Minardi M188B 1/20

[daveyman]

I'm really liking what you are doing here. Looks first class, such a striking livery. Look forward to seeing more...

[JamesB]

All I cab say is woooow!!!
Love that "proto" look without the stickers, and the finished wing, that was a usual thin back then.
Thanks for the compliments

Also happy with the alignement, it took long to make sure it was possible with the McLaren parts... surely there's a job to be done (thinning wishbone ends) that is kinda hazardous, but was the best I could come up wity.
Ride height, hmmm.... front, a matter of using shorter pushrods. Rear,well: it should be the same heigth as the MP4/4, that train is stock!
So I had a look at mine and yes, looks like some 3mm or so, mabe not that unaccurate for that era... but to the eye es looks a bit high.

Can't wait to see it full livery, though as I said looks great like that.
Ah, I love the "just blue enough to distinguish from black" definition!

[Corpsegrinder]

Ah, I love the "just blue enough to distinguish from black" definition!

Haha, well done, I kept looking at the pictures but cannot really tell whether it is a very dark blue or a black. You did a good job in disguising, to me the livery is convincing enough! Can't wait to see it all assembled and ready for the display cabinet!

[AJP01]

So, for the lower front ride height since the suspension is already mounted and glued...

It should be possible to get a really thin PE saw, or take a coping saw blade (sometimes called a "jewelers saw") and fracture it on purpose into a small 1 inch length of blade. You can take this small length of coping saw blade and mount it into an Xacto knife handle slot. Then you have a very small and precise saw blade that is strong enough to cut from one side. It has to be a thin blade because you're going to be working in a very tight space near the upright.

Take this little thin saw blade and cut a small incision through the lower end of the front suspension pushrod. This should take out .5mm-1mm or so of plastic. Then carefully glue the sawed ends back together with CA. This will effectively shorten the pushrod and lower the ride height. Done well enough with some black paint after you'll be unable to locate the saw point with your eyes.

Hope this helps.
AJ

[AJP01]

By the way, .5mm shortening of the pushrods may not be enough to lower the ride height the way you need it, so I'd recommend figuring out how much you need the ride height lowered first (i.e. "I want the car 3mm lower") and then figure out the math for how much the pushrod needs to be shortened. Easier to cut it once than to cut it multiple times and glue it, but it should work either way. Because the pushrod is at a pretty good angle you will get more than a 1:1 reduction in ride height for a given length of shortening. Ride height will lower by probably double the amount you cut out although I have not done that math on this car.

AJ

[martinpesce]

Thanks again for the encouragements! I completed a good part of the decaling job over the week. The under tray was tied to a plastic base using some tape, which helps to put the car in angled positions without touching it too much, never thought of that before!

As said before the decals go on very well, not much needed to apply them over curvy surfaces (the chassis doesn't have many anyway ). Already when decaling the rear wing I realised the yellow paint does not match well with the decals, but it's not too disturbing (daylight pictures actually help to disguise it a bit).

Still have the nose and front wing left to do before the car is almost fully in the right spec. I've chosen for the 1989 season opener in Rio, where there were a few less logos on the car. It was actually hard to find proper reference pictures, but I found some very nice video footage of the pre-season tire tests (I think briefly before the race weekend) and the first free practices on youtube.

Thanks for the advice about the ride-height! I'll have another check once everything is in place an decided what to do. As the push-rod barely touches the chassis, it doesn't really "push" much, so shortening may not work, but I may give it a try. To be continued!

[JamesB]

LOVELY, LOVELY, LOVELY!!!!

[roly01]

Yes, comming along very nicely!

[martinpesce]

And there it is!

I finally managed to complete this fun project, all in all my third conversion (Stewart SF3 and Arrows A23), this time however with the help of a great transkit! Yes, some imperfections remain, such as the alignment of the front-rear wings, the camber on the left wheel, the colour difference between decals and paint and the ride height. For the latter issue I tried adjusting the suspension but did not want to risk breaking it, even tried to call Paul Hembery and team but was not allowed to drop the tire pressures any further

In the end I'm pleased with the result, and to have a Minardi in the cabinet half the fun already! Thanks for the supporting comments during the build, and one more round of applause to JamesB for a terrific kit - who's next to complete a 1988 version?

[RE60B]

great!

cedric