Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

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Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by GGSF1 »

Hello,

I'm working on the Tamiya Tyrrell P34, 1977 Monaco Grand Prix version in 1:20 scale. I expected it to be a quick build but it's been 10 months since I started already. Better than the 8 years the BT50 took but not fast enough if I want my stash to decrease :P

The main car body parts, painted with Tamiya spray cans. I'm quite happy with the finish but I think it's still a bit rough (not sure if it can be seen in the photos). So I can either leave it as is and try to improve it in later models or I can get a set of Micromesh pads (or similar) or a set Tamiya polishes or both and try to see if I can make it smoother using them.

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Tyres, the markings were difficult to paint in the front tyres but I'm quite happy with the result. I might get some tyre decals because there are markings in one of the sides of the front tyres only and I believe the real car had markings in both sides.

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Engine, fully painted using brushes and Tamiya acrylics. I have mixed feelings regarding these, because the glossy and metallic colours are quite easy to work with, but getting a good finish with semi gloss and flat colours is difficult. Just add slightly more thinner than you should have added and the finish will not be what it should be. I hope to get better with more practice.

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Front suspension and brakes, it looks to me that attaching them to the main car body is going to be tricky. I did some tests prior to painting and it was very difficult to place it where it's supposed to be placed, we'll see.

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And finally, pictures of most of the parts which are just waiting to be polished (if I decide to do it) and some details to be painted.

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As you can see in the pictures above, I've painted the helmet. That's because I'd like to add the driver figure, but it doesn't have feet. Which wouldn't be a problem in a different car but it is in this one (just check Tamiya website to see how it looks when the upper part of the body is not present). So I guess the obvious solution there is 3D printing but I'll have to investigate.

Regards,

Guillermo
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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by Orso »

I'm glad to see this one being built. I've built three of the Tamiya P34 in the 2014 Group build forums. On my 1977 cars I built the front suspension separately just as you did and I managed to mount them to the painted cars.
A small tip about the oil tank is here: http://www.f1m.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=22642
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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by Eagle50 »

Lookin' good, Guillermo. You've made a lot more progress than I have, in the last 8 months. LOL

Taking out the "orange peel" (rough finish) will require a lot of work. I think perhaps the most-commonly used way, is to wet-sand with super-fine sandpaper (like Matador, 3M or Sankyo brand, 3000 to 5000 grit) and then use Tamiya's Coarse > Fine > and Finish polishes. But when I first started F1 modelling, years ago, I was happy to just use the Tamiya polishes. It depends on how long you're willing to work on it.

But don't try to polish any corners or edges, or you'll polish through the paint. Corners and edges become smooth "naturally", as your hand slips while polishing.

Thanks for sharing!
Cheers, Chris

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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by jordan »

Hello friend,

I used a lot of TS15 in the past ( I build about 14 P34's ) :roll: You can have a perfect paint finish with TS15.Making the paint warm (not hot) does the trick.Put the paint can in warm water.It should be as warm as a "babybath or body temperature .Try it out and you will see that it makes a real difference.I also use TS 29 (semi gloss black as an undercoat/primer..give the TS 29 a fine rub with micro mesh 6000 grit and apply the "warm" paint..after drying give the TS 15 a fine rub and repeat with the warm blue paint.. :wink:
Cover with 2K clear is the ultimate finish but not necessary for an '70 car..

Just my 2 cents,
Alex.

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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by GGSF1 »

Thanks all for the replies.
Orso wrote:I'm glad to see this one being built. I've built three of the Tamiya P34 in the 2014 Group build forums. On my 1977 cars I built the front suspension separately just as you did and I managed to mount them to the painted cars.
A small tip about the oil tank is here: http://www.f1m.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=22642
Thanks for the tip about the oil tank! It's too late already for the first tip on that topic and I think I've glued painted parts before so I'll try to attach them without removing the paint.
Eagle50 wrote:Taking out the "orange peel" (rough finish) will require a lot of work. I think perhaps the most-commonly used way, is to wet-sand with super-fine sandpaper (like Matador, 3M or Sankyo brand, 3000 to 5000 grit) and then use Tamiya's Coarse > Fine > and Finish polishes. But when I first started F1 modelling, years ago, I was happy to just use the Tamiya polishes. It depends on how long you're willing to work on it.

