McLaren F1-GTR short tail by MFH

[da_ashman]

Wow this is looking cool!!!

[stratos75]

I'm agree. Looks tasty.

[lezdep]

Spent most of the weekend working on exhausts for this model. Managed to get them together after more then 5 hours spent
bending and fiddling with parts. There are many gaps and number of scratched showing how difficult that fight was. Likely the
biggest struggle of this build. My mistake was not doing complete pre-assembly for the exhausts and not reshaping them as it
was needed before hand. It was much more difficult to do, after parts were painted. I think most of defect will not be visible
when engine is installed in its place, but I will know they are there Hopefully rest of assemblies will not be as hard. Also worked
a bit on accessories in side pods. Mostly assembled by now. Prior to exhausts gearbox was permanently attached to engine. I've
used epoxy exclusively for all the assemblies. Takes longer, but bond is strong, while it retains some flexibility. Will likely switch
attention to finishing cockpit items next, as they prevent me from putting roof in place and doing other assembly steps.

[stratos75]

It would be interesting to see photos.

[lezdep]

Originally Posted by stratos75

It would be interesting to see photos.

Sure. Just took a moment in between writing and uploading photos. Should be visible now.

[dieteufel]

Hi

Good job!

Sascha

[jochen kieslich]

Hi lezdep,
tough project! Coming along very nice so far!
I'm just about to begin the #39 car also.

Please tell me something about the quality of the decals. Especially the large stars and stripes sections on top of the rear fenders / sourrounding the rear / engine windows. Do they lay down smooth? I'm a bit afraid due to my experiences with the 917 decals...these were frictionable and fragile. A nightmare. What about the FINA-logos at the doors?

THANKS for a reply

best wishes for your project!

Jochen

[lezdep]

Jochen, decals are of good quality. I had no problems with MFH decals so far. They respond to
Micor-Set/-Sol well and conform to curves pretty good. I've used decals over glossy TS26 finish
for this build. Take your time and let Micro-Sol to work its magic. Problematic decals for me for this
build were the FINA over doors, stripes over rear fenders and blue flags on front hood. Problem
with FINA decals is that they don't have enough to cover all the curvature. I've used pieces from
small spare white/red/blue stripes provided by MFH. For blue flags on front hood I've also used a
bit of spares as well. Now, stripes over rear fenders are almost fine, to get them to conform you
might want to make a little cut around the top of rear wheel well. I've got some wrinkles there on
my model, because I didn't cut decals upfront. Otherwise I had not issues I could remember with
decals and they lay down well on glossy surfaces with help of Micro-Set/-Sol.

[modlman17]

I had missed this somehow Sergey. You have built a beautiful car just as you always do!

Rob

[lezdep]

Some small tasks and one big unblocker were completed over the span of last 2 weekend. Big block were the seat belts. Spent
toward 5 hours on them. Now completed. They are not perfect and not entirely accurate. but will do for this build. And I'm happy
they are done, so I could go on completing most of the remaining assemblies for this model. Among smaller things done are
completed cylinder covers, attached engine air intakes, padding on roll bar, attached dashboard, gear shifter and name plate,
installed steering column linkage, so it is removable. Below are photos. It starts to look like I am on or near the home stretch.

[360spider]

Inspiring WIP. Looks like a great kit too. I might look into getting one of these for future project. Keep at it, it looks fantastic so far!

[ferrariman81]

Alex, this is right up your alley! Get one, post the whip.:-)

[lezdep]

Little bit more progress from last night. Permanently attached roll cage and then attached roof structure.
Also attached engine air intakes and couple of pipes.

[lezdep]

Had another productive night. A bit more progress. Put in place fuel pipes, attached brakes and then put whole engine/gearbox assembly with monocoque.

[360spider]

Looking great!