1/12 Meng F1 McLaren 4/4 1988

[Juggernut]

This is what I was trying to view when kept getting blocked by a popup for The Modeling News.  I think I've fixed that issue now but: HOW COOL IS THIS?

 

 

I had the Tamiya 1/12 MP4/6 several years ago but never built it.  Now I can get this (alibeit the price has increased substantially!).  It's due for July 2023 release...Oh I gotta save my milk money for this puppy.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Juggernut

[Trak-Tor]

Well, that's really cool.
But I think I like this one a bit more:

tamiya.com/japan/products/

 

And Mario Andretti was one of my favorite riders when I was a kid.

 

Juraj

[Mark_C]

I think the Meng kit will be better than Tamiya's, but they both look good.  And the Italeri McLaren also looks tasty.

 

 

[vince14]

The Italeri McLaren is a re-pop of the ancient Protar kit, so it's not worth bothering with unless you really want a 1/12 MP4/2C.

 

The Meng kit will almost certainly be both significantly cheaper and less complex than the MFH kit.

Edited April 12, 2023 by vince14

[nichenson]

On 4/12/2023 at 6:07 PM, vince14 said:

The Meng kit will almost certainly be both significantly cheaper and less complex than the MFH kit.

 

I was really disappointed in the Meng GT40.  It was very toy like as it appeared to be aimed at younger modelers.  I really hope they don't go that route with the MP4/4.  They are on pre-sale for around $180 from what I have seen.  From the photos I have seen so far, it definitely will need some upgrades.  Top Studio has been the best at it so far, but their stuff isn't cheap.  Between new decals, the kit, carbon fiber, and a top studio detail set you are in the same area as the MFH kit.  The only advantage one may have over the other is down to which materials you like. 

[Dave Williams]

What turned me off in the GT40, and I still see in TMN preview of the McLaren, are the obvious Phillip head screws used to attach suspension components.

[vince14]

Yeah, they don't look great. I'm wondering whether they could be screwed in enough so that you could cover them up with a thin sliver of plastic card.

[jenshb]

I hope they will include the air intakes for the compressors in the kit.... 

[nichenson]

34 minutes ago, jenshb said:

I hope they will include the air intakes for the compressors in the kit.... 

Are you referring to the intakes on the turbos?  They are on there.  This is an early-season version.  The vertical intakes that stood out of the side pods came in about halfway through the season.

[scvrobeson]

Really not that excited about the metal suspension bits and the need to screw them together, but I'll definitely be interested to see what it looks like when it comes out, and we see what the price looks like.

 

 

 

 

Matt 

[jenshb]

4 hours ago, nichenson said:

Are you referring to the intakes on the turbos?  They are on there.  This is an early-season version.  The vertical intakes that stood out of the side pods came in about halfway through the season.

Ok...I don't see any ducting to the compressors themselves though, but I may be used to seeing the Tamiya version of the car...

 

[cbk57]

The tamiya kit is great but it was tooled around around 1978 or 1979.  So it is still a very old kit.  As such it has some limits as the build goes and some fiddly issues.  I tried to build one many years ago never quite finished it but got it far along enough it looked good on the shelf anyway.

[nichenson]

On 4/15/2023 at 4:17 PM, jenshb said:

Ok...I don't see any ducting to the compressors themselves though, but I may be used to seeing the Tamiya version of the car...

 

 

The Tamiya is early season as well.  The intake goes horizontal and is attached to the intercooler.  It's a small slot.  The air goes through that, into the turbo, and then back around to the intercooler and then up to the intakes.  I would say that they had issues keeping the air cool as the radiators are just forward to that or maybe even getting enough air as that is a tight 90 turn.  The latter half of the season the air came directly in from the periscope looking intakes.  S27 and MFH both made transkits for the Tamiya kit which may be what you were thinking about.  The Meng kit does seem to be a decent representation but the more I look at the kit, the more toy like connections/fasteners I am seeing like the large circle things on the floor pan which is probably what they are using to hold the bodywork on.

 

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by nichenson

[nichenson]

Here is the late-season setup.

 

 

 

[jenshb]

Thanks for that enlightenment.  Yes, it's an odd contraption that early season configuration.  Sucking in warm air that has passed through the radiators and then warming it up even more before trying to cool it before feeding it into the cylinders...  I suppose the car looks better without the periscope intakes though.