1:8 McLaren Honda MP4/4

[1158]

Happy to help. I'm following this with great interest. I love the details in the model and it's such an iconic car.

[ajdavison2]

Thanks for the info Smirkoff, when I end up getting the oil radiator I might look into buying yours. As for the temperature sensors I think I'll just dot them around in sensible places based on peoples' suggestions. (Brake calipers, exhausts, radiators etc).

Anyway time for an update. I'll be posting the updates from Issue 2 and 3 today as there isn't really much to post. I'll also be starting to refer to them by the stage numbers that are in the magazine rather than Issue X part Y. It'll just be stage Z.

So, stage 7. Assembly of the engine. Parts supplied with this stage, starting from the top left are the plug caps, alternator belt, the alternator front and rear, pressure regulator top, air chamber end, Honda logo plate and right cam cover.


Assembly of this stage was pretty straight forward, not really much to show. Just involved gluing the logo plate to the cam cover, and screwing said cover to the engine block. The pressure regulator and air chamber end were glued to the plenum chamber, and the alternator front and rear were glued together. The photos of the front and rear of the engine block, as well as the assembled sup-components are below:
Front:

Rear:


Stage 8:
Assembly of the front left upright. Parts supplied with this stage are, from the top left, left front brake duct, left front upright lower, left front upper arm end, axle shaft, front axle inner, front axle outer, left front upright upper:


Assembled front left upright:


Stage 9:
Assembly of the front left brake. Parts supplied with this stage are, (weirdly) the left monocoque side panel (middle), left radiator housing base (left), and left radiator housing (right). These aren't used in this stage but oh well.


This stage of the magazine also covered the inking process mentioned previously, the parts that were inked were the brake calipers and disks of the front left, the area holding the clutch plates on (which had to be disassembled), the end of the axle shaft, and the alternator. I forgot to take before and after comparison shots side by side so you can refer back to previous posts to compare. My bad.

Inked disks:


Inked calipers:


Inked engine front:


Inked axle shaft:


Inked alternator:


Assembly of the front left brake, the assembly for this was quite interesting as it enables the brakes to be spun. The disk was slotted onto the axle shaft, and the calipers were set onto the side of the disk, aligning with pins on the left front upright, these were glued in place with a combination of masking tape and paper strips keeping the parts from contacting while the glue dried, with the paper strips cut with a knife and slid out with tweezers afterwards:






Stage 10, assembly of the left intercooler. Parts supplied with this issue are the intercooler outer (top), intercooler inner (bottom), and heat exchanger (middle). The intercooler outer was inked and then the inner and outer parts were glued together (not pictured).


That's it for this stage.

Thanks guys.

Alex

[ajdavison2]

Hi everyone, update time again.

This week I'll be covering issue 4. Which is stages 11-14. Enjoy.

Stage 11: Assembly of the front right upright. Part's supplied with this stage are very much the same as the part's supplied for the front left upright, so I won't post another photo of those. But I realise I didn't post many interim assembly photos last time so here you go.

Assembled front right upright, minus the axle shaft.

Stage 12: Assembly of the front right brake. Again the parts supplied were the same as the front left so I won't bore you with the details. However again, I'll post some more interim details.

Inner and outer brake discs prior to inking.


Interim assembly of a brake caliper and pad.


Interim assembly of all the calipers and pads, the black patches are where the paint has been scraped away prior to gluing.



Assembled front right brake and upright, showing the inked details. The strip of paper is a temporary measure to enable rotation of the disk once the glue is dried, it basically stops the glue catching the disk by accident. This strip of paper will be cut and pulled out with tweezers.

Stage 13: Assembly of the solenoid valve unit. Parts supplied with this stage:
Top left - floor support left
Next down - floor support right
Next down - intercooler balance pipe left
Next down - intercooler balance pipe right
Bottom left - sticker sheet
Top right - radiator inlet left
Next one down - radiator inlet right
Next one down - radiator outlet left
Next one down - radiator outlet right
Plastic sprue top left - battery
Plastic sprue bottom left - solenoid valve mount
Plastic sprue top middle - pop off valve sensor
Plastic sprue top right - control solenoid valve outer
Plastic sprue bottom right - Control solenoid valve inner


Firstly, the parts were removed from the sprue carefully, and any flash left on was trimmed with a scalpel and sanded off where possible without damaging the finish or paint. Then the solenoid valve outer, and solenoid valve inner were both glued onto the solenoid valve mount.


