DocRob

Indeed Carl, I need to prepare for getting old and doing less sports Cheers Rob

Not one, but two MFH kits arrived at my doorstep. I ordered a while ago and let them ship together, as I was in no hurry because of traveling around. The Norton Model 18 will be the European counterpart to my already built Big Tank Crocker. I love the looks of the bike , but dread the chain construction, which was painful with the Crocker and the Norton has two chains. Anyway, MFH bike kits are fun and I hope for a re-pop of their Ducatis. I missed initially buying the Ferrari 412 T2, but bit, when some flashed up on the MFH site for an hour or so. At least, the the painting stage will be a lot simpler than with other F1 cars I like the looks of this last 12 cylinder powered F1 car and especially the wheels are absolute sexy. Pictures borrowed from MFH homepage, as there are no box arts to show. Cheers Rob

Very cool, indeed, good catch FA. Cheers Rob

Like Martin said, you almost feel the cold, nice dio, PW. I would bend the fellow with the carabine in his hands a bit forward, or does he tilt in the strong wind? Cheers Rob

Thanks Carl, there will be about 200 rivets total, the next batch will be applied into the cockpit front cover. Cheers Rob

I finished with the carbon fiber decals, which I cut in the former step along the supplied template. The carbon fiber decals are titled silver carbon, type 1, which interestingly is used for 1/20 or 1/24 scale. To me the fiber pattern looks very good and the templates were very exact luckily. Despite the decals behaving very well with just a bit of soapy water under, I have some tiny blemishes, but these will be less visible after a matte coat of varnish. I also applied the first set of dozens of rivets into the backside of the monocoque. The heads of the rivets were painted black beforehand according to my reference. Cheers Rob

Thank you, it is my fourth MFH build and they are kind of addictive, so more will follow. I know the feeling, where the kits seem to be overwhelming, but usually there is a way and finding it is very rewarding. This is my second F1 build and I have to say, they are easier than the Cobra Coupe, I built. With lots of vac formed clear parts and doors, bonnets, etc., full bodied cars are more difficult. I also considered starting with the engine, always the most fun part, but decided to get through the carbon fiber decaling and riveting first with the monocoque. Cheers Rob

I want to have some of the daring steps out of the way and therefore started with the monocoque. After drilling all the holes for the rivets and necessary clean up, slight sanding, I washed the parts in soapy water and finally sprayed them with my trusty Tamiya LP-1 gloss black, to have a good base for the carbon fiber decals. One sheet of CF-decal is supplied along with a paper sheet as a template. I cut the copied paper sheet to the same size as the decal sheet and fixated them together with kabuki tape, to have no movement while cutting. Some hours later, I had all the pieces cut out with a fresh blade and a 3mm punch for the four small holes. The larger holes were cut by hand MFH kits from the pre Cartograph era have a protective clear foil over the decals, that´s why they are so reflective And this is, how they should be applied. I have to say, I really love pre cut CF-decals a lot. Cheers Rob

No interior green, US-style, Carl? Cheers Rob

Please do, Carl. It´s a pleasant detour from plastic kits, always a challenge, but rewarding as well. Cheers Rob

I think Skyraider could be right. I always wipe my models clean with alcohol on a cotton cloth before priming and painting. Cheers Rob

Dead right, Count, but the BT52 has triggered some soft spots with me. First the missile like reduced design and second the sheer monstrosity of the engine. Between you and me and the other five reading this post, my first 1/12 car build was a Renault RE20 Turbo , but only because I liked the colors and I took it as a learning mule for large scale car builds. Do you mean by Benetton flame car the B194 with the refueling fire incident? I also own this kit from MFH and considered building it instead of the BT52. Cheers Rob

