Meng 1/24 Ford GT40

[Peterpools]

Ford GT40

Gulf Wyer 1966 Le Mans Second Place Car

Driven by: Miles and Hulme

 

Meng 1/24

It’s been a good while since I’ve done any building with the on-going house renovation plus some issues with my medical condition, so I thought I would try to grab some bench time, unwind and build something so very different for me: a 1/24^th scale race car. I haven’t attempted a car build of any type for decades and now seemed the perfect time plus help get the old juices flowing again. The project: the 1/24 Meng Ford GT40  Gulf Wyer 1966 Le Mans Team, where the Team won first, second and third places. I decided to build the second place car driven by Miles and Hulme in their distinct Blue and Orange Gulf colors. I’ll go as far as I can but I’m sure the on-going renovation construction will halt the build as there will be way too much dust in the air to do any painting beyond priming.

The kit:

Molding is sharp, almost no flash and a decent amount of nicely molded parts. Part fit is OK and I’ve only used small amounts of Mr Surfacer 500 where needed based on what I think will be seen when the GT40 is finished  The instructions could be clearer on part location and orientation as most part are not keyed and it’s easy to make a mistake figuring out how the part should fit.

Meng color call outs are for: AK and Acryion paints, neither of which I use, so some homework was needed. Some of the colors didn’t seem correct and especially to a guy who knows so very little but learning. Thank goodness for my brother who is a walking encyclopedia and so far has received more than a fair number of telephone calls and emails on a daily basis. Exterior paints are going to be from Gravity (Spain) lacquer paints as well as Tamiya Lacquers. The one color that had me hung up is the dark blue, which seems to be all over the place as I search for information. The closest match was either Tamiya LP-41 Mica Blue and LP-45 Racing Blue – I’ll need to do a bit of testing as to which one is the closest. One HUGE difference between military modeling and auto racing modeling is the cars are very specific per Owner/Team, modified and tweaked from race to race, so how the car appeared at one race might not be correct for a different race or even to another Team car for that same race. Nope, I’m not going to be anywhere that accurate as my goal is to just finish, no AM at all and go for the best finish I’m capable of; not even planning on wiring up the engine for my first time out of the gate.

So here we go. I ordered my paints and am carefully following the instructions, cleaning up all the parts, lots of test fitting and deciding what parts will be added prior to priming and what parts after painting each major assembly. My initial impression is the fit is good and nicely detailed. I’ve pretty much decided right now, the front portion of the body will be closed and the rear portion left movable so the GT40 engine and suspension can be displayed or left closed up depending how she looks after crossing the line. Right now, most of the parts are just being test fitted and taped in place, with the business end looking rather busy. The cockpit is nicely detailed but much will not be seen once of the main body shell is in place.

 

So I'm off to the races.

Thanks for checking in:

Few parts are actually glued in place. Most are either just press fit or taped to see how they fit. Not bad at all.

 

 

 

 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Peter, this should be fun. 

Have you watch Ford Vs. Ferrari yet? It's a fun movie about the development of the GT40 and the '66 race. 

Glad to hear Joel is helping you out answering your questions. Say hi for me. 

We can't get Gravity or Zero paints here in Canada so I'm stuck with the usual suspects. 

It's not the same kit as your but I pulled this out of the stash. 

It's the '68 car that won Lemans that year. 

Still has the receipt inside the box.

Carl

[Peterpools]

Hi Carl

I'll make sure to let my brother know  you said hello, when I talk with him tonight. Believe it or not, I never saw the movie but it's on my list of movies to catch up on. More then anything else, I remember growing up in the that era and racing in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's is what peaks my interest and keeps the memories flowing.

I never realized Thunder Valley made resin kits, as I thought their expertise was in spectacular AM. The kit looks mighty good and being from Thunder Valley has to be top shelf and very accurate. I know how frustrating it is to being not be able to buy paints and supplies as we seemed to go through this here in the states as well. It was quite a few years after what seemed as if everyone could buy Tamiya Lacquers except us. Even now, certain Tamiya products as an example aren't sold in the US - just never understood why. Have you tried Scale Finishes for the colors you need, as they might ship to Canada.

http://www.scalefinishes.com/welcome.html

The kit's instructions call out the paints in AK colors and that might be a way to also go.

