F1 Group Build

"Starting to look like a racecar"... Yeah right - it looks great, F1Champ!

How on earth did you do those steering wheel buttons so well? Maybe it's just age catching up with me...

F1 Champ... in a word.  "SWEEET!"
Ahhh yes, the I gotta have that kit syndrome.  Which results in having the F2001, F2002 and F399 in 3 different scales.  I "may" have sold off the F2001, good riddance.  A word on the MG kits.  Ok, you may have seen on the web the nice build ups that have been done on those kits.  My advice, which was proven in my previous submission, you can't see the whole story.  The F399 looks really cool in the box and that is where I should have left it.  But noooo, I just had to work on it.  That was 3 years ago.  When the mood strikes I still pull it out.  Long story told short.  Nothing fits, the resin is cast way over thick and nothing looks to scale or accurate.  What you get is a really good pattern to start working.  To date I have reshaped the rear cowling.  Then completely redone the front wing.  I mean cut off the end plates, thin the front wings and end plates, re-made the lower part of the end plates and a few other details.  You will go through several sets of sandpaper and grinding attachments for your moto-tool.  Everything is way to thick.  The difuser looks like a chuck of resin until you start shaping it.  The list is endless.  But the end result should be awesome.  One day.  Now I understand the later kits corrected some of this, so this is just my observations on the F399 and F2001.  I never started working on the F2001, so take that for what it is worth. 

On the black issue.  IF you do it right, and IF you spray it right, and IF the weather is right, you should get a slightly different shading on the blacks.  At least I tried!    I'm always looking for slightly different shades of black, in both semi & flat coats.  If you look at the real cars, black (or carbon fiber as the case may be) is not really black.  And one part is slightly different shade than another.  Still trying to create that effect.  Another neat part is on say the exhaust chimneys on the modern cars.  Look closely and you'll notice some are painted, and some are bare carbon.  Ferrari paints theirs, Honda is bare.  So is McLaren I think.  Just those little details I can never seem to let go.

BTW, F1 Champ, tell me you didn't use the PE parts for the steering wheel.  If so, VERY well done.

Later folks! 

Il Leone, don't get me wrong about the different blacks - fully aware of it. Have tried doing something similar a while ago on a MotoGP bike as well and... well... got the same lack of result! When all dried out, it looked rather the same. The one thing I did find after that episode, though, was a Humbrol paint - not sure of the name, will check it when I'm home. Part of the "buffing" paints, like the polished steel and I'm pretty sure it's called metallic black. That thing is a pain to paint, but it does offer a slightly different-looking black. But, as I said, I dread painting it!

BTW, for anybody interested in "older" kits - Tamiya is rereleasing their Renault RE30 and Brabham BT50 around September according to HLJ.

I can allready see that steering wheel of F1 Champ becoming a legend!

Wow guys thanks for all the great comments, I didn't expect such praise, but i'm somewhat of a perfectionist, so I notice all the little things that I can do better next time.

The steering wheel doesn't have any PE parts whatsoever.

Alright guys, I'm finally done (for now). There's only a few imperfections that somewhat bother me, the nose doesn't match color exactly with the rest of the car, and the Marlboro decal above the airbox tore a little bit leaving a few red marks from the paint underneath visible, other than that and a few other decal mishaps I'm very happy with the finished result. Maybe in a year or two after I can practice on some other models I might give this one another shot and spring for the SMS superdetail set.

Enjoy













And here's what I found at Big Lot's a day or two ago and figured for four bucks it's not a bad deal even if I'm not a JV fan.

Man, that F2001 looks good! You really did it justice, F1 Champ!

Enjoy the FW19! Even though I'm also not a big JV fan (though the same can't be said of his dad!) I simply had to order a Tameo FW19 recently, as well as a BAR001, simply loved the colourscheme on that car!

