MFH 1/12 BT52b
Discussion
ok - back on this puppy after a bit of a break.
Few pics for 'where I am'...
So I worked on the front wing - pretty straight forward, except that I should have assembled the brackets and square filling pieces before painting, so I could have filled the gaps - mostly hidden by the winglets, so I'll live!
Bit of paint touch up needed as well....
Most of these shots show bits pushed together - I wanted to assemble the side rads and pipe work, but I can't avoid doing wiring - this usually makes the model, and I don't mind the process, but I need to find the right wire to use - the stuff with the kit is too stiff, and can pull tiny components off....
...oh yes, I I think I lost the wing end-plates - cant find them anywhere....grrrr
Few pics for 'where I am'...
So I worked on the front wing - pretty straight forward, except that I should have assembled the brackets and square filling pieces before painting, so I could have filled the gaps - mostly hidden by the winglets, so I'll live!
Bit of paint touch up needed as well....
Most of these shots show bits pushed together - I wanted to assemble the side rads and pipe work, but I can't avoid doing wiring - this usually makes the model, and I don't mind the process, but I need to find the right wire to use - the stuff with the kit is too stiff, and can pull tiny components off....
...oh yes, I I think I lost the wing end-plates - cant find them anywhere....grrrr
Started the wiring - using small wire 'pins' to make the joints stronger, as I will have to bend and fold the wires when it comes to assembly. Cant see most of these lower ones.
I wish MFH did a much better job of showing where the wires routed, and what they joined up - they just give a length and an arrow off the page. Matching them up takes ages, and there are many I simply can't trace!
I find the 0.8mm wire in the kit way too stiff - have managed to find some better, softer wire to use, which will be easier to route later.
I'll also use some heat-shrink later...early days!
I wish MFH did a much better job of showing where the wires routed, and what they joined up - they just give a length and an arrow off the page. Matching them up takes ages, and there are many I simply can't trace!
I find the 0.8mm wire in the kit way too stiff - have managed to find some better, softer wire to use, which will be easier to route later.
I'll also use some heat-shrink later...early days!
Right - got a good bit of work done this weekend....mainly wiring!
A few decals...
At this point I am just adding wires - they all need to be tied up etc later! I'm keen to fix the ones underneath, so I can 'mount' the rear of the chassis to the front...once the rads are fixed, access will be very difficult!
Ok - has ANYONE managed to use these damn MFH tie wraps successfully?!!! This is one of only 2 I have managed to use - the 15 others have always snapped when trying to thread - a real pain - cannot recommend them I am afraid.
Had a few fittings break as I try and fit wire - lesson learnt - epoxy is better in some places, than the CA I have exclusively used - I 'pinned/pegged' many fittings this weekend - especially during the engine fitting, that required lots of shoving and bending!
I like the heat shrink tube, that you heat to get nice and small - much easier to thread onto pins, and the tiny writing looks cool!
Quite a few foil-wrapped cables and wires - kit uses self adhesive foil that works well - to represent heat protection, particularly around the exhaust and turbo...
At this point I was impatient to fix the engine, rads etc together, and into the car. This is a b*gger of a job, as there are many 'hard' pipes that connect everything together - ali-water pipes etc - and you have to fit both ends at the same time to hold it all together - you have to glue, but also accept that you then have to line everything up as the whole sub-assembly is lifted onto the floor of the car, and then attached to the bulkhead - but there were no short cuts here - I still had wiring to do that would be impossible to do later...
...including on the bulkhead itself...
...and the electrical box on the chassis floor.
You can see from these shots, how many pipes there are that connect the rads to each side. This process is made more difficult by the fact that all this is very heavy! Its all white metal, no resin.The rads are fixed to triangular frames that swing out into position, so everything is moving around as well, until fixed to the floor!
Nothing is fixed in those shots.
So - it was back to more wiring...
(yes, the belt has come off!)
But finally I reached a point where I felt I could join it all up.....
A few decals...
At this point I am just adding wires - they all need to be tied up etc later! I'm keen to fix the ones underneath, so I can 'mount' the rear of the chassis to the front...once the rads are fixed, access will be very difficult!
