My McLaren MP4/6 - Updated September 16

[Steve Keck]

This project was started in late 2009 as a friendly, long distance build between Mark Jones, AKA, Scale-Master, and myself. After winning the Tamiya 1/12th scale McLaren MP4-6 for Best of Show at the 2009 Cruise for a Cure model car contest I cleared the workbench and tried to keep pace with Mark who had started earlier. The guidelines were simple â€" build the kit within the rules of Out-of-the-Box.

Mark elected to follow the kit painting instructions while I deviated from the instructions where photo references supported the variations. I went for the used but not abused look. Thank you to Jeff Wallen of Tucson, an avid F-1 modeler, who provided volumes of reference materials.

Mark's build is documented here: http://www.modelcars...=1

He was very helpful in sharing tips and tricks from what he had learned as he preceded me through the build. I reciprocated where I could.

Mark used the kit supplied decals that substitute "McLaren" for "Marlboro". I chose to find the Marlboro decals on the aftermarket from Tabu. Mark supplied the Goodyear decals for the front wing - twice in my case.

I will only high light significant variations from Mark's narrative in his write-up.

Adhesive backed foil duct tape was added to the exhaust headers to represent welded joints then dry-brushed with various metallic paints and sealed with Dullcote.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Steve Keck

[LAone]

wow, just with these 3 pics, you have my attention. got a feeling that this is gonna look killer.

[Danno]

Ahhhh, high noon at the O.K. Corral as we pull up our monitors and witness this shoot-out as it unfolds!

[Steve Keck]

Ahhhh, high noon at the O.K. Corral as we pull up our monitors and witness this shoot-out as it unfolds!

Jeesh! I hope no one gets shot.

This is just a long distance build by friends.

You want drama? Watch the made for TV "reality" shows.

[Scale-Master]

Those parts look great Steve! Don't listen to Mr. Taylor, I don't think he knows what he's looking at... or more likely his tongue is firmly planted in his cheek.

[Steve Keck]

Those parts look great Steve! Don't listen to Mr. Taylor, I don't think he knows what he's looking at... or more likely his tongue is firmly planted in his cheek.

I know Mr. Taylor and his eyesight acuity. I just hope I'm not on the known accomplices list.

[Steve Keck]

The front wing end plates were also covered with ScaleMotorSports carbon fiber decals; just not the Hi-Def. They were then cleared with Testors Glosscote tinted with Tamiya Smoke.

I’m really not as far behind Mark in my build as the difference in posting dates would indicate. I just got around to painting the rails on the end plates.

[Steve Keck]

None of the reference photos showed the Calsonic stencils on the radiators so I omitted them. I used Alclad chrome on the piping. Formula 560 was used to secure the intercooler halves and was then shaped into weld lines while still tacky. It was then dry brushed to match the surrounding area.

We found out the suspension arms were not bare carbon fiber so they received Testors Black Chrome.

The injector stacks got a coat of semi-gloss to knock down the chrome.

[Steve Keck]

Testors Non-buffing Metalizer Exhaust was used to replicate ceramic rotors.

I couldn’t envision screws on the kit where they were absent on the 1:1 vehicle. On the bottom of the pan I used the kit screws to secure the body mounting brackets then filled the holes with CA glue and sanded the heads flat. The center, rear screw will be a locator pin for the engine. I reamed out the hole in the engine just enough for a push fit. Testors Dullcote was tinted with Tamiya Smoke to weather the underside.

Mark provided paint masks for the carbon fiber portions.

Photos showed the reflective foil on the 1:1 pan was much more wrinkled than the kit supplied foil so I opted to use an old and wrinkled sheet of BMF. Lady Luck intervened and one single piece of BMF came off the sheet where I was expecting tearing and irregular pieces. Not wanting to waste such a large piece of BMF I used it so the foil is much smoother and uniform than I wanted.

Tamiya provided very fine, engraved lines on the topside representing carbon fiber. The instructions call for semi-gloss black paint. Photo references show indistinct, mottled gold appearing carbon fiber that is only visible in bright light. I dusted Alclad titanium gold at a very shallow angle so only one side of the engraved lines received the Alclad. I followed this with Testors Glosscote.

[289MG]

Testors Non-buffing Metalizer Exhaust was used to replicate ceramic rotors.

I couldn’t envision screws on the kit where they were absent on the 1:1 vehicle. On the bottom of the pan I used the kit screws to secure the body mounting brackets then filled the holes with CA glue and sanded the heads flat. The center, rear screw will be a locator pin for the engine. I reamed out the hole in the engine just enough for a push fit. Testors Dullcote was tinted with Tamiya Smoke to weather the underside.

Mark provided paint masks for the carbon fiber portions.

Photos showed the reflective foil on the 1:1 pan was much more wrinkled than the kit supplied foil so I opted to use an old and wrinkled sheet of BMF. Lady Luck intervened and one single piece of BMF came off the sheet where I was expecting tearing and irregular pieces. Not wanting to waste such a large piece of BMF I used it so the foil is much smoother and uniform than I wanted.

Tamiya provided very fine, engraved lines on the topside representing carbon fiber. The instructions call for semi-gloss black paint. Photo references show indistinct, mottled gold appearing carbon fiber that is only visible in bright light. I dusted Alclad titanium gold at a very shallow angle so only one side of the engraved lines received the Alclad. I followed this with Testors Glosscote.

Steve, lookin good, will you have it done and come to CFAC this year--Ed Boll

[Danno]

Steve, I know you're after total accuracy, and I offer this in that spirit: Your model clearly shows Ishino 5540-7894 exhaust gaskets, when the real car used Hondata ECU-09987-B exhaust port gaskets. I'm sure you'll want to correct this prior to assembly.