And as for other models... Look left, Look right... and maybe now Tamiya will release a Honda! Well done Jenson! Schumi too greedy - everything above 7th would've brought in bigger points than him and Alonso finishing 1-2! Was rooting for him to go for a stop as soon as Alonso went out and take 3rd or 4th... Oh well, all does sound very clever with 20-20 hindsight.

Had some nice progress on the MP4/4 this weekend. All that's left to do is the mirrors and the antanae. Everything just suddenly fell into place. Got some decalling done on the R25, in addition to that all the suspension subassemblies are primed.

Hi guys, it took me some time to get back here.

So, whats up, you ask....  I've had some bad luck lately, first off, my PC went to PC-heaven (or more likely with some of the contents of the HDD it'll probably be PC-hell).  A couple of days later I got disconnected (yeah, I spent more money on modeling than on paying the bills   Ayway, my pc is now repaired, but I'm still waiting for the new internet connection.

I havent's spent as much time on my Tyrell 34 as I hoped I could, but still, the drivetrain is coming along.  It sure isn't a new Tamiya kit though

I agree that MS obviously should have taken a stop and just stayed in the points rather than pulling the stunt he did. I also fault the team a little bit for not giving him a new set of tyres on the last stop.

Sounds like the McLaren is coming along, can't wait to see some more pix.

Howdy folks,
I finally got all the decals down on my Williams FW-11. I used Studio 27 decals for the first time, and I must say it's been a bit of an ordeal. I've got a couple of fit problems I'm going to have to touch up, after I match some paint to the blue decals. Anyway,it's starting to look like the  business now, so I should be able to push ahead and get it done.
Cheers
Tony

Quick report to say the MP4/4 is done. Took some quick snaps, but haven't even taken it off the camera yet. Will post later during the week. It is definately not the best 1:43 built yet, but I really enjoyed it and learned a heck of a lot!

Okay, here's the pics... Some points to note - the pics did show up certain flaws I did not even really pick up with the naked eye that was then rectified - due to time limitations no pics taken afterwards. One such example being the red line ending at the rear section where the decal tore just a bit. Another interesting thing that came out in these pics, esp the side one, is the Marlboro red. Everybody's allways talking about the reality and how the camera makes it look - just look at the change in shade on the same pic between the front and rear Marlboro reds! And let me tell you, it's exactly the same, just the different angles the light reflected.

Anyways - here it is. Keep in mind this was my first 43rd effort. It's not a stunner, but it's a step... have a lot learnt to impliment in my next 43rd. (Shock and horror, he will do this to another model...)

Top View

View from LF


Onto another topic. Il Leoni, we talked about the different blacks a while ago. I kept forgetting to refer you to Bil Atridge's site. Have a look at his famous MP4/6 and the differences in blacks he got. Not sure whether the descriptions of how he obtained it all is on his site or a mag article I have at home somewhere...

Seabee:  Nice McLaren!  Well done!   I pulled up that website you mentioned, good thing too.  I also pulled my BAR 006 off the shelf the other night.  I think that is next on the parade of F1 projects.  I saw a couple of ideas he used that I had been considering on mine.  Definitely will give a couple of them a go. 

Progress report.  Second color is on!  All day project to mask it all off, mix the paint, prep the car.  But I think it looks really decent.  So now it is waiting for this to cure out, polish it some to get things down flat and then clear coat.  It's curing out while I work on another GB here.  I'll try and get some photos posted in the near future.  The good news is all the colors are now on the cars.  Time to just rub it all out and then do the finish work.  

Hi Everyone,
As my Williams FW-11 is getting close, I've started planning my next F1 build, which will be a conversion of the Tamiya Lotus 99T back to a 98T. I have the F1 Specialties decals, some photos and I think I know the changes to the cars exterior, as it will be a curbside.
I do need some better photos of the radiator openings in the sidepods, and the windscreen on the real car.
Can anybody help ?
Thanks
Tony

Tony, there is a nice site out there regarding all the JPS Lotusses (at the very least). Have a look here. I have a few JPS ones still to do, love that scheme! Hope it helps. Good to hear the FW11 is coming along!

