Tamiya 1/12th Matra MS11 F1

Tamiya’s 1/12th Matra MS11 has taken me, on and off, 6 months to complete. It is basically box-stock and I’ve added some cockpit wiring, seatbelts from MG Models and engine intake mesh from eBay. I used Tamiya paints throughout, and the majority of the decals are the original kit, but the Elf logos are part of a limited-run colour correction set from IndyCals ordered through F1M.com.

It was a fairly straight-forward build with not too many fitment issues, despite the moulds dating from 1969. There was far too much chrome featured in the kit, the only bits I left untouched were the suspension and intakes. Unfortunately the wings were not on the chrome sprue, so I covered them in Bare Metal Foil which seems to have worked nicely.

This build represents the car entered for Beltoise at the Italian Grand Prix in 1968 where he finished 5th, 2 laps down. References were tricky so I’ve done my best with the decal placement, I’m not sure about the driver and team name position but it looks fine.

As a bit of a history lesson, Jean-Pierre Beltoise only won a single GP – the Monaco event in 1972. He lived through one of the most dangerous periods in the sport’s history and is now overseeing his sons’ careers through the racing ranks.

Anyhow, enjoy the pictures, and comments are welcome!

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra01.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra02.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra03.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra04.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra05.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra06.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra07.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra08.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra09.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra10.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/hamishrobson/Matra11.jpg

Genx

Very clean and neat!

Wow very nice ! :thumbsup:

Great model of a great F1, part of former french automotive racing history (like Ligier...:rolleyes: )

To add my small piece of Beltoise history, he now owns a driving school where to improve basic driving skills and is involved in road safety.
Somtimes he's invited in tv show to talk about this subject.

It's really nice to see one of his F1 here, thanks for sharing this build ! :wink:

Great model Genx. I watched this build with great interest. It represents an era that Tamiya just haven't bothered to model in 1/20th which is a shame. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Kind regards,
Bill

Wow awesome job, very clean! I love those old F1's :wink:

Fantastic. I'm tempted.

Well worth the time and effort - looks amazing. Great completion!

Excellent :thumbsup:

You did a great job on this.

Looks amazing,beautiful finish throughout,really nice model.

Wow, that's great! It looks real.

That's a really beautiful build!! I can just see it at speed around Brands Hatch :sunglasse

Nice and clean build. Bravo.

Good lord, what a masterpiece. The first picture is simply amazing. My hat is off to you. Pretty ironic considering you use Homer for your avatar. This model is perfection.

Fantastic looking uild

great looking model!

Excellent work man, nice, clean execution...........:sunglasse :sunglasse

Great build, but... a few words of critisism (if I may?)

I would sand away the unrealistic seams on the tires (you can still do that) and drybrush them with matt light grey. You will be amazed how different this will look.

I would have replaced the original kit wiring and hosing by smaller diameters, since they are oversized. They always are, no matter the scale is 1:6 (bikes), 1:12 or 1:20. The reason for this is that Tamiya likes hollow hoses that you can slide over a connection pin, thus the diameter needs to be kinda big. When I replace the wiring I cut away the pin and drill a hole instead, enabling me to insert a much smaller diameter hose... Anyway, this will not be possible anymore in this build, but maybe you can consider it in a next build?

Other than that : nothing but respect man! I still have this kit in my "to do" pile, and who knows how long it will stay there...

That is a simply beautiful model. Absolutely gorgeous!!

I'm just waiting for J-P B to get in & start it up - those things sound glorious!

Excellent work!:grinyes:

Keef

Awesome job on both the model and the photo's

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

That looks amazing. :ylsuper: I love it!

Superb, the BMF on the wing works a treat. :)

Thanks for all the great comments folks, I was very pleased with the result and I'm glad so many people like it too.

Sennake - thanks especially for the positive critisism. You're right about the tyre mould lines, I may have to go back and sand those off one day, but for now I'm into a new F1 project. I'm not sure about the grey dry-brush though, I think I'd like to see an example of that. And very true about the wiring. I think the red plug wires are ok but the clear fuel lines are a bit thick. Something to try on the next one... Love your M23 by the way!

Thanks for all the great comments folks, I was very pleased with the result and I'm glad so many people like it too.

Sennake - thanks especially for the positive critisism. You're right about the tyre mould lines, I may have to go back and sand those off one day, but for now I'm into a new F1 project. I'm not sure about the grey dry-brush though, I think I'd like to see an example of that. And very true about the wiring. I think the red plug wires are ok but the clear fuel lines are a bit thick. Something to try on the next one... Love your M23 by the way!


generationx - Oustanding. This is a very hard to build kit, one has to have a little of madness to confront this kind of projects :screwy: and you did very well congratulations.

Sennake (guy) I never tried the drybrush but sounds very interesting in this kind of tires, I will try with some already built model, using Tamiya acrylic, anyway could be cleaned easily.