Next the pop off valve sensor was glued onto the projection at the bottom of the solenoid valve mount.


The battery was prepared by sticking the black number 4 sticker over the already black stripe on the battery unit. (For some ridiculous reason that I can't work out)

Prior to sticking the sticker on.

And after sticking it on.

As you can all see that made a lot of difference to the model.

Stage 14: Fitting a rear tyre. Parts supplied with this stage are the rear wheel and wheel nuts x5.



The rear tyre supplied earlier was pushed onto the rear wheel, taking care to align the valve on the wheel with the "G" in Eagle. It's actually a right job getting the tyres on the wheels, lot's of fiddling and prying without scraping the black paint off.



The wheel nuts were also threaded in this stage by screwing them onto one of the axle shaft ends from the front brake assemblies. (Not pictured)

The remaining stickers from stage 13 were placed onto the radiator inlets, outlets and intercooler balance pipes.


That's it for this week folks.

Thanks for reading. As usual if there's anything you want to see in detail just let me know.

[ajdavison2]

Hi everyone,

Back again for another update. Quite a few bits and pieces on this months as well as a trial of some of the decals. I'll also be doing a round up of where we are at the minute which I think i'll do every 5 issues.

So first up, stage 15. Assembling the left intercooler. Parts supplied with this stage were the left radiator mesh (top left), left intercooler top (top right), left radiator (bottom left) & left intercooler bottom (bottom right).


The magazine recommended the radiator and radiator mesh be inked as detailed previously, see below.



This stage also needed the left intercooler from stage 10, and the left intercooler balance pipe from stage 14.

The intercooler bottoms and tops were glued onto the intercooler with the balance pipe inbetween as seen below.





Stage 16: Assembling the left radiator housing. Parts supplied with this stage are the monocoque (exciting).







This stage also required the left radiator housing/stage 9, left radiator housing base/stage 9, left monocoque side panel/stage 9, battery/stage 13, left floor support/stage 13, left radiator inlet/stage 14, left radiator outlet/stage 14, left radiator/stage 15, left radiator mesh/stage 15.

First up the test fitting of the floor support in the radiator housing, this was pretty tricky to get lined up right with the correct projections in the right places and orientation. (This was dry tested for now)






Next up was the fitting of the floor support in conjunction with the radiator mesh. This presented the problem of creating a bend in the floor support which would absolutely not go away despite my best efforts to jig it around and also meant it would not stay in place without gluing. Anyway I managed to make them fit the best they could and get the parts glued. As you'll see soon, this actually didn't make much difference in the end. The bend is visible in the photos below.




Next up was the gluing of the battery to the radiator housing.




I forgot to photograph the following, but the radiator housing base was also glued to the radiator housing at this point.

Next was the assembly of the left radiator. The radiator inlet and outlet were both glued to the side of the left radiator.




Next up was the preparation of the left monocoque side panel and assembly to the monocoque. The paint was stripped and adhesive applied.





Stage 17: Assembly of the left radiator housing (continued). Parts supplied with this stage are the head panel (top left), monocoque endplate (top right), intercooler outside right (bottom left), intercooler inside right (bottom right). The magazine recommended inking the intercooler which is shown in in the photo below.


The radiator was glued to the radiator housing and temporarily secured with masking tape. As you can see from the last photo below, the bend in the floor support isn't really an issue or noticeable. Out of sight, out of mind.





And see below with the masking tape removed once the glue had dried.











Next the right intercooler outside and inside were glued together.


So that's that issue done. Now for the first 5 issue round up. Here's where the model is in it's current state of components.







And also, my first attempt at doing some of the decals. Oh my good god they are fiddly little so-and-sos. (For anyone that's not english, that essentially means that they're little sh*ts to put on basically). Overall my first try went quite well, apart from the "o" on the back of the rear wing. I really love how the decals just bring a sense of completeness and authenticity to the model.






