Look for Meng McLaren MP4/4 in the wild

[CK]

I have a look at the FIA regulations. In 1996, FIA introduced the minimum front endplate thickness at 10mm with a 5mm radius. Hence before 1996, endplates are thinner.

From high resolution photos of the MP4/4 that I can find, the estimated thickness of the front and rear endplates is around 3 to 4mm. So, in 1/12 scale, the endplates are at 0.25 to 0.33mm or 0.01" to 0.13". The rear endplate with the wick bill is at ~9mm, which is 0.75mm or 0.03".

The rear wing upright is about 6mm, 0.5mm or 0.02" in 1/12 scale.

These parts are very thin in 1/12 scale. It will need to be metal to have the strength.

[Marcel]

... and in 1:24 they are so thin we can leave them away

[JamesB]

Hi James, if you live in Europe, try dominomodel from Belgium. 259€ for the 99T and 86,50€ for the detail set. I think it’s one of the best prices you can get in Europe!

The Meng MP4/4 is priced 190€ btw

Ron

Thanks Ron sounds good... I’ll wait anyway a bit but who knows. I took the 4/4 decision in a second although Spotmodel is cheaper and closer and I’ll probably favor the local guys

[Malcolm]

Thank you for those who have come back with information about the end plate thickness - I measured the Meng parts and they are around 1mm - so waaay too thick. The Hobby Design pe set comes with two parts for each end plate - so that may be about ok, but I'm not sure whether to just go with the kit parts - at least with those it will be easy to achieve the chamfer that Jaykay pointed out.

On balance, I'm not sure if it's worthwhile putting too much effort into adding that much extra detail to the Meng kit - I've got the Tamiya MP4/6 and Top Studio kit waiting in the stash and I might try to put all my effort into that.

To me, the Meng kit is a bit of an enigma - they've produced some really great injection moulding and yet it's coupled with far too many compromises - I'll probably build it (basically) OOB apart from trying to replace all the visible (and really horrible) screws with scale nuts and bolts - I did that with the GT40 and it worked ok, although in some places it might be more difficult on the MP4/4.

I don't know if anyone's come to a conclusion about the best way to fix the body down to the floor - I certainly don't think the screws included with the kit are the answer - (a) as mentioned above, they look horrible and (b) in my experience with the GT40, if you unscrew them more than a couple of times, the threads made in the plastic strip and the screws become useless.

[CK]

Hi Marcel,

I have ordered a 1/24 version and already thinking what to use for the endplates . It will be around 0.005" or 0.13mm if it is true to scale. This is thinner than printer paper.

Anyway, anything less than 0.01" (0.25mm) will look better than the molded plastic thing.

[JamesB]

Let’s not forget the chamfer is obvious at 1/1 but less at 1/12
That means any thin plastic will do

[gp-models]

Sometimes downsizing from the original measurements don`t work, so you need to add thickness and in this case, only a thick etched part would fit, less then the kit part, but even more then the measuring would suggest!

[SBEST]

Just my 2 cents. I first got introduced to Tamiya 1/12th in the late 70's. I remember reading an article where a model maker was interviewed. In this article it was stated that because of many factors is was very difficult to exactly reproduce a subject. Compromises are made based on factors such as materials, visual, assembly, and others.

Since, then I take the attitude that the fun is in the assembly and work it takes to make the subject.

So, I look forward to assembling the Meng McLaren as best as I can.

[CK]

I agree with SBEST. It is not always possible to have true scaled down dimensions on models as physical limitations dictate what can be done.

I was just interested to see how thin the endplates should be in true scaled down dimensions. For 1/12 scale it is achievable to be around 0.25mm thick. In 1/20 or 1/24 scale, it will be very difficult. One way to give a very thin endplate look is to just think down the edges.

Tamiya also mentioned in one of their interviews that most of the 1/24 road car models have the ride height lowered to make the model looks close to the real car siting on the ground. It is all about the optical effect when things are shrunk in size.

[Inuyasha]

Sometimes downsizing from the original measurements don`t work, so you need to add thickness and in this case, only a thick etched part would fit, less then the kit part, but even more then the measuring would suggest!

Still agree, on many models details are not allways "true scale", let`s hope someone will come around with matching etched parts one day!