Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

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Jose01jr
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

Here is the company where I got the springs. It’s the correct i.d. and o.d all you have to do is cut it to the correct length and belt sand the ends so the sit nice on the spring perch. In this pic you can see the difference between Tamiya Top Studio and the stiffer ones from Jones Spring Co.

Working on the front shocks (dampers) added aeon rubber (orange) packer (white) and bump adjuster to the shock body. The spring on the shock absorber is the one from TS and will use those for the fronts and stiffer ones from JS for the rear which I already had installed.
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dr_gn
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by dr_gn »

Chinamalc wrote:
dr_gn wrote:Could you tell me where you got the thicker springs from please? I’ve tried to make my own out of lead wire, but getting the machined ends right is very difficult. Also tried dipping them in paint multiple times, but that’s not right either. Thanks.
I use copper wire, it comes in many thicknesses and can also be stripped from electrical cable, its stiffer than lead wire and the end can easily be filed flat while it is still on the mandrel. I close up the end coil and file it so it makes a flat base for the spring to sit on.
Painting is easy with spray brush, just gotta move it round so you cover all sides.

You can see my copper springs in my Ligier thread

Malc.
Thanks Malc.

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Jose01jr
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

Progress on the shock area of the tub. Used upgrades from Thunder Valley courtesy of Paul. Really adds realism to that part of the tub.
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Jose01jr
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

I worked on the cockpit over the weekend. As you can see I cut half of the backside as I said before. The other half of the backside was glued to the tub and added putty and sanded to make it look like a one piece. The seam where I cut it will be covered by the seat. All the detail in the cockpit is courtesy of the TS upgrade kit. I used CF for the panels as you can see in the picture.
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Jose01jr
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

So I cut out the bottom piece that glues to the tub At the point where the dash bulkhead meets. This way I can make the tub look like a one piece as the real car. Also I can install the cockpit from underneath. I added the wiring loom at this point and drilled .2mm holes where the loom runs at the back of the tub and sides. I secured the loom with tiny wire supplied by TS and twisted the wire from the underside of the tub to firmly secure the loom in place and not have to worry about coming unglued while attaching the wires to its different sensors and plugs. I will do the same with the Loom that runs on top of the radiator ducts.Once everything is wired I will then glue to other end to the top of the tub and apply putty and CF decal to hide the joint line.
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Jose01jr
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

More progress with the tub. I’m done with the cockpit. Glued it to the top section of the tub and glued the rear half of the bottom section to the tub to make now one complete monocoque. Next step is to finish the ECU and radiator ducts and finish the wiring looms.
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Jose01jr
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

Here are pictures of the progress the past couple of weeks. The tub is almost finished just small details before I get on with the engine. Here as you can see I’m done with the radiator ducts and glued to the tub. All the wiring loom is done apart from a couple of wires. That was the most stressful bit and glad its finished. I was pretty satisfied with the results however my eyes took a beating. Now everyone have different ways to do the radiator ducts. I notices from pictures the ducts had layers on them where it bends do I did mine by layering CF decals cut at the correct angles like the real cars. I then applied the final CF decal to cover the whole duct. I then applied quick brisk coats of smoke paint over the entire duct. The external battery and ignition box won the left side we’re pretty straight forward. I was disappointed Tamiya didn’t offer decals for those parts as well as the shocks. I glued rubber spacers to seperate it from the radiator duct as it should be. I was able to get heat shrink tubing that is very very small and shrinks 2:1. Instead of using the top studio metal tyraps I just cut very thin heat shrink tubing and slipped it over the wiring and glued them in place. The wiring loom at the rear of the tub was secured by very very thin wiring to secure it place. The water header tank on the right side was straightforward. I used clear tubing and wrapped it with black tubing but only at the ends. For the front uprights I drilled two additional holes on the steering plates and added hardware from RB Motion. I also added wheel bearings like the rears and gearbox and spin nice and free not that the car is going anywhere. I took an extra picture of the mock up of the radiator.
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Jose01jr
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

The past week I’ve been working on the front suspension and build up the uprights and brakes ducts. I didn’t use any of the screws supplied by Tamiya except for the bottom screw for the uprights. The rest of the hardware was from RBMotion. The brake discs assembly is from Top Studio. Pretty straightforward with some patience. The Tamiya brake ducts were wrong and Top Studio didn’t have any upgrades so I scratch build them by adding the inner walls that are missing from front and back on the inner bit of the brake ducts. Once that was done I applied CF and sprayed with dulcoat. The rest was straightforward. I added an antenna at the front also from Top Studio. I’m basically done with tub and front suspension so now I will concentrate on the engine.
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by gp-models »

Still looking nice, good job!
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Jose01jr
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Re: Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 w/ upgrades

Post by Jose01jr »

Thank you. Looking forward to doing the engine and Top Studio has a nice upgrade for it
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