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Continuing on a finishing tear is this Tamiya 1/20 Mclaren MP4/8. A relatively simple kit this one went together quick in only 3 days. Color on this model is Tamiya TS-26 white and Pactra Odds N Ends Flourescent red. Once again this was clearcoated with a latex clear and was done some time ago. More details in the picture captions. Thanks for looking and comments welcome. All the finished pieces ready for final assembly. Engine detail. Very simiar to my last post but a different engine. Mclaren had to switch to the Ford Cosworth 2.5 litre customer engine when Honda pulled out at the end of the 1992 season. Engine was down on power compared to the Renault and Ferrari engines but was more compact and lighter. Fished car on its wheels. This was a fun build and went together quickly and easily. It was also very similar to the MP4/7 that was done before. Rear veiw and once again the wing attached nicely. Bodywork also went down nice and snug. Once again I pinned it down. All four wheels sit flat on this one too. Side veiw. This is the first Mclaren to feature these side barges. Careful assembly here and they went on without glue. Mclaren won five races with this car due to its outstanding handling but once again they came up short in the drivers and manufacturers championship. This is Michael Andretti's car. Andretti had a lacklustre season in his only try at F-1. His best finish was a third at Monza. He was replaced by Mika Hakinnen

Its back to the bench as i continues my finishing spree. This is Tamiya's 1/20 Mclaren Mp4/7 that competed in the 1992 season. This one was painted some time ago and recently sorted and bagged into painting lots. I have many kits sorted this way so it is relatively easy to just pick one out and finish it. Most of the planning and hard work is already done. Color on this model is Tamiya TS26 white and Pactra Short Cuts flourescent red. Clear finish is a latex clear. This finish dosen't distort the flourescent color but takes a long time to cure. But when it does it is rock hard and polishes to a nice high shine. More info under the pictures. Thanks for following. Finished chassis ready for the bodywork. This fit very well. There were four attachment points that i drill through on the floor pan. I inserted wires into the bodywork and when lined up with the floor pan I bent them over. This is what holds the bodywork securely with out gluing, which cabn get messy. Nicely detailed front suspension with working steering. Engine detail. exhaust fit well and is sprayed with a combination of silver and copper. Honda letters were bare metal foiled then sprayed semi black. The letters were then exposed with some thinner on a tightly folded over paper towel. All this went together cleanly. Finished model on its wheels. This is a nice kit but was not without its problems. The plastic in the center of the wheels was very brittle and two of them had to be very carefully glued back together. Many of the decals had to go on in several pieces as well and that included the after market set of tobacco sponsers. Nice detail in the rear as well. The wing went on easily and in the correct position. Careful assembly of the suspension and this sits on all four wheels. This version was very similar to the MP4/6 that it replaced. But many refinements were under the skin. An automatic transmission, traction control and a lot of electronic upgrades. The team had some success, winning five races but the championship fell to the all dominant Williams team. Gerhard Berger and Ayrton Senna were the drivers and this represents Senna's ride. This is the last car to win with Honda's V=12 engine. The next year Mclaren had to switch to Ford for the MP4/8 and that model is next in the cue. Thanks for looking.

Hot off the bench. Another double project. I remember buying both these kits at the same time. Looked at them many times but always felt a little intimidated by the scope of all the work. Finally took the plunge. Color on both these is Tamiya TS51 blue and TS26 white. Doing two kits at once is not new to me. It does save some time but can be a little frustrating keeping them seperate. While both kits are basically the same there are some differences . Of course the obvious is the bodies but there are also differences in the wings and the clear version has a lot of extra detail parts. Still, it was a fun project and I am pleased with the results. More information in the picture captions. Regular version on its wheels. Really like this paint scheme. Silver decals were a real terror though. Rear veiw. Lots of detail back here. Wing was a real pain to get right. Wheels and tires went on easily and all four touch. Side veiw. I like this body style. This is just at the beginning of adding all those little winglets and doodads. Rear view clear version. Note the different rear wing. This is the German Gran Prix car of Ralf Schumacher. Regular version was done for the Italian Gran Prix as Jaun Montroya. Williams had some sucess this year winning a few races but came up short in the championship. Both models together. The clear version had a lot of extra detail with it. Extra interior parts, carbon fibre decals, photo etch and chromed parts. 1/64 diecast is a Hot wheels. Some oif the detail through the bodywork. Tamiya did an excellent job on the chassis . All the bodywork fit very well although the clear parts take some sopecial handling and gluing. Plastic glue crazes the parts. Revell clear parts cement (in the bottle) was my glue of choice.

An old build I forgot I had, built this back in '98. A bit rough, but I do remeber it being enjoyable to add the detail bits and lay down the carbon fibre decals.