McLaren MP4/6 Ayrton Senna Fujimi 1/20

[belugawhaleman]

Nice work Rob! 

[DocRob]

20 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

That's looking really sharp Rob!  Amazing how long the decal work took but they look perfect.  Nice job!

Thank you Mike, the branding decals were easy and fast to apply, the time consuming part were the carbon fiber decals, which are fragile and stiff at first and need to be settled, by heavy doses of Mr. Mark strong and lots of heat. Many of the carbon parts have delicate, often undercut shapes and you need a good process, to profit from the overlays of the decals perfectly, to cover the corners.

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

2 hours ago, DocRob said:

Thank you Mike, the branding decals were easy and fast to apply, the time consuming part were the carbon fiber decals, which are fragile and stiff at first and need to be settled, by heavy doses of Mr. Mark strong and lots of heat. Many of the carbon parts have delicate, often undercut shapes and you need a good process, to profit from the overlays of the decals perfectly, to cover the corners.

Cheers Rob

I've never used Mr. Mark Strong - I've used Micro Set and Micro Sol.  Is Mr. Mark Strong "stronger" than Micro Sol?  

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, Landlubber Mike said:

I've never used Mr. Mark Strong - I've used Micro Set and Micro Sol.  Is Mr. Mark Strong "stronger" than Micro Sol?  

Yes, I think it is stronger, Mike. I think every type of decal reacts a bit different to solutions, that´s why it is hard to generalize. My greatest weapon of choice here was definitely the hairdryer.

Cheers Rob 

[DocRob]

Some little mock up shots after decaling and clear coating, but before that, it was necessary to assemble the wings. The rear wing gave me some resistance, as it was very difficult to glue all parts together, without destroying carbon fiber surfaces. All assemblies of painted parts were done with CA glue. I didn´t want to destroy my finish or decals with plastic cement. 
Clear coating was done with two misted coats of pure Zero lacquer clear, with about 2,0 bar air pressure and a 0,4 mm nozzle. This was only to seal the decals without harming them with a heavy coat of clear. I tested the process on a paint and decal mule, prepared with exactly the same sequence of steps.
Then, after a drying time of about half an hour between coats, I sprayed two heavier "wet" coats on, which had about thirty percent of leveling thinner added for a better finish.

 



Cheers Rob

[HubertB]

Looking sharp, Rob. I keep forgetting the trick of using the hair dryer for decals. Not that you don’t remind it with each and every of your builds 🤣. I tell you : getting old is  😱

Hubert

[BlrwestSiR]

Great gloss finish there Rob. Not to mention the decal work. 

[DocRob]

14 hours ago, HubertB said:

Looking sharp, Rob. I keep forgetting the trick of using the hair dryer for decals. Not that you don’t remind it with each and every of your builds 🤣. I tell you : getting old is  😱

 

14 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Great gloss finish there Rob. Not to mention the decal work. 

Thank you Hubert and Carl, now I have to polish the body parts and then, I´m nearly done with this unruly build.
@HubertB, if you are getting older and balder and ask yourself, why the hell do I possess a hairdryer.................  

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

After some elbow grease, I call the body done and I´m 95 percent satisfied with the outcome. There are tiny imperfections, but they are barely visible to the human eye.
I wet sanded the body parts with 6000 grit, followed by 8000 grit and then worked my way through the Tamiya polishing compounds from coarse to finish and finally used the Tamiya modeling wax. 
I could have gone further, but the McLaren will not be perfect in any way, so I took the easy way and tried to learn as much as possible. I didn´t polish the rear wing due to it´s fragile character and I didn´t want too much contrast between the wings and body also.
Lessons learned: I should have added one or two more wet coats of clear, even heavier thinned with leveling thinner and use a plastic container for the drying time, as there are some tiny dust particles in the clear.










Cheers Rob

[KevinM]

I can't see the dust so need not worry about it Rob looks real.

[CANicoll]

Agree with Kevin, the damn camera sees things the eye never will.  Your finish is spectacular.  I have been trying to find a kit of the latest Red Bull F1 cars but no can find.  In time!

[CANicoll]

Rob,  The thing I forgot to comment on is the wet sanding.  I do that to polish the wood pens I make, which actually are coated in CA (and talk about a tough, durable finish!) but for some reason I never thought about wet sanding a model.  Thanks for the suggestion/reminder!  Your results are terrific.

[BlrwestSiR]

The finish looks great to me Rob. I'm quite envious of it in fact. 

