March 1969-74

The March F1 team was founded in 1969 with the intention of providing chassis to customers using the Ford DFV engine and Hewland gearbox. The founders were Alan Rees, Graham Coaker, Robin Herd and Max Moseley (who went onto bigger things in F1 !). The company went into formula One in 1970, supplying a car to the Tyrrell team for Jackie Stewart and Johnny Servoz-Gavin. They also ran their own cars with STP sponsorship. Stewart gave them their first win in the Spanish GP.
In 1971 March cars picked up another four 2nd places although no wins. 1972 was a poor year, Peterson and Lauda drove factory cars, while 2 cars were supplied to Frank Williams for Pace and Pescarolo. The best result of the year was a 3rd place for Ronnie Peterson. In 1974 the factory team ran Stuck in a Jaegermeister sponsored car and Brambilla in a Beta sponsored car, it was to be another poor year with Stuck's 4th in Spain being their best result. In 1975 Brambilla continued and won the Austrian GP.

March 761

The March 761 was reasonably successful and ran with two teams. The factory team was driven by Peterson and Brambilla, with Peterson winning the Italian GP after starting 8th on the grid. A second team was run by March Engines with drivers Hans Stuck in 'Jaegermeister' colours and Arturio Merzario. Stuck finishing a creditable 4th in the Brazilian and Monaco GP's.

The front and rear wings, and much of the engine and gearbox are also in white metal and there is very little cleaning up needed. The numerous photo etched parts come on two sheets making a total of around 180 parts. Two decal sheets are also supplied in case of mistakes.

The Build

Because of the detail involved on this car I mostly followed the instructions in order, that way there were no nasty surprises along the way.

The first job was to drill all the holes, in this case around 50 holes ranging from 0.5mm -1.0 mm. Next the engine, gearbox and rear suspension was built. This was quite intricate and time consuming, involving a total of 65 parts to complete the rear end assembly. I painted each part as I assembled it due to the difficulty in painting afterwards.
Next the "Orange" parts were cleaned up and painted. This consisted of the main body, the lift off panels, the front brake ducts and the front wing. The colour caused me no end of problems. Tameo doesn't supply a colour chip for this car and I couldn't find a consistent colour in photo's of the real car (they ranged from beige to almost red).

In the end I chose an orange similar to the Beta sponsored March of the same year. Hopefully the finished colour is something similar to the real car, although I suspect its probably too bright. Once dry the decals were added and lacquered.
Once completely dry all other parts were added to the body. The steering column, dials and wheel were fitted in place, followed by the seat and belts which were as fiddly as ever but worth the anguish. All the front end parts were fitted next, the front suspension (including real springs), brake ducts, fluid reservoirs, front wing framework etc. All adding to the effect when the bodywork is removed. The rear end assembly was fitted to the body next, along with the enormous radiators. Finally the wheels rear wing and mirrors were added to complete the model.
Overall I'm happy with the finished product. Tameo have done an amazing job, all the parts fit perfectly and the engine detail is superb. A colour chip would have been very useful, but I suppose you can't have everything.

This is certainly not a model for the beginner to build, it took me in excess of 50 hours, but the finished car is certainly worth the time spent.