I'll probably do the ones on the monocoque when I get a chance, but might wait until I've got more parts that need decals on them. I've also got issue 6 with me as well at the minute, so when I get round to doing that then you'll all be as up to date as I am with the model progress as currently my posts have been 1 issue behind what is in my possession. It is what it is.

That's it for this week everyone, thanks for reading. As usual if there's anything you'd like to see more detail of just let me know.

[Cannonballer]

Nice work! I look forward to the next update.

[ajdavison2]

Hi everyone!

After a busy few weeks away at the Austrian GP I'm finally getting round to posting this months updates. I'll be doing issue 6 today, and I also have issue 7 with me as well which I'll start this weekend probably, maybe aiming to post that after tomorrows race.

Anyway away we go with issue 6. Much of this issue is just repeating other issues, so there's not a great deal to show.
Stage 18: Assembly of the right radiator housing. Parts supplied with this issue are: Right radiator housing base (left), right radiator housing (right) & right monocoque side panel (bottom).


Required from previous stages are:
- Solenoid valve unit (stage 13)
- Right radiator inlet (stage 14)
- Right radiator outlet (stage 14)
- Monocoque (stage 16)
- Right intercooler (stage 17)

First up the solenoid valve was glued to radiator housing.


Next up the right intercooler, radiator outlet and inlet were all prepared by scraping the relevant paint off. Pictured below on the inlet and outlet pipes.


Next was the the preparation of the monocoque and right side panel. The panel was dry fitted and then marked around.


Then the paint in the marked area was scraped away on the panel and the monocoque before the panel was glued to the monocoque.



Stage 19: Assembly of the right intercooler. Parts supplied with this stage were the right radiator mesh (top left), right radiator (bottom left), right intercooler top (top right) & right intercooler bottom (bottom right).


Parts required from previous stages were:
- Right floor support (stage 13)
- Right radiator inlet, outlet, housing & housing base (stage 18)

Before doing anything else the right radiator mesh and radiator were both inked.


The assembly for this stage was more or less the same as the left radiator housing from my previous post so I won't duplicate the photos here. However what I noticed was that I had the same problem with the floor support having a bend in it. This just seems to be the way the model is built, and I lack the tools to enlarge the hole in the mesh. It also doesn't make any difference as you can't tell it's bent when assembled.



This stage went as far as gluing the radiator mesh, floor support & radiator housing base together. For whatever reason this stage didn't include the assembly of the radiator and right intercooler onto the radiator housing. If I was being cynical it would be because it prolongs the subscription and the ££££.

Stage 20 up next. This stage covered the assembly of the turbo inlet ducts. Parts supplied with this stage were the left turbocharger air intake outside (top left), left turbocharger air intake inside (middle left), right turbocharger air intake outside (top right), right turbocharger air intake inside (middle right), turbocharger air intake adapters x 2 (bottom).


Parts required from previous stages were:
- Right intercooler balance pipe (stage 14)
- Right intercooler (stage 18)
- Right intercooler top and bottom (stage 19)

The turbo inlet ducts outsides and insides were simply glued together.



Followed by the gluing of the air intake adapters.


Right intercooler was assembled as per stage 15 on my previous post.



That's it for now. Thanks for reading. As usual if there's anything in particular people want to see let me know. I'm also keen on your feedback on how I'm formatting these posts. I'm trying to make it as clear as possible in terms of referencing previous issues etc, but if anyone has any suggestions for improvements let me know!

Will try and get back on tomorrow with issue 7.

[ajdavison2]

Hi guys,

Back again with issue 7.

First up is stage 21: Assembling the front suspension 1. Parts supplied with this issue were the monocoque inner rear plate front (top left), the monocoque inner rear plate rear (top right), The front left shock absorber cap (middle left),
front shock spring (middle right), front left shock absorber (bottom left), front left shock absorber end (bottom middle), stabiliser link (bottom right).


Parts needed from previous issues were:
Radiator housing assembly, radiator and right intercooler (stage 19)

First up, assembly of the monocoque inner rear plate. The 2 halves were glued together, and then screws were inserted into each of the 10 holes.




