and Martin Brundle of England, both deputising for Nigel Mansell due to injury and illness.
The season was a poor one by any team's standards and the car was plagued with reliability problems forcing the cars to retire 20 times from the 14 races of that season. The only highlight of the season being two 2nd places for Nigel Mansell at the British and Spanish GPs.



The car I am building is going to be the Nigel Mansell car from the 1988 Hungarian GP. This is my first venture into resin bodyshells and as such the car will be predominantly curbside which means there is no engine detail as the engine cover cannot be removed.

Studio 27 produced the transkit for this car and the main kit is derived from the Tamiya FW13B. I added very little in terms of further details. Both front and rear suspension arms have brake cables added to them, I have scratched some new rear suspension units and added a couple of cables and hoses around the transmission. The drivers cockpit has seat belts added in the usual way and I have used some flocking for the seat, headrest and steering wheel.

Completed pics