1:12 Tamiya McLaren MP4/6 Upgrade Options?
Discussion
I built the 1:12 Tamiya McLaren MP4/6 many years ago, totally OOB. Now I've got more experience of detailling standard kits, every time I see it, it niggles me that it's not anything like detailled enough for the scale:
Having see RF's link on my MP4/4 thread in "General Motorsport":
http://members.shaw.ca/bil_attridge/Gallery/Formul...
I was wondering how easy it would be to retro-fit a full detail kit to it would be, and where to get the components? The major pieces of the model are screwed together (IIRC engine-monocoque, undertray, wheels and most of the suspension) and can be fairly easily disassembled. The rest *might* be easy enough to break apart, but I have no idea of how much dis-assembly would be needed?
I've seen Thunder Valey in the USA as a source of detail parts for this kit, but didn't get an answer to my e-mail.
http://www.thundervalleyf1.com/main/products/formu...
Any thoughts on whether I'd end up trashing it beyond repair (Despite the crazy prices these kits now command on EBay, I'm 50:50 willing to risk it rather than keep wishing it looked better!), or where to get detail parts?
Having see RF's link on my MP4/4 thread in "General Motorsport":
http://members.shaw.ca/bil_attridge/Gallery/Formul...
I was wondering how easy it would be to retro-fit a full detail kit to it would be, and where to get the components? The major pieces of the model are screwed together (IIRC engine-monocoque, undertray, wheels and most of the suspension) and can be fairly easily disassembled. The rest *might* be easy enough to break apart, but I have no idea of how much dis-assembly would be needed?
I've seen Thunder Valey in the USA as a source of detail parts for this kit, but didn't get an answer to my e-mail.
http://www.thundervalleyf1.com/main/products/formu...
Any thoughts on whether I'd end up trashing it beyond repair (Despite the crazy prices these kits now command on EBay, I'm 50:50 willing to risk it rather than keep wishing it looked better!), or where to get detail parts?
Red Firecracker said:
You might like this thread;
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthre...
Thunder Valley seem to have a reputation in some quarters for being a touch slow, shall we say, to deliver.
I say go for it, if you can get the super detail parts.
I think I will...if the parts are still available. I wouldn't be surprised if they're not made to order?http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthre...
Thunder Valley seem to have a reputation in some quarters for being a touch slow, shall we say, to deliver.
I say go for it, if you can get the super detail parts.
Red Firecracker said:
ecsrobin said:
There goes next months pay!! Cheers 
You're welcome. 
dr_gn said:
I think I will...if the parts are still available. I wouldn't be surprised if they're not made to order?
Not sure, but I do know that delivery times are quite long. I think what they may be doing is using order money to pay for the supplies to fulfil the orders. Their parts do have a good reputation though.Skodaku said:
dr_gn said:
I think I will...if the parts are still available. I wouldn't be surprised if they're not made to order?
Surely first port of call must be Hannants to see if they have any PE in stock for that kit.fatboy69 said:
I bought that kit when it was originally released. It remains in the box, unopened & unbuilt, along with the 1/12 scale Williams FW14.
Both are in the lounge waiting to be built. I want to build them but, somehow, I can't bring myself to even opening the boxes let alone start the build of them.
I know I should build them but I'm not sure that I want too.
I'll be getting the fw14 & 641 this year. In two minds as whether to sell the 4/6 as built and buy a new one to detail fully. I could make you an offer for both yours if youre not building them?Both are in the lounge waiting to be built. I want to build them but, somehow, I can't bring myself to even opening the boxes let alone start the build of them.
I know I should build them but I'm not sure that I want too.
fatboy69 said:
They are not for sale unless I get made a silly offer & even then I don't think I would let them go.
I have got my model collection for sale & had an offer made for them collection as a whole which was a joke offer.
One so called 'dealer' said that the Tamiya kits I have got, all unbuilt, where worthless & he offered me £250 for the Tamiya kits so I told him to do one.
I know how much the Williams & McLaren have sold for on fleabay so I know what they are worth.
The 1:12 Williams and McLaren (and 641 for that matter) aren't worth *that* much - about £100 each BNIB, untouched. I have got my model collection for sale & had an offer made for them collection as a whole which was a joke offer.
One so called 'dealer' said that the Tamiya kits I have got, all unbuilt, where worthless & he offered me £250 for the Tamiya kits so I told him to do one.