Next up was the assembly of the front left shock absorber, spring and cap. First up the spring was slid onto the shock absorber shaft.



Next the shock absorber cap was screwed onto the shaft.




Following this the shock absorber end was stripped of paint on the protrusion and glued to the shock absorber. (it's supposed to be at an angle relative to the horizontal, this proved a little difficult as the projection isn't shaped correctly to enable it to slot in snugly.)




Next up was the assembly of the right radiator an radiator housing, this was done in the same way as stages 16 and 17, so as usual I won't rehash the same details. The fully assembled right radiator housing, radiator and intercooler are pictured below.


Up next is stage 22: Assembly of the front suspension 2. Parts supplied with this issue were the monocoque inner rear plate (top left), the front right shock absorber cap (middle left), the front shock spring, the front right shock absorber (bottom left), the front right shock absorber end (bottom middle) and the stabiliser link (bottom right). (Also another mini screwdriver, redundant as I use my own set of precision screwdrivers)


Parts required with this stage were the monocoque assembly from stage 18.

The front right shock absorber, spring, cap and end were all assembled in the same way as the left one. So this has not been pictured.

Next up was the gluing of the inner rear plate to the monocoque. The paint was stripped from the relevant areas and the plate was glued into the monocoque.




At this point the magazine also recommended inking the shock absorbers and the stabiliser links.


Next up stage 23: Assembly of the cockpit. Parts supplied with this issue were the monocoque bottom plate rear (left), cockpit housing (bottom middle), cockpit housing front plate (top middle), shift panel (2nd from the right, bottom), gear lever (rightmost bottom), balance lever linkage (rightmost top), and in the sprue was the balance lever A (top), and the balance lever B (bottom). I haven't mentioned this previously as it seemed superfluous but most of these issues have been supplied with screws. This particular issue was missing a set of 5 screws. Whilst this hasn't been a problem yet as I done the assembly with glue instead, I have had another issue sent out so I will assembly it correctly with screws and keep the glued one as a spare.


First up the balance parts A and B were carefully trimmed from the sprue and any flashing removed from them. Quite fiddly as they're tiny so I'm happy I did this without damaging them at all.


The first part of this stage was to temporarily assemble the cockpit parts in order to mark the area on the housing where the cockpit housing front plate is fixed. I haven't pictured this step as it doesn't add anything to the model. The permanent assembly is pictured however. So skipping ahead the gear lever was attached to the shift panel. The paint was first cleaned off the gear lever and the lever was glued into place, from the underside of the panel.


Next up the balance lever A and B were glued together. Really fiddly little bit, but again I managed with some tweezers and more patience than I would usually have.


The completed balance lever sub assembly was then glued to the cockpit housing.



Followed by the gluing of the balance lever linkage to the cockpit housing.


Next up the assembly of the cockpit. First up the cockpit housing was *SUPPOSED* to be screwed to the bottom plate. This is where I have deviated from the magazine until I get the replacement parts and have superglued the cockpit housing to the base.



Following this the shift panel and cockpit housing front plate were both glued to the cockpit assembly. (Again the shift panel should've been screwed from the bottom and glued to the cockpit housing, but it's been glued from all sides.)





And that's it for this week guys and girls. As of now you're all as up to date as I am. I won't bother posting an update when I get the replacement parts fro this stage as it'll only be very minor differences that you can't see anyway unless you're looking at it from underneath. As usual if there's anything you'd like to see in more detail just hit me up!

Thanks for reading,

Alex

[Rodak]

Nice work! My first thought on seeing the problem you had with the radiator and support fit up was that you got sent the opposite radiator to requirements; they sent right instead of left then left instead of right. The support hole is not symmetrical for height and it looks like a mirror image would have fit up just fine.

I'm amazed at the detail of this model.

[ajdavison2]

Hmm that's a good point that I hadn't previously considered. Too late now as they're all assembled, and the bends aren't visible. But if I come across the same situation in a future issue with a right/left component not fitting I'll wait until I have both sides and try fitting both. Thanks for the idea.

[ajdavison2]

Hi guys, back again with another update. Feels like I've been away for a while. This months is issue 8. Some nice little details and also some frustrating bits which I'll talk through during the stages.

