Tamiya 1/20 McLaren Mp4/4
Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2014 2:46 pm
Yo!
This is my first ever car build and overall i'm a novice at best. However I do love this car and I could not resist the thought of building it. A big issue is that i'm a brush-user and I found it really difficult to get a true finish on the bodywork without bubbles and brush marks. For the moment, I see all my builds as parts of my learning process.
A short introduction:
The Mp4/4 is the most dominant Formula 1 car in the history and it won 15 of 16(!) races that year and the only reason it did not win them all was that Senna crashed into a back marker at Monza. The car had Honda's V6 twin turbo 1.5 litre engine, capable of producing over 700 bhp. With the driver setup of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna it was absolutely unstoppable. For everyone who thinks Red Bull has been too dominant, think again
The Kit:
This is my first Tamiya kit and I found it really well made. The fit is excellent and even though there was a substantial amount of flash, I found the surface of the plastic very enjoyable to paint. The decals included are kind of stiff but very pretty. The sheet does not include Marlboro or Shell-decals and that's just a big shame. I mean, I understand why, but with the OOB decals, the car would look really naked and dull. I picked up a cheap aftermarket sheet from China and they were really, really soft and one of the Shell decals was already damaged right from the beginning.
Construction:
The only issues that i found was the side panels, the exausts and the rear wing. The fit of the side panels and the exhausts are not very good and for the exhausts, it was impossible for me to use a filler at that construction stage, so just ignore those gaps! The side panel was easier to correct and the rear wing was just really tricky to put together for a rookie like me since its really fragile. I decided to build Senna's car withe the relevant livery. I wanted the car to look like it just finished a Grand Prix so I tried to make the engine look oily and the tires scrubbed. At this stage I have finished the decaling, but when that's finished, I will try to weather the bodywork a bit to simulate rubber pickups and marks.
Oh, and sorry for the poor quality of my pics, it was taken with a cell phone (and yes, you swedish people are allowed to laugh at my current cutting surface).
And now for the bodywork. If there's one thing i've learned during this build, it's that I won't do a car build until I'm able to use an airbrush or purchase some rattlecans. The brushmarks are horrible on my bodywork and i'm not pleased at all with it. So like an older lady, it will not agree to close up shots!
And here's how it looks right now:
This is my first ever car build and overall i'm a novice at best. However I do love this car and I could not resist the thought of building it. A big issue is that i'm a brush-user and I found it really difficult to get a true finish on the bodywork without bubbles and brush marks. For the moment, I see all my builds as parts of my learning process.
A short introduction:
The Mp4/4 is the most dominant Formula 1 car in the history and it won 15 of 16(!) races that year and the only reason it did not win them all was that Senna crashed into a back marker at Monza. The car had Honda's V6 twin turbo 1.5 litre engine, capable of producing over 700 bhp. With the driver setup of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna it was absolutely unstoppable. For everyone who thinks Red Bull has been too dominant, think again
The Kit:
This is my first Tamiya kit and I found it really well made. The fit is excellent and even though there was a substantial amount of flash, I found the surface of the plastic very enjoyable to paint. The decals included are kind of stiff but very pretty. The sheet does not include Marlboro or Shell-decals and that's just a big shame. I mean, I understand why, but with the OOB decals, the car would look really naked and dull. I picked up a cheap aftermarket sheet from China and they were really, really soft and one of the Shell decals was already damaged right from the beginning.
Construction:
The only issues that i found was the side panels, the exausts and the rear wing. The fit of the side panels and the exhausts are not very good and for the exhausts, it was impossible for me to use a filler at that construction stage, so just ignore those gaps! The side panel was easier to correct and the rear wing was just really tricky to put together for a rookie like me since its really fragile. I decided to build Senna's car withe the relevant livery. I wanted the car to look like it just finished a Grand Prix so I tried to make the engine look oily and the tires scrubbed. At this stage I have finished the decaling, but when that's finished, I will try to weather the bodywork a bit to simulate rubber pickups and marks.
Oh, and sorry for the poor quality of my pics, it was taken with a cell phone (and yes, you swedish people are allowed to laugh at my current cutting surface).
And now for the bodywork. If there's one thing i've learned during this build, it's that I won't do a car build until I'm able to use an airbrush or purchase some rattlecans. The brushmarks are horrible on my bodywork and i'm not pleased at all with it. So like an older lady, it will not agree to close up shots!
And here's how it looks right now:
Looks like a nice little kit
