Yeah, I read that. The way I see it, I can always repaint them glossy black if they should "go green" in a few years.

So, Sunday it is. First proper update then.

Stage 2: Assembling the front wing 2

This time we fit a number of aerodynamic fins to the underside of the wing and add the lower part of the end plates. We also receive the front left tyre and the upper part of the nose cone. Also a Mercedes "star" decal that I will probably lose before it's finally needed in the last building stage.



As before we start with removing paint from glue spots, this time around from the endplates. The grooves for the underwing fins were already roughened up a little in stage 1.



It's imperative to identify and lay out the fins first so the correct fin goes into the correct groove. Note especially the orientation of the fins in the manual. I fooled myself at first and was thinking the instructions were in error when in reality it was the model builder in my chair that was in error. An easy way to determine which fin goes where is to ensure that the depression marks end up facing each other and get "hidden" in the trough of blackness between the fins. The inner fins only really fit in their respective groove correctly.

Each fin gets an hour to ensure the ABS glue bonds the parts properly. Do not shorten the time. I did and it didn't end well. The contact area is tiny and really needs this time. It's also a good idea to hold the fins in place with a bit of masking tape as instructed to stop it from drooping.



Afterwards the endplates are extended with their lower parts. Again give proper time to bond and secure with tape.



And that's it for stage 2. The other parts delivered go into storage. The wing from above doesn't look too much different, not that we expected it to.

Great start greyhawk

You're going to have to buy a bigger place soon with all the partworks you've got on the go

Stage 4 - Assembling the right suspension

This stage is a mirror image of the previous one, only we receive less parts



The right pushrod and upper and lower right suspension arm are added to our collection.



Again we remove the paint from the locating pins...



... and the connecting areea between pushrod and lower wishbone...



which are then screwed together.

That's it for stage 4. Next time we start working on the nose cone.

Well the material is absolutely beautiful so far.

Stage 5: Assembling the nose cone



We receive the right front tyre, a brace that will connect the nose cone to the body proper and 4 locating pins.



The pins are secured to the brace which is easy enough, one just has to be sure of the correct orientation of the little holes in the pins.



The brace is then pushed into the upper nose cone half until it "clicks". Be sure to listen to the click, if there's no click the part is not yet seated correctly.



The lower nose cone half is then screwed to the upper half. Positioning is a bit tricky as there's very few tolerances. On the other hand once the part is correctly and securily in place, the seam between both parts becomes largely invisible.



That's it for stage 5. Next time, we repair some ad work.

It's a dream. It also seems to stick to that level of quality throughout when I look at the later parts. No idea what the complaints were about back when this originally came out.

Stage 7: Attaching the nose to the front wing

Quite a bit to do this time around.



We receive a sprue of stays and side extensions for the nose as well as the wheel upright bases and axles.



Cutting the necessary parts from the sprue reveals some nice planning on the parts of the designers. All the connecting points are either in places that will be invisible or offset so they can be cut without the cut showing on the part. Like Bandai does for their Gundam models. Well done, DeAgostini, i wish more manufacturers would have so much foresight.

Paint is removed from the glue spots...



... and the attachements are glued to the sides of the nose.



Repeat the same thing...



for the stays that connect to the front wing.



Then it is just a matter of glueing the stays to the front wing itself and letting it bond for 24 hours. If one was careful enough in the previous stages, the stays will fit perfectly.

And that's the end of pack 1. Next time we start on the brakes

Thanks Al. This kit practically builds itself so far.

Stage 8: Assembling the front brake units



We receive parts for the right front brake, specifically the brake hub, wheel nut and cover, a plastic collar, a wrench for fastening the cover and an adapter to upgrade our screwdriver.



First we fit the wheel upright we received with the last stage with the wheel shaft. The hexagonal connections is a tight fit which is nice from a stability standpoint.



Then the collar is stuck into the brake hub.



While this is all the "building" done this stage, we do get an opportunity to test fit some of the wheel and brake parts we received so far.



Which looks like this. I may leave off the covers in the final build to show off the brakes. I'm not sure I like them.



We also get to fit the screwdriver with an adapter to allow for better grip.

This is a very impressive looking kit, I really like the livery. I'd probably consider it if I had storage available for another 1:8 scale model...

You're doing a great job with it, I guess the most taxing part so far were the decals? Looking seamless, well done.

I will consider then, probably will wait for some nice promotion though...

For now, in the F1 category, I have a Tamiya 1/12 McLaren MP4/6 with the full detail sets from both TopStudio and Thunder Valley, AZRM turned wheels, decals sets and tons of reference material. I'll be starting this one after I'm done with Porsche. Learning to focus! LOL

That sounds awesome, michu. Will be interesting to see.

Thanks, Al

Stage 10 - Still assembling them front brakes (part 3)



We receive two halves of the left front upright and a whole bunch of air guides, spoilers, fins, etc. to kit it out with. We'll only need the upright halves this time around.



In a first step the left suspension arm is attached to the lower half of the upright. This is surprisingly fiddly as it's difficult to hold the arm and upright in the required positions with just one hand. Eventually I make it though.



The upright base we fitted with an axle last stage is then attached to the upper half of the upright. No problems here.



Last the two halves are joined with ABS and a screw.

In stage 11 we will repeat the exact same thing for the right suspension arm and will fit the air guides to both uprights.