Accurate Miniatures McLaren

[JLewis]

Well, here we go.   This is a kit I built in the last millennium and had a pretty disappointing result.   It is on one hand magnificent, and on the other hand frustrating.   I am going to go at it again hopefully with the patience that old age gives you.   I want to put in as much detail as I can without buying expensive aftermarket items.   I am going to try some ideas about detailing with very inexpensive stuff and hopefully I can find my way through it.   I have never posted on any forum before but I figure if I post the build, it will give me incentive not to give up on it.   I encourage thoughts and ideas because the wealth of knowledge here is fantastic but I am not going to be a stickler for color perfection.  I will use artistic license to perhaps use colors that, while not the exact match to the 1:1 car, will hopefully create a pleasing appearance and add to the detail. 

 

Wish me luck!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Welcome. 

Good one to start off with...it's a beautiful kit. The only criticism I have of it is how soft the plastic is (on my examples anyway) and because of that, how easy it is to bugger the rims of the wheels when removing them from the sprues. I wish I had been forewarned. 

[randyc]

You have already built it once, so as you said [perfectly, btw], it is magnificent and frustrating all at the same time.  I have done the same.  The Auto World car and now somewhere I have the red one started.   Good luck with it.  Go slow.  

Randyc

 

[Miatatom]

For the color, use Tamiya Camel Yellow lacquer. It's really close. I've got that one in my stash and will be following your build

[GlueTube]

Good luck! As you know its a bear. I have subbed Detail Master braided line and craft braid for the vinyl lines. it sure helped in the assembly.

 

REgards

Brian Kroon

[JLewis]

Thanks for the welcome and encouragement.  There is no turning back now, paint has been spilled! (Figuratively

speaking).    Not much to show, I know, but I have been trying to put in some homework before making the big jump into really making a mess of things.   I do plan to replace all the vinyl hoses with my own versions, but I guess the frugal Yankee in me is reluctant to spend two or three dollars for each hose assembly.   We will see if I can concoct my own suitable replacements for a more modest investment.   Some expirementation is necessary.   That is what makes this fun, trying to create detail from different sources.

  

Thanks for looking and have a great night!

[Len Woodruff]

Looking forward to your build James.

[Crazy Ed]

    Being a CanAm Fan from back when, I'll be following this. A little suggestion James, take black wire who's insulation fits the size of the Oil Lines and gently pull it through 600 or so sandpaper it'll break the gloss so it looks like period Oil Lines with the plus that it'll stay where you want it.

[JLewis]

Thanks CrazyEd for the tip.   Were the period oil line styles braided hose?   All the pictures I have found use braided:

I like your idea.  I will have to try it when I get home.     There are a lot of hoses on this beast.  I want to find a way to make a good facsimile  without spending hours on each one.   It is interesting how hard it is to adopt a different approach and slow down, treat each piece as a jewel in itself.   I find I enjoy the research and testing of different scratch-building ideas much more when I give myself permission to take the time to experiment with different materials.   I hope that tonight I can get some more picture-worthy work done.     

[astroracer]

A trip to the local craft store will get you some very convincing braided line if you look through the beading section. You can also build the aluminum fittings for next to nothing using some 1/16th aluminum tubing, a file, a hex shaped pin vise and a hobby knife. If you want to know more just ask.

Mark

[JLewis]

So, tonight some fun.   All of the images I see of the real thing have plug wire looms and long protective boots where the plug wires go down between the exhaust pipes.   First I built a jig to enable me to make evenly spaced holes for wire looms.  The jig lets you move a stop pin through each of four holes and you can drill sets of holes.

When you get done you have a four, three, two and one hole set in .010 styrene.   I then cut out each one leaving a little tail on each one, like an L shape.Now I measured the spacing on the valve covers and cut little slots at each loom spot.   

 

 

[JLewis]

I use a jeweler so saw to cut a thin slot to position the loom pieces in

next I put the loom pieces into the slots in the valve cover and use a drill bit to line them up

glue them up and send them to paint

[JLewis]

Now for plug wires.  I found an electronic distributor that sells the exact wire that the aftermarket charges about two dollars a foot.   I got ten pieces, each ten feet long in ten different colors.   That's 100 feet for $5.65 including shipping.  Probably enough to last the rest of my life.

I also have been playing around with heat shrink tubing.    I found some that was .61 mm with a two to one shrink ratio.  That means it will shrink to about .30 mm which is just about 3/8 inch in scale.   I cut four pieces and shrunk them in the plug wires.

[JLewis]

Last, I threaded th wires through the looms and all I have to do is drill plug holes for the yellow ends to go in and we have some pretty neat plug wires.

i used this this method on a Corvette engine to do both the plug ends and distributor cap.   I had always disliked distributors with the wires all just shooting out the top in a big bundle.   I wanted a cap with proper boots.   Here is the result of that

 

[JLewis]

That's all for tonight.  Thanks for tuning in

[RancheroSteve]

Looking pretty spectacular already!

[Crazy Ed]

Thanks CrazyEd for the tip.   Were the period oil line styles braided hose?   All the pictures I have found use braided:

      Hope sometime you'll find it useful. Depended on the Team. McLaren, Chaparral, Gurney etc yep A&N Fittings with Braided lines. But if you were one of the Many low bucks folks, barbed fittings, Rubber tubing and Hose Clamps were not a rare sight.

     That's a really slick wiring method you have there! Did you work in Electronics? Your setup reminds me of a Wiring Harness Board, just LOTS Smaller.

[Quick GMC]

Nevermind, I'm dumb

Looking forward to this build, I think I want this kit. 

Edited September 1, 2016 by Quick GMC

[花火]

WOW! amazing with the engine so far!!

[JLewis]

Thanks to CrazyEd, you sure know a lot more than I do about these rigs.   I hope to do it justice.   Quick GMC - these kits are not that rare, in fact I just got another one for $15.00.  Owner said they weren't sure if anything was missing, but all that was missing was the decal sheet.   The instructions are more like a novel with hints and suggestions.   I probably never read them the first time I built this.

[Funkychiken]

Looking good so far!

[Funkychiken]

Not so rare kits, they oftern sell in the UK for £15

I have 1 in the stash, but too scared to touch it!

[JLewis]

 

I am going to take a stab at creating my version of a braided hose.  I have been playing around with this idea which is a mixture of other ideas and some fresh ingredients.   So here is what I am going to use.    First is an assortment of hex beads.  I have four sizes that scal from 2.5 inches down to 1.25 inches.   I got them in a metallic finish, but there are scads of different colors.     Today I am using the number 15, which scales out at 1.25 in real life.   This size costs $5.00 for about 1300 beads (they are sold by weight).

next I have some coaxial cable.   I found some coaxial cable with an outside scale dimension of 3/4 inch.   I also have some .4 mm wire and some .60 mm shrink tube.   The coaxial cable is currently $.77 for 5 meters or less than a penny an inch.

here are the different bead sizes in comparison

i take the coaxial cable and slice off a little insulation so I can grab hold of the inner sheath with some pliers.   By pulling like you are milking a cow eventually the outer cover will slide off leaving the braid.

[JLewis]

The final thing is to use some tweezers to find the inner core wire and pull it out.  Now you have three things.  The outer case, the braid, and the inner core.

[Crazy Ed]

   Hi Jim, is that either RG 178 or 179? Wondering because the OD for them is ~.06" or .07" not 3/4"