So first up, stage 24: installing the front suspension.
Parts supplied with this issue were: stabiliser (top left), steering guide plate (top middle), monocoque front endplate (top right), fire extinguisher upper (middle left), left front shock absorber plate (middle right), fire extinguisher lower (bottom left) & right front shock absorber plate (bottom right).


Parts needed from previous issues were:
- Front left & right shock absorber (stages 21 & 22 respectively)
- Stabiliser links (stages 21 & 22 respectively)
- Monocoque assembly (stage 22)

So first up was the assembly of the shock absorber plates, shock absorbers and stabiliser links. First step of this was the stabiliser links, these were held in place with a screw as seen below, the upper hole was then rotated to line up with the hole on the corresponding plate (not pictured yet).


Next up was the corresponding shock absorber, the one pictured is the left one just FYI. This picture also shows the stabiliser link in it's aligned position.


Care had to be taken to align both the screw going through the stabiliser link, and the projections on the shock absorber (seen in silver next to the screw, and black above the screw at the top of the picture below).


Completed left hand assembly pictured below:



This process was repeated for the right hand assembly:


Next up the steering guide plate. This was glued to the left shock absorber plate first, taking care to ensure the plate was at 90 degrees in both planes.




Following this the stabiliser link was inserted into the projections on the left absorber plate (this was not glued or fixed) and then the right plate was glued to the steering guide plate to complete this sub assembly.






On a personal note I'm happy with how this stage turned out as it was quite fiddly to get everything perpendicular and what not.

Next up the monocoque front endplate was glued to the monocoque itself. This was simply a case of stripping the paint from the contact areas and gluing.




The magazine reccomended test fitting the shock absorber stabiliser unit (SASU) into the monocoque at this point, I did so but not picture it as have done so on a later stage. (I don't photograph temporary or test assemblies as I see it as pointless to duplicate).

Next up stage 25: the steering slider assembly. Parts supplied with this issue were: Steering slider (top left), lower guide part (top second from left), steering sliding guide (top second from right), upper guide part (top right), steering column (middle), monocoque front plate (bottom left), steering gear guide (bottom second from left), steering pinion gear (bottom second from right), steering slider gear (bottom right).


Parts required from previous stages were:
- Head panel & monocoque endplate (stage 17)
- Monocoque inner read endplate (stage 21)
- Monocoque assembly (stage 24)

Step 1 was fitting the upper and lower guide parts to the steering sliding guide. These were simply glued in place.




Next up the head panel was glued to the monocoque, again straight forward enough just stripped the paint and applied glue, making sure to hold it in the correct position so it was flush at the edges.


Next up the monocoque endplate and inner read plate were attached to the monocoque. The intermediate stages for this were a right pain, the magazine suggested in the following stages:
- put the long screw through the inner plate
- screw the inner plate to the monocoque via the holes in the top
- glue the endplate to JUST the inner rear plate
- unscrew the top screws and remove the rear plate sub-assembly once dry
- apply glue to the inside of the monocoque sides
- screw sub assembly back on

To paraphrase Nick Fury 'it seemed like a stupid ass decision so I elected to ignore it.' Basically I screwed it on and then glued the endplate to the inner plate and the monocoque in one stage. The only thing that annoyed me was that I couldn't get the screw all the way flush by the tiniest of margins, this seemed to be more a case of the screw wouldn't fit all the way in the hole rather than my assembly method. I got it as tight as I could without chewing the head of the screw. I don't think it'll present an issue.




Next up stage 26: Assembling the front underbody. Parts supplied with this issue were: front underbody (top), pedals (middle left), brake master cylinders, (under the underbody), brake master cylinder reservoir tanks, (right of the cylinders), clutch master cylinder (under the brake cylinders), clutch master cylinder reservoir tank (under the brake reservoirs), nosecone brackets (bottom left) & skids (bottom right).


Parts needed from previous issues were:
- Upper and lower fire extinguisher (stage 24)

First up, the brake and clutch reservoirs were glued to the respective cylinders.


Next up the fire extinguisher was glued together.



