McLaren F1 GTR Longtail
Trying to follow Rob’s Typhoon posting must be like trying to follow Elvis Presley on stage, so here goes, you can boo me off if you like.
When Gordon Murray was McLaren’s chief designer he was tasked with designing the ultimate GT road car, and he came up with the F1. It had many unusual features, including a central driving position with passenger seats either side, makiing the car a three seater; he also, famously, used gold to as a heat insulator in the engine bay. Although the F1 was not designed to be a competition car, owners and teams were soon clamouring for a racing version, primarily to be entered in the Le Mans 24 hour sports car race. In fact, the car needed very little modification, the most significant being the extension of the rear of the car to make it more stable at high speed (hence the ‘Longtail’). The F1 proved to be very successful, and the number 42 car, entered in the 1997 race took victory in the hands of J J Lehto, S Soper and N Piquet.
Fujimi have produced several versions of this car, all with subtle differences, and I chose this one as I like the blue and white livery of the main sponsor, Fina Petroleum, and, also, it’s the only one to have taken victory at Le Mans.
A few more details of the kit and the build can be found at the WIP on iModeler on this link http://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-automotive/forum/topic/mclaren-f1-gtr-longtail-le-mans-1997-124-fujumi/ but, suffice to say, I followed Al Hoffman’s example with his Brabham F1 car, and used the unpainted white plastic finish to apply the decals, and then followed this with a couple of coats of Tamiya’s clear. I highlighted the panel lines with Tamiya panel line accent colour. Do I get an encore? Thanks for looking, George.
11 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Jack Mugan said on September 27, 2014
Nice ride George…….looks good to me.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thanks, Jack.
AL HOFFMAN said on September 27, 2014
Came out well George. A good white finish has always been a challenge for me. I might need to go this direction again next time I’m building a white car.
Waiting for your next project.
Morne Meyer said on September 28, 2014
Hi Al. I know the car modelers often use automotive laquers. I have given up on Humbrol and Modelmaster white. I went to the local hardware store and got me some white enamel paint for painting the interior walls of my house. Then it dawned on me that I could try this on my models. If thinned correctly, it sprays well and you mostly need only one coat.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thanks for your support in the Automotive group, Al, it was your Brabham Alfa Romeo that gave me the idea for the finish.
Craig Abrahamson said on September 27, 2014
Nicely finished and photographed, George….good-lookin’ build.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thank you, Craig, sometiimes simple is best.
Morne Meyer said on September 27, 2014
Hi George. I have always been a fan of McLaren. You did an awrsome job on her. Congrats on a great build. Nice photos as well.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thanks for the compliments, Morne, much appreciated.
bob mack said on September 28, 2014
your a breathe of fresh air George
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
I just thought it would make a change after Rob’s Typhoon, thank you, Bob.
Rob Pollock said on September 28, 2014
George, I was watching this in the WIP thread. A really fresh looking build.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
I wish I had put a few more pictures in the WIP now, but, at the time, the build just seemed to jump ahead of me! Thanks for looking, Rob.
K. J. Bricknell said on September 28, 2014
Excellent work, George.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Cheers, Mr Bricknell!
Gregor d said on September 28, 2014
Great build George. Looking good.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thanks for your interest, Gregor, now, I must get on with that French tank!
Simon Whitney said on September 28, 2014
Wicked as ever George, your amazing auto motive plant still produces fine builds.
Well done mate.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thank you, Simon, glad you enjoyed it.
Bernd Müller said on September 28, 2014
Hi George,no boo s 🙂 Perfectly done, congrats to you ! 1/24 ?
You tarmac is slightly out of scale 😉
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Cheers, Bernd, yes, it’s 1/24, and yes, you’re right about the tarmac, it’s ok for 1/12, but, I’ll have to do something about it if I build any more 1/24 cars!
Bernd Müller said on September 29, 2014
Your kits will look great on every underground or backdrop.
This place inspired me a lot to do a car as well.
Tom Cleaver said on September 28, 2014
That was more like trying to go onstage after Tina Turner just burned the place down. (Back in 1969, Mick Jagger couldn’t do it for 40 minutes at the first show of their American tour; the second show changed the line-up so that B.B. King came on right after Tina, being the only man on the planet capable of so doing. 🙂 )
Damn nice model, so you did survive!
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thanks for looking, Tom, and thanks for your kind comments. I might have chosen Chuck Berry to follow Tina Turner, but B.B. King is great, too.
Richard Mcstay said on September 28, 2014
Rob’s Typhoon is certainly a hard act to follow, but personal preference, you have done it in style! I love these cars! I’ve been obsessed with Mclaren since I was a child when the F1 knocked the XJ220 off the the top spot for the title of fastest production car!
I have been following the release of the P1 very closely. Now that machine is something else! I never thought they could better the F1 but they have! The Top Gear review was amazing, Clarkson tested it at the Spa in Belgium. I’m sure it’s available to watch somewhere online, it’s worth a watch!
Compliments on the build George, stunning work as usual. Compliments from my girlfriend Claire also, she has been following your builds!
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thanks to both of you! I’ve seen that P1 clip at Spa, didn’t he call it ‘the widow maker’?
Richard Mcstay said on October 15, 2014
I think so! There’s been a lot of reviews of the P1 saying that it is just fast on a different level!
I thought I would take a quick look at the Fujimi Mclaren kits available just out of interest, just for a look….. I have the 1995 #59 short tail Le man winner in the post as we speak, with a photo etch set and full resin conversion kit to open up the engine. I couldn’t help myself!
George Williams said on October 15, 2014
Way to go, Richard, I’m sure you will enjoy it, looking forward to seeing it posted.
Richard Mcstay said on October 15, 2014
I might even do a work in progress… I’ll see how brave I’m feeling at the time as I will have nowhere to hide if things go wrong!
I’ve never done a resin conversion, and it looks complicated! I need to remove a fair bit of the original body work, which I’m already worried about!
George Williams said on October 15, 2014
Looks like major surgery to me, the F1 body is moulded in one piece (apart from the doors). Fujimi do give a basic engine block and exhaust system, but this is 99% covered up by the bodywork, so it will be interesting to see how you get on.. I’m not sure if the racing versions kept the gold engine bay lining?
Mike Maynard said on September 28, 2014
A nice clean build, great graphics.
George Williams said on September 28, 2014
Thank you, Mike, I know you are a race car fan, so your compliments mean a lot.
Rick Wilkes said on September 28, 2014
Well done George, excellent job on a tough scheme.
George Williams said on September 29, 2014
Cheers, Rick, it’s certainly very decal dependent!
California Steve said on September 28, 2014
Woooo. Now that’s nice George. I have yet to do a late model car but I think you might have started a flame inside me. Great job!
California Steve
George Williams said on September 29, 2014
Glad you like it, Steve. It seems like a ‘late model’ car to me, too, but, remember, it raced at Le Mans 14 years ago, time passes so quickly! If you want a later model, try one of their McLaren MP12/4Cs, they do a few different competition versions as well as a road version.
Frank Cronin said on October 1, 2014
George, this is absolutely gorgeous. You did a wonderful job on this. I really like this but would never attempt to do one. Quite frankly (pardon the pun) it would be extremely difficult to even come close to what you have.
George Williams said on October 3, 2014
Thank you very much, Frank, coming from you those comments mean a lot.
Joe Caputo said on October 3, 2014
Beautiful, George. Another one of my favorites done well ! If I could do one that looks this good, I couldn’t stop ! Keep them coming, please !