I know how much the Williams & McLaren have sold for on fleabay so I know what they are worth.
A built-up OOB MP4/6 went recently for about £170. If I could get that for mine I'd probably sell it and buy two unbuilt 1:12 kits out of the three I want, but build them to a much higher standard than I did previously.
fatboy69 said:
I have a dozen or so unbuilt Tamiya kits so the offer was a joke. One of the McLarens sold on the bay a few months ago for in excess of £250 whilst a Williams went for over £150.
That said I probably wouldn't sell either of them as one day I will, hopefully, get round to building them.
Hmm, last month:That said I probably wouldn't sell either of them as one day I will, hopefully, get round to building them.
Williams at £57.50 inc. delivery
MP4/6 at £97.50 inc. delivery
The £250 MP4/6 must have been the "full view" clear body version which is quite rare.
fatboy69 said:
I don't think it was the clear view kit. The kit I was watching sold maybe 3 or 4 months back - I think it might still be saved in my 'watch' list so I will have a look earlier.
Same with the FW14. I'll check that as well.
I'd be interested to know - I'll be looking out for these kits at the next shows I attend. I think as ever with EBay, if you're lucky and find a "Buy it Now" item at a stupidly low price - and you're quick - you're laughing as a buyer, and if as a seller you get people into a bidding war, you're also laughing, but the 'real' value is probably somewhere between the two extremes.Same with the FW14. I'll check that as well.
fatboy69 said:
Incidentally, someone is selling a 'perfect manual for the MP4/6' on cd for just 5.99 if anyone is interested. Or rather they were as I have just bought it!!
Prices sound about right.I was also looking for the MP4/6 instruction manual to try and figure out what's easily dis-assembleable.
£5.99 is cheap enough, although not quite as cheap as this one I found yesterday:
http://www.dalong.net/review/sp/mp4/mp4_m.htm
ETA - did you mean the "Perfect Parts" manual?
fatboy69 said:
Yes, it was Perfect Parts.
I think that now I have just spent over £35 on odds & sods for the MP4/6 I should now get started on the build. However I haven't built a Tamiya kit for over 10 years so I think I might build a cheaper one first to avoid cocking it up!
The problem for me is that the Perfect Parts people don't appear to be around anymore (no response to e-mails), so without them, it will be practically impossible to replicate the 'benchmark' detail builds I've seen of these kits. As RF said, even if they are still around, delivery time might be months, so I'd probably buy (or 'have bought' as the case may be) the detail sets before the models themselves.I think that now I have just spent over £35 on odds & sods for the MP4/6 I should now get started on the build. However I haven't built a Tamiya kit for over 10 years so I think I might build a cheaper one first to avoid cocking it up!
These guides look quite good (there are loads of them including the Mclaren), but you have to buy them:
http://www.modelersite.com/Abr2010/English/tenyear...
The 1:12 MP4/6 was incredibly easy to build OOB; easier than the 1:20 range IME. Obviously a larger part count, and lots of tiny nuts and bolts, but overall a trouble-free kit to build.
fatboy69 said:
I built the 1/12 scale Ferrari 641( think thats correct), the Renault RE30, the Wolf WR1 & the Tyrrell P34 without any trouble so the McLaren & Williams should be relatively straight forward.
It's just been so long since I built a model I want to get it right & make it look good.
Probably spent too much time building Lego Technic!!!!!
I'd just open the box and make a start; at least get some building pleasure out of them.It's just been so long since I built a model I want to get it right & make it look good.
Probably spent too much time building Lego Technic!!!!!
It's not like there's a time limit, and FWIW I honestly don't think they will ever be worth a fortune: Tamiya re-release old models fairly regularly, plus there are too many people drip-feeding the market with unbuilt kits they've hoarded in the hope of "building one day" or...making a fortune.
ETA : Just like me and my LEGO Unimog I guess!
So I finally got a reply from the Perfect Parts comapny in the states. He said that they aren't producing stuff at the moment (ecomony in the USA pretty much killed the business), but he is hoping to start production again sometime this year.
Today, I (hopefully) secured a 1:12 Willams FW14B for £90 all-in, fairly local too. Just need the Ferrari now for a similar price!
Hannants sounds like a nightmare for me; the stash is growing almost month by month, and the complexity of the projects I want to do is getting exponentially greater, and the time available for building correspondingly smaller. I just hope the FW14B won't push the missus over the edge...
