The McLaren MP4/12 in 1/20 Scale

By Alan Thorpe

. Most F1 fans nowadays that have an eye on the TV know that since 1997 McLaren F1 cars are decorated in that fabulous WEST colour scheme. Before the advent of West they were in the well known dayglo red and white Marlboro livery for twenty one years. From 1972 to 1974 the were sponsored by the Yardley cosmetic company, over-all white with a red black and gold “Y” on the top cowling, but before that again Bruce McLaren had his cars painted bright orange.

Here is McLaren himself in his M7 at Monaco in 1969, the year before his death in a Can-Am car. As you can see its not a bad colour for an F1, and to see a modern era car in that colour caught my attention. Always on the lookout for something different I found out Ron Dennis, el-supremo of McLaren had painted the 1997 MP4/12’s orange for early test/presentation outings. Check the photo below. (Both pics by the way are from R.W. Schlegelmilch’s fabulous book “McLaren Formula 1” published by Konemann.)

The only model of a slash 12 McLaren in 1/20 scale that I could find was a resin white metal and brass kit produced in limited numbers by Custom Hobby Base and made in Japan.I obtained my kit through Hapico in the US. Check out the site, there still may be a kit left. While not 100% accurate in some areas, its close enough for me. Apart from the usual problems and hassles that go with a resin kit it all came out ok. A reasonably easy build for those who have tackled full on resin stuff before. Check out some photos of the kit bits, and pics of the completed model. Enjoy!