Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Models in progress... including non-F1 models.

dr_gn
Best of the Rest
Best of the Rest
Posts: 507
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:46 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by dr_gn »

The gold coloured gear selector fork on the r/h gearbox casing is included in the Top Studio engine set as a brass turning/photo-etch fork. It's not totaly accurate, but it looks neat enough when fitted.

Topic author
Jose01jr
F2 Champion
F2 Champion
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:31 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

Making more progress with the gearbox and this time the pics show what the color of the gearbox looks like in person which is a lot darker. I believe that’s as close as I’m going to get with what a magnesium gearbox looks like in real life. I added the fore bell crack support bracket after cutting it in half and painting black. I wasn’t happy with the bell cranks from Tamiya so I modified them to look more like the real ones. I did this by filing the arc wider much wider to accommodate the top shock mounts and swivel rods. For the pushrods Top Studio made them too thin so I filed them down about 25% less to achieve the proper scale. Top Studio rod ends are crap so I replaced them with RB Motion rod ends and jam nuts. I definitely used the rear shocks from Top Studio but still needed improvement. I scratch build bump knobs and glued them to the side of the lower shock body. I also used stiffer springs. Tamiya’s springs are way to thin. Top Studio are ok but I managed to get thicker ones. I added 4 aluminum cap head bolts from Top Studio to the oil tank.
The rest was pretty straightforward.
Attachments
FDBFE575-9A8E-42CB-9281-7FE9B48F3C3E.jpeg
3C88FB95-B536-47B9-B293-F1B15ACB603C.jpeg
EC2D78D1-A5DE-4267-ACF4-4B15D81390BE.jpeg

Topic author
Jose01jr
F2 Champion
F2 Champion
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:31 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

dr_gn wrote:The gold coloured gear selector fork on the r/h gearbox casing is included in the Top Studio engine set as a brass turning/photo-etch fork. It's not totaly accurate, but it looks neat enough when fitted.
Yes it does but I thought it didn’t look realistic enough so I just scratched one myself. TS has very good stuff but some parts still need modifying or scratch build ones which is fun to do.

dr_gn
Best of the Rest
Best of the Rest
Posts: 507
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:46 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by dr_gn »

Jose01jr wrote:
dr_gn wrote:The gold coloured gear selector fork on the r/h gearbox casing is included in the Top Studio engine set as a brass turning/photo-etch fork. It's not totaly accurate, but it looks neat enough when fitted.
Yes it does but I thought it didn’t look realistic enough so I just scratched one myself. TS has very good stuff but some parts still need modifying or scratch build ones which is fun to do.
Fair enough!

If you're after total accuracy, I think there should be lock-wires on some of the bolt pairs on the selector extension casting covers - and on the oil swirl pot fasteners on top of the gearbox. I made some out of twisted fuse wire PVA'd in place. It looks OK. I can't see on yours too clearly if you put it on or not.

Cheers.

Topic author
Jose01jr
F2 Champion
F2 Champion
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:31 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

No I didn’t because I didn’t want to clutter it. Sometimes we need to use artistic interpretation. You have to be selective in what looks good in a 1/12 scale model. For example I will go anal on thickness of parts used by Tamiya as I think in scale it’s completely off. I’m already thinning the back bodywork side panels that go between the wishbones and pushrods. Not to fussed about texture on the tub either. I looked at my options and will go against the textured look from Hercules molds.im not bothered with lockwire

Topic author
Jose01jr
F2 Champion
F2 Champion
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:31 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

More progress. The tamiya metal wishbones were a bit too thick for my taste so I thinned them done by filing them down till I got it closer to scale. Bolt them to the gearbox with RB Motion hardware. The rear rollbar was pretty straightforward from TS except I replaced the links with RB Motion proper sized rod ends and rods.
Attachments
005D3952-EC51-4CEB-B6DC-9C7E5D65FB91.jpeg
A7AFB671-7040-465E-8048-53E5EED7DAFD.jpeg

Topic author
Jose01jr
F2 Champion
F2 Champion
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:31 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

I worked on the rear end of the gearbox. I’m pretty impressed with the Top Studio upgrades which makes my life easier though they can be a pain to work with the tiny bits. You definitely need patience. The rear jack mount is a big improvement over the Tamiya one. I had to do some modifying of the gearbox oil coolers to make them look like the real car. I cut of completely the AN fitting mounts from the tamiya parts and scratched build new mounts and glued them to the oil coolers. The oil tank resoiver was pretty straightforward and an improvement over the Tamiya part. I used the TS rear track adjusters but again replaced the rod ends and jam nuts with RB Motion hardware.
Attachments
FEEBE4E1-AEBD-405A-AC79-EB36C71189AA.jpeg
FA66C1B1-249B-4F78-8465-0E5C579B2AE3.jpeg
715A01DA-E011-4B1B-A3C4-54169510D580.jpeg

Topic author
Jose01jr
F2 Champion
F2 Champion
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:31 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

The next step was to deal with the rear side covers for the gearbox. First thing I did was thin them down especially the lip area. I drilled .3mm holes where the dzus fasteners will connect from the engine cover. I painted them Tamiya fluorescent red and out CF decal of the 1/24 scale to the lip area and back of the bodywork. I then spayed a dull coat to the CF decal after a light coat of smoke. Bolted the wishbones and pushrods with hardware and not the screws from Tamiya.
Attachments
3596B8DD-74C4-4661-B628-202906741F42.jpeg
User avatar

maw2717
F2
F2
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:29 pm
Your Name: Mark
Favorite F1 Team or Driver: 1988-1996 McLaren, Senna era
Location: United States
Status: Offline
United States of America

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by maw2717 »

Hi Jose01jr,
Your build looks great.
Can you share the color ratios used to match the magnesium color of the gearbox?

Thanks
Mark

Topic author
Jose01jr
F2 Champion
F2 Champion
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:31 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

maw2717 wrote:Hi Jose01jr,
Your build looks great.
Can you share the color ratios used to match the magnesium color of the gearbox?

Thanks
Mark

Dark copper Tamiya XF28 mixed with Tamiya black Tamiya X18 at a ratio of 3:1 followed by a very light coat of amber turn signal Tamiya X26 and finished it off with several coats of smoke Tamiya XF28.
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post