My first build here :-) lets see how it goes.

This is a Matra Simca F1 car from 1968. The usual mix of plastic and white metal from MFH.

My first problem here is finding reference pictures because MFH has produced an MS11 chassis with a MS9 engine which is correct but nearly all surviving cars seem to have an MS12 engine as above. Anyway thats a detail but it does mean that i will have to guess some details, not least engine colour.

This is a strange choice from MFH here but it should be noted if you like this car then Tamiya did it in their “big scale” 1/12 series as well. Not a successful car, it raced in 1968 with its own Matra Simca V12 engine although I think it did a little better in later Cosworth engined versions. The Matra V12 in this first-generation form was under powered and tended to overheat but its major disadvantage was it was not strong enough to be used as a stressed member of the chassis like the Cosworth.
I chose this model because MFH cars are a pretty new experience for me. Unlike most of their models this car has no hood, trunk, doors or windows 😉, basically nothing on hinges which if you are on a learning curve with these white metal kits, is a big advantage. Its also still available to buy direct from MFH saving you a fair amount of cash. You could almost say that these early F1 models are just a small step up from motorcycles as far as building goes with the added advantage there is no spoked wheels or drive chain.

This is a better representation of the kit car, no front wing, engine trumpets at 45 degree etc although both are billed as MS11

Back in 1968, F1 was quite different game from the high tech, surgical and clinically clean science it is today This has a bearing on how you might finish a model IMHO ranging from well used (not a condition seen today) to museum quality. This picture shows an MS11 in its pits at Nürburg ring German GP in 1968

Oh how things have changed, I have seen pictures of cars being pushed to the grid through mud and puddles :-)

Finding your way round round these models i a bit of s mission at first. Parts are not marked and there are hundreds of them, the answer is to download a parts list from MFH (why dont they put one in the box) so you can cross reference the part to its picture which will give you a part number that tallies with the instructions. All parts will need tidying up and nearly all parts will need holes drilled. These are the basic engine castings, i have already drilled nearly 100 holes in these castings, mostly 0.9 and 1mm which gives you some idea about how the build differs from your average Tamiya kit.

These parts above have also been put through my geologists rock tumbler to take the sharp edges off.

Anyway i have set the scene, staked my claim here and will update as i slowly build a great model or just destroy an expensive kit :-)

Now that´s a way of build log introduction Paddy. I think you made a wise choice with building a F1 car as first MFH car kit. I put myself in a bit of a hole, choosing the Cobra Coupe as my first. Like you said, all the hinged parts like doors and bonnets plus a ton of vac formed clear parts don´t make live any easier.
I also have the feeling, that quality of the later MFH kits is better than with older ones, so besides it´s beauty, the MS11 seems to be a great choice. This engine made me nearly buy one myself.

How do you like your rock tumbler? I used one of these types of tumblers filled with tiny steel balls and found the result not optimal. Detail got softened too much for my liking. I invested in a magnetic tumbler and use 0,3 mm steel needles and have far better results, with less loss of details.

You mentioned the parts list. It´s a pain, that MFH supplies only the pictures on their website, which print too bad for recognizing tiny parts securely. A while ago, I emailed MFH and asked, if it would be possible to supply them as print or PDF, same with the manual (some are available for download), but never got an answer.
Have fun with your build and let us peep in.

Cheers Rob

Hi Rob

Comunication is not a MFH strong point, i only contacted them once and never got an answer either. I built their Brough Superior but they made two quite different versions and the version i had didnt have a parts list so i was really in trouble . I had to guess at a lot of the parts and their position.

I use a rubber barrel with 5mm triangular ceramic chips that are shaped to get into corners. The secret with this system is the more chips you put in the less the parts drop as the barrel rotates and the more water you put in the more the polishing effect especially when combined with washing up liquid. I have a second barrel with crushed walnut shells for finishing. Again trial and error will show about 20 mins is fine for the chips where as the walnut shells can run for 12 hours or more.

38 minutes ago, Paddy said:

Comunication is not a MFH strong point, i only contacted them once and never got an answer either. I built their Brough Superior but they made two quite different versions and the version i had didnt have a parts list so i was really in trouble . I had to guess at a lot of the parts and their position.

One problem, I have with my actual Brabham BT50b build is to find the corresponding places for wiring and tubing. Often there is no reference, to where a wire should lead. I hope this is better with your kit, as I had less of these problems with the Cobra Coupe and Alfa Romeo BT45, which are newer MFH kits.

42 minutes ago, Paddy said:

I use a rubber barrel with 5mm triangular ceramic chips that are shaped to get into corners. The secret with this system is the more chips you put in the less the parts drop as the barrel rotates and the more water you put in the more the polishing effect especially when combined with washing up liquid. I have a second barrel with crushed walnut shells for finishing. Again trial and error will show about 20 mins is fine for the chips where as the walnut shells can run for 12 hours or more.

