Gulf McLaren F1 GTR Longtail

[sam01contact]

I am very glad to show you my new project, the Gulf McLaren F1 GTR Longtail!!



I really like the aerodynamic shape of this car, and all the technology McLaren used to compete with the Porsche 911 GT1 and the Mercedez-Benz CLK-GTR.

I will replicate chassis 028R, the #1 Gulf Team Davidoff car that ran in the 1997 FIA GT season.

I was very excited when Aoshima announced their McLaren F1 GTR Longtail. The detail and building design of the model is excellent.



Fortunately, Tabu Design released decals to do the 1997 FIA GT version of the car. Studio 27 did templated decals for the Aoshima kit; they are a little thick, but with decal solvent and a hair dryer they lay down beautifully.



I want to add some detail to the model, so I will use Hobby Design Detail set and Brake System.





The blue paint of this specific car has a pearlescent effect. I will use ZERO PAINTS Gulf blue and orange. I will spray a coat of Pearl Tinter over the blue paint.









Aoshima did a great job with the McLaren kit. The body looks absolutely accurate with the option to show the doors and engine cover in open or closed position.





Let's begin!!

I will start filling some injection holes in the engine area of the chassis. Don't worry, you won't have to do a lot of filling, almost all mold holes are cleverly hidden. Aoshima just missed some of them in the chassis.



I will sand off the molded rear air diffusers and add photoetched ones.



The only parts Aoshima oversimplified in this kit are the suspension/brake parts. I want to add cooling ducts for the front brakes, so I will scratchbuild them with aluminum tubing and springs.









I wanted to update the front shock absorbers. Here's the kit part:



I removed the shock absorbers from the parts and replaced them with ABER shock absorbers and springs made of red coated wire.





Here's the new part in place. Only half of the shock absorbers will be visible in the finished kit, but i think they look a lot better.





That's it for the moment!! I am very excited about this project!

I will post an update very soon, thanks for watching!

[joelwideqvist]

Both car and livery are SO nice. Will definitely follow your progress!

[potsie]

Great start. Looking forward to progress!

[Shunter]

Oh yes this will be fun, great start so far.

[stevenoble]

Fantastic kit and an excellent start. Where do you source the red coated wire for the springs, it looks really nice..??

[da_ashman]

Another Great model no doubt!!! Aoshima are also releasing the Davidoff Gulf car but i think its the 98 LeMans version with the bubble lights. Also just got this kit & man its a damn good kit!!! Will watch this with interest your builds are always amazing!!!

[sam01contact]

Friends, thank you for your interest and nice words! I really like this car and I hope to do a good replica!

Where do you source the red coated wire for the springs, it looks really nice..??

Steve, it is Tuner Model Manufactory Metallic Coloured soft metal Wire. I used the 0.8 mm wire:

http://www.mediamixhobby.com.sg/shop...l#.VL_dtcad5JM


Time for an update!

I painted the chassis/suspension parts. I used a mix of Tamiya's Gold and Champagne Gold to paint the suspension arms:











As I waited for the paint to dry, I built the brakes. I really liked Hobby Design's level of detail:



After the paint dried I glued the front shock absorbers in place:



I wanted to upgrade the kit steering rods, so I built a new piece from tubing. Here's the original part and the new part in place:





I painted the air duct pieces and detailed them with hose clamps. This detail will be barely seen in the finished model, but I like to know the front suspension and brakes are as detailed as I want









I used Hobby Design's photoetched parts to detail the radiator pieces. This detail will be buried with the body in place, but again, it's just a matter to enjoy the detailing and modeling process:







And here's the front area finished. I added carbon fiber and photoetched grills for extra detail:



That's it for the moment! Next time, I will show you the rear suspension and engine area detail. Thanks for watching!

[nugundam93]

love the attention to detail!

[stevenoble]

The brakes and suspension parts look great. Thanks for the answer about the coloured wire, I'll be looking to get some of that for future projects

[afxracing]

Very nice work so far.

[Shunter]

Loving it..

[JeremyJon]

Love that version of the F1R, looking forward to seeing more, bravo!!

[sam01contact]

Thanks for your interest! Time for an update!

I detailed the rear suspension area with brass/aluminum tubing and photoetched rivets. I also did a little plumbing here:







I added Model Factory Hiro's heat Shield foil to the engine area:





I also added carbon fiber decals for a more realistic look:



At this time, I covered the piece Aoshima provides to replicate the fuel fillers and engine area walls with carbon fiber. The back of this piece will be visible in the interior of the car, so I covered that area too:





That's it for the moment! Next time I'll show you my progress on the engine! Thanks for watching!

[gtziaf]

Fantastic work! Love your progress.

[sam01contact]

Time for an update!

I detailed the engine pulleys:



And I painted the engine block:







Here's a look of the finished pulleys on the engine. This won't be seen in the finished model, but hey, I had a good time detailing this part.



I covered the valve covers with carbon fiber decals and applied the BMW Motorsport logos:



I applied photoetched rivets to the valve covers to show a little more detail:



I want to add all the detail I can to the engine, including plumbing and wiring:



That's it for the moment! Next time, I'll show you the finished engine. Thanks for watching!