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Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 10:09 am
by dr_gn
Hello folks, you may have seen several of my topics here on the 1:12 Tamiya 90's F1 cars, and requests for info and advice.

I finally made a start on the MP4/6 project: I initially put the model on EBay with the intention of using the cash to buy a new kit to super-detail. After looking at the photos I'd taken I decided I couldn't part with it and ended the auction early. A few people on here said why not partially rebuild it "kerbside" and then get another to build up as a super detailled chassis? That is exactly what I'm intending to do with my MP4/4's, so that's what I'm going to do with this one. They will go on a base with my Senna and Berger autographs and my old ticket to the 1991 BGP. Likewise the MP4/4's will have my other Senna autograph along with Prost's and my '88 ticket.

Anyway, here are the "before" pics:

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Doesn't look bad does it? That's until you look a bit closer:

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Makes me wonder how I could ever have thought it was a good model, even 15 years ago...

I've now stripped it to the extent I need to correct the paint and add a few bells and whistles. A lot of it is bolt together, and luckily I'd not been too careful about removing paint from the bonded surfaces when I built it, so most of them cracked apart with little or no damage:

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The decals on the radiators silvered, and always looked a bit naff. They will be partially stripped and re-painted with Alclad and a proper wash (now I know how to do a wash!), since they are clearly visible with the body fitted:

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Wing end plates are hand painted on the insides. They might get a carbon decal, or just new paint:

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Same with the front wing endplates. Even though I sprayed the parts, it was with a TS can, and the paint was too thick, plus I got dust on them:

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All body and wing incidence fasteners will be replaced with p/e parts. I'll apply carbon decals on all visible surfaces where necessary, e.g. brake ducts, vortex generators etc.

First job will be to strip the body paint with Modelstrip, and repaint and re-decal. Then make a start on detailling the wheels.

I do have a few questions on the real car if anyone could help it would be great:

http://www.f1m.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21976

Thanks folks.

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 10:22 am
by harveyb258
Really looking forward to watching this project come together :P

Cheers, H

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 11:23 am
by dancraft
Why mess with it?

Personally I wouldn't touch it.
I'd build a new one and show just how much your skills have improved over the last 15 years

Plus I'm lazy and would always rather start with a fresh kit than repair/repaint an old one :lol:

Regards, Dan

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 12:00 pm
by saleem
Strip the body and start again with replacement aftermarket decals.the body needs to be polished for a nice finish.
:)

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 12:08 pm
by dr_gn
Thanks guys.

As I said, this one will be kerbside, so the majority of the chassis detail will remain unchanged. I've got about 18 of the 1:20 Tamiya F1 cars (built in the '90's) to make a comparison with my current work!

I will be building a new one with a fully detailled chassis. If anyone has one for sale at a decent price feel free to pm me!

Cheers.

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 12:45 pm
by gavrob
I saw the first few photos and wondered why you were tearing apart such a good looking model. The later shots answered that!
Good luck with the rebuild. I did something similar years back with the 1/12 F190. Looking at it today, I'm glad I did.

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 3:19 pm
by vekkuli
That Paintjob doesn't look so bad, I'm about the same Level with the Skill of painting :mrgreen: .

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 4:10 pm
by lezdep
Model looked great from a distance. But after seeing close ups I think you've made a right call. With proper paint job and CF decals
it will look better. I've done similar with my 1/20 MP4/5B some time ago and I also glad I've done it. Good luck !

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 7:00 pm
by dr_gn
Thanks for the comments guys.

I made a proper start tonight by machining the wheels to fit the Formula Perfect spindles and nuts. FP do two kits; one is a complete replacement brake rotor/bell/spindle/nut set (for display with wheels off) and the spindle and nut set only for a kerbside model:

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Luckily the Tamiya kit is so nicely engineered that retro-fitting these fairly fundamental parts is made a lot easier by the bolted joints on much of the suspension and structural parts. All this was stripped without having to break any glue bonds:

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Each wheel hub requires drilling through to enlarge the original hole, counterboring and finally the most important part, chamfering to form a seat for the nut. This chamfer is what will ultimately help to centre the wheel, much like the real thing. All the tooling is provided in the FP kit:

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Here are wheels showing before and after machining; there is not much left of the outer hub boss after chamfering:

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Here are the finished wheels with the axles and nuts dropped in:

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The axles fit into machined aluminium bosses that replace the plastic equivalents in the kit. The machining and fit is great:

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I still need to figure out what colour the nuts were. I'm not sure whether they were blue and red anodised, or something else.

Re: Tamiya 1:12 McLaren MP4/6 Rebuild/Upgrade

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 8:13 pm
by Shunter
Always a shame to rip up an old build, i like to see where i have come from. Like others the build looked great with it's flaws. I look forward to seeing how you go with this, love those wheels...