GP4: Haas VF20 WIP 1

I thought I would take a break from my 90's GP4 cars, and at the beginning of launch season, I thought I would tackle a 2020 car, and why not the first car that released pictures. It's now the beginning of May and the car is still a little way off.

The Haas VF20 is a mix between the 2019 Ferrari and the 2019 Haas. 

As with the 1995 Ferrari 412T2, I used a mixture of the high poly models of the Ferrari and Haas (around 90,000 faces) from Codemasters 2019 game and also the lower poly versions from Real Racing (around 32,000 faces), and I'm aiming to be somewhere in the middle. 

Work begins at the front of the car, with the nose from the 2019 Haas and the front wings from the 2019 Ferrari. 

As the car developed, I worked on the monocoque and main chassis structure. The rollover bar is mainly the Ferrari whilst the front of the sidepods and vanes are from the VF19. The actual sidepods themselves are unique, and it took a few goes for me to get them as I liked. The rear end of the car is very similar on both models. Front wing end plates have been added, it's basically the late season Ferrari one. 

Having completed the chassis (bar minor tweaks and improvements), I started working on the rear wing. The little indent on the top trailing edge of the rear wing is also unique, with the 2019 cars featuring only one dip in the middle, whereas the 2020 VF20 contains two of these dips. This is also the first halo I've created and I rushed them a bit, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I also started the first iteration of the boomerang wing, which featured on the late season version of the VF19. It took me a few goes to get this right. I also started work on the suspension elements, again mostly a direct copy from the 2019 Haas car. 

The front suspension upper arm at the front is now two separate elements, with a larger surface area to direct the air more. It reminded me of the late 2006 Super Aguri SA06 that I modelled years ago. The front camera was added, along with the top elements of the rear suspension and the beginnings of the super complicated bargeboard and floor areas, along with the triple boomerang that's unique on the 2020 grid. 

Below, this is the latest progress on the car, a lot more complete, but still a long way to go. I felt like the last month I've just been making flips and slots and they are taking forever to model! The vanes under the nose are from the Ferrari, with some additional vanes, and then the bargeboard area is largely a development of the 2019 Haas. The floor along with side of the sidepods is essentially the 2019 Ferrari except the very rear which is a bit more unique to the 2020 Haas. But as you can see it's just endless slots, managing the boundary layers and creating vortices and I can't wait to get to the end of it. 

I put a bit more detail into the cockpit, basing it more on the Real Racing 3 model which seems to have a more accurate cockpit than Codemasters which has a generic one. The mirrors are new, and they look very similar to the 2020 Ferrari. The sidepods and airbox have been refined as has the rear end. The diffuser is from the 2019 Ferrari with changes. The brakeducts have also been added, the rear one in particular has at least 9 winglets attached to it. 

Hope you like it so far. There's still someway to go - I've written a to-do list and it's too long to post here. But when its complete, I'll post some close up shots. 

Stay tuned for some more GP4 news coming soon. 

Hello...

Hey, I just wanted to say that even though this blog has not had an update in 2 months, I do still intend to put up more posts soon.

In the meantime, I've been keeping an eye on some of the latest model releases and I've updated my 2019 page with a thumbnail of each of the 2019 models which you can view here: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/p/2019-f1-articles.html
There's a few new models that I am yet to review, so look out for them to come in the next few weeks.

On the GP4 front, I continue to chip away at my modelling. I've taken a little break from 1994 cars and decided to work on a different era car. It's taking a bit longer than expected, but I've also been busier than usual. I'm not far off completing it and I will share some shots of my latest work soon.

In the meantime, I was excited to hear of a couple of 1990s cars being announced for the 2020 version of Codemaster's F1 series. They are adding some of Schumacher's classic cars, and I can't wait to see them as the previews looks super accurate - perhaps I will use them as inspiration to update GP4 versions in the same way I did with the 1995 Ferrari 412T2. These are the 1991 Jordan 191, the 1994 Benetton B194 and the 1995 Benetton B195.

1/43 Model Review: 2019 Racing Point RP19 (Minichamps)

Hot off the heels of the Spark release of this model of the Racing Point RP19, the Minichamps version has also landed. 

The first thing that I noticed about the model is how much more vibrant the colours are compared to the Spark model. In terms of the shape of the model, there's very little to choose between the two model makers. 

Minichamps 417190011

Minichamps 417190018

The other very minor difference is the placement of transition of colours from the inside to the outside of the rear wing endplates, and I do prefer the Minichamps attention to detail there. Having said that, there is more detail on the floor on the Spark model.

With not much to choose between the two, the score for both models is the same.
Score: 8/10

Special Editions:

Minichamps 447190011

Just 150pcs were made for the German model shop of the Bahrain GP version of the car, which I think looks great in the pink box. 

Update of 1/43 Mercedes W10 (Minichamps)

Minichamps have released a US GP version of the same model, commemorating when Lewis drove into a painted spot at the end of the GP reserved for the 2019 World Champion. This means the car is facing the other way in the box.

