This is the real car that I want to replicate in scale. Recently, Fujimi has released this car as a 1:20 full plastic kit, but since I had already purchased this MSM transkit I intend to build it.
The MP4/5 didn't look the same in every GP! In fact, the only GP where Senna had the narrow cowling in front of the radiator was the Brazilian GP (see photo). Since this is the version which MSM chose to replicate, it is the version that I will make.
The transkit provides in a part which should be used to replace the kit gearbox and rear wing support. But when I look at the rear of a McLaren MP4/5...
I'm convinced that the resin part (to the right) is the gearbox of a McLaren MP4/4! So I decided not to use it and scratch the rear end of the MP4/5 myself (to the left).
It looks ok, but I still have to relocate the diffuser, and more importantly: I still have to check if the rear bodyparts fit between the suspension arms.
But I have no clue how to find out if the rear suspension arms will fit the gaps in the rear bodyparts, and I need something which is fixed to the chassis to be able to do some measurements.
After a good night's sleep, I found the solution: when I am able to join the lower suspension arms to the gearbox with the rear bodyparts in place, I could do any measurement I want. So I cut the lower arms away and replaced the joints by scratched parts.
Now it is possible to fix the bodyparts to the chassis, since I can put the lower suspension arms through the gaps. And it's a good thing I decided to do it this way, because the gaps were all in the incorrect locations! I had to relocate them all.
And now I can finally fit the body on the chassis with the rear suspension in place: some extra tweeking was nessecary, but in the end it out works out.
I received a few remarks from fellow modelers who told me that the top cowling should be as wide as the bottom monocoque, which wasn't the case. After careful consideration, I decided to tackle the problem and add some plasticard to the bottom monocoque.
At the same time I sanded down the top cowling a bit, so they would meet somewhere in the middle. Now they are perfectly leveled. This caused some extra adaptation works of the front suspension. Finally I put the parts in white primer.
The body has been sprayed gloss red, next I put all the decals on, and finally I sprayed a flat coat over the figure. Now I can start painting details.
I'm not sure if you can see it on this picture, but the red on the body looks more orange now, in comparison to the red on the rear wing which hasn't been clearcoated yet.
A second surprise came when I wanted to apply the decals on the rear wings. The 'Courtaulds' sponsor was not the same during the whole season. Here you see it during the Imola GP.
At the end of the season the 'Courtaulds' sponsor was altered. Since the decals available are those of the McLaren MP4/5B, looking like this one, I can't use them because I'm making the McLaren of the Brasilian GP. So I had to order an extra decal sheet..
The helmets have been clearcoated, and the face have been painted manually. I also painted the white of the eyes. Of course this is not finished yet. The helmet on the right is the MP4/5 helmet; the one to the left is a MP4/4 helmet.
During his McLaren carreer, Senna used basically the same helmet livery/sponsors. But the helmet interior changed from time to time. Here it looks a tan color.
And here it looks blue. I think he used these colors when he felt like it; I chose to paint the interior bright green because I think this was typical for Senna, no other driver ever used this to my knowledge.
I only now notice that a part of the 'Courtaulds' decal at the right hand side is missing, which probably happened during compounding (and before clearcoating). I'll have to solve this one as well...