1:24 Willans Club 4X4 Caterham Super Seven 'Silver'

Silver webbing and club racing

On a racing car the color of a strap is not just decoration. In club competition the belts are checked at scrutineering, their labels, the condition of the seams and the date of manufacture are all looked at, and owners therefore buy them as a complete set in one tone. Light silvery webbing was always a less usual choice with British makers, and on a car with an unpainted aluminum body it looks noticeably better matched than a saturated color.

The subject is the four-point set from the British maker Willans in the Club line, of the kind worn by most open roadsters derived from the original Lotus Seven. The model the accessory belongs in is the Caterham Super Seven, that is a car produced in a direct line from the 1950s.

In 1:24 scale

The printed sheet carries the colors and the texture of the webbing at the same time, and the relief layer gives it a volume that artwork alone never has. For a light strap that matters even more than for a dark one, because a light area without a shadow looks flat. The cockpit of a Seven is open from above and the builder sees all of it, so a seat without belts looks unfinished at first glance.

One more figure is worth knowing. The shoulder strap of a racing set tends to be about fifty millimeters wide, which works out at roughly two millimeters when converted to 1:24 scale. A stripe that thin cannot be painted straight with a brush however patient you are, and that is exactly why this kind of accessory is worth having. Accuracy of width also decides whether the interior will look to the right scale.