McLaren MP4/5 Honda - GP Brazil 1989 - WIP

1
February 4, 2013
This is the real car that I want to replicate in scale. Recently, Fujimi has released this car as a 1:20 full plastic kit, but since I had already purchased this MSM transkit I intend to build it.
2
February 4, 2013
This is what you get in the transkit: a resin body + chassis, 2 front wheels, rear wing supports, a new windscreen and decals.
3
February 4, 2013
So I started to clean up the resin body and to enhance the panel lines. Next I fitted the Tamiya cockpit hub + seat.
4
February 4, 2013
Then I adapted the suspension arms to this resin body, which took me a day! I also had to 'steal' the front wing from the Tamiya donor kit.
5
February 4, 2013
The MP4/5 didn't look the same in every GP! In fact, the only GP where Senna had the narrow cowling in front of the radiator was the Brazilian GP (see photo). Since this is the version which MSM chose to replicate, it is the version that I will make.
6
February 8, 2013
Now let's concentrate on the rear suspension. First I drill 7 holes to make sure I can always join the chassis and the body exactly the same way.
7
February 8, 2013
Next I clear out 2 important areas, by milling the resin material away. This results in dusty lungs and a very dirty workspace...
8
February 8, 2013
But it was worth the effort: the cockpit at least looks like it is possible for a driver to stretch his legs now.
9
February 8, 2013
The transkit provides in a part which should be used to replace the kit gearbox and rear wing support. But when I look at the rear of a McLaren MP4/5...
10
February 8, 2013
... and I compare this with a picture of the rear of a McLaren MP4/4...
11
February 8, 2013
I'm convinced that the resin part (to the right) is the gearbox of a McLaren MP4/4! So I decided not to use it and scratch the rear end of the MP4/5 myself (to the left).
12
February 8, 2013
I also decided to keep at least part of the engine instead of cutting it away completely, to ease the installation of the gearbox.
13
February 8, 2013
I had to cut away a part of the top and a part of the bottom.
14
February 8, 2013
At the bottom I closed the gap again with plastic sheet to be able to fix the engine to the chassis.
15
February 8, 2013
The hole in the engine's bottom will fit over the alumium tap that I fixed to the chassis.
16
February 8, 2013
Surprise! When joining the chassis and the body, I realize that the diffuser is NOT very symmetric...
17
February 8, 2013
But at least my idea of keeping part of the engine works. Here you can see the rear suspension dry fitted to the body.
18
February 8, 2013
It looks ok, but I still have to relocate the diffuser, and more importantly: I still have to check if the rear bodyparts fit between the suspension arms.
19
February 8, 2013
Relocation of the diffuser was not too difficult. Just cut and glue in place again.
20
February 8, 2013
This picture shows how difficult it will be to squeeze the rear bodyparts between the suspension arms...
21
February 8, 2013
Without the rear suspension, everything looks ok.
22
February 8, 2013
But I have no clue how to find out if the rear suspension arms will fit the gaps in the rear bodyparts, and I need something which is fixed to the chassis to be able to do some measurements.
23
February 8, 2013
After a good night's sleep, I found the solution: when I am able to join the lower suspension arms to the gearbox with the rear bodyparts in place, I could do any measurement I want. So I cut the lower arms away and replaced the joints by scratched parts.
24
February 8, 2013
Now it is possible to fix the bodyparts to the chassis, since I can put the lower suspension arms through the gaps. And it's a good thing I decided to do it this way, because the gaps were all in the incorrect locations! I had to relocate them all.
25
February 8, 2013
Same procedure at the other side. Fixing the bodyparts, measuring the arms, and relocating the gaps.
26
February 8, 2013
Finally the engine block + gearbox can be dry fitted to the chassis with the complete suspension in place.
27
February 8, 2013
The lower suspension arms can be attached or detached by simple bolts.
28
February 8, 2013
And now I can finally fit the body on the chassis with the rear suspension in place: some extra tweeking was nessecary, but in the end it out works out.
29
February 8, 2013
And on the other side everything looks allright as well...
30
February 10, 2013
I received a few remarks from fellow modelers who told me that the top cowling should be as wide as the bottom monocoque, which wasn't the case. After careful consideration, I decided to tackle the problem and add some plasticard to the bottom monocoque.
31
February 10, 2013
At the same time I sanded down the top cowling a bit, so they would meet somewhere in the middle. Now they are perfectly leveled. This caused some extra adaptation works of the front suspension. Finally I put the parts in white primer.
32
February 11, 2013