22 hours ago, CANicoll said:

I have been trying to find a kit of the latest Red Bull F1 cars but no can find.  In time!

I would absolutely love to find an RB19 model. Talk about a dominant design. 

[DocRob]

On 12/13/2024 at 4:31 PM, KevinM said:

I can't see the dust so need not worry about it Rob looks real.

 

23 hours ago, CANicoll said:

Agree with Kevin, the damn camera sees things the eye never will.  Your finish is spectacular.  I have been trying to find a kit of the latest Red Bull F1 cars but no can find.  In time!

Thank you Kevin and Chris. Dust is always an enemy with clear coats, specially with high shine car bodies. I will try to source a plastic container for the future.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, CANicoll said:

Rob,  The thing I forgot to comment on is the wet sanding.  I do that to polish the wood pens I make, which actually are coated in CA (and talk about a tough, durable finish!) but for some reason I never thought about wet sanding a model.  Thanks for the suggestion/reminder!  Your results are terrific.

You have to take care, not to sand through the clear coat and damage decals and base colors. I recommend some layers of clear.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

23 hours ago, CANicoll said:

I have been trying to find a kit of the latest Red Bull F1 cars but no can find.  In time!

 

45 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

I would absolutely love to find an RB19 model. Talk about a dominant design. 

It seems, there is/was such a thing. I couldn´t find a shop, but Scalemates has one listed from New Scratch. Not my pair of shoes, I stay with the classics .

Red Bull RB19, NewScratch 20F23N111Rd05 (2023) 

[DocRob]

47 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

The finish looks great to me Rob. I'm quite envious of it in fact. 

It´s 95% ok, which is better than the rest of the kit and therefore sufficient . I like the Zero lacquer clear, which is great to spray and levels good with added leveling thinner. It didn´t attack my decals luckily, but the first coats were only misted and dried rapidly.
Strangely, the finish looks always worse in my photo box. The numerous LED lights let the body finish look like orange peel. You can see it on the last pic.

Cheers Rob

[belugawhaleman]

On 12/12/2024 at 10:27 AM, Landlubber Mike said:

I've never used Mr. Mark Strong - I've used Micro Set and Micro Sol.  Is Mr. Mark Strong "stronger" than Micro Sol?  

Try using Walthers Solvaset.......Very Strong!

[BlrwestSiR]

1 hour ago, DocRob said:

 

It seems, there is/was such a thing. I couldn´t find a shop, but Scalemates has one listed from New Scratch. Not my pair of shoes, I stay with the classics .

Red Bull RB19, NewScratch 20F23N111Rd05 (2023) 

Thanks for sharing. I didn't know about that kit. 

[Landlubber Mike]

50 minutes ago, belugawhaleman said:

Try using Walthers Solvaset.......Very Strong!

Good to know, thank you!

[CANicoll]

On 12/14/2024 at 3:34 PM, BlrwestSiR said:

Thanks for sharing. I didn't know about that kit. 

Going to look it up, too!  Love the looks of that car.

23 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Good to know, thank you!

Mike, be careful with the Solvaset.  It has been known to destroy delicate decals (ask me how I know...).  If you want to try some out, I'll lend you mine.  It is MUCH stronger than MicroSol.  I generally use it if nothing else works.

Edited December 15, 2024 by CANicoll
Update added text

[Landlubber Mike]

Good to know Chris.  Sounds like something to use as an absolute last resort!  What decals had you tried it on?

[DocRob]

I call the McLaren done. The build got me some grieve, in fact, more than expected, but from the distance, the vibrant paintjob hides some shortcomings .
Assembly of all the components was not so easy due to the fragile character of the subassemblies, paired with the also fragile carbon fiber decals. I used mainly CA glue for the job, as it doesn´t attack the decals.

The Goodyear branding of the tyres was a bit different, as they were "negative" decals. You had to peel away a protective sheet, than the decal from the base layer and place it on the rubber. Then, a wet cotton swab was used to loose the backing layer and the decals were tattooed on. I brush painted the tyre walls with acrylic matte, to hide carrier film residues. I also sanded the tyres, to get rid of the moulding seam.

I don´t dare to re-open the body, as I suspect, there will be some loose parts. Anyway, I made some photos without the body in the final stage.















With wheels





....And finished 









Cheers Rob

[HubertB]

Whatever your difficulties in building this one, they don’t show on the finished product, and it’s a testament to your skills, Rob.

So, In one word about your Mac Laren : AWESOME !
 

Hubert

[KevinM]

For all the trials Rob she does not show it looks great Sir!!