Next the skids were screwed to the underbody. This was the absolute bane of my life and I hated every second of it. I've got them as tight as I can but one of the screws (top right) has been quite badly chewed up. I'll evaluate whether or not to just glue them at a later stage when I've got a better idea of the assembly. The screws on the bottom holes were removed following the attachment of the top screws. Not sure why the magazine instructed them to be in in the first place.


Following this the pedals and fire extinguisher was glued to the underbody.






Lastly for this update, stage 27: assembly of the steering. Parts supplied with this issue were: Left front lower wishbone (top left), left trackrod (top right), front upper wishbone mounting brackets (bottom left), inner trackrod mounting brackets (bottom right).


Parts required from previous stages were:
- Cockpit assembly (stage 23)
- Monocoque steering assembly, steering slider, steering sliding gear, steering column, steering pinion gear, steering gear guide & monocoque front plate (stage 25)

First up the cockpit assembly was test fitted into the monocoque and trimmed with a craft knife to ensure a flush fit on the floor, this hasn't been pictured as I'll do it when I actually assemble them.

Next up the SASU was re-inserted into the monocoque and the screws ontop of the shocks were tightened as they had previously been loosened to allow the projections of the shocks to line up with the plates. I'm not sure if this is a permanent assembly or not as the fit is very snug and you've really got to wiggle it to get it back out so I've assumed it is, and it's just not glued or screwed. It's a shame that the shocks themselves are so detailed and required inking, yet are hidden in the monocoque. Still though, nice to appreciate them anyway.





Next up the trackrod brackets were fitted to the steering slider. This was another huge pain as the holes in the brackets were too small for the slider projections, so I had to trim little bits off without damaging the slider etc, as well as getting them as straight as I could in their respective planes. Doesn't look too bad I think.




Following this the steering slider gear was fitted, same issue as above + plus the magazine photos were very unclear about the correct orientation of it as there is a top and bottom to both parts.




Lastly for this stage, the steering column and pinion gear were fitted together, as were the monocoque front plate and steering gear guide.


As a little teaser for you guys and girls, the steering was test fitted into the monocoque and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it's actually functional (this also confirms I got the orientation of the parts above correct). So that's a very cool little detail. Once it is permanently assembled I'll post photos and videos of that (might need someone to tell me how to post videos??)

Anyway that's it for this update everyone. As usual thanks for reading and if there's any requests for more details or suggestions let me know.

[ajdavison2]

Hi Everyone. Back again with another issue, this time it's issue 9 which is the assembly of the front suspension components. Quite an interesting issue with some frustrating points that I'll talk about as I go through it. By the way this is going to be a long post haha.

So first up, stage 28: Assembly of the steering. Parts supplied with this stage were: Front left upper wishbone (top left), Front left pullrod (bottom left), Left trackrod mounting bracket (top middle), 3.1mm ball shaft (top right) & left pullrod mounting bracket (bottom right).


Parts needed from previous stages were:
Steering slider guide assembly (Stage 25)
Brake master cylinder assemblies × 2, clutch master cylinder assembly & nosecone brackets × 4 (Stage 26)
Monocoque assembly (Stage 27)

First up a slight apology, I had meant to take photos of the assembly stages of the steering components as these were only temporarily assembled in stage 27, but I forgot so sorry for that. Anyway the steering slider was mounted to the front of the chassis, and the steering column was mounted going through the SASU. Care was taken to align the steering column gear, and the slider gear whilst keeping the steering column vertical. Following this the monocoque front plate was glued to the monocoque itself which secured both the column and the steering slider.




Following this the steering slider guide sub assembly was glued to the monocoque, taking care not to get any glue on the slider mechanism to ensure free movement of the steering.



Next up the nosecone brackets were screwed to the front of the monocoque, with care taken to align them vertically. No issues here.




Next up, the brake master cylinders and the clutch master assembly were glued to the monocoque front plate. Again, straight forward enough. Just had to make sure they were as perpendicular as possible to the front plate.




Next up stage 29: Assembly of the front left suspension. Parts supplied with this stage were: Front tyre & front wheel.



