1:18 cardboard MP4-30

[kosioBG]

Suspension

Building the suspension is maybe the toughest, but also most satisfying area of the car. You've got so many constraints - mounting points, wing mounts and bodywork clearance. Also, the positioning has to be exact, because it will later define the rake and ride height.

​Firstly, the wishbones had to be constructed. But before I could start, I had to figure out the layout, which wasn't easy at all. Especially at the rear, where the lower WB sits at the back, and the trackrod is placed in front of the driveshaft. I got a lot of help on the MP4-30 topic, for which I'm grateful.
For the construction I used cardboard tubes (as usual), which were cut into the correct length and bonded with the help of paperclips. New was the addition of aerodynamic fairings, which definitely made the wishbones more realistic. Then, the brake ducts followed. Nothing special there, I just tried to work cleanly. A preview of the rear:



A further difficulty at the back was an unremovable bodywork panel through which the upper WB, the pullrod and the driveshaft should fit. I needed 4 attempts to get the curvature and slots right, but it was worth it. Only after glueing it in place and making the brake ducts with as many as 8 flaps could I mount the rear suspension.



Not much to say about the front:



Moving on, the brakes followed. I tried to be more precise than last time by including the uprights. They covered the paper clip ends protruding from the ducts. On top of them, the brake calipers and discs were mounted. Also note the neat detail which is the axle thread.




After the brakes were finished, I could go on and fit their covers. I'm satisfied with their quality, the carbon ring and the colour inner side are neat - a new circular layout was used to avoid wrinkles. Also, I tried to include vents as accurately as possible.



The current state of the car (after adding some 250 pieces)


More can be found (as always) on my website
And an album with more suspension pics: https://plus.google.com/110702505449157 ... ad2rL1u3Vp

Thanks for watching!

[kosioBG]

Bodywork

Hi guys, it's been a while since my last post! Some real life tasks took care of my time, but now I should have more time to work on my model.

After installing the suspension in place, nothing more stood in the way of the bodywork. It consists of 3 panels - one on each side and one engine cover on top. The challenge here was to achieve such a shape that they fit without any gaps while still being removable.
I started with a rough template from paper. I then transfered it onto cardboard and tried to bend it into shape, adding/removing material where necessary. This I used as a final template.
The side panels have a complex curvature, so I had to cut the cardboard in order to bend it in several directions. I used the red decals to disguise the cuts, and only a slight line at their back is now visible. The side panels consist of 2 layers: a black thin base, which is covered with grey and then, in additionally cut slots, the red stripes are fitted. And finally, the details such as fins, were added.



The top cover consist of two halves. The red stripe masks the transition and gives it a clean look. I'm quite pleased with the curvature. You can see some supports on the inside, and the camera is mounted way stiffer than on previous cars - a little beam protrudes from it inside the panel. With applied decals and varnish, that's what I've got:

I actually quite like the bumpy top cover


The panels waiting to be fitted: (it's actually quite nice snapping them in place)


Fitted:


The car right now looks like this:



That's it for now!
Thanks for watching

[Joseki]

I'm really enjoying watching how it takes shape, it's amusing.

[kosioBG]

Merry Christmas everyone! Let's celebrate with another part of my construction report!

Wings


As usual, I started with the rear wing, so here's the drawing I made.


First, I built the endplates. In my previous experience, the connection between the endplates and the flaps was a weak point, so I introduced two ribs aiming to enforce the bond. Not much more to say about that stage of the project, except the many vanes and cutouts which I had to take into account.



Then, I made the wing profiles. The ribs fitted neatly inside and gave shape to the wing. They were more straightforward than the Mercedes' (which had different colours). A goof I made was the McLaren logo I glued - it has a wrong "a"


Fixing the completed rear wing to the car wasn't that much of a challenge, since there are two slots on the floor which hold it alongside the central pylon. This enabled a comparatively stiff connection. The pylon though brought some headaches, as it had to be positioned in a narrow zone and accommodate the DRS flap as well. In the end, I decided to build the DRS activator as a sepperate unit, a correct decision as it later turned out.


Moving on to the front wing, it was also built using a different technique compared to the F1W05. I used a central reenforced section (which also houses nose connection pins - a feature allowing a more precise and strong installation of the profile to the nosecone. This is quite an important feature that for some reason was missing from my previous car) and added the individual flaps one by one, glueing the endplate bases to the first one (check the FW drawing, where there's a section called mounting aid.)


