I have recently finished my latest 60 page Photobook, which is volume 4 in the series relating to the 1972 McLaren M19C model, in 1/12 scale –  follow this link to view the McLaren M19C, 1972 Photobook. This covers the real cars in action, researching the real cars ahead of manufacture of the monocoque, cockpit, engine/gearbox, safety systems, aerodynamic surfaces and nose-section, suspension and several galleries of pictures.

Dealing with the models in chronological order of when they were built, volume 1 to 3 will cover the Hesketh 308, McLaren M23’s and Matras MS10/11, then volumes 5 to 7 the Brabhams BT44 and 44B, the Lotus 49 and then the Tyrrell 006.

With one of the McLaren 50th Anniversary celebration events fast approaching in mid September, it was necessary for me to bring volume 4 into existence first, although I had hoped also to produce that for the McLaren M23’s, however I ran out of time and have been concentrating on a restoration of the 1986 McLaren MP4/2C for the same event.

Although I hope folk will wish to purchase copies of my first photo book MRO F1 Engineering – the first twenty years, (of which I have a dozen or so copies for supply at discounted cost of £70 excl P&P) I wanted to complete the work for each model by writing a detailed account of how they were made, for my own collection and for others’ curiosity. Therefore, whilst it would be marvellous if any of the individual volumes were of interest and purchased (I am happy to supply if asked), that was not the original rationale for their production.

Please feel free to post comments for constructive criticism to ‘improve the breed’.

I was privileged to be invited to McLaren’s 2013 event, held yesterday in order to add a little extra variety to their many superb exhibits; some were set-up by team members and interactive but mostly to give opportunity to employees to showcase their automotive ‘pride and joy’ (often a motorcycle or classic car). Seeing my Formula One engineering in miniature was new to the many attendees and their family/friends and being well received with a constant stream of interested folk, I was busy all day answering questions and giving opportunity to look closely at Grand Prix cars other than McLarens. Thank you for all the very interesting conversations I had with many knowledgable folk and for the kind reception my work was given. I was also very pleased to meet Jonathan Neale and Leo Wybrott over from Australia, Sarah and Adrian too. Leo, a former McLaren man was instrumental in the build programs for the M19 and M23 cars in particular and was a key contact for me whose help with these cars is described in pages 12-13 and 32 of my photobook. I was additionally surprised and delighted to meet one of my clients at the Motor Show, whose dog Charlie has been doing really well following recent treatment for a heart condition.

I wish to extend grateful thanks to Neil Trundle in particular who promotes all that he sees as good and positive around him and also Simon Waite the Motor Show organiser. My wife Ros and our two 18 year old twin boys Philip and Thomas also shared in the day, each having a fantastic time, being super-impressed with the McLaren environment, especially Philip who helps me on such occasions and is thoroughly immersed in current (and historic) Formula One. The Motor Show was organised by McLaren Activities & Charities Group, supporting Help for Heroes/Tedworth House and London Youth. More pictures from Twitter @McLarenF1 and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Facebook pages. My son Thomas took many more pictures than my limited few I posted on Twitter earlier (@mrof1models) and I may later tweet some of the best from his selection.

My Photobook was on offer for for viewing and for sale; I am very grateful for purchases so far. Any copies requested by McLaren employees as a result of  Saturday’s Motor Show can be distributed via Neil Trundle, please contact me via website, @mrof1models or email. I hope to get discounted copies out amongst interested folk who can then have a book providing an overview, from which to view or purchase any of the future individual volumes relating to the specific cars. Volume 4 relating to the 1972 M19C has been completed ten days ago, the first copy for inspection should be with me this week and this can then be viewed via Photobox as soon as I have made it ‘shared’.

Back at work this week, I will be especially busy as colleagues are away on their holidays, however my main spare-time project over the coming few weeks is to restore a Protar model of the 1986 McLaren MP4/2C in time for a mid September event celebrating McLaren’s 50th Anniversary. Therefore, the on-going ‘work in progress’ (1967 Honda RA300) is still on hold for at least another month. Additionally within the next month, I am very keen to find time to see the Rush film due out in September, as I’m sure we all are.