Il Leone, just for the record (you may have mentioned it before) - what silver do you use? I have a few worries about silver cars coming up and was just wondering what's good, what's not, what shade is which, etc. What's the diffs between eg. Tamiya's Gloss Alum (which they advise for MP4/13's), Silver and the newer Chrome Silver?

Have completed decalling (for now) and clearcoated. Will do some polishing the weekend, some test-fitting of the suspension (need I saw how nervous I am about that...?) now that everything's painted and will also start working on some detail parts (brakes first, still left as well is camera and mirrors).

SeaBee:  It depends! Don't ya hate that?    Ok, but really it kinda does.  If it is a small aluminum part, generally I will go with Tamiya something or another.  That depends on the color shading and my mood.  For larger aluminum, I tend to go with some spray based paint, Alclad or Testors.  But I am thinking you are referring to the silver paint on the Mercedes cars.  For that I have found only one paint that looks right.  MCW (Model Car World) Mercedes Silver.  Mercedes silver paint is just plain nasty to match.  It is a metallic, but the flake is VERY tiny in the paint.  If you look at Testors paints, the metallic flake is way to big and completely out of scale.  I think Tamiya has the same problem.  Another paint that I am liking more and more is Finishers.  About the only place I have found it is Rainbow 10 in Japan.  Cures hard as a rock and is really a bear to polish, but an awesome finish. 

When spraying MCW, I go with a white base that is polished smooth.  After I get a color coat on, a couple coats of clear followed by a good compound polish gets excellent results.  Not that you don't already, but you must have good ventilation and a good respirator with MCW.  It will give off some fumes as it wicks out. 

Hope that helps!

Il Leone, thanks for the info. yes, it was the body colours I was wondering about. But just so you know - you can get a hold of Finishers locally (for you) at Mac's Modeling as well.

Can't wait to see some more pix guys, especially of the McLaren. I just recently found out that SMS has sold out of the superdetail set for the f2001 so I guess my plans of building the model again with it in the far future is squashed, now I just need to save up a little bit of money for the Enzo super detail set since I have the Tamiya model sitting up on a shelf.

Ok, I'm kind of done. Here's pictures. My first F1 car, what an experience. Quite a few things that didn't turn out the way I wanted (don't look at the decal of the left mirror... how could that ever happen...?), but hey, that's what we people call fun, right?
Why was it difficult? Because F1 cars just need to look perfect, shiny, spotless. Everything is smooth, seamless, and glossy. That's quite a difference from the sailing ships I like to build - they leave much more space for variation. There you are supposed to see seams, and color variations, that's what makes it interesting for the viewer.
But I enjoyed building it a lot. Can't promise that it's my last one...

SD

Looks good to me. I think you did an excellent job. It's not always easy to try another model type as you did. Thanks for posting the very nice results.....

We don't have a badge for this group build yet, do we?
What about this one:



Tell me if it hurts your eyes . Not really sure about the green color but to me looks better than all the others I tried. Suggestions welcome.

SD

SirDrake, let's start... at the end. Nice badge (IMO).

Onto earlier stuff - very welll done on that build! Hope it got you hooked! Very true what you said - it's a very unforgiving (in that sense) genre of modeling!

As for myself, the R25's rear suspension is attached (will sort alignment out after fron is done as well. Hope to enlarge the holes for the front suspension and maybe even add it. Brakes done, so all just waiting for the front suspension to arrive...

So whats an Austin 7 doing on a F1 group build, even if it is an Ulster? Well its Bruce McLaren's first race car, the one he started his racing experience in and the one he started his modifying and building. So I suppose it has an F1 link however tenuous!

