Testing Times

Revell 1/24th West Mclaren Mercedes Mp4-20

Introduction - For the first model of the new decade I thought I'd build the Revell MP4-20 kit I've had a while. To be a bit different and to coincide with the testing for the new F1 season I decided to model it in the Mclaren orange test scheme. This scheme was used for a few tests at the start of the 2006 season as the MP4-21 was not ready until late February.

The Kit - The Revell line of F1 kits are always a challenge to build. The level of detail does not compare well to the larger though more expensive Tamiya and Fujimi kits. There are some issues with accuracy on this kit though with some work it can be made into a reasonable representation.



The Test scheme - To facilitate the test scheme I acquired some Crazy Modelers decals and Zero Paints Mclaren orange. The only other colour used on this car was the metallic black used for the wings. For this I used Zero Paints McLean West metallic black.


Construction - After an initial assessment of what could and couldn't easily be improved on the kit construction began. The first step was to hollow out the air intake above the drivers head.



With this done I turned my attention to the front suspension. The kit is moulded such that both the main pieces to the front suspension need to be attached prior to painting. Due to the very poor fit of these parts I chose to cut the lower arm up and attach pat of it at the stage. This enabled me to blend it in to the rest of the chassis without the the rest of it getting in the way. This suspension arrangement seems to bear very little resemblance to the real car though i lacked sufficient reference material to correct it.


With the main body assemble I began to fill and blend the bits together. Revell always overdo the panel lines on their F1 kits. you can hardly see them on the real car so in this scale they are best removed altogether.


The process of filling, sanding and priming took several cycles to achieve a smooth body shell.


With the shell complete I primed it using Tamiya matt white. This was then sanded and polished to achieve a smooth blemish free base.


The body shell was then spayed with several thin coats of the Zero orange.


The model was sanded and polished between each coat it remove any dust or scratches.


In addition to the main body the other components that needed spraying orange were prepared and sprayed in the same manner.

Decaling and varnishing - With the main body complete I applied the crazy modeler decals. The high gloss finish of the body mean they went down without any problems and were set down with some Mirco Sol. The body was then sprayed with several coats of Tamiya gloss varnish, which was then polished to a final shine.


Completing construction - With the main body done I could construct the rest of the kit. The following additions were made:

• Custom seat belts were made to replace the moulded in kit ones.
• The plastic exhaust pipes were replaced with stainless steel ones
• A headrest was added out of plastic card
• All exposed carbon fiber elements were decaled using cf decal. this was then over sprayed with Tamiya smoke as the cf decal I have is too light.
  

The front wing was sprayed with the metallic black and assembled



As was the rear wing. To aid final assembly the side plates were tapered in ever so slightly. This meant that when attached to the car the wing would stay on in place under tension without the need for any glue (wings always fall off my F1 cars !)



Wheels and Tyres - The rear wheels needed some work as the stand too proud of the suspension without filing the inner hubs down. The tyres were first gloss varnished, to give the decals something to adhere to, the matted down



Finished Model - The wings and wheels were added and the model complete



Conclusions - For a quick build this hadn't gone too badly. As colour schemes go you cant get much simpler than this and after building several Revell kits I'm pleased with they way this one came out.