Parts needed from previous stages were:
Left front upper arm end (Stage
Left front brake assembly (Stage 9)
Left front lower wishbone, trackrod, front upper wishbone mounting brackets × 2 (Stage 27)
Pullrod, monocoque assembly, left front upper wishbone, trackrod mounting bracket (L), pullrod mounting bracket (L), 3.1mm ball shaft (Stage 28)

First up the tyre was popped over the rim. This is surprisingly fiddly as the rubber is quite stiff. Care was taken to align the valve in the wheel with the "G" in Eagle.



Now, the assembly of the suspension. Firstly the 3.1mm ball shaft was carefully slotted into the front brake assembly, this was awkward to get the holes aligned but I managed with a bit of trial and error.


Next up, the trackrod mounting bracket was screwed through the brake assembly and ball shaft. This secured the ball shaft in place. Care was taken to align the trackrod mounting bracket correctly.





Next up the front upper arm end was glued to the pullrod mounting bracket.



Following this, the left front upper wishbone was hooked over the ball shaft joint, with the front upper arm end sub assembly hooked underneath. This was then screwed in place which clamped the wishbone assembly to the brake assembly and allowed articulation at this stage.






Following this 2 upper wishbone mounting brackets were screwed to the monocoque. This was one of the more frustrating stages I've done as the screws are too big for the hole, and therefore proved difficult to tighten without damaging the heads. I ended up putting smaller screws in first to tap the holes which seemed to loosen them up a little bit.




Next the upper suspension sub assembly and trackrod were both screwed to the mounting points, with the suspension assembly being screwed to the wishbone mounting brackets and the trackrod first being screwed to the steering slider, and then to the suspension assembly.




Next up the pullrod was hooked onto the shock absorber at one end (and left unglued), and the other end was screwed to the brake assembly. Most awkward part of this stage was gently prying the shock absorber forward to allow the the pullrod to hook over it. (see the first photo below.)







Next up the lower wishbone was screwed to the internal monocoque mounting points and to the bottom of the brake assembly. Had the same issue with these screws being tight as I did for the wishbone mounting brackets, but I was a bit less concerned with these being damaged as once they're in they're not visible and not coming out.







Next up stage 30: the right front suspension. Parts supplied with this issue were: trackrod (top left), right front lower wishbone (bottom left), hose and wire (top right), upper wishbone mounting brackets (bottom right).


Parts needed from previous stages were:
Cockpit assembly (Stage 27)
Monocoque assembly (Stage 29)
Left radiator housing assembly (Stage 17)

First up was the fitting of the cockpit assembly to the monocoque assembly. This was just annoying as it meant I had to unscrew the cockpit bottom plate from the cockpit assembly, so doing so earlier in the magazine is redundant and just feels like filler for the issues. See below.


Anyway the plate was unscrewed and the monocoque assembly was glued to the monocoque itself.




Next the upper wishbone brackets were screwed to the monocoque. This presented the same frustrating issues with the screws as the left hand side.



Following this the lower wishbone was screwed to the mounting points inside the monocoque.





Next up the bottom plate was screwed to the cockpit and monocoque assembly. From this angle the lower wishbone definitely could have been squeezed in so I'm still not sure why the cockpit and bottom plate were assembled, dis-assembled then assembled again. Care was taken to ensure a flush fit between the bottom plate and the monocoque.




After this was an interesting little detail; the fitting of a hose and wire to the battery on the left radiator housing. The reason this is interesting to me will be explained below. So firstly a couple lengths of hose (16mm) and wire (13mm) were cut.



The wire was then inserted into the hose (I've left it protruding just for the photo).



This assembly was then slotted onto the projection of the battery. This is why the wire was cut to a shorter length than the hose, so as to let the hose slot over the projection. This is an example of the mad level of detail on this model, as the wire itself is completely invisible once it's inside the hose, but it's still nice to know it's there.



Next up was stage 31: assembly of the front right suspension continued. Parts supplied with this issue were: Front right upper wishbone (top left), pullrod (bottom left), right trackrod mounting bracket (top middle), ball shaft (top right), right pullrod mounting bracket (bottom right).


Parts needed from previous stages were:
Right front upper arm end (Stage 11)
Right front brake assembly (Stage 12)
Monocoque assembly & trackrod (Stage 30)

The suspension was completed in the same way as the left side, so I won't bore you with duplicate photos. But I will bore you with completed photos of the front suspension.










