Three Johnny RUtherford McLarens finished

[Deleted]

Hello all, new here.
I am Karl Logan, some of you may know me from Facebook or Finescale Modeler magazine where I get published every now and then. If not, then hello, pleased to meetcha.

This is a project that I started about 6 months ago; it sounded good on paper--built not just one, but all three orange "Lone Star JR" McLarens from the 1970s. Correct what I could without turning it into a major project, and modify what could be done without a lathe and blueprints. Well, it took me five old hard-to-find kits to get what I finally am calling "finished". Pretty pleased with how they came out--I could have done a little more detailing, but after quite a few frustrating setbacks and rebuilds--not to mention paint screwups, glossing difficulties and decal replacements, I stuck with basics. I corrected the rears of the cowlings as best I could, used some Indycal exhaust pipes, modified other kit parts, shortened the wings where needed, built new front spoilers, usd some Indycal fuel ports and roll bars and used Indycal decals. Gotta love Indycals---HAIL, MICHAEL!!!

I used to go up to Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond when I was a kid with my Dad, and Johnny Rutherford was my hero. We used to get the pit pass, go to practices, races, and I had an RC Cola satin jacket covered in race patches. My Dad built me the AMT McLaren when it came out. I can still see him trying to mix the correct color of orange...great memories.

So here's my new collection. Hope you enjoy it. Great forum, too, by the way!




 
WIth my old Gatorade McLaren build in there as well...

[clm1545]

Nice work, they all look great!

[alterrenner]

Really nice builds! I especially like the orange one! Where did the figure come from? It makes the display pop!
--Frank

[2lapsdown]

They really are nice, and I normally don't like figures but that one is excellent!!

John

[clm1545]

One of my favorite JR lines, " I was not born in Texas, but I got there as fast as I could"
That's for Tim, and Gary, and any other Texans out there.

[IndyCarModels]

Really nice work

[Calvin]

Very well done!

[INDY22IAM]

One of the most detailed driver figures I have ever seen. Very nice work on all of them. Very cool to always have the story behind why we do what we do. Your dad has taught you well. Welcome a board.

[racerbrown]

beautiful work sir!
thanks for sharing.
duane

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Mar 20, 2017 20:45:23 GMT -5 alterrenner said:

Really nice builds! I especially like the orange one! Where did the figure come from? It makes the display pop!
--Frank

Thanks everyone for the kind words! They are much appreciated, and you all have been a great source of information and inspiration in your own fine work here.

The figure came from eBay, and honestly was basically a generic offering. No real name to speak of. It was advertised as " Modern Driver Figure Resin With Decals". No name to speak of. It's not a true 1970s race suit--more modern to be sure---but it was the only game in town for that pose. I haven't seen one since. It is, however, similar to this Verlinden figure.  It's for sale on ebay right now, FYI!

[Deleted]

Mar 20, 2017 22:22:20 GMT -5 clm1545 said:

One of my favorite JR lines, " I was not born in Texas, but I got there as fast as I could"
That's for Tim, and Gary, and any other Texans out there.

His book was really excellent reading too! I recognize that line from a chapter in it.

[Deleted]

Mar 21, 2017 5:46:27 GMT -5 INDY22IAM said:

One of the most detailed driver figures I have ever seen. Very nice work on all of them. Very cool to always have the story behind why we do what we do. Your dad has taught you well. Welcome a board.

Thank you!
My dad was a very good modeler in his own respect. He built me a number of cars, and was actually better at getting a smooth finish than I ever was. He's still around. I dedicated this build to him and shared it on Facebook, and he dug it.

[Art Laski]

Very nice collection of builds there, Karl!

[1961redlegs]

Those are some pretty McLarens, you did great work on all three of those builds!

Welcome to the board!

[harveythedog2]

Nice work and welcome to the forum!

[Deleted]

Thanks, guys! I genuinely appreciate the kind compliments and the warm welcomes!

[indy]

Karl, great to have you here. What an impressive intro! What a cool collection with added personal significance.

The #7 is striking in this lineup due to all the blue plus the engine cover leading into the rear wing. It might be my favorite.

How much is different between the #2 and #3? Except for the rear wing, I cannot see much different beyond the decals.

I always like added figures, I like what they add to builds.

Jordan

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Mar 22, 2017 10:34:42 GMT -5 indy said:

Karl, great to have you here. What an impressive intro! What a cool collection with added personal significance.

The #7 is striking in this lineup due to all the blue plus the engine cover leading into the rear wing. It might be my favorite.

How much is different between the #2 and #3? Except for the rear wing, I cannot see much different beyond the decals.

I always like added figures, I like what they add to builds.

Jordan

Jordan, thank you so much for the warm welcome and kind praise. I agree with you about the striking nature of the #7 car. I love that color combo! And figures just always add a personal touch as well as giving a sense of scale size. I do alot of figure accompaniment with my armor modeling.

There are slight differences between the 2 and 3--mostly just in the engine area where I used an INdycals exhaust and turbo stack on the #3 car but cobbed together the engine for the #2. There are also some kind of "fins" on the rear spoiler on the #2 car as you may have noticed. Other than the paint details, that's about it between those two. Thank god, haha.

I could have tried to put in those metal heat deflectors on the rear cowling but it was enough just to get everything to fit without trying to put those in--I don't think I could have fit them anyway with the tight fit the way that I wound up building them.