McLarem M8B

[Mark W]

While my main WIP is the Chaparral 2C, I thought I’d show this background project.

Everyone love a good WIP.

The high wing will be built fully closed with minimal inside details.

The low wing will be displayed with the panels off, full detail.

If you have done one of these, I’d love to see  your work, as it will give me ideas to improve mine.

Expect the progress on these to be a little slow, as there is a lot of fiddling and I only work on them when the planets are properly aligned.

Edited April 12 by Mark W
Additional information

[bbowser]

Great start!  I'm along for the ride.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Only thing I recall is that extreme care is required to remove some parts from the trees, particularly the wheels, without damage.

Also, the plumbing is kinda springy, and can interfere with the rear body panel fully closing. It's easily remedied by substituting soft wire of the right diameter that will stay in position once it's formed, or...possibly...using a little directed heat to "set" the kit plumbing in a non-interfering shape.

EDIT: One more thing. The tubs on these cars were made of aluminum sheet with an almost polished surface. Silver paint isn't very realistic. Something like Alclad or the old Testors buffing metalizer looks much better.

Edited April 13 by Ace-Garageguy

[Rich Chernosky]

Mark...I have built all three versions of this kit. Think I did it at the same time. I only saved one instruction sheet and will check it for notes if that will help. One thing in particular I remember is the front wheels stick out just a little too much. You will have to grind off some of the hubs and some of the wheels. They are great kits and I enjoyed them a lot. 

[Straightliner59]

Here's one Guy Beaudette built. I thought I had more photos of it. The panels operate, and are removeable, as they should, if they did!😃

[Pierre Rivard]

Should be a fun one to do. Too bad Accurate Miniatures did not survive. Very detailed kits and interesting subjects. Will be following jour journey with great interest.

[bytownshaker]

Looking forward to watching this build.

[Mark W]

18 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Only thing I recall is that extreme care is required to remove some parts from the trees, particularly the wheels, without damage.

Also, the plumbing is kinda springy, and can interfere with the rear body panel fully closing. It's easily remedied by substituting soft wire of the right diameter that will stay in position once it's formed, or...possibly...using a little directed heat to "set" the kit plumbing in a non-interfering shape.

EDIT: One more thing. The tubs on these cars were made of aluminum sheet with an almost polished surface. Silver paint isn't very realistic. Something like Alclad or the old Testors buffing metalizer looks much better.

Bill, you may have saved this build, I always herd the body panels were difficult to fit properly, no one said why. I can easily heat form the lines to fit down in tightly. 
I have a variety of metallic finishes, Vallejo metallics, Alclad and a about a dozen old Testors metalizer. Just need to pick a shiny (non chrome) one.

thanks

[Mark W]

18 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Mark...I have built all three versions of this kit. Think I did it at the same time. I only saved one instruction sheet and will check it for notes if that will help. One thing in particular I remember is the front wheels stick out just a little too much. You will have to grind off some of the hubs and some of the wheels. They are great kits and I enjoyed them a lot. 

Hey Rich, sure if you come up with anything, that would be great! Now is the time to identify any problems. How about some pics.

The tip on narrowing the front track is great!

Edited April 13 by Mark W
Additional information added

[Mark W]

17 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Here's one Guy Beaudette built. I thought I had more photos of it. The panels operate, and are removeable, as they should, if they did!😃

Danial, that McLaren is astounding! 
I only hope I can come close. I will put every effort into making the panels fit and removable. 
This proves it can be done.

If you find any more pics, please share, I’d like to see a rear shot of the car and engine.

thanks!

[Mark W]

11 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Should be a fun one to do. Too bad Accurate Miniatures did not survive. Very detailed kits and interesting subjects. Will be following jour journey with great interest.

Pierre, I agree with you about the passing of Accurate Miniatures. I have enjoyed the Grand Sports and an early Mustang.

Would have liked to see more.

Hope you enjoy this build.