“MRO F1 Engineering, the first twenty years”, my first Photobox photo/text book is now ready for viewing. This mammoth work, burning the candle at both ends for six weeks, whilst at the same time at my full-time day job, has now been approved by those who appear between the pages, appropriate consent having been sought from those I felt it was necessary, as a matter of courtesy.

The content of the Photobook is very detailed, drawing upon all my 1/12 Formula One model making from the 1990’s forwards to the current day with reference back through the 80’s and mid 70’s, requiring a great deal of research and photo hunting to produce an accurate record. Until the late 90’s covers the first 11 pages, then from there on for the full 70 pages high quality presentations of each main model built, comprises the rest of the book ranging from 2 to 9 pages devoted to each of the individual nine or so cars. This chronologically staged approach therefore takes ones through the evolution of model making from the James Hunt cars (Hesketh 308 and McLaren M23) right through to the Jackie Stewart Tyrrell 006/2. For the purpose of knowing where one is in time, each page is ‘year dated’ in the top left corner. In order to keep the reader/viewer further captivated, these fascinating chapters are interspersed with articles giving insight as to how the production of these models has interacted with the real F1 world e.g. meeting certain F1 personalities, groups of F1 folk, specific events etc.

The book has been viewed in the flesh and electronically by some contacts at McLaren, some F1 journalists and friends and colleagues at work. Some have asked, ‘how did you do that, I want to see some more detail’ when looking at the photos of the finished cars – fortunately for all, I have just completed a second title in the series relating to the 1972 McLaren M19C (60 pages, all the details – no effort spared!) and I hope to view a copy very soon. As soon as I am happy with that, I will post a link to that too. This would be volume 4 of about 7 and volumes 1-3 have not been written yet, the reason for this may become apparent later this week when more news on this subject is posted and put on Twitter.

This week, I hope to Tweet further details including some double page spread photos from the book to give a flavour, including a close-up of the contents page.
To view the book, follow this link. It is available to view and even purchase through Photobox at a cost of around £85-£95 by the time extras and P&P is included, although sometimes certain offers appear on their website. I have purchased some extra copies at a small discount and can therefore offer them at £70 excl P&P for Standard paper and £75 for Premium paper, to help anyone out who would like one a little less expensively.

I have not contributed any Tweets to mrof1models for over a fortnight due to another project taking precedence.
I have at long last found a Photobook program that suits my needs. Having desired to write a Photobook for each of the major models, I felt I should start with an overview of the work. Therefore, I am now 75% completed on a Photobook about all the models and associated experiences, some 60-70 pages long. Shortly (within 2-3 weeks) it will be finalised and depending on review by certain contacts in F1, I will be able to release it for sale through Photobox, hopefully without amendments being needed.
This is an important piece of work that just had to be done and I have waited for several years to find the right program allowing almost unlimited approach and style. As soon as I can, I will get back to the Honda RA300 and carry on. In the meantime, thank you for visiting the site and the Twitter output; much appreciated.

I have recently discovered the easiest way to see these, is to click on the Twitter icon (RHS Menu bar), then click on ‘View all photos and videos’ statement immediately below the six latest pictures displayed on my home page (mrof1models), then scroll down a short way through the recent photographs relating to the current project (Honda RA300).
Then all 240+ Tyrrell photos will be available from when the model was first painted and assembled in August 2011, to completion in September 2012.
Without this ‘View all photos and videos’ facility, finding the Tyrrell pictures (including a mid-build engine change – fascinating) could be rather difficult and one might not realise they even existed. I hope you enjoy them.

I took eight models (and one work in progress) to this event run by Mat Irvine and Paul Fitzmaurice (latter of little-cars.com, superb range of top quality after market products for modelling). The welcome and appreciation for my attendance was obvious, thank you. As far as I was concerned, there was a surprise award for Best in Show, which kindly judged in my favour, thank you again.
I posted several Tweets relevant to my experience with photographs on the Bank Holiday Monday – simply click the Twitter icon on the RHS of the Menu bar and see what marvellous venue, hospitality and what competition there was!
Here is the link for the organiser’s website http://www.hamex.co.uk/ this will give a full flavour of the vent, more photos inside and outside, where several folk brought their beautifully presented cars for us to enjoy.

