GP4: 1994 Williams FW16B Renault WIP update 3

It's been a fair few weeks since my last update on my Australian GP spec 1994 Williams FW16B. In case you missed it, here are links to my previous updates:

Update 1

Update 2

I've been busy and it looks like my life is starting fill up again, so time for modelling will be become less and less again I'm afraid. But the motivation is still there, and whilst I'm not putting in hours at a time anymore, I am still able to take a few minutes here and there to make little bits at a time.

The car now has a rear wing, and I had fun putting lots of detail onto this. With the Ferrari 412T1B and the Mclaren MP4/9, I started putting more effort into the end-plates and I've gone an extra step with the Williams to make it more accurate. The upper element of the rear wing is connected to a small triangular piece with is connected to the endplate. The clasp that holds the upper rear wing together in the middle is also more than a simple triangle, but a bit more defined.

I also created a new lower rear wing support, and though you can't really see if from this screenshot, the rear jack mounting points are a separate piece screwed onto the main support. The unique thing about the FW16 is the rear suspension and along with it, the anhedral (triangular shaped) lower rear wing. It's scooping up the air at a lower point, which helps interact with the diffuser making it more efficient. The added length (because it is at an angle) will have more surface area to manipulate the airflow, but the trade off is that you create downforce at an angle. The FW16B had a third lower rear wing element at the high downforce tracks, including the Australian GP which this model is based on.

Work has begun on the front suspension as well. The brakepad is from my 1993 Tyrrell 021 and is common in my later 1996 cars, but I've added two screw ends at the top. For my 1996 cars, I already started making more effort in the suspension ends in particular, but with this car, I put more detail into the main wheel hub assembly.

Having lots of good photos helps me make the model much more accurate, and adding things like the small cable on the wheel hub just helps bring a bit more life to it, even though its mostly covered by the front wheel in a race.

The main bit that you can see is the brake duct. It's a lovely shape, with turning vanes inside of it, and it elegantly curves around the diagonal suspension arm to the rear of the front tyre, where there is an additional inlet.

I have started amending the monocoque and how the suspension joins to it. It's a bit of a pain where the body lines join, but it's fun trying to get the normals all looking smooth.


Here's a preview shot of it in-game. Since I took the shots above, I have since created the suspension cover body line, which isn't easy as it curves from the top of the monocoque around to the side in a smooth curve, it's very difficult to get right. I'm not noticing too much of a hit on the performance on my GP4 yet as my cars get more and more detailed.