I'm hoping this to be a fun build and not having to work around the construction crew.

Keep 'em comi

Peter

 

 

[DocRob]

Cool project Peter, it will help to get rid off the reno dust. I love the old Gulf scheme, I would have chosen the same. With the LP colors, I'm not sure, but I think one of yours has a metallic sheen, I have to check tomorrow. With an also Spanish shop for car modelling you get some hits. There is also Zero paints, which I guess re hot colors.

All products matching "ford gt40" | SpotModel

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob

Seems like a good project to get my racing juices flowing with. Just love those Gulf Racing Colors and I went with Gravity (Spain) Gulf color set but the set didn't include the dark blue. Yup, one of the Tamiya colors does have a metallic sheen but I want to see what they look like shot on some plastic to be sure. I actually bought three different Tamiya dark blue lacquers and will test each to see which looks best. 

Have you started you ship build yet - it's going to be be epic and I'm eagerly looking forward to following every update.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[DocRob]

I hope I can continue soon with the Duchess of Kingston. After the renovation of my cave, we had the 'kids' visiting, and I expect to find some time after they leave today.
For now, I will follow your progress with the cool Ford.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Got ya and looking forward to your start. I'm still waiting for my Gravity paint order to arrive so I can start the painting process. Auto modeling is so different then military modeling at least at this stage on how things seem to be done and in what order. I'm planning on learning as I go.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[DocRob]

I started last year with bike/car modelling and had a lot of fun with the Tamiya Ford GT MK. II and the Ducati Panigale. The building process is quite different and the painting, decaling and finishing is another planet compared to armor or planes. I especially liked the motorbike build, as it was so much fun to replicate all the different materials, specially various metals. The larger scale of car and bike kits calls for a different approach and I always like to jump between different subjects. You will have lots of fun with the beautiful Ford, I'm sure.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

I followed both your Ford GT MK.II and Ducati builds and was amazed at your skills working your way through both kits. The finish on each was simply amazing. If I can come half as close to your amazing builds, I'll be one happy camper.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Kaireckstadt]

Interesting new topic Peter! So you also build cars now? I will follow your build closely!

[Peterpools]

Hi Kai

Glad you're on board for the journey.

My brother has been a long time race car builder and keeps asking me to build them in between aircraft builds. I do have a few kits in the stash, mostly 1/24 and a 1/12 kits and thought the time is right to get my feet wet. I have been finding out, automotive kits, especially race cars are built so differently then aircraft, and knowing so little, I need to spend an inordinate amount of time working out a painting procedure that would work for me. There are no FS numbers to guide you so I decided to buy the specific Team  colors from Gravity (Spain) as it is much easier that way. 

Of course, I should have started off with a curbside kit, which only has a cockpit interior, shell and details that can be seen on the exterior, which is how I prefer to build my aircraft models; learning as I'm going.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[kahunaminor]

Nice change of pace Peter!
I can also recommend the movie as I think both main characters are well portrayed. I must admit to having eyed this to add to my limited stash of modern vehicle, being the recent  Tamiya Ford GT issue. I will be following with interest.

Regards,

Kent

[Peterpools]

Kent

Yup, this makes it a must to see the movie. Glad you're on board for the journey and so far I run accross a few assembly sequence issues and some minor part fir issues as well. Working my way towards priming, hopefully by the weekend

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[shark64]

Probably one of the coolest car ever  built. Will follow this.

[Peterpools]

Hi Oliver

Welcome aboard and completely agree; absolutely one of the coolest race car ever and from an age with almost no computers and no CAD: paper, pencil and hard work

Keep 'em comin

Peter.