Last week, McLaren’s Neil Trundle (working with the team’s historic collection), very kindly welcomed me for a superficial examination of the MP4/2C’s early execution of Carbon Fibre. This will help me restore the 1/12 Protar MP4/2C I built when the model first came out. Since then, CF decals have become common, albeit of a more advanced CF than the 1986 car often used. There are good photos of the MP4/2C with bodywork removed already on the Internet, so without removing bodywork we worked out the types of CF used, as best we could.
After this, Neil gave me a modern CF tutorial, which compared very well with that process described by Nigel Macknight in 1993 in his excellent book featuring the building of the Lola BMS Ferrari Grand Prix car driven by Michele Alboreto (The Modern Formula 1 Race Car (Motorbooks International), ISBN 0-87938-823-4

I have recently discovered this branch of Exoto’s previously well known diecast model cars etc.
The Exoto xs models are something else and show exceptional detail and craftsmanship. Being very familiar with CMC models here in Europe, having now seen Exoto xs models, I am extremely impressed with the considerable extra detail and multitude of tiny bespoke parts (nuts & bolts, fasteners, unions, photo-etch etc). The final finish is up to standard too and so the overall presentation is similar to that of a 1/12 model, but in 1/18 scale. Seems they are only available via the US and eBay show some with plenty of high quality photos, as well as the Exoto site itself.
Has anybody any personal experience of these models or a view/comments to offer?

I was very kindly invited to attend the BRM annual dinner on Jan 26th by Neil Trundle (McLaren) and Tony Mantle (BRM Chairman). This was a real treat and privilege with my hosts offering great generosity in looking after me, along with the club members and guests showing genuine interest in the results of my model making work.
It was Neil’s idea to offer this opportunity to put my models on display and invited me to take part in a presentation from the lectern. This was in the form of a double-act between myself and Doug Nye, Motorsport journalist. Whilst we ran through a series of period photographs and those of my models during and after building, a question and answer session between Doug and I formed the bulk of an explanation as to the ‘how’ and ‘why’, these models came into being.
Emphasis was on the unique nature of the choices modelled, the great lengths I go to ensure accuracy and that ‘just-right’ look, the research and eccentric effort to achieve an end result. I took along the Matras MS10 and 11, my Lotus 49 (R1 GLTL, Jarama), a McLaren M19C, the Tyrrell 006 and a brace of Brabhams (BT44 and 44B).
The meal was very enjoyable and the immediate company around our table was fascinating, enabling me to make new friends, acquire some new contacts and generally become educated as to the world of real mechanics. I was very fortunate to be sat next to one of the mechanics (Preston Anderson) who looked after John Watson’s 4th place Hexagon Brabham BT44 at the Osterreichring in 1974 – remember that? In addition, Preston was most helpful, amongst others also, in helping me unpack and pack away all the cars and their associated bits and pieces. In the background, ran a selection of films from the 50’s taken from Doug Nye’s ‘Motorfilms Quarterly’, chosen to feature the career of Tony Brooks, present as the Guest of Honour and who presented the 2012 trophies to the winners of various mechanic-related awards. Tony was available for discussion and autograph signing whilst opening the eyes of those of my generation, to the bravery and skill of 1950’s Grand Prix racing.
I wish to express my thanks to Neil Trundle, Tony Mantle and all present for making me feel very welcome.
There will be a few photographs appearing on Twitter (mrof1models) for you to enjoy and get a flavour of the event, so watch ‘that’ space over the next week or so.

Thank you for visiting the site over the past year and for accepting little change to the content, which is well developed, but not complete and has great potential for expansion and additions. Also, Thomas one of my twin sons and site-builder, has plans for a new website approach – don’t hold your breath, for he is in his second year of ‘A’ levels and is beginning to realise his studies require more and more work and rightly so. He deserves to do well.

The Tyrrell 006 is finished and after the Christmas/New Year break, I hope to return to the Honda RA300 and complete it this year. The McLaren connection means that some time restoring an MP4/2C will be needed and this will necessarily dilute the RA300 effort. Nonetheless, whatever work is progressed, this should appear on the Twitter pages throughout the year.

Meanwhile, I wish you all a marvellous and special Christmas, encouraging one and all to reflect on God’s birth-gift to us of His son the Lord Jesus. He is also our life-gift, providing us with Salvation from our many imperfections (via Jesus’ death on a cross at easter) and therefore allow us to be acceptable to God himself. Happy Christmas and may 2013 be good to us all.