[Guest]

Hey guys,

UPS has delivered another beauty, this time in the form of Minichamps' 2005 F1 McLaren, MP4-20 driven by the brilliant Kimi Raikkonen.

I have always been a fan of Formula 1, and I was recently enlightened that Hot Wheels wasn't the only company to have manufactured F1 cars. So for my first purchase I decided to go with McLaren, and I swear if I can I am sticking with this company. Their attention to detail is far greater than Hot Wheels. For instance, there are air ducts for the front brakes, some of the rear struts are colored in gold, and the rain light is much more detailed. Even when you compare the tires, the Minichamps one seems to have more of a realistic look to it (a little less shiny, less rounded tire walls). Even their silver livery seems to shine more compared to seeing the Hot Wheels version up close at a store and in photos.

I am very happy with this one, and this was my first Minichamps purchase and I applaud them. I foresee many more models from this company! :nicejob

 

[Guest]

That is a fantastic car Eddwin :nicejob

No doubt about it , you got yourself a stonker of a model of the best car / driver combo from last years championship .
Its a travesty that he was robbed of the title by those stupid tyre rules . Kimi is da man !!! (Im a Mclaren fan in case you hadnt guessed :giggle)

Minichamps are definately the cars to have if you collect F1 . HWs arent bad in all honesty , but the finish of the Minichamps cars is just so much better .

Congrats on adding that one :cheers

 

[guitardave_1]

That's a gorgeous car Eddwin. Last year's McLaren was an absolute stunner, and in a different class on the right day.

Even though I'm a massive F1 fan I have so far resisted the models in favour of road/race cars with more features and details, but I don't know how long I can keep it up. The Minichamps cars look fantastic.

Nice photos BTW. You must have a good setup and some practice to achieve those.

 

[mclaren]

nice choice, minichamps make great f1 cars! you might like the new test car too

 

[DanielB]

Superb photos of an outstanding model. From what I've seen elsewhere on the net, this certainly looks like one of the very best F1 models Minichamps have produced to date. Outstanding attention to detail.

BTW - I've done a Hot Wheels vs PMA comparison before - you can find it in the F1 section of the forum.

 

[Guest]

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Thank you!

I agree... if only those McLarens were reliable in the beginning of the season, without a doubt he would have taken the title.

 

[Guest]

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Thanks Dave!

The setup I have is actually a cardboard box with the sides cut out and a white bedsheet covering it. I call it a "light tent" :lol but it serves its purpose quite well. Thanks for your compliments!

 

[Guest]

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Thank you Daniel!

Your review and those of others have helped me in this purchase. Keep up those reviews! :nicejob

 

[mclaren]

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i read that today great review, ill never buy another hot wheels f1 car

 

[RufusRoc]

I recently bought this model too. It is one of the best recent F1 models of one of the best looking F1 cars ever. The front end of my model is too low however and whenever I roll it (no I'm not playing with it, just testing it :giggle ), the underside of the car scrapes against the surface. Do you have this problem too or is my model defective?

:cheers

 

[Guest]

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I too have this problem, it seems like the front wheels have too much camber causing the bargeboards to scrape. The camber does look the car more aggressive though.

 

[Guest]

definitely one of the greatest looking f1 car last season. Great addition Eddwin! I have been waiting for this one for quite some time now. Where did you get this model? Congrats once again!

 

[Guest]

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thanks! It definitely is one of the greatest looking, and definitely was fastest on a good day as well. I got this one from Replicarz, you can find them at replicarz.

 

[mox]

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Eddwin, would you mind posting some pics of your setup? I'd rather spend my money on diecast than a light tent, and you're getting great results with what you've got.

 

[Guest]

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John it would be my pleasure to show you my setup. Mind you, it isn't anything aesthetically pleasing though :lol

The first photo shows the cardboard box, which was lying in my house. It measures 18 inches X 18 inches X 18 inches, and you can find them anywhere, probably even lying around the home. I cut three "windows": the top and the 2 sides. The thing to watch out here is to ensure you don't cut out too large of a window (that is, a very thin border) because that threatens the rigidity of the box and the eventually the sides might collapse. I tried preventing this by taping up the areas that started to bend and even taped a pen to one side as you can see.



I also cut the whole flaps in the front so I can have access with the camera. The back is intact so the box stays erect and in shape and I can also place the background on it which is a plain sheet of white cardboard paper. If you just place the paper inside and not fold it but let it curve from top to bottom, you can eliminate any nasty fold lines. I then put a plain white bedsheet over it, and a twin sized bed sheet can be folded in half to cover the sides. Here you can experiment to either keep it folded and let the light diffuse through essentially two layers of white, or just one. I tend to use one since my lights aren't very powerful. I use two fluorescent lamps, and depending on how I see the shadows I would put them on the sides, or one on the side and one shining from top. Here if you can, maybe three lamps would be better to eliminate any possibilities of unwanted shadows.



And the end result with the lamp on the left on top and the silver lamp on the right (it's a little blurry since I was just hand-holding the cam):



And with a tripod:



It's nothing pretty but it seems like it's working. Hope this helps, and that you get awesome results!

Oh and I overexpose the shot, usually by 1 or 1 1/3 stops to ensure the white bg stays white. The light meter, in this case, will try to tone down the white to an ugly gray color, which is quite unpleasant.

 

[mox]

Thanks eddwin - you're getting excellent results from what is basically a free setup (other than the lights)! I think I'll definately be looking into this, although my crappy camera won't co-operate I'm sure...it's only a 2 MP fully automatic.

 

[Jonson]

Congrats :cheers excellent PMA :cheers