[Peterpools]

Ford GT40 MKII

Meng 1/24^th Scale

Slowly and I mean slowly working my way through the GT40, as a combination of both learning as I go and trying to understand Meng’s assembly instructions. Presently, a good portion of the interior is completed and I’ve learned a lot. Not always following the instructions, as I wasn’t thrilled with the assembly sequence, much has gone together. The front clip interior has been painted Tamiya LP-6 Pure Blue (a bit lighter then I wanted over light gray primer) but if I used MRP Black Primer, how I painted the oil cooler mounting tab, the color would have been dead on the money. The oil cooler assembly was painted as per the instructions and the screening given a wash of Tamiya Black Panel Line Wash to highlight the details. Red tow bar hooks: Gravity Ferrari Red. All the parts were painted and assembled as per the instructions and the interior upper portion of the shell was painted Matt black, with this part of the build now close to being finished and now waiting for the front clip to hit the paint booth.

Right now, I’m willing to bet I’m one of the few modelers on the planet not doing cartwheels over Tamiya Lacquer paints. I’ve bought a fair number of bottles and have used quite a few on the GT40. For my money, I just not thrilled on the way they air brushes, preferring both MRP and Gravity (Spain) in the lacquer department. No thinning and both shoot beautifully straight out of the bottle.

I’ve spent a quite a bit of time painting the details in the cockpit both parts and molded on and no real issues. Part fit is OK but shame on Meng’s instructions. For a modeler not knowing the correct orientation of a lot of the parts, it was a struggle as the instructions are of very little help and the parts are NOT keyed. For a kit costing over $69, this is an area Meng should have spent more time on. A few more parts to go and the cockpit will be finished as well.

I’ve been using a wonderful build thread of the Meng 1/12^th scale kit as a build guide. Loads of major differences between the two kits and if I knew what I was doing, loads of detailing possibilities could be done.

I’ve also struggled with the Big V8 and transaxle. Just would have been so nice if Meng keyed the parts, especially the intake manifold and valve blocks. Yes, I know, all the parts are numbered and as I removed each part, I could have labeled each one but that’s just not the way I work but might have to exercise more care in part removal and numbering them in the future. I’m not even sure I have them on correctly at all – hopefully I do.

All the leather components were overcoated with Alclad Semi Matt to look more like leather then the called out matt black does.

So far, I am finding the GT40 an enjoyable kit and have used a lot more Alclad then any other paint – never thought there would be so much exposed metal but there is.

Hoping to finish all the interior work prior this week and then start the body shell, as our contractors are scheduled to resume our home renovation in a few weeks.

Thanks for checking in

Peter

    I removed the rear suspension parts, so I could test fit and work on the engine installation. Fit isn't bad.

 

[shark64]

Thats looking mighty sharp. Top modeling on here. So, i assume you will scratchbuild Christian Balle once the car is done, right?  lol

[BlrwestSiR]

That's some very nice progress Peter. Things look oriented correctly and I don't see anything amiss at the moment. 

Carl

[Kaireckstadt]

That looks great Peter! Really nice progress! It will be a sharp looking racecar in the end! 

[belugawhaleman]

Cool build. I'm following.

[DocRob]

Very nice Progress Pete, the interior is looking mighty fine and the leather does look leathery. I have to admit, that I love Tamiya's LP colors, since I used them on different builds for a year now. I get the best spraying results ever, but if MRP is even better, I have to try them. I had no issues with LP's, except some unexpected handling problems with gloss black, which proved very sensitive and teared a bit on my last build. 
Gravity colors are very hot, I believe and should be tested on the plastic. Can't wait to see more Progress of your beautiful Ford.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Oliver

I surely don't have the talent or skill for scratch building - sure wish I did LOL

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Peterpools]

Thanks Carl

Enjoying the build and going slowly as this is all new territory for me. Biggest surprise: no filler needed - what an experience for sure.

I sure hope all is in place correctly and glad it looks good to your eye.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kai

Since I did the update, I've made some nice progress and the interior is nearly complete now and I'm working on the rear engine area. It's close to a Tamiya kit in that the fit tolerances are are very tight and the paint nearly always needs to be removed to help parts fit together.

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kai

Since I did the update, I've made some nice progress and the interior is nearly complete now and I'm working on the rear engine area. It's close to a Tamiya kit in that the fit tolerances are are very tight and the paint nearly always needs to be removed to help parts fit together.

Keep 'em comin

Peter