Can-Am Mclaren 1/43 triple build.

[LeeABC]

I was still at primary school when Can-Am was effectively over with the arrival of Porsche but nothing before or since has left such an impression.
These three kits are very difficult to get hold of now but after a lengthy email discussion with john at Marsh models he managed to put the kits together with just a few minor parts missing.
I'm building the first Mclaren championship winning car the M6A the high wing M8B and the last Mclaren Can-Am, the M20, which I think bookends the story.

As you would expect from Marsh the resin is crisp and the photoetch beautiful, there are a few white metal parts and turned rims on resin tyres for these curbside monsters.
I'll be building them simultaneously in Mclaren papaya orange with a few additions but basically box stock; hopefully low stress fun after the GTO nightmare.
Hope you enjoy, I intend to!

[LeeABC]

It's been a while since I've looked at this WIP but these kits are proving a challenge largely due to the fact that parts are missing and are no longer available and some parts are just too crude to use.
As a consequence I've made three distributors and three steering wheels using Tron centers.









The Steering wheels will need some further mods to change to a three bolt pattern.
The original carb/engine detail was deleted on the M6a and reproduced using 0.25mm nickle wire and the distributor I made previously.













Before and after:

[LeeABC]

These kits were meant to be simple curbside builds but like most of us I started seeing details I just wasn't happy with and then some parts I felt were unusable.
I always knew there were a few parts missing but I've ended up making dash panels, distributors, steering wheels, gear levers/selectors roll hoops and in the case of the M20 a new windshield as the kit item despite a replacement being sent from Marsh was quite obviously for a completely different kit, so I made a mould and vac-formed a replacement myself.

Distributors:



Fuel lines and the crazy velocity stacks added to carbs:






And distributors added:





Replacement Gear selectors:















Vac-formed screens:



Replacement roll hoops in production, lots more work to do on these: