To (re)-build this Williams FW13B I ordered a set of Zero Paints colors at Hiroboy to get the correct matching colors. After some masking and spray painting this is the result.
I also ordered a set of Shunko replacement decals because the set in my kit was ruined. Here the first clear coat is applied in order to get a better result fixing the red and white striping.
Finally the front and rear spoilers were decalled, as well as the nose part. I added an extra spoiler to the rear wing because this model represents the Hungarian GP which Boutsen won.
While the clearcoated bodyparts are drying, I started to assemble the engine and the rear suspension. I also added a nut to the chassis, enabling me to attach the car to a base plate later on.
I did however paint all the parts following the instructions, because the gearbox will be partly visible even with the bodyparts closed. And it will always be possible to look into the engine compartment from behind, so a minimum of colours are advisable.
Next I concentrated to the cockpit, which will of course be visible at all times since this is a single seater. I started by sanding off the injected seat belts and I replaced them by real ones (made by Studio27).
The lower seat belts were installed to the cockpit hub. The little control panel to the driver's left was painted without knowing how it looks in reality. The only reference pic I could find showed the absence of a control panel...
"When details are visible, make sure everything is as detailed as possible"... So the steering wheel was carefully painted and even the white stitching was applied.
Now it's time to do some useless work: painting and decalling the sidepods of the car. I shouldn't do them because they will be invisible anyway, but I just did it for the fun of it 😉
I also painted the interiors of the bodywork. No need to remove the sink marks here since this will not be visible. The black is just there to make sure that the white plastic is nowhere visible.
The steering wheel with the white stitches will be very visible because the cockpit of nineties racecars were very wide and low. Until Senna's crash, when they became a lot narrower and higher.
Too bad that all of this won't be visible anymore once the bodyparts are fixed in place... Oh well, we still have the pictures to check out how things were.
In the mean time I added a lot of rivets to the bodyparts. I also added an antenna, which was absent in the kit. This concludes the build of the Williams. The pictures of the car with fixed bodyparts are in my 'finished model album'.