This is interesting, maybe, I should test the ceramic chips with my simple tumbler as well. The needles in the magnetic tumbler do a good job, but the finish on larger areas was obviously much better with the steel balls, but tat left the corner problems.

Cheers Rob

I'm not really a car guy, but that was a solid beginning. I'll pop by from time to time to check it out. Have to admit I never guessed a rock tumbler as a tool that would be useful for scale modelling.

5 hours ago, GazzaS said:

I'm not really a car guy, but that was a solid beginning. I'll pop by from time to time to check it out. Have to admit I never guessed a rock tumbler as a tool that would be useful for scale modelling.

When you have tons of white metal parts to clean, a tumble polisher comes in handy. Of course, there is more cleaning to do on many parts, but it´s a good start and it even hardens the surface a bit like with hammering. With MFH kits, you often can use the sheer metal without painting. When proper done, you can polish it to mirror finish.

Cheers Rob

The instructions call out a natural metal finish for the gearbox, i did try this.....

but it looks really odd against the engine, The gear box is plastic so unlike the metal engine, you cant leave it natural finish. I have checked all the pictures i have but cant find a single one with a metal finish box, they are all black so i am going with black.

I am using a jenolite etch primer which seems to work with Tamiya paints quite well and adding a clear coat to try and make a slightly more durable finish on the metal parts

Work here will grind to a halt now as i need to order some plug lead material. The kit comes with 1mm plug leads which are 12mm or near 1/2" to scale so over size. Std these days is 7mm but i would guess in 68 they were nearer 9-10mm being possibly rubber so i need some .7mm leads, strangely MFH do a .8mm yellow lead so not sure why they supply 1mm ? it may not sound a lot but its 20% and does notice.

On car kits, I spray many plastic or resin parts first with metal color like aluminum and then spray heavily thinned Tamiya LP-5 semi matte black on top in thin layers. While drying, the silver starts to show through the black on corners and edges. That effect gives a very metallic look to black parts like gearboxes. It is a bit like dry brushing, but more regular and more convincing to my eye.

The use of 1mm wiring seems odd, I have never seen something that thick on my MFH car builds. The BT52b has 0,4, 0,6 and 0,8 mm wire supplied.

Cheers Rob

Firstly a huge apology to MFH, i didn't zero my calipers so read the Dia wrong on the plug leads which are 0.8mm not 1mm. Thanks to Rob for making me check again with his last post.👍

A little bit of artistic licence here as i have tidied up the plug leads, they are correct but they are routed a little different, it hard to find good reference pictures as the heads on most surviving cars are different

This is a real MS11 in a museum, note the vertical trumpets with the plug leads recessed below the rocker cover and weather proofed with rubber bungs.

This is my engine with 30 degree trumpets

I found this which relates to detailing the Tamiya version as its relevant if you are looking for details i have put up this link.

https://www.mrof1engineering.co.uk/pdfs/Matra%20MS11.pdf

I think the clear tubes are fuel lines for some form of accelerator pump that dumps neat fuel into the trumpets on a sudden opening of the throttle/acceleration . One of the problems with carbs is they rely on airflow over the jets to lift fuel and if you floor the throttle the air flow increase far faster then the fuel lifts so some for of accelerator pump would make sense but bear with me as i am a bike guy not a car guy.

Anyway this is where i am now.

Excuse the wonky trumpet on cylinder No1, i will sort that :) why are these things so obvious on pictures and so easily missed with the naked eye .

Ahhh i have found a picture of the car with the kit supplied engine . looks like they ran the plug leads into the centre of the V with the clear pipes. Oh well, i cant change it now but the thing about F1 cares they were constantly updated from race to race so maybe i was right later in the season 🤣

I think this is as far as i can go with the basic engine minus ancillaries. The instructions say attach the gear box but i think it would be better to have the chassis built up first in case it doesnt fit :-) The engine goes together easily with no issues so far. The secret seems to be getting things straight before you start. For those who haven't built an MFH kit , the white metal is soft as butter. I have built a couple of their motorcycles and was surprised to find their stands could not support the weight of the bike so i have to display them on wooden blocks. That's how soft the metal is.

The following morning this was on its side and the stand had bent over night under the weight of the model :)

My point is nearly every part of any length is bent in the box, even if it doesnt look to bad so getting everything trued up before you assemble is paramount or the further you go with construction, the further out the parts will be, its a pyramid effect.

One small issue i have had is the domed mesh for the trumpets that would stop birds and small children getting sucked in. MFH supply a small jig to form the dome in some mesh but its pretty crude. I struggled with it and the result wasnt really usable IMHO. I did wonder what i was doing wrong but when i looked at the MFH site and their publicity shots of this model they obviously had the same problems as me 🤣. I need to put my thinking cap on.