Ok - has ANYONE managed to use these damn MFH tie wraps successfully?!!! This is one of only 2 I have managed to use - the 15 others have always snapped when trying to thread - a real pain - cannot recommend them I am afraid.
Had a few fittings break as I try and fit wire - lesson learnt - epoxy is better in some places, than the CA I have exclusively used - I 'pinned/pegged' many fittings this weekend - especially during the engine fitting, that required lots of shoving and bending!
I like the heat shrink tube, that you heat to get nice and small - much easier to thread onto pins, and the tiny writing looks cool!
Quite a few foil-wrapped cables and wires - kit uses self adhesive foil that works well - to represent heat protection, particularly around the exhaust and turbo...
At this point I was impatient to fix the engine, rads etc together, and into the car. This is a b*gger of a job, as there are many 'hard' pipes that connect everything together - ali-water pipes etc - and you have to fit both ends at the same time to hold it all together - you have to glue, but also accept that you then have to line everything up as the whole sub-assembly is lifted onto the floor of the car, and then attached to the bulkhead - but there were no short cuts here - I still had wiring to do that would be impossible to do later...
...including on the bulkhead itself...
...and the electrical box on the chassis floor.
You can see from these shots, how many pipes there are that connect the rads to each side. This process is made more difficult by the fact that all this is very heavy! Its all white metal, no resin.The rads are fixed to triangular frames that swing out into position, so everything is moving around as well, until fixed to the floor!
Nothing is fixed in those shots.
So - it was back to more wiring...
(yes, the belt has come off!)
But finally I reached a point where I felt I could join it all up.....
So, it was in with the big lump! It fixes by 4 locating pics on the bulkhead, and there is one model screw up from the base into the engine block. It weighs a ton, but is well supported by the floor once in position - the floor fixes to the cockpit base with 4 screws and a decent surface area.
But lifting it into place whilst trying to flex radiators apart, stop tubes popping off etc etc is a real job!
Gradually closes up...
At this point I realized I was going to have to separate rear chassis floor from bulkhead/tub to get to some tubes to fit - luckily I had not applied any glue at this point, so no big deal...
Mainly because of this little pipe, which you will probably never see again, but it slipped!
Had to prop the engine up to the level it would be once supported by the bulkhead - so heavy (for a kit!)
Eventually got it glued in place.
So it was then back to sliding everything together again!
...and refitting/tweaking all the water pipes that had moved, or needed squeezing in...
Both the silver pipe and the thin black pipe in the photo above are metal.
But eventually everything seemed to fit together - amazing!
At some point in the process, one of the cans on the top of the cam cover came off - no issue, just glued it back after all the mucking around...
Thanks guys -
A bit pic heavy I'm afraid!
...of course I could not resist adding the bodywork to see how it was looking - the rear section fits ok, but the front will need some work over the front suspension. Although to be honest, I am not likely to want to hide all that chassis work, so may display 'sans bodywork'.
back to more fittings...
Then, after the distraction of an accident down on the street below...
...I set up the photo cube for some sexy shots. Loads to still do, but it is nice doing these shots because it makes the model look so cool! (So lots of wires don't go anywhere yet!)
I added the decals to the wheels, and used some TS air valves - the kit came with some of course, but these are a little sharper...
So - now a shed load of pictures! Photos not cropped or edited yet - just for ref. I need a bigger cube, as this model is now really long!
Jobs to do - find the front wing end plates!! Rear wing, lots more detail wiring, wing mirrors and fittings....
You can see I have also added the brake cooling ducts....
...and next, my favorite shots - getting those big slicks on!
A bit pic heavy I'm afraid!
...of course I could not resist adding the bodywork to see how it was looking - the rear section fits ok, but the front will need some work over the front suspension. Although to be honest, I am not likely to want to hide all that chassis work, so may display 'sans bodywork'.
back to more fittings...
Then, after the distraction of an accident down on the street below...
...I set up the photo cube for some sexy shots. Loads to still do, but it is nice doing these shots because it makes the model look so cool! (So lots of wires don't go anywhere yet!)
I added the decals to the wheels, and used some TS air valves - the kit came with some of course, but these are a little sharper...
So - now a shed load of pictures! Photos not cropped or edited yet - just for ref. I need a bigger cube, as this model is now really long!
