yvesvidal

I can see some resin being poured to simulate a brackish and dirty water. Yves

The first thing was to clean and repaint the front wheels. I have looked at various models of this car on the WEB, and most of them have flaking paint on the front wheels. The rear ones are doing better and are not affected by this defect. It is a good thing as the rear wheels are inserted in force, on a steel shaft and I could not separate them from the chassis. The front wheels are given a bath of Purple cleaner in an ultrasound cleaner. After about 40 minutes of soaking, there are devoid of paint: A coat of automotive primer and the wheels are ready for painting. The original 17 inch rims are made of Magnesium to reduce the non-suspended weight and in an attempt to reach the incredible goal of 1,000 Kilo-Grams for the entire car. After trying different paints, I made my choice on the Tamiya XF-16 (Chrome Silver) which is practically identical to the rear wheel, with a little bit less shine, making them even more realistic. The tires are installed, following the pictures of the real car (asymmetric tires). Now, we can move to the front axle and its broken hub. Yves

The enthusiasts of that specific car often wonders who owns one of these marvels. I have heard of the following people (most of them being located in England) and was privy to see an F1 in my entire life, once and only for a couple of seconds.... As we mentioned earlier, the car was produced at 100 units (107 to be exact) and production was halted in the late 90's when the induced recession (Bush era and burst of the Tech bubble) hit the world. The street car was produced at 64 units. Five units were destroyed for the crash testing and tests, and the remainder were turned into racing machines with an enormous success (LM, GTR, GT). Among these 64 street units, the following persons owned at one point or another, an F1: - Roger Waters, singer and bass player of the Pink Floyd band. - George Harrison from the Beatles band. - Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) who crashed his McLaren F1 and sold it later on: - Jay Leno...? Yes, of course, a black F1. He has the McLaren P1 and a couple of others, too. - On the west coast, one former Vice President of Cisco, great car enthusiast and a frequent Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance participant, added an F1 to his collection of exotic cars. Generously, he shared his passion with us (employees) one day by bringing three of his stallions for colleagues and employees to admire: What the High-Tech bubble wealth could provide you.... Yves

In July 1992, was announced the fastest and most extraordinary car ever produced: the McLaren F1. That incredible piece of technology was designed by two seasoned racing engineers, Gordon Murray and Ronald Dennis. It was the first Supercar to reach 231 MPH (374 KM/H), was limited to 100 units worldwide and sported the hefty price tag of 540,000 Sterling Pounds or slightly shy of $1 million in the USA, when you could get one. That car received a standing ovation and was probably the most reviewed and incensed car ever published in the professional and trade press, worldwide. A luxurious book was sent by McLaren in 1992, to potential customers and some extra copies were printed for the commoners. Unfortunately the $500 price tag of the original brochure made it also, difficult to acquire. instead, in 1999, Virgin published an incredible and very comprehensive book called: Driving Ambition. That book was more affordable and I would highly recommend it if you can find it in the used market (Virgin having folded, unfortunately, their books, videos and music division). We will be using pictures out of this book to illustrate the real car with the model. Around the mid-90's, Paul's Model Art, a small German manufacturer of exquisite car models, produced a limited series of 350 (if I am not mistaken) McLaren F1 in the scale of 1/12. The model is made of metal, rubber and plastic injected parts. It is absolutely beautiful and is probably as of today the best rendition of an F1 ever made. My brother was fortunate enough to find one of these rare pearls in a specialized shop in Toulouse, in the south of France. Despite the hefty price tag, I asked him to purchase it, knowing full well that the real car would never be an option for me. After a few years, that model has aged and is now in need of a a little refurbishing. The paint on the front wheels is peeling and one of the front hubs is broken, causing the car to sag on one side. In addition, some dust has made its way into my model and I decided to tackle the restoration of that expensive and rare model. Stay tuned for more details on this incredible car and model. Yves

I agree with you and went ahead to get the Magnifier kit from Evil bay: $60 including shipping.... Now, let's see if it arrives in the USA. Yves

Gorgeous car !!! With the appropriate background, it could easily pass for the real car. It is really cute and so well rendered. What is interesting is the complete absence of bumpers: I suppose that in those days, the risks of being hit by another vehicle, were rather slim. Yves

Interesting kit. Quite bigger than the Midwest model. Yves

Nice touch with the decals on the radiator hoses. Yves

Very clean. Great colors combination. Yves

Thank you KPNuts. That is only a small portion of the collection. These are old O scale (1/48) brass engines, rebuilt and painted by myself, most of the times. Yves

Welcome to this forum Bianca. I just purchased one of these old kits and will be watching your progress. This will translate into a really cute little daysailer, I am sure. Yves

KPNuts, Since you have the Magnifier kit, how does it compare to the new MENG kit? I am curious to know if these two kits are similar or if the new MENG kit is way better in term of details and parts. Here is a link to the introduction of the new MENG kit: The Modelling News: Preview: The final iteration of Meng's 12th scale Ford GT40 Mk.II 1966 Le Mans 24h in full colour... Thanks for your time. Yves

Great build again. I will be following as I am planning to do this kit, one day. When you say Trumpeter, did you mean to say MENG? Yves

Hello James, I (we are all) was wondering if there is any news from Amati and if you have received replacements for the defective materials and parts? Let us know how it goes. Thanks Yves

I published a Blog on this model a while back. It is not easy to build and even less easy to make it run correctly. Yves

My sentiments, exactly. Yves

You can find local shops that will chrome parts for you. The price may be very reasonable and if you prepare your parts correctly, the final results will be outstanding. Yves

Superb book. The pictures are stunning and the overall quality makes my mouth drool. Yves

Mike, At the scale of 1/700th, this is self inflicted torture. How much are you going to spend in chiropractor and therapy after this PE set? Yves

Fantastic model. You really did a wonderful job on this kit. Yves

Folks, For the Bismarck and other German ships lovers, Trumpeter just announced the following in 1/200 scale: The 1/200 scale Scharnhorst battleship by Trumpeter is a newly-tooled plastic model kit. The kit features a one-piece hull, a finely-rendered deck pattern, six pieces of photo-etch (ladders, handrails, radar parts, etc.), and two Ar196 waterplanes. The kit features over 1600 parts on 25 sprues and measures over 46 inches when completed. Paint and glue are required to complete this model kit and are sold separately. Yves

The passageway is superb and incredibly realistic. Yves

Thank you Chris. This picture is interesting for many reasons: - It shows the evolution of hull shapes and funnels as an effort to take away all smoke and fumes from the decks. - Respective sizes of the liners. - Simplification of the rigging with modern vessels. Yves

Fantastic choice for your upcoming projects, CDW. All three are incredible models. I only drove the M635i .... The other twos....? Forget it, it is impossible. Yves

Fuji, If I may say this, I think the axles are exhibiting too sharp an angle. You may have an issue installing the electric motors and their universal joints. If it is not too late, I would relocate slightly the shaft supports on the outside of the hull, soften the epoxy with warm water and try to re-orient the shafts to be more parallel. If you do not intend to navigate the model, then no need to change anything. Yves