ANNNNNND my little party piece teased last time. The movable steering, which I absolutely love. Apologies for the low quality of the GIF.


And that's it for this update everyone.

Thanks for reading as usual, and as usual if anyone wants to see anything in more detail just let me know. Models really coming together now and next update (issue 10) I'll be doing my 5 issue round up. I think that'll also mark the halfway stage of the project.

Cheers,

Alex

[ajdavison2]

Hi everyone. Back again with another update, this time it's issue 10. Not really a great deal to show from this weeks, but I will be doing the 5 issue round up again to see where we are so far.

Anyway stage 32, assembly of the left rear brake. Parts supplied with this stage were: Outer brake disk (top left), inner brake calipers x 2 (bottom left), outer brake calipers x 2 (bottom middle), inner brake disk (top right), brake pads x 4 (bottom right).


Parts needed from previous stages were:
- Right radiator housing (stage 21)
- Hose A & B (stage 30)

Firstly the brake disk and calipers were inked as per previous.


Next up the outer and inner brake disks were glued together, as well as the calipers and pads. As this was done in the same way as the fronts, I'll just skim over it.




Next up 4 hoses were attached to the radiator housing. The steps for this were quite repetitive so I won't bore you with each one. Instead I'll just show some shots of the attached hoses.






Next up stage 33, assembly of the left rear upright. Parts supplied with this stage were: Left rear upright middle (top left), left rear upright inside (top middle), left brake duct (top right), axle (middle left), left rear upright outside (middle 2nd from the left), axle spacer (middle 2nd from the right), outer CV joint (middle right) & axle shaft (bottom left).


Parts needed from previous issues were:
- Brake disk and caliper assemblies (stage 32).

First up the axle was glued into the upright outside.



Then the axle spacer and CV joint were both placed into the axel (not glued).



Next the axle shaft was pushed into the axle and screwed in from the other side.


Following this the upright middle and inside were both fitted via glue and screws, care was taken to align the holes.




Finally the brake disk was slid over the axle shaft, and the calipers glued onto the upright, taking care to ensure the disk was free to rotate.





And that's that stage complete.

Next up stage 34, assembly of the rear shock absorbers. Parts supplied with this stage were:
Sprue: gearbox oil line union 3 (top right), gearbox oil line union 4 (bottom left), gearbox oil line union 2 (top 2nd from left), bolt 1 x 4 (top middle), bolt 2 x 3 (bottom middle), drop link x 2 (both 2nd from right), gearbox oil line union 5 (top right) & brake line T piece (bottom right).
The rest: Gearbox oil line union 1 (bottom left), Gearbox oil line adapter (bottom 2nd from left), engine oil line (bottom 2nd from the right), Rear shock absorber caps (middle top), rear shock springs (middle 2nd down), rear shock absorbers (middle 3rd down) & gear linkage (right).


Firstly the springs were slid over the shock absorbers, and the caps screwed onto the top.


The brake line T piece was removed from the sprue and hoses attached to each end.



And that's it for the stages of this issue.

For the round up I've tried to get the ruler in the photos to give an idea of the finished scale as the model will be approx 600mm long when it's finished, so a decent enough size. It's all coming together now at the halfway stage:







Thanks for reading everyone. As usual if there's anything you'd like to see in more detail don't hesitate to ask!

Alex

[El Scorchio]

Looks good. I did the maths on the price of these kits once- won’t this end up costing you about 800 quid?

[Rodak]

Seriously nice work and amazing persistence. Just curious, is there any adjustment for camber or toe, or do you just get what you get?

[ajdavison2]

Looks good. I did the maths on the price of these kits once- won’t this end up costing you about 800 quid?

Not quite, works out about £600 (GBP). I did the MP4-23 kit as well a few year ago and that worked out about the same. Personally I think it's worth it if you're a fan as other 1:8 models can set you back well into 4 figures, and you don't get the satisfaction (frustration? ) of building it yourself and seeing all the minute details recreated. Things like the wires inside the hoses. Totally and entirely pointless from a modellers point of view but nice to know it's included anyway.