Jobs to do - find the front wing end plates!! Rear wing, lots more detail wiring, wing mirrors and fittings....
You can see I have also added the brake cooling ducts....
...and next, my favorite shots - getting those big slicks on!
Right - those slicks...
I fitted these to a dremel and ran them whilst holding coarse sand paper to get that scrubbed-in look.
....and next a few shots with bodywork literally just placed in situ - not fixed down, or tabbed etc, so ignore the panel gaps!!
....and that is it for now.
I think the main reason for the positive responses to this kit is that it is a beautiful car - so pure, and shaped like a rocket. There are so many 'red' kits, and McLarens, that this blue just looks a bit different. Thanks you Gordon Murray!!
I fitted these to a dremel and ran them whilst holding coarse sand paper to get that scrubbed-in look.
....and next a few shots with bodywork literally just placed in situ - not fixed down, or tabbed etc, so ignore the panel gaps!!
....and that is it for now.
I think the main reason for the positive responses to this kit is that it is a beautiful car - so pure, and shaped like a rocket. There are so many 'red' kits, and McLarens, that this blue just looks a bit different. Thanks you Gordon Murray!!
caterhamnut said:
I think the main reason for the positive responses to this kit is that it is a beautiful car - so pure, and shaped like a rocket. There are so many 'red' kits, and McLarens, that this blue just looks a bit different. Thanks you Gordon Murray!!
I think you could build a kit of an Austin Allegro and get positive responses! Wasnt sure if you have seen this - https://youtu.be/HWnWKLVUBcM
Some nice clear middle-of-the-night hrs to welcome F1 back meant I could get on with some bits and bobs..
Some more wiring - given up on the MFH tie-wraps - just cannot get more than 1 in 10 to work...
Wings needed more decals, and I did a bit of sanding, respraying the large main wing section. The white decals go on well enough - but they are thick, the clear coat almost exaggerates this...
Folded the gurney flap pieces - not sure if I will use these or not...the potential for mucking them up and damaging the rest of the paint finish is high!
One of these PE folding clamps is vital for this sort of thing.
So then I went off-piste a bit. The inside of the cockpit is flat black and quite rough - laid-up carbon fiber/composite. Having just done the laundry, I thought I would try using the USED laundry dryer fragrance tissues, and line the inside of the bodywork, sticking it down with watered down PVA glue.
I know that tissue paper has been used to create this rough (smooth-rough!) effect but it is quite delicate - thought I would give it a go - these USED tissues are actually very tough, so easy to pull around and handle. I say used because the pre-used ones are stiffer and full of....smell!
I'll hand paint this area tonight with flat black and see how it looks...it might be too crude...
Some more wiring - given up on the MFH tie-wraps - just cannot get more than 1 in 10 to work...
Wings needed more decals, and I did a bit of sanding, respraying the large main wing section. The white decals go on well enough - but they are thick, the clear coat almost exaggerates this...
Folded the gurney flap pieces - not sure if I will use these or not...the potential for mucking them up and damaging the rest of the paint finish is high!
One of these PE folding clamps is vital for this sort of thing.
So then I went off-piste a bit. The inside of the cockpit is flat black and quite rough - laid-up carbon fiber/composite. Having just done the laundry, I thought I would try using the USED laundry dryer fragrance tissues, and line the inside of the bodywork, sticking it down with watered down PVA glue.
I know that tissue paper has been used to create this rough (smooth-rough!) effect but it is quite delicate - thought I would give it a go - these USED tissues are actually very tough, so easy to pull around and handle. I say used because the pre-used ones are stiffer and full of....smell!
I'll hand paint this area tonight with flat black and see how it looks...it might be too crude...
I smoothed it out more last night, and hopefully I'll add some black tonight and we'll see how it looks - bit of an experiment, but I'm hoping it will look ok! Going from pics of the real car, the finish is not like those laid-up carbon sheet finsihed you see on the MP4/4 chassis - more like the inside of a GRP canoe we used to make at school!
I also added the radiator mesh covers - gradually getting there - last big job is going to be that very complex rear wing!
I also added the radiator mesh covers - gradually getting there - last big job is going to be that very complex rear wing!