The primer had enough time to dry, so I did a final check of the body, and I slightly sanded it to remove tiny bumps.
33
February 11, 2013
Next I sprayed it with Tamiya TS-26 Pure White.
34
February 11, 2013
Now I will let it dry for at least 24 hours.
35
February 11, 2013
Next I will mask the body to spray the McLaren red...
36
February 13, 2013
Once the white paint is dry, I started with the masking job. I used BMF for the sharp outlines, and Tamiya masking tape to complete the masking job.
37
February 13, 2013
I also masked the bottom side (not visible here) to make sure no paint can slip underneath and ruin the paintjob.
38
February 13, 2013
I also masked the rear bodyparts which have to be Marlboro red as well.
39
February 13, 2013
And here are all the parts, besides the bodyparts, which will be spraypainted Marlboro red as well.
40
February 13, 2013
After the paintjob, I removed the masking as soon as possible to avoid 'breaking' of the paint when removing the tape.
41
February 13, 2013
I'm pretty pleased with the paintjob; the lines seem to be straith and clear.
42
February 13, 2013
Picture of the rear end of the car.
43
February 13, 2013
I'm glad that the rear bodyparts fit well againts the main body.
44
February 13, 2013
Next step was the decalling job.
45
February 13, 2013
It's a mixed combination of Tamiya decals and aftermarket decals.
46
February 13, 2013
Just for fun, I dry fitted the rear view mirrors to the car.
47
February 13, 2013
The decals still have to be polished, and then I will protect them with a clear coat.
48
February 13, 2013
And here I dry fitted the driver figure, to get an idea of how the model will look.
49
February 16, 2013
While the body is drying, I can still go on building the driver figure.
50
February 16, 2013
The body has been sprayed gloss red, next I put all the decals on, and finally I sprayed a flat coat over the figure. Now I can start painting details.
51
February 23, 2013
The body has been clearcoated.
52
February 23, 2013
The clearcoat is ok, but unfortunately, it changed the color of the Marlboro red...
53
February 23, 2013
I'm not sure if you can see it on this picture, but the red on the body looks more orange now, in comparison to the red on the rear wing which hasn't been clearcoated yet.
54
February 23, 2013
A second surprise came when I wanted to apply the decals on the rear wings. The 'Courtaulds' sponsor was not the same during the whole season. Here you see it during the Imola GP.
55
February 23, 2013
At the end of the season the 'Courtaulds' sponsor was altered. Since the decals available are those of the McLaren MP4/5B, looking like this one, I can't use them because I'm making the McLaren of the Brasilian GP. So I had to order an extra decal sheet..
56
February 23, 2013
That is why I didn't apply any decals yet to the rear wings. The other wing parts have been decalled.
57
February 23, 2013
In the meantime I concentrated on the driver figure. It was detail painted and shadows have been added. Next I fixed the safety belts.
58
February 23, 2013
The small white stitches have been drawn with a white color pencil.
59
February 23, 2013
The helmets have been clearcoated, and the face have been painted manually. I also painted the white of the eyes. Of course this is not finished yet. The helmet on the right is the MP4/5 helmet; the one to the left is a MP4/4 helmet.
60
February 23, 2013
I dry fitted the helmet on the body, to give the correct impression of the driver figure.
61
February 24, 2013
During his McLaren carreer, Senna used basically the same helmet livery/sponsors. But the helmet interior changed from time to time. Here it looks a tan color.
62
February 24, 2013
Here the interior looks bright geen.
63
February 24, 2013
And here it looks blue. I think he used these colors when he felt like it; I chose to paint the interior bright green because I think this was typical for Senna, no other driver ever used this to my knowledge.
64
February 24, 2013
So that is what I did. After the completion of the face I painted the bright green, next I painted the flat black protection.
65
February 24, 2013
And this is how the helmet looks in the body. Now I can start applying details like the vizor, the intercom cable, and so on.
66
February 25, 2013
Today I added some small but important details to the helmet. To the left side I added an intercom connection + cable.
67
February 25, 2013
The clear vizor was also installed and sealed with 2 aluminium rivets. Next I fixed the last 'Honda' decal to the vizor.
68
February 26, 2013
Today I dry fitted the helmet on the driver's body and into the cockpit.
69
February 26, 2013
I only now notice that a part of the 'Courtaulds' decal at the right hand side is missing, which probably happened during compounding (and before clearcoating). I'll have to solve this one as well...
70
February 26, 2013
Close-up of Senna behind the wheel.
71
February 26, 2013
And a front shot of the driver.