Today, I (hopefully) secured a 1:12 Willams FW14B for £90 all-in, fairly local too. Just need the Ferrari now for a similar price!
Hannants sounds like a nightmare for me; the stash is growing almost month by month, and the complexity of the projects I want to do is getting exponentially greater, and the time available for building correspondingly smaller. I just hope the FW14B won't push the missus over the edge...
Skodaku said:
dr_gn said:
So I finally got a reply from the Perfect Parts comapny in the states. He said that they aren't producing stuff at the moment (ecomony in the USA pretty much killed the business), but he is hoping to start production again sometime this year.
Today, I (hopefully) secured a 1:12 Willams FW14B for £90 all-in, fairly local too. Just need the Ferrari now for a similar price!
Hannants sounds like a nightmare for me; the stash is growing almost month by month, and the complexity of the projects I want to do is getting exponentially greater, and the time available for building correspondingly smaller. I just hope the FW14B won't push the missus over the edge...
Hannants could well be just that..........you have to round up all your willpower. Took a Texan friend there last year. On the way there he was; "Well, this should be interesting but there's nothing I need right now so........"Today, I (hopefully) secured a 1:12 Willams FW14B for £90 all-in, fairly local too. Just need the Ferrari now for a similar price!
Hannants sounds like a nightmare for me; the stash is growing almost month by month, and the complexity of the projects I want to do is getting exponentially greater, and the time available for building correspondingly smaller. I just hope the FW14B won't push the missus over the edge...
He didn't actually bring anything away with him but did spend the wrong side of £250 on "Bits and pieces" to be shipped back home. It's too easy. His wife was really impressed when we all met up later in the day and he didn't have my boot full of model stuff. Ho ho. Apparently it all arrived back in Houston whilst she was out so he was able to stash it in his hobby palace without any hassle. I say "Hobby Palace" as his modelling room is at the back of the 3-car garage, circa 30' x 15', air-conditioned, (a must in Texas), and looks out over his private dock and the lake. How the other half live, eh ?
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The FW14B will go from the boot straight to the loft. I'll secrete the instructions somewhere for later viewing under the bed sheets with a torch.
It's the Cosford Model show next Sunday too; things aren't looking good financially, especially if there's a 1:12 Ferrari 641 at a half decent price...
HereBeMonsters said:
dr_gn said:
Yeah! got the FW14B today for £90. just the Ferrari to go now...
The Tamiya plastic kit is worth that much? I've got one I never got round to building somewhere in the shed...HereBeMonsters said:
HereBeMonsters said:
dr_gn said:
Yeah! got the FW14B today for £90. just the Ferrari to go now...
The Tamiya plastic kit is worth that much? I've got one I never got round to building somewhere in the shed...As a total last resort you could even build it! It's a nice model when complete.
So finally I got an e-mail from Paul at Thunder Valley F1 saying that he had at last started production of his detail kits again. So I ordered the Full Monty for the MP4/6. Today they arrived:
As expected they are beautifully machined: wheel hubs/nuts, gear lever and inlet trumpets (and a resin trumpet inlet plate). A very nice photo-etch parts sheet (pre cut-out and mounted on a rubber mat) and a cast parts set containing components which can be polished to a realistic sheen. There is also a selection of aluminium, rubber and plastic tubes for detailling, and even a couple of twist drills and a countersink for fitting the wheel nuts. All nicely presented in a laser-etched box.
Looking forward to breaking the existing model apart and rebuilding it properly this time!
As expected they are beautifully machined: wheel hubs/nuts, gear lever and inlet trumpets (and a resin trumpet inlet plate). A very nice photo-etch parts sheet (pre cut-out and mounted on a rubber mat) and a cast parts set containing components which can be polished to a realistic sheen. There is also a selection of aluminium, rubber and plastic tubes for detailling, and even a couple of twist drills and a countersink for fitting the wheel nuts. All nicely presented in a laser-etched box.
Looking forward to breaking the existing model apart and rebuilding it properly this time!
couzens said:
Looking foward to seeing the progress. The Jaguar LM car you did was quite simply stunning.
Ha ha even though the Jaguar seems a long time ago I've only just recovered from it. I need some decent reference books on these cars before making a start. Oh yes, and some carbon decals and about £300 of turned electrical connectors and fasteners!
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