Right - I'm pleased with the results - the photos maybe exaggerate the texture through reflections, and I will make the finish more matt - but overall, as a first time impulse experiment I think I have got away with it!
This photo makes it look rougher than it is...
A final few photos of the additional wiring I have finished...
Lots of little small jobs to do - I'll touch up all the paint at the end, but i wanted to tweak the colour of the gear changing rod joints, MFH said orange, but pictures of the real car show a darker red-brown colour...
Both shown here:
Paint on the wire rods is a bugger not to scratch, so more touching up on that later!
This photo makes it look rougher than it is...
A final few photos of the additional wiring I have finished...
Lots of little small jobs to do - I'll touch up all the paint at the end, but i wanted to tweak the colour of the gear changing rod joints, MFH said orange, but pictures of the real car show a darker red-brown colour...
Both shown here:
Paint on the wire rods is a bugger not to scratch, so more touching up on that later!
Typical of these models - I noticed this tie rod had come off the roll bar (I assume) attachment arm...so I carefully re-attached the components - and then proceeded to cover this area, never to be seen again!!
Two small access panels cover the area around the wishbones and steering arms. They fit ok - awkward to reach, but the fit is good. The TINY washers and quarter-turn fittings are just for show - and TINY!
Top tip - the turntable you can see in these pictures came with the generic grey spray booth (as far as I remember) - VERY useful at this stage of the build - the rear of the model is VERY heavy (hence the offset) and twirling the model around on this as opposed to constantly lifting and turning it is so much easier, and puts less stress on the kit...
This final photo shows the size of the car (scale on the cutting mat) - anyone know where I can get a display case this big? I don't mean to 'display' - more to protect!
Two small access panels cover the area around the wishbones and steering arms. They fit ok - awkward to reach, but the fit is good. The TINY washers and quarter-turn fittings are just for show - and TINY!
Top tip - the turntable you can see in these pictures came with the generic grey spray booth (as far as I remember) - VERY useful at this stage of the build - the rear of the model is VERY heavy (hence the offset) and twirling the model around on this as opposed to constantly lifting and turning it is so much easier, and puts less stress on the kit...
This final photo shows the size of the car (scale on the cutting mat) - anyone know where I can get a display case this big? I don't mean to 'display' - more to protect!
ok - another thread update - this covers a few months, just catching up from other forum...
I'm so close to finishing now, and as I progress I come across bits I'd do differently, bits I should have spent more time on, c*ck ups etc etc...this is a learning process (I guess all builds are) as my first model (finished) for a very very long time, and first mfh.
So - almost done:
Rear wing - complicated!
Front wing end-plates - recreate as I seem to have lost the PE ones!
Wing mirrors
All the bodywork fittings.
Polish!
'stance'...
So - that rear wing.
As Allan had pointed out, this one could be a pain to assemble - especially with those way too-short rivets MFH supply! grrr
But in the end it went ok - I hope - except for one glaring decal error...later.
These are all the rivets that stick through to insert into the hole son the wing elements - waaay too short for any meaningful support!
They are enough to 'locate' but that is about it. Although the PE wing end plates have recesses for the wing aerofoils, I have managed to 'round them off' quite a bit with the paint and lacquer - the blue colour required about 6 layers to get the dark colour, which has built up - no big deal in the end.
I have used two-part epoxy to glue - CA would not have been strong enough - in fact i have gone back to a few parts and re-glued with the epoxy due to breakages...
I also admit to doing this 'by eye' (and used a steel rule for the 90 degree bits initially) - I had plans to make a jig etc, but in the end I trusted my designers eye and I seem to have got it pretty good! (in terms of being square)
The most time consuming part of this was colour coding the rivets! About a dozen white and blue, and one red (Fila logo!)
Of course, have to balance in place to see how it will look!
That top element is only wedged in to place for now - for reasons that will become apparent...
