1/12 scale Meng McLaren MP4/4

[robemcdonald]

I thought I’d do some more before starting work this morning.





I’ll start the decals tonight. Then it’s flip it over and start on the bits people will actually see.

[robemcdonald]

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]

The floor wasn’t as bad as I thought.




Tiny screws attach the monocoque.

[robemcdonald]

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

[robemcdonald]

Still not perfect, but close enough.

[robemcdonald]

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.

[robemcdonald]

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.

[robemcdonald]

Progress continues with the nose cone.

The master cylinder’s seem a bit pointless now.




Here’s how the assembly looks

[robemcdonald]

Couldn’t resist.

[robemcdonald]

Decent progress yesterday evening.

Just the windscreen and decals left to go.

[robemcdonald]

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]

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.

[robemcdonald]

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]

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.