But don't try to polish any corners or edges, or you'll polish through the paint. Corners and edges become smooth "naturally", as your hand slips while polishing.
Thanks for the advice! I'll try using the polishes first then. It's my first model, I'd like it to be better than it is now, but I don't think it has to be perfect.
jordan wrote:I used a lot of TS15 in the past ( I build about 14 P34's ) :roll: You can have a perfect paint finish with TS15.Making the paint warm (not hot) does the trick.Put the paint can in warm water.It should be as warm as a "babybath or body temperature .Try it out and you will see that it makes a real difference.I also use TS 29 (semi gloss black as an undercoat/primer..give the TS 29 a fine rub with micro mesh 6000 grit and apply the "warm" paint..after drying give the TS 15 a fine rub and repeat with the warm blue paint.. :wink:
Cover with 2K clear is the ultimate finish but not necessary for an '70 car..
I've used hot water but it might have been too hot according to what you said. There are some parts (helmet or rear wing) where I managed to get a great finish, but I don't know what did I do different from the parts that are rougher.
I wouldn't have thought it would cover black though. I even used white primer to later realise it had way better coverage than, let's say, white.
I don't think I'll use a clear coat. I've read too many stories of clear attacking the underlying paint and as you say the paint is shiny enough for a 70's car. Something to do in future models I guess.

Regards,

Guillermo

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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by GGSF1 »

Almost there, it just needs decals and some other minor details.

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Lots of learnings from these final bulding stages.

First, trying to glue painted parts is not a good idea. It should be obvious knowing it melts plastic, but I somehow didn't think about it. Thanks to Orso for the link that made me realise that :wink:

Second, Tamiya polishes are great, but they can't do miracles. I didn't have the patience to sand the surfaces this time but I think in many cases it's needed, otherwise it will still look a bit rough. But in other cases like in the rear wing just using Tamiya polishes gives a great finish.

Third, Tamiya X-4 is not a match for TS-15. I tried using it, but it was too visible, so what I did is to decant some paint from the TS-15 can and applied it using a toothpick. I recommend attaching a plastic tube to the can nozzle as a decanting method by the way, it's really easy to do.

And finally, something that's also obvious but I did. Always check if there's a hole in whatever you use to store the model parts. I used a bag that had a small hole and because of that I lost one of the front wheelnuts :( I changed the front wheels from one side to the other for the pictures but I'll have to ask if someone has a spare wheelnut to be able to finish it (topic in the Wanted section).

Just one question, how would you glue the transparent plastic piece that covers the hole in the cowling sides? I've thought about using the standard glue (I'm using Revell Contacta Professional), but the surface is painter already and it should be kept painted (plastic is white and colour is black), is there any better alternative?

Regards,

Guillermo
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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by MarcoSaupe »

Glue the clear parts either with white (wood) glue/Microscale Liquitape (similar to white glue) or just use clear like x-22 as glue.

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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by GGSF1 »

It's been a while since the last update.

First of all, thanks to Kitbash1 for the front wheel nut he sent me, it was a perfect replacement for the one I lost.

I tried gluing the clear parts with white glue as suggested but it didn't work well. Maybe it was just the glue, which was old. So I decided to try Microscale Micro Kristal Klear and it gave me better results. Obviously the bond is not as good as when using Revell Contacta Professional or any of these glues that melt the plastic, but I think it was good enough.

Decals were better than I expected, they conformed well without having to use anything apart from tepid water. I had issues with the seatbelt decal though (which is just a placeholder as I'd like to add the driver figure at some point), as while trying to conform it to the shape it started to break in several pieces. I managed to save it but I'm not sure about what happened. I'd love to see a post about science of decals by more experienced people to try to understand that :P

This is how it looks right now (more in the album):

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So, what's left? Adding decals to the front tyres, as the kit tyres have raised lettering in one side of the tyre only; gluing the rear wing, as it's just put in the right place but not properly attached and finally, adding the air funnel meshes from MFH I bought to the engine. I'm not sure how I'm going to attach these, I think CA glue should be OK for attaching metal to plastic but I'd like to hear from someone that has tried to do it before.

Regards,

Guillermo
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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by Daryl_Huhtala »

A favorite of mine ever since I found a beautiful pic of DePaillier at Monaco in the rain. I'd like to do mine in 1/12 but have not found a source of rain tires so it will have to be on slicks.
Great work Guillermo!
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Re: Tyrrell P34 (Tamiya, 1:20)

Post by GGSF1 »

It's been months since the last update, I didn't even realise it was so long ago...

So, if you check my last post you'll see it was pretty much finished apart from the driver figure, which was the last thing I was working on:

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That, together with other minor things, complete this build. I will create the corresponding topic later.
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