1980 Rondeau M379B: Overview

Having recently completed three trucks, two Barge-Class American station wagons and a '50s lead sled, I decided to move on to something more exotic.The 1980 Le Mans-winning Rondeau M379B certainly fits the bill. Jean Rondeau was the only driver to win Le Mans driving a car of his own design and manufacture, and thus the story is an interesting one. It ends poorly, however: Rondeau was killed in 1985, aged 39, when he tried to beat a train at a level crossing. Sadly, the train won, as they tend to do.



The kit is from Le Mans Miniatures and has been on the shelf for some time now. I have another LMM kit, of the 1994 Dauer 962, but this is the first kit of theirs that I've started. The decal sheet is for car #15, which blew a head gasket and retired after 124 laps; I will contact Le Mans Miniatures to see if I can get the decals for the winning #16 car.



The instruction sheet includes a full-color, two-page guide to painting. The Cosworth DFV is well-moulded as part of the chassis floor pan.



I started by sorting all the little bits into a tackle box to keep track of everything and to avoid losing stuff. Next was to scrape flash and excess structure off the main body moulding and the single resin sprue. The amount of flash is significant and will require lots of filing and trimming.



The instruction sheet says to wash (but not soak) resin parts in acetone. I've ruined resin parts with acetone in the past, but I've also fought with mould release agent interfering with paint; I'll get brave and offer it all a quick scrubbing in acetone before rinsing in warm water and Dawn. Wish me luck!