Minichamps 417191844

Having bought both models, I thought it would be a good opportunity to compare both cars in a bit more detail, both cars being diecast.

From the front of the car, there's not really any noticeable change, other than the front wing endplates which you can't quite tell from this angle. There is a change to the winglets in around the bargeboard area, but we'll consider that later.

Moving to the back of the car, and I know it's been three years now, but I still love the wider rear tyres. Mercedes have very high rear suspension mounts as they do on the front, with the driveshaft covered in a wing shaped cover reminiscent of the Williams FW16. It's great to see even at this scale, the detail that goes into the rear brake ducts and all the tiny wings they squeeze in there. In terms of the two models, I can't really find any differences to spot.

Another area of highly intricate details is the bargeboard region in front of the sidepods. Reduced in size that they're able to develop, hasn't stopped the complexity, with teams managing to get their boomerang wings in. The main difference is on top of the sidepod, with the winglet not connected to the vertical outboard vane, although all the vertical vanes have changed slightly. The new version cleverly incorporates the mirrors, which are vented, hence the increased black region. It's still great to see the winglet on the halo get such good definition, and the different number of gills on the side of the cockpit which is race specific.

The final comparison is from a kind of T-Cam position. I like how the model has the saw-tooth shaped visors in front of the cockpit, and the models feature an accurate steering wheel shape with nice stickers on. As noted above, the US GP car makes an attempt at the vented mirrors.

1/43 Model Review: 2019 Racing Point RP19 Review (Spark)

After all the issues with lack of money in 2018 when the team were still Force India, it was clear that the 2019 challenger would not be doing its usual punching above their weight. But the team steadily improved as the season went on, and after the summer break Perez finished in the points at all bar the Singapore GP where his car retired with an oil leak, with many of them from lowly starting positions.

Stroll struggled all season to get out of Q1, but had a few highlights, such as finishing in the points in Canada. His best finish was at the chaotic German GP, where he was so far behind, he was able to pit at the right time and propel himself to the front of the grid and in with a shot at the podium. In the end, he finished a credible fourth.

The team did well to secure a seventh placed finish in the Constructors' Championship, not far behind Toro Rosso and Renault, but comfortably ahead of Alfa Romeo. Considering their issues at the end of last year, that's a positive improvement, and I suspect they will be looking to be in the mix at the front of the midfield in 2020.

Spark released their version of the Racing Point based on the Chinese GP. The car has a lot more blue in deference to SportPesa, and the livery just looks a bit too messy for me. I'm really not keen on the darker pink on the inside of the rear wing endplates.

Spark S6086

Spark S6085

Anyway, back on track and onto the model itself and it's a solid model again from Spark. Proportionally everything looks good, the detail looks strong as always, and from the side, it looks fantastic to me. 

Force India/Racing Point have run a unique nose for a number of years now, and the continue to have those two slotted channels nicely integrated into their front wing supports. There's nice detail on the livery on the front wing. The bargeboards have a number of slots along the top, nicely modelled here and the winglet arrangements at the front of the sidepods is also accurate and nicely modelled.

After testing, they introduced large slots on along the edge of the floor and you can just about see that on the model from this angle. If i was really nitpicky I think they left a bit too much pink along the top of the engine cover, and the blue on the rear wing endplates to wrap around the side a little more.

Again, if I was being picky, the airbox needs a little more carbon colour around the front, if you see it from the front, there's only a very tiny circle of pink visible.

All in all, I'm pretty impressed with this offering from Spark. I think if perhaps Minichamps did this model (I've not checked if they will yet) I think they might offer a better finish on the paint and decals, but in terms of the shape, I think it's a top quality model.
Score: 8/10

1/43 Model Review: 2019 Ferrari SF90 (Bburago)

Ferrari's second half of the year began brightly as Leclerc took two emotional victories in a row, at tracks that suited their high power and low drag concept. Vettel also won the Singapore GP after more strategy criticism. Leclerc repaid Ferrari's faith in him and was firmly established as a future star, if he isn't that already, and he's been rewarded with a big fat new lengthy contract. After Vettel's appalling mistake in Italy, he has shown signs that he's not done with the sport yet and could figure in the 2020 title fight.

In recent years Bburago have released some budget F1 cars, and whilst the first couple of attempts were quite bad, they are starting to produce some reasonably passable models in the last couple of years, though they do cost a little more now.

Bburago BU36815V

One of the problems before was simply bad proportions, but the Ferrari cars seem to have more effort put towards them than other teams. For me, there's no complaints about proportions here. The question about Bburago models is whether they are toys or whether they are models. I'd say most of their cars were clearly toys first, that's why there was a lot less detail and the parts were very bulky.

Bburago BU36815L

Now it seems that they are being presented more as budget models with a suggested age of 14+ for owners. For a budget model, it's really not bad.

Bburago BU36814L

Bburago BU36814V

They also released a version with the driver inside, these being based on the Australian GP. Personally I can't see any difference in the models other than the driver figure.

Score: 6/10