BIG ERROR:
So, when applying the decals to these wing elements, I thought I was being clever by positioning the top half of the parmalat logo up slightly on the thin top element, so that when it was in position, slightly tucked behind the next bigger element below it - the letters would line up. Of course all this was done waaay before the wing was being assembled - and is all nicely lacquered. On fitting this top element I see that MFH allowed for that overlap, by 'overlapping' the decal coverage. If I had simply lined up the decal along the bottom edge of the top element, all would have been well....it is all much clearer in the picture below!
arrrrrgh!! Most obvious on the 'a's. So - plan is to try and get a replacement decal part, strip that side of the top element, and re-paint etc - but just not now. I'll loosely fit the wing as it is now for 'finished' photography then replace in the future - I'm not going to wait a couple of weeks at this stage. You can't see it from any other angle, and I may well even photoshop the completed photos for now! :shock:
Next stage is all the wire supports and the end winglets...
I'm so close to finishing now, and as I progress I come across bits I'd do differently, bits I should have spent more time on, c*ck ups etc etc...this is a learning process (I guess all builds are) as my first model (finished) for a very very long time, and first mfh.
So - almost done:
Rear wing - complicated!
Front wing end-plates - recreate as I seem to have lost the PE ones!
Wing mirrors
All the bodywork fittings.
Polish!
'stance'...
So - that rear wing.
As Allan had pointed out, this one could be a pain to assemble - especially with those way too-short rivets MFH supply! grrr
But in the end it went ok - I hope - except for one glaring decal error...later.
These are all the rivets that stick through to insert into the hole son the wing elements - waaay too short for any meaningful support!
They are enough to 'locate' but that is about it. Although the PE wing end plates have recesses for the wing aerofoils, I have managed to 'round them off' quite a bit with the paint and lacquer - the blue colour required about 6 layers to get the dark colour, which has built up - no big deal in the end.
I have used two-part epoxy to glue - CA would not have been strong enough - in fact i have gone back to a few parts and re-glued with the epoxy due to breakages...
I also admit to doing this 'by eye' (and used a steel rule for the 90 degree bits initially) - I had plans to make a jig etc, but in the end I trusted my designers eye and I seem to have got it pretty good! (in terms of being square)
The most time consuming part of this was colour coding the rivets! About a dozen white and blue, and one red (Fila logo!)
Of course, have to balance in place to see how it will look!
That top element is only wedged in to place for now - for reasons that will become apparent...
BIG ERROR:
So, when applying the decals to these wing elements, I thought I was being clever by positioning the top half of the parmalat logo up slightly on the thin top element, so that when it was in position, slightly tucked behind the next bigger element below it - the letters would line up. Of course all this was done waaay before the wing was being assembled - and is all nicely lacquered. On fitting this top element I see that MFH allowed for that overlap, by 'overlapping' the decal coverage. If I had simply lined up the decal along the bottom edge of the top element, all would have been well....it is all much clearer in the picture below!
arrrrrgh!! Most obvious on the 'a's. So - plan is to try and get a replacement decal part, strip that side of the top element, and re-paint etc - but just not now. I'll loosely fit the wing as it is now for 'finished' photography then replace in the future - I'm not going to wait a couple of weeks at this stage. You can't see it from any other angle, and I may well even photoshop the completed photos for now! :shock:
Next stage is all the wire supports and the end winglets...
Lots of nice precision fittings - as long as you cut the wire to the correct length!
No real issues here - I did the end plates and small wings by eye again...one tiny thing I noticed after glue had dried, was that the black tube that runs across the front of the wing assembly is possibly 1-2mm too long, so it is spreading the front of the main side wing endplates slightly...will only be visible on a directly-above shot - next time!
Those wires are also going to make any final polishing of the wing elements a bit of a b*gger to do...
Coloured rivets!
Had to add a slick!
...or two.
Just the front wing end plates to do now - which I have lost (the risk in having to unpack/pack everytime I want to do any modelling - oh for a shed!)
I'd obviously popped them out of the PE sheet and probably painted them when I di the rest of the wings months ago - but cannot find them anywhere...I thought about using the 'spare' main wing endplates as cutting new ones, but settled on using very thin plasticard - they are so tiny. The PE worked as a perfect template - width of the biro accounted for the thin split line that there had been...
Painted the blue side last night - white tonight, lacquer, decal and fit.
Then wing mirrors....and that is almost it - except I keep forgetting about the windscreen! Have to cut that out of the vac forming provided, and tint blue! It seems the first few kits had blue screen provided - not sure why later ones didn't - I ordered mine pretty early on! I may contact MFH and ask...
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