McLaren MP4-4 by Meng

[handiabled]

It's a shame to cover that gorgeous work up with body panels

[joelw]

Handiabled,
Now ain't that the truth. It's one of my major complaints about F1 cars. And at least for me, getting the panels to be removal and yet fit correctly hardly ever happens. At least in Tin Tops you can usually remove or open up the engine hood/bonet.

joel

[arcticwolf]

Here Joel.

[joelw]

Paul,
Just amazing work. Expertly assembled, detailed, and detailed painted. It's nearly impossible to be certain that all the pictures are of the kit only.

joel

[arcticwolf]

Joel, your choice of words is very appropriate. This isn't a kit you build, it's a kit you simply assemble. As long as you make sure each part is properly seated, it all fits and goes together. Any experienced modeler can make a perfect end product, excepting the paint of course. Having said that I'll probably #&%@ *^ the paint. 

 The exception being the rear wing, which isn't any easier to build than any other multi-segment wing.

Front and rear wings done, body just white for the moment. Fits pretty good. The nose is removable, not that it reveals much.

Now to use up a whole roll of masking tape. 

[paddy]

Pictures are back, no idea what that was all about. Looking really good Paul, i missed the bit about the decals? after market i presume being Marlboro ?

[handiabled]

The detail shots really do look like the real deal! Looking forward to the rest of the paint and decals on.

[kyledehart5]

Great update!! I hate those multi element rear wings too.

[joelw]

Paul,
sure seems that most of us aren't fans of those multi element rear wings especially when fitting them into the side plates correctly takes a min of 3 hands. But yours look great and were well worth the effort. I do suspect that the larger scale just might make it easier to assemble.

looking forward to seeing just how much Tamiya (?) tape you actually go through. In 1/12 scale I'm sure that you weren't kidding about using nearly a full roll.

joel

[greg]

Looking awesome!

Did you mention which red you are using, Paul? I know you can't tell for sure from a monitor, but it looks dead-solid-perfect from where I sit.

[arcticwolf]

Oct 8, 2024 7:54:47 GMT -5 joelw said:

Paul,
sure seems that most of us aren't fans of those multi element rear wings especially when fitting them into the side plates correctly takes a min of 3 hands. But yours look great and were well worth the effort. I do suspect that the larger scale just might make it easier to assemble.

looking forward to seeing just how much Tamiya (?) tape you actually go through. In 1/12 scale I'm sure that you weren't kidding about using nearly a full roll.

joel

Always Tamiya tape. Actually not that much, I'm painting it in 2 halves, front and then the back. Most of it goes in a plastic bag.

[arcticwolf]

Oct 8, 2024 8:38:06 GMT -5 greg said:

Looking awesome!

Did you mention which red you are using, Paul? I know you can't tell for sure from a monitor, but it looks dead-solid-perfect from where I sit.

Thanks Greg (everybody). It's Tamiya TS36 Florescent Red. One coat white primer, two coats gloss white, two coats red. It'll get two coats of TS13 after the decals.

Other than the primer, I don't sand or polish anything unless I have to.

[joelw]

Paul,
Smooth primer makes for smooth color coats. I'm really impressed that you don't need to polish and wax the gloss coat, as it's a must for me.

joel

[greg]

Oct 8, 2024 11:01:22 GMT -5 arcticwolf said:

Oct 8, 2024 8:38:06 GMT -5 greg said:

Looking awesome!

Did you mention which red you are using, Paul? I know you can't tell for sure from a monitor, but it looks dead-solid-perfect from where I sit.

Thanks Greg (everybody). It's Tamiya TS36 Florescent Red. One coat white primer, two coats gloss white, two coats red. It'll get two coats of TS13 after the decals.

Other than the primer, I don't sand or polish anything unless I have to.

Great info. Thank you, Paul!

[arcticwolf]

I got the front half painted. Could have been worse. I await more tape (I ran out).

[joelw]

Paul,
The front end looks great both in color and the super sharp lines.

Joel

[greg]

Still lovin' that Fluorescent Red.

[kyledehart5]

Beautiful work on the nose there. Looks perfect.

[handiabled]

The red paint work looks fantastic!

[arcticwolf]

It's done. The body is secured by 4 tiny screws. If they worked at all, it would only be once. I didn't use them as I want to be able to display the chassis. Fits pretty well anyway.