Here's how the wing grew. I'm quite happy with how it turned out, the profiles are pretty much ine the shape they should be:




The endplates followed. Nothing special here, McLaren made my job relatively easy. The spec I built was the one raced in the latter part of the season which is evident when you look at the slot. With the endplates in place, I could go on and add the remaining two flaps. They were slightly trickier due to their complex curvature. Also, they are structurally connected to the endplate bases only, and must therefore be more precise. A real challenge were the metal connectors for setting the angle of attack. They are so small that I only hardly could install them properly. The cascades and underside srakes were the final touches.





The nosecone followed. I started with a framework which holds the nails used for fitting to the chassis. A novelty was that I cut off the heads of the nails so that the could be glued more stably. I let the framework harden properly before continuing work. Now it's very strong and I can hold the whole car by the nosecone only. Then I worked out the shape of the cover, which took me four attempts to get right. Once that was done, I glued two structural supports on each side and added the cover. Its red stripe was achieved exactly the same way as the sidepods' - by slotting the cardboard. Finally, I closed the nosecone's bottom and shaped the little forward extension on which the "Honda" decal stays by using a 400 grit sandpaper.





Then it was just a matter of applying decals, attaching the FW to the nosecone and varnishing. Which brings us here:



Thanks for watching! If you want to see more pictures, please visit the construction report on my website!
The project is nearing completion, so do stick around, as more is to come very soon
And have a wonderful new year!

Cheers

[kosioBG]

Cockpit details

As promised, this report comes shortly after the previous one. I started with the steering wheel. Luckily, I managed to find lots of pics and even a 3D model, so at least that wasn't an issue. However, scale it down 18 times and you have to fit all the buttons on a piece measuring 16*9mm. To put it in perspective:

I'm happy with the result though. The three knobs under the display are there too, only they can't be seen from this angle.

Then the head rest. This one has no decals, so I just made several templates until I got the shape 100% right. I also tried to work cleanly.


And finally, the seat. I used my knowledge from last time and further refined the shape. Since no info in particular about the McLaren's seat could be found, I just used a standard one.


I concentrated a bit more on the seatbelts. The two belts from the side now are anchored to the cockpit, which is more realistic. Achieving this with the front pair was impossible, so I attached it to the seat itself. The two main belts fit inside the cockpit's rear wall.

And here, the fitted seatbelts can be seen:


The finished cockpit:



And the completed McLaren with only its wheels and tires missing:



Stick around for a launch date! And have a wonderful new year!

Cheers

[kosioBG]

[bauc]

Looks great, I'm looking forward to the launch

[George-Jung]

The attention to detail is amazing!
=D>

[kosioBG]

[Alonso Fan]

simply beautiful! it looks well proportioned and authentic, well done

although I liked the old nose better, before they changed it

[kosioBG]

Here we go! Another incredible journey is over. After approximately 70 days of work spread over a period of almost half a year, I completed my most ambitious project yet and I have to say I’m pleased with the result. But this build was only possible because of you on F1T! Firstly, I want to thank everyone who posted in the actual MP4-30 topic, as they provided me with priceless info I couldn’t have built the car without. Your extensive knowledge is a blessing! And of course I want to thank EVERYONE who followed my construction reports! Over the period of the build, more than 70,000 of you visited my topic, making it one of the top 3 engineering projects on F1T of all time! And, if the views of all of my projects were summed up, the number would reach a quarter of a million! Had someone told me this 3 years ago, I would have laughed at him, but there you go.

I hope that following the build was entertaining and that I’ve managed to convince you that cardboard is a miraculous material. I’m planning to up the scale once more and my next car will be a 1:10 baby. 2016 will be an eventful year for me and thus the next build may take a bit more time, but there will definitely be one! So stay tuned!

Thanks again guys, you are a fantastic audience. And now, 1188 pieces, or 91 grams of cardboard want to present themselves to you:














A quick summary of all reports:

Cockpit
Floor
Powertrain
Gearbox
Suspension
Wings
Cockpit details

Thank you once again for watching!
Cheers

[Joseki]

Fantastic

[Nathanael F1]

Awesome!

[Alonso Fan]

Well dome! That's really awesome! Looking forward to your next one

[VarioR]

Amazing job