1/12 scale Meng McLaren MP4/4

1/12 scale Meng McLaren MP4/4

Author
Discussion

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Friday 17th May
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Jim H said:
Morning Rob,

I’m curious, how did you strip the paint from the bodywork? I can’t imagine any solvent being kind towards plastic? I can imagine getting straight masked lines on that scale must be tricky.
Well it wasn’t easy. I used a product from deluxe materials. I think it’s called strip magic or something like that.
You can’t put it on and walk away though and have to rinse it off with Isopropyl alcohol or similar after a few minutes. Stripping the body took a couple of hours.

It’s far easier to get it right in the first place.

Rest assured the next attempt will be far more careful.

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Friday 17th May
quotequote all
The floor wasn’t as bad as I thought.




Tiny screws attach the monocoque.

Jim H

934 posts

191 months

Saturday 18th May
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Hi Rob, I hope I don’t distract you from your work.

You strike me as a person very much like myself. If it’s not right the first time, it will never do. The Bodywork.

Can I ask what brand of paints you use? I’m about to start painting a pilot for my RC plane - I just wondered what you would recommend?

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Saturday 18th May
quotequote all
Jim H said:
Hi Rob, I hope I don’t distract you from your work.

You strike me as a person very much like myself. If it’s not right the first time, it will never do. The Bodywork.

Can I ask what brand of paints you use? I’m about to start painting a pilot for my RC plane - I just wondered what you would recommend?
Work… I have spent most of the morning thinking about mowing the lawn…. Whilst sitting on my arse.

I use a variety of manufacturers paints. For this build it’s mostly Tamiya rattle cans or their lacquer paint.
If your bush painting you’ll probably be better off with Army Pinter acrylic paints or even games workshop ones as they’re probably more available.
What’s the pilot figure like? What’s is made out of? These might change the paints I’d recommend.

Please feel free to post a picture on this thread or the other one about painting figures.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...



Edited by robemcdonald on Saturday 18th May 12:25

Jim H

934 posts

191 months

Saturday 18th May
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Tell me about it Rob.

Honestly I’m about to ruin this gorgeous day by HAVING to cut my side hedge - and I’m not very happy about it.

I’m going on holiday next week and If I don’t do it now!

And then I’ve got to cut the grass. Summer sucks rofl

I’ll post up an image later of the figure, I guess it’ll be about midnight when I finish my chores.

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Saturday 18th May
quotequote all
Still not perfect, but close enough.

dr_gn

16,194 posts

186 months

Saturday 18th May
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Is that Tamiya TS flourescent red straight from the can? The stuff I got for the MP4/6 looked more like Ferrari red. Maybe they changed the formula?

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Saturday 18th May
quotequote all
Straight out of the can.

I think it looks pretty accurate.

In any case it’s as accurate as it’s ever going to get.

dr_gn

16,194 posts

186 months

Saturday 18th May
quotequote all
robemcdonald said:
Straight out of the can.

I think it looks pretty accurate.

In any case it’s as accurate as it’s ever going to get.
It looks accurate - I ended up getting 2K paint for mine. Needs re-doing though. Would be a lot easier with Tamiya paint.

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Sunday 19th May
quotequote all
So there are these pipes that run from the intercooler to the turbo.

Here’s a picture from the actual car.


In the kit they look like the top image in this picture. So I experimented with using thin masking tape as a wrap.

Once painted they look a bit more interesting.

They’re not 100% accurate, but it’s better than the kit offering IMO.

They look okay on the model


Next up the inlet manifold and restrictor.



All the new pieces in place and I think that’s pretty much the engine completed


I want to add a wash to the lighter parts to make the detail pop and maybe a little dry brushing on the darker stuff too.

tangerine_sedge

4,854 posts

220 months

Sunday 19th May
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The small change to the intercooler pipes makes all the difference - I'm enjoying this build immensely. I've not done any model making for the last year or so, as my workspace has been a dumping store whilst doing house renovations. I'm hoping to get my space back soon, and have several Le Mans builds that I want to crack on with.

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Sunday 19th May
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Progress continues with the nose cone.

The master cylinder’s seem a bit pointless now.




Here’s how the assembly looks


robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Sunday 19th May
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Couldn’t resist.


robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Monday 20th May
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Decent progress yesterday evening.

Just the windscreen and decals left to go.




gruffgriff

1,603 posts

245 months

Monday 20th May
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Super tidy..and impressive build rate!

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
gruffgriff said:
Super tidy..and impressive build rate!
It seemed like it was going to take ages and then sort of all came together pretty quickly.

Still lots of decals left though.

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Tuesday 21st May
quotequote all
Decals were a lot easier than I thought. A walk in the park if you’ve built a post war US fighter jet.

Clear coat and polishing left. Don’t worry Tamiya TS13 ain’t getting anywhere near this.


sidewinder500

1,189 posts

96 months

Tuesday 21st May
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This one was a quick one, wasn't it?
Impressive, and a very good looking model from what you can see.
Is it comparable to Tamiya models or more like the old big Heller kits from the early 80s?

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Tuesday 21st May
quotequote all
sidewinder500 said:
This one was a quick one, wasn't it?
Impressive, and a very good looking model from what you can see.
Is it comparable to Tamiya models or more like the old big Heller kits from the early 80s?
It’s not quite finished yet.

I’ve never built either of the kit you mentioned. I guess the Tamiya one could offer better fidelity if you bought all of the aftermarket bits and bobs that are available.
This kit retails for around £140 if you built this and the Tamiya “out of the box” I think this might come out a bit better….

It’s a very nice kit and mostly goes together very well. I think for the price it’s hard to beat (although I did have to pay £20 for the Marlboro decals and £10 for the tyre stencils)

robemcdonald

Original Poster:

8,873 posts

198 months

Friday 24th May
quotequote all
Here are a few pictures. Still a few tweaks to do, but I’ll do those in a few weeks. I need a break from it.