New tools

Today my X-acto brand drill bit set and pin vise arrived in the mail. I decided to order this after my brief experience with a generic set.


So time to put it to use straight away. I needed to drill some holes in the wheels to accomodate tire valves.


Applied carbon fiber decals to the underside of this rear wing element.


And I painted the distributor caps with Tamiya metallic brown. The paint seems to have separated, and even after shaking it for a long time, it was still much to thin to coat what I painted. I hope that the bottle of paint isn't ruined.


Total: 40 h

Carbon Fiber part 1 of 5605938

Ok, my title might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I'll be spending a lot of time on carbon fiber decals on this kit.

What have I been doing for the last few days? Well, a lot each day, but nothing really to show. A lot of spray painting. Unfortunately I have run out of primer, and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about that yet. I'm almost done painting gloss black as well. I spent some time painting engine and brake parts

Here are the brakes, they are done.


Side view of the engine so far.


I tried my hand at detail painting the "Jordan" insignia on the gearbox. Results are ok.


And now for the carbon fiber decal application. Everywhere. I'm going to use Scale Motorsport for this kit. It's been a long time since I used Modeler's decals (no longer on the market?) The Scale Motorsport decals look very nice.


My weapon of choice. Yes it's made in my hometown. Yes I had to get it shipped from America. Yes the shipping cost way more than the product. But seriously...It's my weapon of choice.


One of the things you learn when making a blog about building model cars is how to take flattering pictures. This is a very nice picture of another so-so part. I started applying carbon fiber decals to this cockpit piece first because almost all the detail will be obscured by the seat. Seemed like an appropriate place to experiment, without wasting decals. My setting solution is HOT!


Looks like I won't have the problems with decals on suspension components like I had with the BMW Sauber kit.


And before you start grilling me for carbon fiber decals on suspension components of an F1 car from 1991 - BANG - there is the evidence that the front pushrods where constructed of carbon fiber, and I've even got the lay of the fiber right


Total: 37 h

more painted

Not much going on today. Sprayed another coat of primer and gloss black paint. Brush painted another coat of titanium silver on the brake calipers, and flat aluminum on the engine block.

Total: 31

The monocoque is ready

Today I made a couple final modifications to the monocoque

Here it is


Here is the real thing with Schumacher in it during the Belgian GP weekend.


As can be seen above, the windscreen around the leading edge of the cockpit is a separate part, and quite thin. I have already ordered a Studio 27 photo etch set which includes this part. So it was necessary to remove the molded in part.


I also filled in the old holes for the mirrors, and drilled new holes to take my .5mm steel wire


Here's a picture of the real Ford HB for reference.


According to the refence picture and the kit's instructions, I painted the engine block flat aluminum. Also notice the holes I drilled at the bottom of the gearbox to take cooling hose.


Finally back to the brakes. According to this reference photo, the brake calipers should be a titanium silver color. The kit would have me mix chrome silver and orange, in other words titanium silver.


Here is the first coat of paint on the calipers.


Total: 30.5 h

Almost done priming

After the coat of primer last night, many of the parts are painted to my satisfaction. So today, I prepared many of the parts to be painted black. I also have some parts that still need another coat of primer. I also put another coat of gold paint on the wheel hubs.

Total: 27.5 h

Lots of painting

Yesterday I prepared pretty much all the parts for another coat of primer. Today I spray painted them. I also started painting the brake disks.

Since this is my blog, and my model, I'll express my opinions and my style in the build. Please note, that I'm sure many people will disagree with me, remember it's only my opinion.

On that note, I think that brakes on 1:20 scale models are overrated. I know that people spend a lot of time and money kitbashing brakes, adding aftermarket brakes, scratchbuilding brakes, etc. In the modern F1 car, you can't see the back of the brake due to brake ducting which is completely enclosed in the wheel. You can see any vent holes unless you leave the wheels off, or somehow manage removable wheels. The brakes are behind the wheels, and well, how much time and money do I really want to spend on parts that are hidden behind other parts. I find the stock brakes that come with the Tamiya Jordan 191 to be perfectly adequate. I didn't even bother sanding the flash of the calipers, because it won't be seen once inside the wheel.

The Tamiya instructions ask for X-12 Gold Leaf, and the below reference photo confirms that, so Gold Leaf it is.



This will definately take 2 coats of paint (or more). Tamiya gold goes on a bit thick and can be a little transparent, so we'll just brush paint as many ultra thin layers as necessary.


Total: 26 h

Finished priming some parts

Well, I've got a few parts that I finished priming





After reviewing some reference photos, these ignition coils need to be modified.


Here they are after modification


Prepared the rest to be primed again.

Total: 25