Eighties Contest Entry: 1988 McLaren MP4/4 (and Introduction)

[klutz_100]

Well shag me sideways with a barge pole!!!!!



Amazing! I sense a MOTY award in the air

[Toine]

WOW, awesome!
I was just wondering, is it very expensive to make those metal-etching trays? In like what did you spend for this model alone?

[Decs0105]

You've got to be kidding me...
This is just... sorry no words ...

[Sennake]

..........

I think I'll throw my Toleman in the trashcan...


Competition is just too tough...

[Marcelo Teles]

Wow, as happened with Robrex's bike I have no words to describe my feelings.
Amazing work!!

[jaykay640]

Come on guy....take it easy...first i have to finish that thing and i wouldn't bet money on making it for the deadline at the moment...
Your Toleman is very nice.....to be honest i wouldn't put a driver figure though....i never like them:-)

Thanks for the comments everybody!

Toine, the material costs for this were about 15 € plus another 15 € for getting that film done. ( A friend of mine used to do them for free but he changed his job and now i have to pay....:-(
What hurts are the initial costs for the UV-Box, etching tank+auxiliaries and some tools to get started. That sets you back around 200€.
If you're modeling on a budget it's maybe not an option but compared with what you pay for aftermarket sets it's quite reasonable if you do a couple of models and after all you get exactly what you want. Just don't count the working hours:-)

[RallyRaider]

First we had, resin casting and vacforming, then the lathes, now we have do it yourself photoetch design and manufacturing! Who will be the first to do full injection molding? Very impressive indeed, way beyond my capacity.

[pettercardoso]

Thank you very much for your answers, Jaykay. I'll be asking for your help with german in a near future

I've been browsing that store and he has lots of good stuff. Too bad about the minimum €25 + postage costs order. I'd like to try etching on nickel silver without having to spend that much.

I would like to thank again for showing us these pictures. Just like Robrex's work (and others'), you are a true inspiration. You make me want to build more and better models. Thank you!

-Pedro-

[Marcelo Teles]

Pedro said what I feel, you (and some other great modelers) are inspiration for my work in the kits.
But please don't paint it fluorecent orange/white as a friend did here in Brazil, this car was fluorecent RED/white!!!
Regards.
Marcelo.

[RallyRaider]

Never saw the MP4/4 in the flesh but later Marlboro McLarens were VERY close to orange on the red parts. I was quite astonished just how bright they were when I first saw one for real. Flourescent orange isn't far off the mark!

[Marcelo Teles]

Don't get me wrong RallyRaider, I saw F1 races at the race track since 1989 (at the TV since 1977) and agree with you that it seems fluo orange in some pics due to the sunlight angle, but Marlboro cars never were orange in real, always were fluo red (OK, OK, I know the 1974 and 1975 cars were non fluo red, were something like 'italian race red'). Tamiya TS36 or some similar automotive paint is the right match for this teams' cars from 1976 to 1996.
But if the modeler don't want to make a model similar to the real thing he can paint any color (beyond this fluo orange one I also saw another MP4/4 kit painted in pink!!).
I just posted the other comment because JayKay's model seems to become a great one, I believe that it deserves the right colors.
The best regards,
Marcelo.

[RallyRaider]

I'm not talking about pictures Marcelo, but when seen racing in real life. As I said I never saw the eighties McLarens but in the nineties the fluorescent red was so bright it hurt! Very close to orange in the harsh Australian sun. I think the true colour is somewhere between red and orange, but that is just my personal recollection and is probably different from others.

One colour I have seen that matches my memories very well is Finishers MP4 Red. It is a three coat system - white base, bright red midcoat and fluorescent topcoat. It looks amazing when properly applied. Bil Attridge used it on his MP4/6 I believe. I also agree that TS-36 would make a very good match.

[JTRACING]

Amazing!!

[agamo]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

I'm not talking about pictures Marcelo, but when seen racing in real life. As I said I never saw the eighties McLarens but in the nineties the fluorescent red was so bright it hurt! Very close to orange in the harsh Australian sun. I think the true colour is somewhere between red and orange, but that is just my personal recollection and is probably different from others.

One colour I have seen that matches my memories very well is Finishers MP4 Red. It is a three coat system - white base, bright red midcoat and fluorescent topcoat. It looks amazing when properly applied. Bil Attridge used it on his MP4/6 I believe. I also agree that TS-36 would make a very good match.

I was lucky enough to see the MP4/4 in person, and it is flou red, it sometimes seems from a far view like a higlhly bright orange with a light pink tone, this has a reason, because in the TV the fluorescent colors can not be reproduced properly, but in the case of the fluo red, in the TV it gives a highly deep red tone, this is what Marlborlo was looking for, since the greater audience of F1 is on TV.

I think the decals included in the Tamiya kit are very close to the real thing, at least the decals included in the kit I built, I have the old Tamiya version (the one that still included Marlboro decals) and the fluo red decal appeared accurate to me.

Cheers! keep the awesome job

[Marcelo Teles]

As you can read, I don't write very well in English, sorry guys...
I'm also talking about TS36 being the right color comparing to the real thing, I saw "in loco", not by tv, all the F1 races here in Brazil and in Argentina from 1989 to 2004 (right, I didn't see the MP 4/4, but saw all the others MPs after the MP4/5 from 1989 and they were TS36 until 96').
I also saw the MP4/2 in a museum and it's fluo red.
An Brazilian old friend saw more than 15 races between 1978 and 1998 (at Rio and at Interlagos), he says that McLaren Marlboros never changed the fluo red. I think there's no reason to the team had changed the color only in 88.
I saw this Finisher's paint in pics and it seems very good to me (as the Tamiya TS36).
But... let's have fun, this is the reason we built the kits, if someone wants to use any other color it's OK.
The best regards.
Marcelo.