I noticed that, too. Glad you pointed it out, Mark. We want no sophmoric errors on this masterpiece!

[Scale-Master]

I thought everyone knew the Ishino gaskets were used only during the German GP,(and we all know what happened...). But since Steve is using the Marlboro graphics, not the McLaren, (the version I am doing BTW), he should correct this. Otherwise, great job Steve!

[Steve Keck]

Thanks Ed. I'm honored with your very first post here. Welcome! What? Did you run out of airplane models to build? Finishing it for this year's CFAC is not realistic considering my progress on the build.

Thanks, Mr. Taylor, for pointing out my error on the exhaust gaskets. This one got by me. I will have to intensify my research before starting a build. If it's simply different paint I would be open to changing it.

And, Danno, baby, who's calling who sophmoric? And, this, here and now after your recent comments in another topic about taking the high road. Not likely anymore for you!

And, finally, Mr. Scale-Master, you had early pictures of my engine with the "now inaccurate" gaskets. You let me post these humiliating pictures. You set me up for failure!

Edited March 21, 2011 by Steve Keck

[Scale-Master]

"And, finally, Mr. Scale-Master, you had early pictures of my engine with the "now inaccurate" gaskets. You let me post these humiliating pictures. You set me up for failure!"

Sorry Steve, from the beginning you knew I was doing a different version than you, and like I said, we all know what happened at the German GP relating to those gaskets. In the future I'll try to provide some reference for the models I am not building, just for you... If it were me, I'd consider leaving them the way they are, I understand the way the car was shown in the museum was using those gaskets. Most people will never know. If you can live with that.

[Mooneyzs]

This is looking great so far. Nice work at attention to detail.

[Steve Keck]

The 1:1 seat appears to be covered in suede so I added baking soda to the Tamiya flat acrylic paint to give it more texture; same for the steering wheel. My camera likes to emphasize the blue part of the spectrum. I promise the seat is much grayer.

The engraving on the monocoque frame is beautiful! Tamiya provided very fine, diagonal engraved lines on the outside representing carbon fiber. It was finished as described in the previous update. The sides contain the evidence of my experimentation to achieve this look which will be hidden by the radiator ducting.

Here are the best examples I have of the engraved lines emphasized with Alclad titanium gold:

[Steve Keck]

Now Steve...don't get the impression that I'm trolling your thread looking for nits...but I think that you have the wrong springs installed. Pretty sure the race set-up was 1560#(left) and 1700#(right) springs, not the 1200# springs clearly shown in your pictures. The 1200# springs would only have been in there during transport to the race and removed when they set up the car, not used during competition. Hope it's not too late to fix this, as any McLaren fan is going to see it straightaway looking at the model.

It took 12 minutes for you to post and you're not trolling my topic? R-i-g-h-t!

And Mark, this car turned left as well as right so it would use the same springs on both sides. Or, are you lesdexic and meant to say front and rear?

See those screws on the damper bodies? They simply tightened them to prevent travel during transport. No 1200# springs were needed.

[Steve Keck]

They used the different L/R spring rates at some tracks. It depended on the track condition, and the fact some tracks have mostly sweeping corners in one direction, and tighter radius ones going the other way. Look it up on the McLaren forums...it's one of the little-know tricks that the team used seeking the smallest advantage. It's a fact. They used the lighter transport springs to prevent damage during offloading. Again, it's all over the forums. The moderator at one of them actually owns a set of transport springs that were given to him by Ron Dennis.

Mark, I believe you truly are dyslexic, no insult intended, but you are twisting things around more than usual.

Heavier springs were used during transport (if at all - see my prior reply to you) if more ground clearance was required depending upon how steep the on/off loading ramp was. Like you said "it's all over the forums".

And its Dennis Ronald.

[Scale-Master]

I'm glad I am building mine just out of the box so I can blame any spring rate errors on the people who did the research for the kit. Doesn't one of the cottage aftermarket companies offer the correct springs? Or maybe if you just paint them the correct green color it will look close enough? Either way the build looks really good regardless of the level of accuracy.

[Steve Keck]

My black springs are accurate and follow the detailed pictures I have that were taken in the garage area. No doubt you are confusing the museum display with the race version. So I stand by my level of accuracy, regardless.

[Reeves Racing]

Steve, I know you're after total accuracy, and I offer this in that spirit: Your model clearly shows Ishino 5540-7894 exhaust gaskets, when the real car used Hondata ECU-09987-B exhaust port gaskets. I'm sure you'll want to correct this prior to assembly.

[Steve Keck]

Textured foil similar to that found in cigarette packs was used to cover the hoses.

Digital photography misses nothing! I see where I need to touch up some gaps in the foil.

[Scale-Master]

I'm sure once you burnish down that foil it will be nice and smooth!

It's supposed to look like a baked potato... with a seam...

[Steve Keck]

The exhausts are installed.

The engine is complete with the intake manifold and cylinder heads installed. The radiators and associated ducting have been installed as well.

The 1:1 Honda name and logo appear to be cast aluminum painted black that were then machined to hi-light them. I applied BMF, painted them Testors black chrome and then used a lacquer thinner soaked tooth pick to remove the paint to reveal the raised portion.

[Josie]

On 3/26/2011 at 4:11 PM, Steve Keck said:

It took 12 minutes for you to post and you're not trolling my topic? R-i-g-h-t!

 

And Mark, this car turned left as well as right so it would use the same springs on both sides. Or, are you lesdexic and meant to say front and rear?

 

See those screws on the damper bodies? They simply tightened them to prevent travel during transport. No 1200# springs were needed.

We never transported the F1 cars with race shocks always with used shocks. Once the cars are in the garage we swap them for the race shocks with correct spring rates to be used for that particular circuit.