For my next GP4 car from 1994, I've manage to complete the build in just a couple of weeks, partly down to some sick days I had, but I went for the Ligier due to its simplicity and a couple of other good references available to me. I thought the early season GP4 car by Mckey and Oggo was a good base, but needed updating to late season spec and could have done with some more details.
I also found lying about on my old files a copy of the CTDP car to use as reference, again from the early season. It was optimised for F1C/rFactor so the scaling is a bit different, but it was a useful resource.
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| CTDP 1994 Ligier JS39B |
The 1994 car was a B spec version of the 1993 car, so the monocoque is pretty much identical with very few changes, and the one in GP4 is excellent too.
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| RF900R, Adry77 & Oggo's 1993 Ligier JS39 |
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| GP4 1994 Mod (Mckey & Oggo) |
So I thought, great, this should be easy and like the 1995 Ferrari, I had lots of references to follow. But then I started looking at some photos and realised it wasn't quite as simple as I had imagined. Apologies for the GP4 Builder shots, I don't have anything better to show preview shots in at the moment.
As mentioned before in my blog, the rules were amended mid-season, and that led to a number of changes, as well as the usual in-season developments. The car was raised from the ground a bit to accommodate the plank, and if you played the GP4 1994 mod, you'll notice Mckey's car ran pretty low to the ground. The team introduced bargeboards, a new front wing endplate at the front of the car.
The engine cover had to incorporate holes as part of the rule changes, and the late season car also had an extra hump at the rear that was not present on the early season car. Like most the teams on the grid, they introduced new rear wing winglets by the rear wheels.
Moving to the rear of the car, the diffuser rules also changed, meaning that I couldn't use the other cars as a reference on that area. Ligier also removed the bodywork by the rear suspension, so a lot of the gearbox and rear suspension mountings are visible. On the rear wing, they curved the lower section and also introduced a straight wing in the middle too. So quite a lot of the rear of the car is new compared to the early season and 1993 car that I had references for.
I'm quite pleased with how this car ended up and all that is left is the mapping and the painting.
Coming up is a walkaround talking through some of the details I've put in and where almost every part of the car is different from the reference models I've used.
