McLaren MP4/6 Ayrton Senna Fujimi 1/20

[Peterpools]

1 hour ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Here in Canada, anything sent from overseas that's more than $40 CAD (about$30USD) is subject to taxes and duties along with any brokerage fees calculating those taxes and duties. It's that last bit I hate as all the courier companies automatically charge you for that and sometimes it's a ridiculous amount.

If your order is sent via post, there's a good chance the duties and taxes don't get charged as Canada Post doesn't check all packages coming into the country but it might take longer to arrive. 

 

Carl

Completely agree and I do remember all the costs and hoops we had to jump through with the Apache kit. 

 

[DocRob]

3 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

The engine is looking nice with the exhausts on. In the pics, they seem a bit bright but you said they're more shaded in person. 

 

1 hour ago, Peterpools said:

Engine exhaust fit from my limited knowledge and experience in building race cars, have always been temperamental and quite finicky, both to paint and install. Fit looks spot on to me but as with Carl, I'm not seeing the heated metal effect at all. 

 

Thank you Carl and Peter, the exhausts were even worse with the 1/12 Tamiya Renault, it seems, it´s the phase of the build, which you have to master with F1 kits.
With airbrushing the different shades, I went more for depth, then for heat coloration. The pictures of used engines didn´t show many heat induced colors, but a brownish silver look and that was what I tried to reproduce. 
If there is not a lot of heat color staining, it is a sign for well designed components without too many heat traps involved.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

I think, I mentioned a while ago, that this build was supposed to be a fun build, but guess what, this beast keeps fighting me on all angles.
After finishing the engine, I decided to give the Studio 27 carbon decals a try. There are over 80, luckily cookie cut with a very nice representation of different carbon patterns, along some rivets and fasteners. So far so good, but the decals are very thick and brittle. I broke many while applying. 
First things first, the preparation included removing cast textures on some of the plastic parts with files, sanding tools and chisels, then use Tamiya LP 1 gloss black as a basecoat. It´s best to develop an applying pattern for the decals, because they are slightly oversize on purpose to cover the edges as well. I started at the bottom sides and went up. It´s very time consuming as the brittle decals had to be bend around the edges with different numerous applications of strong decal softener and added heat from an hairdryer. When that is finished, you can go up further with decaling with the same exhausting procedure.
I then applied a layer of AK Real clear flat for the finish and as protection. I finished further parts not shown here, but will continue with the body pan and then on to the cockpit.

What you see on the pic are no decal seams, but different carbon patterns, some more glossy than others.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Rob, that's one complex decal job. Great job on the application. 

I did something similar on a Porsche GT-1 where instead of painting the bodywork, it was done with carbon decals instead. So much work. 

[Peterpools]

Rob

Brilliant decal work - those CF decals surely look like a bear to do but your system won the day. 

[DocRob]

22 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Rob, that's one complex decal job. Great job on the application. 

 

15 hours ago, Peterpools said:

 

Brilliant decal work - those CF decals surely look like a bear to do but your system won the day. 

Thank you Carl and Peter, it´s indeed a lot of work, but the casted on pattern with paint would only be sufficient for a car with a body never to be removed.
Carl, I have some similar car kits in stash, for example two Tamiya AMG Mercedes GT3 with Good Smile and another similar finish and a GT3 BMW also in Good Smile livery.

Cheers Rob 

[Bomber_County]

22 hours ago, DocRob said:

 

Thank you Carl and Peter, it´s indeed a lot of work, but the casted on pattern with paint would only be sufficient for a car with a body never to be removed.
Carl, I have some similar car kits in stash, for example two Tamiya AMG Mercedes GT3 with Good Smile and another similar finish and a GT3 BMW also in Good Smile livery.

Cheers Rob 

Rob, looking amazing, I’ve come to the conclusion the cars especially F1 are a different animal from AFV’s and aircraft. Learning a lot from your builds…….thanks

[KevinM]

Looking good/Nice Rob just wish I could get more excited about the cars but having been in the industry for 40+ years well.............

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, Bomber_County said:

Rob, looking amazing, I’ve come to the conclusion the cars especially F1 are a different animal from AFV’s and aircraft. Learning a lot from your builds…….thanks

Thank you Phil, cars are indeed a completely different breed, with a lot of emphasis on finish and replicating materials. The F1 cars are even more different, because, if you want to show engine, monocoque, drive train and other innards, you have to perform another approach, as everything needs to be build like the real one, not only cockpit, wheel wells and maybe an engine with planes. 
This needs careful planning of building and painting steps, but it´s a welcomed change at least to me.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

37 minutes ago, KevinM said:

Looking good/Nice Rob just wish I could get more excited about the cars but having been in the industry for 40+ years well.............

Thank you Kevin, I´m not much of a car nut myself and motorsport doesn´t interest me at all, except maybe for 80´s F1 and some classic cars, but car building and painting is entirely different than other subjects, which are mostly ´closed´, and I like variety.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Ok, due to the twins-GB, the McLaren build is boxed and paused. It gave me a lot of grief, but i felt, that now the fun part of the build would have started, but that´s for later.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

After a long pause and the Crocker motorcycle near finished, I thought, I could finish a started build and continue with the McLaren. This project fought me from the beginning and in deep contrast with the Crocker, it continues to do so, but I want to have the kit off the bench or bin it.
I finished the cockpit, using many parts from a Studio 27 detail set. The switchbox and it´s steering mechanism came out good enough, but was extremely fiddly. The steering wheel was even worse and I used the kit part, which was not too shabby. 
The seat belts are completely wrong and should be black, but the Studio 27 belts tested my patience too much and I used a Tamiya set. These look a bit toyish and were so shiny, that I flat coated the seat assembly. Well if you don´t look to close, it might work .







Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

Looking great Rob.  I feel your pain.  I'm in the same state of mind with my Sikorsky JRS-1 build.

[DocRob]

17 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Looking great Rob.  I feel your pain.  I'm in the same state of mind with my Sikorsky JRS-1 build.

Some builds are like this and it´s not only a kits fault, but some projects lack the groove from the beginning.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Nice to see the McLaren back and underway. Sometimes the compromises made are the only way to keep moving forward and cross the finish line.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Nice to see this back Rob. It reminds me that I have my own MP4/6 in the stash to finish. 

[DocRob]

On 7/3/2024 at 2:45 PM, Peterpools said:

Nice to see the McLaren back and underway. Sometimes the compromises made are the only way to keep moving forward and cross the finish line.

 

On 7/3/2024 at 2:52 PM, BlrwestSiR said:

Nice to see this back Rob. It reminds me that I have my own MP4/6 in the stash to finish. 

Thank you both, I hope to have it off the bench soon, but it´s somehow hard to establish a good workflow with the kit. Carl, I remember you telling about the MP 4/6. It was 1/12 scale, right. Should be a nice project.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

I added the front suspension and the carbon side air intakes with some electronic device detail, but decided against wiring them. The engine and car bottom are not finally attached to the monocoque.





For the next steps, I prepared the air intakes for the brakes, which needed to be decaled with carbon pattern decals. When you apply the decals to the sides of the intakes, they are slightly oversized, but with some doses of Mr. Mark softer and hot air from the hairdryer, the start to contour around the edges and the mid section can be applied the same way. Time consuming, but it works and the carbon decals behave good and are not to brittle. The carbon thread pattern looks absolutely beautiful in black and anthracite. 
I also finished the brake calipers with Titanium gold, some black panel line wash and finally the tiny Brembo markings.



Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Great work on the carbon decals there. 

Rob, mine is the old Tamiya 1/12 kit. With the new 3D printed tires I got for it, I don't have any more excuses to not start it back up. 

[Peterpools]

Rob

Right with Carl, the CF decals look awesome as well as the brake calipers. Small details that add up in a big way.

[DocRob]

16 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Great work on the carbon decals there. 

Rob, mine is the old Tamiya 1/12 kit. With the new 3D printed tires I got for it, I don't have any more excuses to not start it back up. 

 

13 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Right with Carl, the CF decals look awesome as well as the brake calipers. Small details that add up in a big way.

Muchas gracias amigos, the carbon decals are really nice to work with. At first application, you think, they will never snuggle around the curved shapes, but with a dose of heat and softener, they miraculously do. 
@BlrwestSiR: I just saw, that you even cleaned your bench, what better time to start .

Cheers Rob

[CANicoll]

Rob,  Nice job on the tub, but especially on the exhaust - the pipes look terrific.  I keep forgetting to use the hairdryer on hard-to-conform decals but your CF pieces look the part.  The Brembo calipers look like the real thing - you captured the gold perfectly.  Nice work!

[DocRob]

31 minutes ago, CANicoll said:

Rob,  Nice job on the tub, but especially on the exhaust - the pipes look terrific.  I keep forgetting to use the hairdryer on hard-to-conform decals but your CF pieces look the part.  The Brembo calipers look like the real thing - you captured the gold perfectly.  Nice work!

Thank you Chris, using a hairdryer needs to be tested on spares, but I found with some decals, like the Studio 27 carbon decals or Aviattic decals for WWI planes, it works really good.
The gold for the brake calipers is Tamiya´s lacquer LP-62 titanium gold, which is a good fit. My last motorbike a KTM 950 SM had Brembos mounted and I remember the color clearly and they have been bitten like hell.

Cheers Rob

[Kirk]

On 12/8/2023 at 6:51 PM, DocRob said:

 If you look at the picture above, you can see the cylinder heads with very prominent cooling ribs, which unfortunately doesn't exist on the real thing.

I seem to recall seeing this engine at a show many years back and noticing these grilles on the cam covers present. Perhaps they were made by Honda but not fitted to race cars for access/weight reasons? Pretty odd in F1 to make parts for aesthetic reasons, I know - but I don't think that they are entirely fictitious. Whilst I think you were right to remove the kit mouldings, the PE replacements seem to lack the depth of the real thing.

Very good job though. I hope you are still winning.

[DocRob]

11 hours ago, Kirk said:

I seem to recall seeing this engine at a show many years back and noticing these grilles on the cam covers present. Perhaps they were made by Honda but not fitted to race cars for access/weight reasons? Pretty odd in F1 to make parts for aesthetic reasons, I know - but I don't think that they are entirely fictitious. Whilst I think you were right to remove the kit mouldings, the PE replacements seem to lack the depth of the real thing.

Very good job though. I hope you are still winning.

Interesting aspects, Kirk, thanks for that. I have the MFH picture book as a reference, which seems to show only one car in one configuration, but in every detail.
I´ve never seen the configuration of the Fujimi plastic with the cooling grilles on pictures.

Cheers Rob