Opmerkingen

4 February 2013, 12:05

Guy Golsteyn
Next year, on may 1st 2014, it will be 20 years after Senna's fatal crash at Imola. As a tribute to the all-time best F1- driver I want to finish all my 1:20 kits before that day. So I started to build the 1989 McLaren MP4/5 this time...

4 February 2013, 12:38

Tim van Dooremalen
ALL(!) your 1/20 kits? Or just Senna's?

4 February 2013, 13:53

Guy Golsteyn
Euhrmm! All my 1:20 Senna kits I mean😉

4 February 2013, 13:54

Stefan Suessemilch
that's a very nice idea Guy, this tribute!

4 February 2013, 17:53

Dirk Heyer
Nice idea!

4 February 2013, 18:42

Tim van Dooremalen
I've got a Tamiya MP4/8 with rain-tires for his Donington car... perhaps I should start that one next 🙂

4 February 2013, 19:04

Stefan Suessemilch
I'll join with building my Tamiya McLaren 4/5B in time 🙂

4 February 2013, 22:58

Riet D
👍

5 February 2013, 22:04

Guy Golsteyn
After a week of preparations to the main elements of the model like chassis and nody, I think I have reached the moment I can start applying some paint...

8 February 2013, 17:37

Riet D
awesome prep work

9 February 2013, 10:33

Guy Golsteyn
The bodyparts have been put in white paint...

11 February 2013, 21:18

Guy Golsteyn
Decals have been applied...

14 February 2013, 06:51

Vincent Heemskerk
Excellent work! You must be a very patient man to keep fiddling with the rear suspension...

14 February 2013, 08:52

Dirk Heyer
Every time as I ve a look on your workbench, I`m paralysed!!
Your skill is so unbelievable high, that I´m thinking I built only wrong model themes!
I must built a F1 racer once!

14 February 2013, 20:22

Guy Golsteyn
Sure, why not? Give it a try, it's a lot of fun😉

14 February 2013, 21:14

Dirk Heyer
Like the motorcycle theme, I`ll do this! Yes, I will do it!
I hope we can talk a little bit about painting Formula One Racer in Mol? Would be cool!
Greetz
Dirk

14 February 2013, 22:04

Guy Golsteyn
The driver figure was painted in basic colors.

16 February 2013, 10:40

Guy Golsteyn
A few updates have been added.

23 February 2013, 15:36

Guy Golsteyn
The helmet received some extra details.

25 February 2013, 21:17

Stefan Suessemilch
Superb work Guy, I'm absolutely thrilled by your fine detail work. I get more and more frightened to start my kit. I just thought (like Jeremy Clarkson) how hard can it be?? But now...

26 February 2013, 11:04

Guy Golsteyn
Lol, frightening people is the last thing I want to do with my thread. On the contrary, I'm hoping to help people here and there where things start to get a little complicated or confusing...

26 February 2013, 12:11

Stefan Suessemilch
Well yes, help is what I definitely need 😉 How do you paint the face? Do you use brush or airbrush, which colour, etc. I bought some eyeball decals and thought that would be nice. Do you have any experience with that? Anyway, you're work is always an inspiring example!

26 February 2013, 12:26

Guy Golsteyn
Faces like this one, almost completely hidden behind a helmet, are painted by brush. First a base coat of flesh (enamel) followed by a wash with some brown acryl, to prevent the base color from dissolving again. Next a little touch-ups with enamel again. The eye-white and eyeballs are done manually as well, but I think the eyeball decals are a good idea, I'l probably try that next time. But complete faces like the Jochen Rindt face are done by airbrush.

26 February 2013, 13:04

Stefan Suessemilch
Thanks a lot Guy for your reply. I had no idea painting faces in two colours. I'll give it a try and will show results asap.

27 February 2013, 22:17