Resin casting

It's hard to believe that F2007 build has been waiting for new rear wing's main element for almost a year now. I couldn't make myself to tackle resin casting needed. I wanted to make a resin copy of part from MFH kit. Below are photos of the process and couple of test casts. As I have feared, result is not great. I will do couple more attempt on casting from this mold. Hopefully I will be able to make decent cast to use a start. It will still require quite a bit of putty work to fill all imperfections. So far my experience of making silicon mold has not been great. Still lot to learn and experiment to improve result. Lego blocks are great for making mold boxes.

MP4/22 rescue build

I finally have something to show. Finished applying CF decals to the floor of this model. Took me about 10 hours to complete. Lot more parts to CF.

Internal area of diffusor was most difficult part. But SMS decals work well. I have left bottom plank area for later treatment. Plan is to clear coat CF decals first and then attach plan simulated by wooden sticker or paint it flat earth color.


Top of diffusor wasn't easy also. Had to do quite a bit of patching. But I'm happy with results over all.


Rest were mostly flat straight surfaces and took much less time to complete.

Monopost MP4/25 WIP

Small update, but big step. I've tested Zero 2k and while it seemed to work on test spoon, it started to change shade on real parts. I've started with parts, which will be covered in red decals. So, those were my test parts. My conclusion was that Zero 2K is "no go". I've even tried to spray Mirrachrome over Zero 2K second time. Didn't help much. And trusted Gunze H30 affected Mirrachrome paint and dulled finish as well.

So, I've set out to find another clear, which would preserve this paint. Special Mirraclear product is out of my reach at present. Fortunately Wing&Wheels (probably best LHS in GTA) had all new Alclad clear coats in stock. I've picked up Alclad gloss clear. And it actually did preserve Mirrachrome paint well. Not much affect on shine, if at all. Though it is smelly paint. I've probably put too much of it on the body and it has been drying for 3 days by now, including about 12 hours in dehydrator. Still not 100% dry, I think. Beside it seems to be fragile, compared to Zero 2K, which is pretty solid, when dry.

I'm wondering if it will be save to cover Alclad gloss clear with Zero 2K ? I would really like to get more solid and less fragile clear over Alclad's clear, before I start decal application and parts would see quite a bit of handling.

Here is quick snapshot. Not much difference with previous one. But that's the point - it means shine has been preserved well. MP4/22 on background received few coats of Zero @K clear to protect decals. Zero 2K clear also helped to make colors more vivid on those fluo red decals.

Lotus 97T Belgium WIP

Build is progressing well. I'm almost done painting parts. Will polish body parts and then it's decal time. Should be OK for OOB, but kit is definitely lacking details in engine bay area.

Painted black inside body panels. Monocoque shell is painted with TS40. Should be CF, as on real car, but I'm not going to bother for OOB build.





Engine block is painted with Alclad aluminium. Gearbox was painted with TS42 and then darkened with Tamiya TS71 smoke. A bit too shiny for my liking. Will probably have to dull it a bit with flat clear.



Rest of exhast/turbo system parts painted in Alclad PA and semi-gloss black. I've gone adventures on exhausts and put many different paints over in almost random order :) Looks acceptable to me. Suspension parts were painted in TS29 semi-gloss black and Alclad PA. Brake calipers were painted with TS21 gold, brake hubs with Alclad SS.

Lotus 97T Belgium WIP

Small update for now. Started painting process. Put TS14 onto body parts and number of exhaust/turbo system parts as base for Alclad's high gloss paints. Painted all suspension parts in TS29. And finally put TS40 onto main monocoque shell. Real car of course has a lot of CF used, but I've decided to go with paint only. TS40 is not a perfect match, but I felt it's fine for my OOB build. I thought something else is needed instead of just semi-gloss black. I'm not 100% happy with how TS14 turned out on body parts and will have to polish them before decals. Next, I will be painting various Alclad metallic shades on engine, gearbox, exhausts, radiators, etc.

Quick snapshot of drying parts inside my paint booth. Will do proper pictures when parts are finished. Sorry for messy background.

Monopost MP4/25 WIP

Thrown away my hesitations, got new nozzle and needle for my air-brush and set out to put Mirrachrome paint onto body and wing elements. Nice paint. It actually felt quite similar to Alclad Polished Aluminum. I've got very similar result with some over spray. So, I had to buff the paint a bit to bring full shine out. I mentioned already, that black base I use is TS14. I have compared samples sprayed over Alclad's black base and over TS14, and in my opinion TS14 is better. Overall shade looks brighter and shinier compare to Alclad PA on MP4/22. I was told that Mirrachrome should withstand 2K clear coat better. However judging by how similar it feels to Alclad PA, I suspect that might not be 100% correct. I will try clear out on some not so visible spots.

I have not polished full body surface and you could see that reflections aren't perfect. Ideally one would need to properly level black base to get perfect reflections.

First couple of shots of current state of the body.





Next couple of traditional "family" shots. At present MP4/25 looks brighter. I hope it will stay like than after clear. In my opinion real car does have a brighter shade compare to older 2007-2008 cars.

MP4/22 rescue build

Finished decal application to the body. It looked like shown on picture right below after that.



I could not stand those wrinkled stripes and decided to patch them up. Fortunately I had couple of black striped left over from 2 old decal sets. So, I've sliced them up and patched stripe on the top of engine cover and stripes on the nose. Done the same for fir big side pod decals. Patched some visible seams. I'n reasonably satisfied with end result. Not ideal, but better this way. Hopefully clear coat will make it all look a bit better.





I do not plan any more corrections for this decals. So, this signifies start of finish straight for this model. Next will be a big job of applying CF decals. Plan is to CF everything black on this car.