TS26, TS36, TS13, rattle cans. No airbrush needed or wanted. No polishing or wax.

Thanks for tuning in.

Paul

[kyledehart5]

Wow Paul!! What an incredible result!! Beautiful, beautiful paint work. It turned out fantastic!

[joelw]

Paul,
Just another amazing build. As for the painting, It's hard to believe that all just rattle cans without polish or wax.

joel

[paddy]

Looks good to me, you have inspired me to start mine sometime, just waiting to see how much the ( not released yet ) detail up kit is and crucially.. whats in it, great job.

[arcticwolf]

Nov 1, 2024 9:26:03 GMT -5 paddy said:

Looks good to me, you have inspired me to start mine sometime, just waiting to see how much the ( not released yet ) detail up kit is and crucially.. whats in it, great job.

Thanks Paddy. It's a cool kit overall.

Detail up kit

www.ebay.ca/itm/186609252421?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110013%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIMRXI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D276070%2C276198%2C273360%2C275627%26meid%3Db634152207f64dd0be43fe84689b1547%26pid%3D101196%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D355758907574%26itm%3D186609252421%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2332490%26algv%3DSimRXIVINativeV2WithSellersOwnItemsFilter%26brand%3DHobby%2BDesign&_trksid=p2332490.c101196.m2219&itmprp=cksum%3A186609252421b634152207f64dd0be43fe84689b1547%7Cenc%3AAQAJAAABIMd7r5mNjkO12hUFN8%252BUjou0r36TWdG4ts9ki5yV37PLn%252BNOULI4btYgHvyZLxyhY6vrA9kLoeRddy2xtAlehBeb1ZLNSYjoI03REPIkx6cL1qFHrw8xLM4XYQxzGkJjb2sH8vnkIzdnHcWHx2PhsDXQnFN27rygBnNql0Qnad1pUhDFQmbwVcpMhIzy%252F0hzu2hwjjmv3KPSfVGpNU8PFrsfLRHQIidj6wdd5ZwpeB0JgzWrxMBwiHC2maqBbcDpkslvsB84N4qrB6jD%252BxtK1yM3WaOtUNQ4qBge%252BTrdu0V1UNLggj46FdwJ9rKp%252BEjoJ2%252BSlQyqMRMWmVr%252BbbvMr0VEKSK1TMD9JlAM9cxtlysPQaKJfobJeY14JZX3uIk42A%253D%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01JBM3W9CQ35XN0H9MX1FFVGJ6

$128.00 USD, this is what you get

Seems a wee bit pricey to me.

[arcticwolf]

Nov 1, 2024 7:53:28 GMT -5 joelw said:

Paul,
Just another amazing build. As for the painting, It's hard to believe that all just rattle cans without polish or wax.

joel

Thanks Joel. Just when I figure out how to make Tamiya paints work, I get to start all over with something else. I'm getting too old for this @%$# 

[paddy]

Hi Artic, thanks for that
the one i am waiting on is this, its due in this week

www.spotmodel.com/product_info.php?products_id=59908

I'm hoping its a little more than 128 USD worth of PE

[arcticwolf]

Nov 1, 2024 11:50:07 GMT -5 paddy said:

Hi Artic, thanks for that
the one i am waiting on is this, its due in this week

www.spotmodel.com/product_info.php?products_id=59908

I'm hoping its a little more than 128 USD worth of PE

I wonder what you get? Hmm........

[kyledehart5]

Oh also! I’ll get this added in to the gallery as well. You guys are really doing some amazing work in this group build. Thanks for hopping in with another build!!

[dupes]

Straight rattle cans with no other elbow grease? Dang. I need to try that, apparently!

[joelw]

Sure hope that you guys get your Spot pre-orders. I had pre-ordered the Nunu Porsche 911 RSR. The est. due date came and went on Oct.25, and now it's listed as Estimated shipping date: to be determined. I emailed Spot customer service and they have no idea as to when the kits would be in at this point, so I requested a full refund via Pay Pal and got it the same day. I would have kept my pre-order but without a realistic delivery date, I pre-paid for literally nothing.

The kit is available from a few sources in Japan, and Ben has already built his. So why the delay?

joel