Anyway this where i am at and i am off to look at the Chassis which i am guessing will not be straight forward. Thanks for looking in ..

Edited May 24May 24 by Paddy
spelling

2 hours ago, Paddy said:

One small issue i have had is the domed mesh for the trumpets that would stop birds and small children getting sucked in. MFH supply a small jig to form the dome in some mesh but its pretty crude. I

Great work on the engine, Paddy. It seems older MFH kits have lots of bended white metal parts and some of the resin parts are warped as well. My newer builds (BT45 and Cobra Coupe) had far less of these issues.
MFH produces domed meshes for the Ford DFV eight cylinder engine in 1/12 and 1/20. If I remember correct, I have both and could measure the diameter if that helps.

Cheers Rob

Edited May 24May 24 by DocRob

Thanks Rob, i might get back to you on this but i will try and make my own first, funny thing is i used to make and sell the real thing for Ducati 900SS :-)

Well my problem is not making the mesh domes, its attaching them without seeing glue.

The kit supplied forming tool sort of works, i superglued the 2 parts of it to some parallel pliers

Them pressed the wire mesh between the two , i then used a hollow punch to stamp the bulge in the mesh out from the sheet

it works OK but there is very little to glue here to the trumpet without the glue being rather prominent

Slight delay to proceedings here as i seem to have quite a few parts missing. I contacted MFH and they are already in the post. I cant get far without any front suspension upper wishbones + another 7 parts in all.

Crazy but stuff happens.

Fed ex estimate delivery for Monday so great recovery my MFH

Mesh domes look good, Paddy. Bummer with the missing parts. Another fellow modeler had similar problems with missing parts and not only in one kit. After hearing about, I checked all my 1/12 and 1/9 MFH kits against the printed parts list and nothing was missing, luckily. It was a heap of work, but who knows, how long MFH will have spare parts.

Cheers Rob

Yes i had part missing in the Brough superior i built as well.

The issue with the MS11 here is (i think) they produce it in 4 versions so they start with a box of generic kit parts, then add parts for different versions. All the parts missing in my model were version D parts.. Its something they need to sort, their replacement parts service is excellent but the more people i talk to the more say this is quite common. It does take the shine out of buying very expensive models.

Oh dear, more hold ups. I am expecting the 7 missing parts Tuesday however i now find i am missing other parts including the complete radiators/oil coolers and plumbing. Also the rear wing and its bracketry . I will now have to go through the complete parts list and the parts i have but TBH i am thinking of just writing this build off. Not a great start to my arrival here. I promise i will build something eventually :-)

That´s sad to hear and poor quality control from MFH. Are you really sure to give up on the beauty. Maybe taking a pause and evaluating the situation helps.
I always check all the parts of MFH kits against the manual and parts printouts, before I start. I had no missing parts with my 12 large scale kits, not a single rivet, but my eyes were sore after checking. What I haven´t looked in are two 1/20 kits and two 1/43 kits. The 1/20 kits are a bit older and I fear older MFH kits are prone to missing parts.

Cheers Rob

I've had issues with incomplete kits from MFH before as well. To be fair, they have been very good about replacing them. It's a bit surprising that with the cost of the kits, there isn't better quality control. They also really should post pictures of all the parts required for the kit so that buyers can check the kits on arrival - otherwise it takes hours to check the necessary parts just going by the kit instructions.

I agree with Rob - you've got a great start on a fantastic subject. Just hang in there.

Edited May 31May 31 by Landlubber Mike

I had missing (and damaged beyond repair) parts in my Bt52 kit, MFH did quickly sort me out though. I’ve just inventoried my Ferrari 500 f2 and all is accounted for, luckily.

I need to do my 131 rally kit next, hopefully that will all be present and correct.

Great build Paddy, it’s coming on really well! Don’t give up, I followed your Abarth 1000 build over on the other forum and you did a great job of it

Thanks chaps, i will do an inventory tomorrow . I think its an age thing, i retired last year and i find i have all the patience in the world for people with problems or life situations ....but with things like this where there is not just a small mistake, like a damaged part or a part that dropped off a sprue and didnt make the box :-) but a complete cock up i tend to lean towards " life is too short " and move on.

I will do an inventory as i say and go from there. Its pretty obvious this is either the kit that they used to scavenge for spare parts or it just missed a whole packing section. All the parts missing are the parts that make it Version D which has different oil coolers and a rear wing etc unlike the other versions, also the 7 parts i already ordered were all version D

My Corvette kit - ordered directly from MFH - was missing probably 75% of the shiny metal parts. They also gave me two of the corner fender resin pieces for the same side. I almost missed this in trying to go through the box, so make sure that you have each side where the sides differ.

But like I said, MFH made good on completing the kit. I just sent them pictures of the parts I was missing and they were shipped the next day.

Edited May 31May 31 by Landlubber Mike