“Return To Monaco” 1997 – Stewart Ford SF1 – Diorama Gallery
Working on “The Flying Scot” dioramas during 2022 was a fantastic experience.
In the spirit of openness and honesty, it was far harder than I’d thought it would be! It took more of my time than I’d anticipated, and with a young family that is a very difficult balance to strike.
As with any new venture, I also encountered some issues that I had not been anticipating. The most extreme of these issues occurred when the first 2x dioramas were shipped to customers in the USA. I thought I’d planned and covered everything…. but it transpired that the cars were not adequately secured to the diorama base, and both arrived heavily damaged. I was luckily able to repair one of the dioramas, but the 2nd car was damaged beyond repair. I made sure that the charitable contribution to Race Against Dementia was covered (a wonderful charity, whose support I appreciate beyond measure), but it meant that I was left with a spare diorama base.
Having built the Tyrrell 006 10x times, I didn’t really fancy building another! My mind then turned to how else I could make use of the diorama base and eventually I began to think about Stewart F1 and Sir Jackie Stewart’s successful return to F1 as a team owner in 1997. The highlight of that season was (by a happy coincidence) the Monaco Grand Prix where Rubens Barrichello finished second, claiming a magnificent podium in the team’s debut season.
I managed to locate a vintage Tameo kit of the Stewart SF1 via eBay (from a seller in France), and then set about building the car. As with all Tameo Kits, the building process was a real pleasure, and I was able to design and 3D-print a driver figure specifically to fit the confines on the cockpit.
I wanted to try and recreate the notoriously wet conditions of that race weekend, so I used some AK Interactive products to recreate the wet tarmac and some cotton wool to recreate the spray rising up from the sodden track. I also used the AK Water Gels to add a more turbulent surface to the seawater, as the bad weather that day would’ve resulted in far choppier seas (even in the Monaco harbour), than on the sunny afternoon which hosted the Monaco Grand Prix in 1973.
I also added a fire extinguisher to the sea wall, not only because this is a realistic addition, but also to symbolise the improvements in Formula One safety since the 1970’s for which Sir Jackie Stewart was such an ardent campaigner.
Overall, I was really pleased with the way the diorama turned out, and it works as a nice companion piece to “The Flying Scot”. I hope you enjoy it, and I have also added a gallery of the progress of the kit below.
Work In Progress Gallery
