1/43rd Prost Peugeot AP01 1998
Modeling Descriptions and Photos
1998 Prost Peugeot AP01
The above picture is from the Argentinian GP during the 1998 season driven by Jarno Trulli. He scored one GP point during that year, unfortunately his teammate Olivier Panis wasn't so successful(?) I am building a 1998 Spanish GP version driven by Olivier Panis where no extra high down force wings were present.
Starting with wheels and tires
This is a 1/43rd scale metal kit. The main body and wing components are made up of white metal (soft), and photo-etched parts add the rest of details of the car. I started the kit by building wheels first. I sprayed buffing-silver and buffed to bring out the alloy wheel shine. The Bridgestone decals were applied next.
Preparing the metal surfaces and joints
I began the body preparation. I used super glue to attach as many metal parts as possible to the main body. There are big gaps that needed to be puttied, so I used a hot iron to melt lead wire over the gaps. This fills the gap rather nicely, and it can be easily treated with #400 sandpaper.
Front spoiler assembly
Nothing is out of ordinary for this one. Sand, attach photo etched parts, prime it, paint it, and decal it. ^_^
Priming and performing the test fitting
Tamiya surface primer is quite useful if you want to quickly prime something without airbrush mess. It shoots very thin and applies accordingly. My only complain is that this is an expensive spray and goes out rather quickly. I pre-put front suspension parts together to ensure the accurate fittings later. I drilled out several mounting holes on the front nose area where the suspension arms meet.
Initial painting process
The Prost's blue is a very special kind... If I have to reproduce the exact color, it would be a serious challenge, and it would take me forever to come up with a correct mixture. First of all, the blue has bit of pearl tone to it and the depth of color varies depending on the amount of the sun light.What did I do? I cheated little bit here. ^_^ I used "Mica blue" from Tamiya and applied three coats. The "Mica blue" is bit lighter than the Prost blue, but it has that pearl glow by applying three coats, I was able to add some depth to the color and somewhat darker blue was achieved.
Applying decals
Applying decals on this Prost is a time consuming process. The quality of the kit's decals is actually much better than ones you find in those excellent Tamiya kits. The kit also includes two sets of the same decal sheet, so if you mess up the first set, you will always have a second set to correct the mistake.
Checking the camber and toe angle
The F1 cars have generally moderate negative cambers and minor toe-in set up. I gave slight negative camber and toe-in set here...
Checking the Front Suspension Setup Ciew
Setting up the front suspension on this kit is tricky. I use a fast drying super glue for attaching photo-etched parts so it gives me little time to adjust. The trick is to dry-mount the photo-etched suspension arms and do the necessary benting and fitting first before using the glue.
Checking the rear suspension setup view
Finished suspension work
I wanted to make sure that all four wheels sit correctly and the car height is parallel to the grould. I spent some time twicking this. I must be getting old... ^_^
Rear wing assembly
The rear wing assembly is also tricky, it requires quite of adjusting. The car is beginning to look good. I am satisfied with the result so far. I will finish the rear wing soon.