[Rich Chernosky]

Mark..had to re-take these photos as "somehow" most of my earlier phots are missing.  All three of these kits were completed in August of 2008 and all on the same day. Yes I am a glutton for punishment. Most of the tips and pictures you have gotten are great. Best advice I can give is to follow the instructions to the letter. They are very good. Colors on mine are a custom mix laquer that a friend gave me that was matched off a piece of the real car for the orange M8B. Mr color Character Yellow will do in this case. Motschenbacher's car is Tamiya clear red over gold.  Oscars car is Tamiya TS12 orange, TS26 white and TS14 black. The blue streak Goodyears were done with vinyl tape cut down real thin then varnished in place when done. Just flow some white paint into the recesses and wipe smooth for the lettering.  The rear radiator will have to be lowered for the rear deck to fit down. I did not use the kit supplied hinges for the doors. In retrospect I would only use the supplied hoses as patterns and make new ones out of aftermarket parts. The seam lines on the vinyl are way to hard to clean up  and none of them fit all that well anyway. I had more extensive notes on one of my instructions but unfortunaterly gave them to another modeler. I also have another  kit of Mclarens version (still sealed) that I have no idea what to do with. May do another livery if I can find decals and re-visit this kit.  I may have learned a few things in the 17yrs  since I first built these. Hope all this helps.

[Straightliner59]

I knew I had more of these! @Guy Beaudette's Accurate Miniatures McLaren Mk8...

[Straightliner59]

And, the rest!

[Pierre Rivard]

Well Mark, that's a lot of info to digest. Rich and Guy's builds are proof of what can be achieved with this complex kit... but wow, what a complex kit that is.

I'd say this kit is for expert builders just like you Mark. Please provide us with regular updates, this will be epic. My fix for the next few weeks!

[absmiami]

McLaren Mayhem !!

[Racephoto1]

I remember the old Scale Auto did a story on these back in the olden days, so to speak. I remember that they said the oil color in back was finicky to get right, so the body work fits correctly. They are beautiful. 

[Mark W]

23 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Well Mark, that's a lot of info to digest. Rich and Guy's builds are proof of what can be achieved with this complex kit... but wow, what a complex kit that is.

I'd say this kit is for expert builders just like you Mark. Please provide us with regular updates, this will be epic. My fix for the next few weeks!

You’re right Pierre, after looking at these two builds, I had to re-think mine.

The metal A/N fittings are quite pricey, especially for two kits. I bought resin fittings last night and some braided cable.

Going to experiment and see how they look. Rich was right, the vinyl lines are difficult to clean up. Looking at what I did so far and the other builds, my lines look pretty bad. I’m going to try to replace them, good thing I didn’t go too far!

And thanks for the kind words.

[Mark W]

On 4/17/2025 at 1:41 AM, Straightliner59 said:

And, the rest!

Dan, thanks for taking the time to send the pictures, they are going to be an invaluable reference in a complex build such as this.

Guy’s build is phenomenal ! If I can just come close, it will make me very happy.

Have you built any of these yourself?

[Straightliner59]

7 hours ago, Mark W said:

Dan, thanks for taking the time to send the pictures, they are going to be an invaluable reference in a complex build such as this.

Guy’s build is phenomenal ! If I can just come close, it will make me very happy.

Have you built any of these yourself?

You're most welcome! You can bet that if it's on his model, it's correct. I haven't built one, but I have two of them, as well as one, each of the MPC 1/20 scale kits. I guess I like McLarens! Guy is a great builder--one of the best, in my opinion. I tagged him, with the photos, so maybe he'll check in. He doesn't visit this board, too often.

[Mark W]

I have an update (and a small tutorial) on the cars.

My order came for Top Studio fittings and braided line. I started the install and painting, quickly found that it’s better to paint them first while on the trees. These are resin fittings and were first coated with Vallejo silver. Next went the blue and red. I found it’s better to wet your brush often so it thins the paint a bit. The anodizing looks more convincing. Finally a gloss clear coat.

Initially I was going to leave the previously installed vinyl lines alone, but the contrast between the two was too great. I will be replacing them.

But you can’t drill a hole in vinyl, it closes up immediately. So plastic blocks and filters need to be made, you can see a couple I’ve done so far.

Please ask any questions because even though they look different from the metal fittings, I believe this is a viable alternative. A lot less expensive and much less fiddling. 
 

This project will be put aside for a bit to rest my eyes and to make some progress on the Chaparral.

Edited Wednesday at 08:01 PM by Mark W
Added information.

[Pierre Rivard]

I had been wondering about these Top Studio fittings. They look really good on your powertrains. I find the RB Motion fittings to be extremely accurate but difficult to handle and quite expensive. I think these are an excellent alternative. Thanks for the tutorial professor Mark!

[Straightliner59]

That/those make a huge difference! Looks great! Nice work, Mark.

[1959scudetto]

These defenitely enhance realism - looking good!

Edited Saturday at 06:22 PM by 1959scudetto