The BT52b will be my next project. It will be straight out of the box, as MFH kits doesn´t need any aftermarket items, except some paint to match the decals, whjch in my case are produced by Number Five paints. The Brabham BT52 was a very radical development with minimal bodywork and maximum power, in fact, it was the most powerful Formula One car ever and could generate up to 1400 horsepower in qualifying setup. With only four cylinders and 1,5 liter displacement, the BT52 was not easy to drive with it´s huge turbo push. In 1983 the BT52 and BT52b had some success with Nelson Piquet and Ricardo Patrese in the Cockpit and Piquet winning the driver championship in the last race in South Africa. The minimalistic missile like design, the blue and white livery and the relative low price for a MFH kit attracted me. It´s not one of their newer releases and I found some white metal parts bent and some resin parts a bit ill fitting. The metal is soft and can be easily bent back and the resin can be filed and sanded to fit, but I didn´t had these issues with my other MFH kits. One example is shown here and if you build this kit, check it out early, as it will be hard to fix later. The cockpit tub receives two side fairings (shown below). You need to remove about 1mm, where the blue arrows point. There is a PE part to be added later, which is the perfect template, to show how much and where the resin needs to be removed. Other than that, the prep time, before you really start a MFH kit can be a bit patience testing. Checking if all the parts are there, cleaning the white metal parts in the tumble cleaner, spread them out to dry and sort them according to the parts list and manual into sorting boxes. The first steps of this kit include some equally tedious tasks. There are dozens of holes to be drilled, to accept rivets, which have to be pushed through the carbon fiber decals. I hope this will work. The CF-decals need to be cut to fit from a supplied decal sheet using an also supplied paper template. Like with all kits, test fitting is essential, specially with MFH kits. You have to understand, how everything fits and intersects, to get it right. Here are the main body components, which show a good fit, at least after the above mentioned adjustments. The cockpit cover on the left (picture above) is a little warped, but I think it can be glued down with some clamps without heat treatment. Cheers Rob

Your Flying Tiger came out great. Cheers Rob

I thought about building one as well in this livery, but until now, it´s only an idea. No idea, what needs to be changed from the kit. Studio27 DC1253: Marking / livery 1/24 scale - Nissan 240Z Bre-Datsun Team #3, 46 - Dan Parkinson (US), John McComb (US), John Morton (US) - SCCA National Sports Car Championship 1970 and 1971 - for Tamiya reference TAM24367 (ref. ST27-DC1253) | SpotModel Cheers Rob

Good you didn´t SOD her Kevin, your Hurricane looks great with the camo on. I built the Fly Arado 234 some years ago, a quite challenging kit, but after SOD-ing it twice, I pulled through and loved the result. Not the easiest kits, but rewarding in the end. Cheers Rob

Fantastic work on the orange McLaren. There are so many details, it could easily pass as 1/12 scale, congratulations. Cheers Rob

Great detail painting and weathering as usual, Mike with one tiny exception this time, if you don´t mind. The (I guess) Flory wash on the sidewalls has a strange appearance, like oil drops on plastic. Flory washes distribute better with an added drop of detergent mixed in. If it´s an effect you intended to do, then I´m sorry for my remark. Cheers Rob

I love it and it´s good to se it as a kit in large scale. I have one from Eduard in 1/72. There is another one from former German Democratic Republic called Duo. Would be a nice subject as well. Cheers Rob

Nice battlesuit or whatwver it is, Count. I really like the painting and weathering, specially the inside. I built some MAK /Ammoknights as well and it´s always loads of fun. I always try to do something special when I build one of these, as they are the perfect canvas to go freestyle. Cheers Rob

You got squirreled up somehow Martin . I own the same Italeri kit, but haven´t build it. I also own a 1/24 Tamiya Fiat 500 kit, which will be converted into a mad hillclimber, but that is also a future project. Cheers Rob

I´m in Mike, as I have the kit as well, but will build it sand colored, like the restored Taube in the Berliner Technikmuseum. I just landed on Saturday in BER the new airport of Berlin, where the Taube flew, when it was still named Adlershof Aerodrome. As a born Berliner it´s kind of a home game for me to build the Taube, even when I live in Spain now. Cheers Rob

Fantastic build and a great result to show for, Martin. Everything blends in well and I congratulate you to your accidental build . The Snoopster should fly a Mustang, not a Nazi bird. Cheers Rob

Thank you Pascal, it was my first MFH car build and I made some mistakes, some of which show in the end. It was a learning curve and I already finished a second one a 1/12 Brabham BT45 and plan on the next one. Cheers Rob

Lovely weathering and detailing Martin. Oil colors are so versatile and forgiving, that I don´t understand, why they aren´t used more often. Cheers Rob