43rd and More - Kit reviews by Wayne Moyer Archive Edition

by Wayne E. Moyer

After chasing Chevy-powered Lola T-70s with his "McLaren-Elva Mk.1" (the USRRC name) and "McLaren M1B" (Can-Am name for the same car) Bruce McLaren finally abandoned the lightweight aluminum Oldsmobile V-8 and introduced a new car, the McLaren-Elva Mk 2/McLaren M1B in September 1965. Although it still had a tube-frame chassis, the M1B was designed around a Chevy powerplant and its revised body eliminated the front-end lift that had plagued the M1A. Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon drove McLaren M1B's throughout the 1966 Can-Am series, with Bruce finishing in third place in the season standings, only one point behind Mark Donohue in the Sunoco Lola T-70. A total of 27 "McLaren-Elva Mark 2s" were built and were common competitors in both the USRRC and SCCA racing; John Cannon even took a victory in the 1968 Laguna Seca Can-Am race in a McLaren M1B.

Marsh Models kit MM-49 builds the 1966 McLaren M1B's of either Bruce or Chris but I think most modelers will build Bruce's #4 as I did. The kit contains a beautifully cast resin body, small resin glare shield, and four black resin tires with integral rear wheel halves. There are 17 white-metal castings, including the baseplate, with 12 machined aluminum (4 outer wheel rims, 8 intake trumpets) parts, 3 chrome-plated metal, and 15 photo-etched pieces. Instructions are simple but sufficient and include a complete painting guide, decal placement information, and an actual paint color chip. Yes, the paint chip is bright red; both the first Can-Am McLarens and the M7A Formula One car were bright red; the more familiar "school bus yellow" color appeared on the 1967 Can-Am M6A.

The body shell in my kit was near-perfect, with only very small mold lines on the lower body sills and inside the wheel arches and radiator vent opening. The white-metal parts were all crisply cast, too, so parts preparation took very little time. I glued the chin spoiler and side scoop to the body before the first primer coat since they're both painted body color. The first primer coat showed no blemishes or pinholes that needed any filler, and only a couple of minor blems that were eradicated by sanding the are down to bare resin. I mixed just a little Chrome Yellow (probably about 5%) with Guards Red to match the color chip and painted all the parts in accordance with the instructions.

DO NOT blindly assemble this kit in numerical sequence; read and follow the "Building Tips" portion of the instructions. I also found that it helped to temporarily attached the body to the baseplate and them glue the rear bulkhead to the bossy and the chassis sides, seat and floor to the baseplate. I had to do a little "file and fit" on the seat to get it to fit between the chassis sides, probably due to the layers of primer and paint on both. Everything else fit very well, though I'm a bit puzzled by the photo-etched (part 2/6) rear lower A-arms which do not come close to reaching the wheels. Since I don't have any chassis photos, I'm not sure they they are incorrect, though. The rear wheel halves and 4-spoke spiders dropped tight into the fat rear tires, but the "front" rims (actually all four are the same depth) stuck outside the tires just a little. A minute's work on the back side of the soft aluminum pieces with an X-Acto file produced a perfect fit.

Vintage Motorsport 4/94 has several good photos of the M1B, as does Pete Lyons' "Can Am". The model matches early season photos perfectly-- both the body shape and the sponsor decals look to be 100% accurate. A clear Plexiglas addition was tacked onto the spoiler late in the season and would be very easy to add if you want your model to be different. Both wheelbase and track check out to 1/43 scale quite well, too, so the Marsh Models M1B is as accurate as it is good-looking. The price in this country should be about $53.00 (I think Ultimodels carries this one) or you can contact Marsh Models,

Court Lodge Farm, Wartling, Nr. Hailsham, East Sussex,

BN27 1RY England (FAX: 011/44/1323/833717) for more information.

While we're on the subject of Can-Am models, Microsport Race Graphics (14600 N.E. 38th St., Unit #1060, Bellevue WA 98007, FAX: 425/861-5481) has just released really good-looking sheets of Can-Am sponsor decals in both 1/43 and 1/24 scale. These sheets of beautifully printed contingency decals include no less than 4 different styles of Firestone logos, "Pure" and "76" decals for Eastern and West Coast races respectively, series sponsor Johnson Wax decals, Goodyear logos, and much more. There are Lola and Chaparral badges, tech inspection stickers for Mosport, St. Jovite, Bridgehampton, and Elkhart Lake, SCCA and Koni badges, and something I've never even seen before, Hewland logos to go on the tail of the gearbox if it's exposed on the model you're building. The same decals are on both sheets, us lucky 1/43 scale builders just get more of them. That's probably good, because many of them are so darned small I'll loose them in the process of soaking them. In spite of the small size, registration is perfect on my samples and the colors are crisp and bright. I believe these sheets sell for $5.50 each, but contact Microsports at the address above or email dferg@nwlink.com for full information. Now I can throw away the remnants of the Auto World sheets that I've hoarded for years!

Contact Wayne at mailto:wmoyer@infinet.com

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