This is a 1/43rd white metal kit from the Marsh Models stable released a few months ago. Apart from some flash on the chassis, body and exhaust its a great little kit. The wire wheels are fabulous and are made from 6 different parts (except Marsh only put 3 tyres in my kit).This afternoon's clean-up and dry assembly was the first modelling I've done for about 10 months and I had to push aside the Ferrari on my workbench I was doing for this GB to start it.

Anyway I'll put the finished pics in the general auto forum where they really belong.

 

 

Hey Mark, nice to see you around again! Looks like a nice little kit you've gotten hold of there.

On my side, I've tried like mad to get the PE seatbelts to look like anything. And I must confess, I've failed miserably. It just looks... well... crappy. I then remembered (and that's something spechial in itself!) that I've gotten a seatbelt set "around here somewhere". Even more special - I found it! So yesterday I started with a Modeler's seatbelt set I've bought a good couple of years ago. Food intentions having come to nothing thusfar. And it's looking stacks better than the PE stuff. Still far from done with it, though...

Apart from that, just getting the chassis to be in a ready state for when the rest is done - painting the plank, etc. One of those things I've completely forgotten about untill I saw the raw resin and realised I'm not going to be in a mood to wait for all of that to be done once the rest is done.

I think the last time I did any work on it was around late November last year but I've now undercoated and put one top coat on my Ferrari shark nose but the red is too dark for my likeing so tomorrow I'll start again. The cockpit and front suspension/radiator assembly is all done. Hopefully the engine/gearbox/rear suspension will get completed over the coming weekend as well. I went to paint the gearbox a couple of nights ago to find the paint dried up - just goes o show what happens when you don't touch anything for a while.

The A7 is also ready for undercoating.

I went back in these posting to find I had originally decided to do the Brabham fan car for this GB. I'd completely forgoten about that!!

The R25 is starting to resemble a F1. Top and bottom together, seat inserted (after finishing the belts) and the steering wheel inserted. Still looking for a decent reference as to which seatbelts are actually used on the R25. Frustrating the living daylight out of me. But at this stage I am wondering whether I won't just pick a random make (suiting the blue belts) and sticking it on. Because if I searched this long, the people seeing the kit won't even notice the wrong belt make! Yeah, I sence a few purists cringing, so am I... So if anybody knows the answer, speak now! It did not help much that S27 did not bother to even include a decal for it! (I also cannot believe it...)

I am currently busy with the camera and mirrors' painting. But before that will be added, I'll do the barge boards (ready to be added) and sort out the suspension (after adding the wheels). And the the "small issue" of the wings... So all of that will take me (at my rapid rate of building - Mark, you're not alone!) untill Christmas! Haha, maybe I'll finish this before working on it for year... let's blame it on the learning curve...

Quick progress report. No pics, though, as it seems my camera's card is somewhat fed up with life at this stage.

The barge boards have been done. After that I tackled the wheels and the levelling thereof... It went surprisingly well and just had a small correction to make.  Was expecting this step to take me a week or so... Lo and behold, I even did more than I planned to over the weekend - the rear wing is also attached!

The still-to-do list is getting shorter...

Done... at last I'm done! *do little dance of joy*

Well, virtually... Just need to clear some of the white residue left from the rubbing compound (to get rid of the white evaporation marks of the CA glue on two places) and then taking the pics. So close to "there" I even took the next box out of the to-build pile allready!

That's what you get from celebrating too much - you fortget to do the pics! Sorry, here they are at last. Don't bee too harsh, as said previously this was my first attempt at multimedia...

From behind:

Front angle:

 

For those wondering, that little thing looking funny (on the above pic) in the cockpit, it's part of the pe seatbelt buckles showing up. 

SeaBee, looks fantastic. Great colors.

 SD

Seabee, I bought this kit, because of you. Nice work. I've done quite a lot of work on my Williams FW-11, the dcales are done, final assembly and some detailing of the cockpit to go.

I've also completed most of the body work on a Lotus 99T to 98T conversion, although its not in for this GB.

 

Cheers

Tony