Preps continue for F1-GTR

Moving ahead with this one. Here are results from last night.

First I've competed preparations and test fit dry assembly for front section. Everything fits well.


Next, I've reshaped roll cage to fit correctly onto chassis and dashboard. This metal part was deformed while in packaging and shipping, but white metal is easy to re-shape.


Next was time to prepare and fit the roof. Re-drilled all holes for screws and did a little adjustments as needed. Fit is pretty good



At the end of this session I couldn't resist and worked on body parts' preparation and test fitting. Finished by dry assembly of all body panels. Fit is not perfect and would be probably not considered great for plastic kit. But for MM kit it is reasonable. In this form it really does look like F1-GTR.



I'm not 100% done with preparations and clean up for body panels. Rear window cover is the worst part. I was deformed in package and requires a lot of adjustment to fit right. More clean up and re-drilling also needed to front body section. Doors are also major concern. Top sections of doors are not curved enough to get proper fit. There are magnets which supposed to hold them in place when closed. I hope it'll be enough. Otherwise when doors are closed their bottom sections will stick out. I'll try magnets early while still in test assembly phase and if they don't work will have to come up with different solution.
Will continue on weekend, hopefully.

Started MFH F1-GTR build

I've finally started my first full detail MFH kit - F1-GTR short tail. I'm a big fan of McLaren F1 car and especially its racing version F1-GTR. So, I was hugely excited when MFH announced full detail kit of it. I've converted my excitement into motivation and was able to overcome my reservations towards full detail MFH kits. Spent about 10 hours over the weekend. It's hard to stop working on it, so I got to early morning hours Saturday, before I could take a break for sleep. Not much progress so far. Lots and lots of preparation work needed before I could put first layers of primer onto parts. Fit of parts is pretty good so far. But many metal parts require a bit of reshaping and most need little bit of clean up. Nothing major, there is just a lot of parts to go over. Also a lot of holes to drill out. It is typical multi-media kit, so past experience working with such is a big plus. I'm going to use similar approach to this build as I've used to curbside kits in the past. First go over all parts and do needed adjustments and preparations, while performing test assembly. Next get primer on all the parts to be painted and protect bare metal parts with transparent metal primer. Next group parts by colors and paint in batches. Next clear coat before decals, decal application and final clear coat. Next detail painting and then off to assembly. That's the plan anyway. I usually test assemble whole MM kit, or as least most of it, where it is critical to test fit of parts. I've started with chassis and front suspension. Cleaned up parts, drilled holes and did small adjustments needed. All assembly is just dry mock up so far. Here are couple of photos. I haven't decided with livery I will use for this model, but there is plenty of work to complete, before that choice becomes critical.

P34 is back on the workbench

I have worked a bit on P34. Assembled gearbox and most of the rear suspension parts. Attached gearbox to engine. Attached items to the rear of the gearbox. This way I can use this incomplete assembly as a jig to align parts of exhaust system. Next, I've installed PE faces to the rotors of front brakes. Decided to skip them for the rear. Attached cooling ducts to front uprights and processed with sub-assemblies of front suspension frames. They are ready to be installed onto chassis.

Completed to presentable state

I've got both F10 and MP4/27 completed to the state I could present them at contest. Neither one 100% done, but both are off from my work bench for now. Need to switch focus to some other builds. I plan to come back to these at some point later. Finish steering wheels and may be re-do tires. I've spent about 4 hours on tires last night, but could not get all the decals to align correctly. I will try stencil first and if that does not work, I will get water slide decals instead.

Close to finish line with MP4/27

I'm getting closer to completing this model. Mated body and floor for good. Installed barge boards, side panels, cameras and mirrors. All I have left from assembly is DRS mechanism and winglets for front and rear wings. Then I will attach front wing permanently and then one major task will be left - tire decals. I'm leaving that task for last, because I expect issues with Fujimi tire decals. They seem to be not so easy to get right, from what I have read so far.

MP4/27 is pretty much ready for final assembly

Small update, but important unblocking step. Was away on vacation for whole week, but just before that I've finished seat belts. Last night installed the seat into body and installed PE radiator faces into body as well. Next I should be able to marry body and floor and complete overall assembly.

Progress on wings for MP4/27

Concentrated on wings this weekend. First gearbox/rear suspension sub-assembly was permanently attached. Then I've built up rear wing as per instructions and later attached it to the mounting point over rear crash structure and the floor. Because of many attachment points, three in this case, alignments wasn't an issue for this model. Same as it wasn't for F10 either. Front wing is not 100% complete and not yet attached. I'm still debating in my mind if I should add some PE items to front wing. I plan to attach front wing to nose later, when I'm done with all other items, so I don't handle model much afterwards and have less chances to brake it off. I still have to create seat belts and install some PE to body shell, before I marry can it with the floor. Wheels and tires are still in mock up state. First time in my modeling history I will have to glue tires to the wheels. Fujimi tires are a bit wobbly and don't stay put on wheels. Then I will need to make logos on tires. Not sure what approach will be best yet.