1/12 scale Meng McLaren MP4/4
Discussion
After enjoying building the 1/12 Meng GT40 MK2 i fancied the newish tooling of the legendary MP4/4.
I had enough points with Jadlam to get £25 off, so an order was placed.
The kit arrived a couple of days later. I was surprised as I didn’t spring for the premium postage options and just went with the free option.
Assembly starts with the Honda's RA168E 1.5-litre V6-turbo. Lots of parts most of which end up black. The kit calls for gloss black, but reference photos and the absolutely excellent Jay Emm deep dive video on YouTube suggest semi gloss black is the way to go. Tamiya semi gloss is a little too gloss, so I mixed in a little flat black too.
Here’s a montage of the engine build.
decals for the Honda logo are included In the kit, but I chose to hand paint them as the thought the decal would be a faff to fit properly as the letters are quite pronounced.
I had enough points with Jadlam to get £25 off, so an order was placed.
The kit arrived a couple of days later. I was surprised as I didn’t spring for the premium postage options and just went with the free option.
Assembly starts with the Honda's RA168E 1.5-litre V6-turbo. Lots of parts most of which end up black. The kit calls for gloss black, but reference photos and the absolutely excellent Jay Emm deep dive video on YouTube suggest semi gloss black is the way to go. Tamiya semi gloss is a little too gloss, so I mixed in a little flat black too.
Here’s a montage of the engine build.
decals for the Honda logo are included In the kit, but I chose to hand paint them as the thought the decal would be a faff to fit properly as the letters are quite pronounced.
Turn7 said:
in for updates....
Expect a few.It’s a lovely kit, much better than the GT40. It’s polystyrene fora start so you can actually use cement to properly put the thing together. Molding is spot on too.
I’ve already made a start on the gearbox and rear suspension.
Going to take it apart for painting next.
Very nice. On the MP4/6 cam covers I used bare metal foil on the lettering, then sprayed semi gloss black, then removed the paint on the letters with thinners and polished up. It gave a real brushed metal finish and looks pretty good at 1:12 scale.
ETA, no I used photo-etch logos. Now I’m wondering what I used the BMF method for…my memory is hopeless.
ETA, no I used photo-etch logos. Now I’m wondering what I used the BMF method for…my memory is hopeless.
Edited by dr_gn on Sunday 5th May 12:45
I finished the transmission this morning. Unfortunately I have now run out of paint.
I called hannants and they no longer stock Tamiya Lacquer paints as the stock is always running low with the supplier. They do stock mr hobby though, but don’t have flat black (thankfully I didn’t drive down there).
SC models is shut until Tuesday, so the project is on hold.
I called hannants and they no longer stock Tamiya Lacquer paints as the stock is always running low with the supplier. They do stock mr hobby though, but don’t have flat black (thankfully I didn’t drive down there).
SC models is shut until Tuesday, so the project is on hold.
Absolutely fantastic work, I wish I had your level of skill!
I’m sure you must already have it but if not the Haynes Enthusiast Manual for the MP4/4 is absolutely superb, in fact the very best of that entire series from Haynes (I have 50 or so of them).
It goes into pretty obsessive detail and given the level you are working at the information on individual chassis and race configurations might well be valuable.
Keep up the brilliant work!
I’m sure you must already have it but if not the Haynes Enthusiast Manual for the MP4/4 is absolutely superb, in fact the very best of that entire series from Haynes (I have 50 or so of them).
It goes into pretty obsessive detail and given the level you are working at the information on individual chassis and race configurations might well be valuable.
Keep up the brilliant work!
blackmme said:
Absolutely fantastic work, I wish I had your level of skill!
I’m sure you must already have it but if not the Haynes Enthusiast Manual for the MP4/4 is absolutely superb, in fact the very best of that entire series from Haynes (I have 50 or so of them).
It goes into pretty obsessive detail and given the level you are working at the information on individual chassis and race configurations might well be valuable.
Keep up the brilliant work!
LOL. To be honest I think more or less anyone could make a decent go of this kit. Thus far there has been nothing tricky. I think its just of case of taking your time and it will be fine. I’m sure you must already have it but if not the Haynes Enthusiast Manual for the MP4/4 is absolutely superb, in fact the very best of that entire series from Haynes (I have 50 or so of them).
It goes into pretty obsessive detail and given the level you are working at the information on individual chassis and race configurations might well be valuable.
Keep up the brilliant work!
I don't have a copy of the Haynes manual, but have watched through the Jay Emm video and taken quite a few screenshots. If you haven't seen it you really must. Its basically the four guys that designed and built the car going through the thing in micro detail. They even talk about repairs to the monocoque, why it happened and how they fixed it. Its 2 1/2 hours long....
Its a good thing i watched it too as some of the colour call outs are a bit off. The hubs for example are called out to be stainless steel, but they are actually anodised aluminium.
robemcdonald said:
LOL. To be honest I think more or less anyone could make a decent go of this kit. Thus far there has been nothing tricky. I think its just of case of taking your time and it will be fine.
I don't have a copy of the Haynes manual, but have watched through the Jay Emm video and taken quite a few screenshots. If you haven't seen it you really must. Its basically the four guys that designed and built the car going through the thing in micro detail. They even talk about repairs to the monocoque, why it happened and how they fixed it. Its 2 1/2 hours long....
Its a good thing i watched it too as some of the colour call outs are a bit off. The hubs for example are called out to be stainless steel, but they are actually anodised aluminium.
Yep I've watched the video and it is absolutely terrific. I don't have a copy of the Haynes manual, but have watched through the Jay Emm video and taken quite a few screenshots. If you haven't seen it you really must. Its basically the four guys that designed and built the car going through the thing in micro detail. They even talk about repairs to the monocoque, why it happened and how they fixed it. Its 2 1/2 hours long....
Its a good thing i watched it too as some of the colour call outs are a bit off. The hubs for example are called out to be stainless steel, but they are actually anodised aluminium.
The book is highly, highly recommended though as it contains details of the improvements to the chassis manufacturing process between the early and later tubs that quite significantly changed the external texture / appearance of the tub beneath the bodywork.
I've just check though and it seems that despite only being 5 or so years old the book isn't available anymore and people are asking for between £200 and £500 pounds for copies!
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