McLaren MP4/6 Long Term WIP

[gasser59]

This build and thread are outstanding Mark. We all greatly appreciate you taking the time to document your progress and techniques.

[Scale-Master]

I left the body to dry in a closet for a little more than the last five months due to the paint wrinkling issue. It seemed like it had cured and might be stable…

So I sanded out the defects and reshot a white base and built up and blended the TS-36 Fluorescent Red into the rest of the rear section. It looks like I may be on my way to saving it as it still looks like this after about 24 hours… Only time will tell…

[Tony T]

Fabulous build, Mark! Thank you for sharing it, paint re-works and all.

[jaymcminn]

Nothing better than a great builder showing all of us who aspire to that level that even the best builders struggle sometimes. Great work on this model, and this thread!

[gibsonr9]

The radiators and ducts were done a few weeks ago, but there has not been much sunshine to shoot them in until recently. I made the decals for the Calsonic lettering, (had a problem with the ones in the kit cracking), a little wash brought out the depth, and the bright silver plumbing was brush painted using a Tamiya Mini 4WD paint pen's paint mixed with mineral spirts. Not as bright as sprayed Alclad or Alsa chrome paint maybe, but certaily bright and very easy to work with. And yes, it does dry fully in a few hours.

The trans/rear suspension/engine assembly is growing too. ScaleMotorSports decals were used for the shock arms, fronts were done at the same time as the rears for continuity.

The injectors are almost done too. SMS C/F decals on the airbox base.

That's all I have to show for now...

Hi Bud,the build quality is fantastic but if you dont mind me saying,the suspension isnt carbon fibre or at least they are plain black?

[Scale-Master]

Dont mind at all Terry, thanks. But it was corrected a good 3 & 1/2 years ago as shown in post #23 in this thread.

The rear suspension/transmission is pretty much done...

I had some conflicting info when I was building that section early on, but found some photos and painted them.

Coincidentally I was just looking at this project last night thinking I should resume it and maybe finish it

[gibsonr9]

Dont mind at all Terry, thanks. But it was corrected a good 3 & 1/2 years ago as shown in post #23 in this thread.

I had some conflicting info when I was building that section early on, but found some photos and painted them.

Coincidentally I was just looking at this project last night thinking I should resume it and maybe finish it

That looks fab now!!

The exhaust and engine block etc top notch.

Terry

[Scale-Master]

OK, this thing has been sitting for a quite a while due to the paint fighting with itself on the main body. Most of the car is done; I just need to finish the body. A few times I sanded out the wrinkles (on the right rear) and touched up the paint only to have the issue come back a month or so later, so I stopped touching it up but continued to sand out the wrinkles as they appeared every few months. I thought I had won the battle back in April 2012, but sadly the same thing happened a little while after I painted it once again.

I continued to sand it as problems manifested, but I noticed it has been pretty stable all year.

Its been about 6-8 months since I last sanded the problem area and it looked the same as when I last checked.

First I had to blend the white base in, and I found by tinting white primer with yellow and pink I could apply less paint and get an even blendable base. Then I started building up the Fluorescent Red.

You can see what I painted yesterday does not match, (it is too pale and lacking vibrancy, and not 100% uniform), but it is all the paint I can apply this round.

Today I built up some more TS-36. Still not there, but getting closer

It still needs another round of paint, but Ill probably let this dry for a while to make masking easier

[gibsonr9]

The chassis pan is now attached and the engine is almost done... I have also been working on the the body/paint. Photos of that when it is safe to handle...

HI Bud,

Can I ask,how did you paint the Honda writing etc? Silver pen?

Thanks

Terry

[TFchronos]

Amazing build and detail!

[Scale-Master]

HI Bud,

Can I ask,how did you paint the Honda writing etc? Silver pen?

Thanks

Terry

I just freehanded over the molded in detail with a #0 brush and some Tamiya X-11 chrome silver paint.

At this time the paint I shot about 3 weeks ago to repair the area that went wonky is still stable appearing. I'll give it a little longer before I attempt the (hopefully) final repaint.

[Zoltan]

really nice work

[microwheel]

It's looking good, even with all the issues you had with the paint. Sometimes setting things aside for awhile and coming back to them later, gives you a fresh perspective on how to tackle those stubborn issues.

[Byron5150]

Looking good dude!

[Scale-Master]

It's looking good, even with all the issues you had with the paint. Sometimes setting things aside for awhile and coming back to them later, gives you a fresh perspective on how to tackle those stubborn issues.

Thanks! While that is true, in this case it's been a waiting game due to the paint doing odd and ugly things weeks and months after it supposedly had dried and cured. Once it is stable I'll resume the final paint work and button it up. Its been sitting like this in my showcase for about 3 years.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Scale-Master

[youngtiger1]

Just saw this thread and it's totally cool. Great choice of subject and the work in awesome. Are most of the paint used by Tamiya? TIA

Mike

[Scale-Master]

The exterior body is all Tamiya color. I'll probably finish it off with a urethane clear instead of TS-13 though.

[youngtiger1]

Cool...Thanks. I really like the look of that fluorescent red you used.

Edited August 16, 2014 by youngtiger1

[gibsonr9]

This is my cockpit so far.I made the chrome ring on the right from fuse wire rather than trying to paint it?

[Harry P.]

Mark is having trouble posting, so he asked me to add this update from him...

It’s been well over a year since I last updated the work I’ve been doing on the body.  Every month or two I’d color sand the wrinkles and let it set only to have new ones appear.  I’d sand them out and wait and repeat.  Looks like it might have finally stabilized, but I won’t be too surprised if it reoccurs either.  After all, it’s been the better part of five years since I started painting the body…

Last night I took another stab at it and after sanding out some ripples I blended in some red on the right side and sharpened up the lines on the front with some white.

 

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Scale-Master/media/McLaren%20MP4%206/DSC05940_zpsizpe3bac.jpg.html][/URL]

Don't know why the URL gibberish posted too... but at least the photo came through.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Harry P.

[Scale-Master]

Thank you Harry.

[John Teresi]

Mark......nice job ,looks like you saved the paint.....hope you get your posting issues solved soon .......love to see your work

[Crusader101]

Beautiful work. I have had this kit in my stash since 1994, still unopened. I hope to up my modeling skills significantly before I tackle it (been saying that for the last 20 years).

Thanks for the in-depth post.