This is my second car since returning to making cars for GP4, the 1994 McLaren MP4/9 Peugeot from the Australian Grand Prix.
The 1994 McLaren MP4/9 is very much an updated MP4/8 fitted with the Peugeot engine, though it did flirt with Lamborghini at one stage. And so much of the front of my creation began its life loosely based around Öggo’s excellent MP4/8. When I began, I thought it was close enough to the 1993 car to not take up too much time in modelling, but then I looked more closely at the photos.
The 1994 McLaren MP4/9 is very much an updated MP4/8 fitted with the Peugeot engine, though it did flirt with Lamborghini at one stage. And so much of the front of my creation began its life loosely based around Öggo’s excellent MP4/8. When I began, I thought it was close enough to the 1993 car to not take up too much time in modelling, but then I looked more closely at the photos.
I think only McLaren kept elements of the front end plates
that began the season wrapping around the front wheels until they were banned,
but kept the parts that belonged under the front wing.
I put a bit more effort into adding low-poly detail to
suspension ends and made the nose-cone damage a bit more detailed than I would
have done in the past.
McLaren kept with the low nose, but it rose higher around the suspension area (to try and gain some of the benefit from a high nose without having one), and there is quite a pronounced undercut around the drivers legs (pioneered by Adrian Newey’s Williams FW14).
The second half of the year forced holes to be cut in the engine cover, and you can see through from the front of the airbox through to the rear.
The right side of the engine cover had a few extra holes,
one for the extinguisher and the other an access point to plug a laptop in. The
MP4/9 has very small sidepods and from the top down looks like a triangle – the
biggest change from the MP4/9. Perhaps the cooling requirements were much less
from the Peugeot engine, but then again it did blow up a lot! The floor just in
front of the rear wheels is stepped and contains a vertical element (hidden in
dark carbon).
I put a bit more detail into the rear suspension and gearbox
and its mountings. I felt it gives the rear of the car a bit of depth even though
it spends much of its time under shadow and never seen.
I also put a bit more detail into the cockpit and dashboard shape. This is the first time I modelled the seat separate from the main monocoque (not that you can see it!). It’s a real shame we can’t have 3D steering wheels in GP4, it would really help to complete the look. There’s a lot less buttons and dials on the MP4/9 than the MP4/8.
You can read my model review and also how McLaren got on in the 1994 season here: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/2019/01/143-model-review-1994-mclaren-mp49_19.html
