Tamiya 1/24 Mclaren Senna complete build (The kit that kicked my modeling butt ) 

Cars are a real challenge with their high finishes and large glass areas...make you realise how easy we have it with armour kits. I think it was the former Mclaren boss Ron Dennis who said: "There are million ways to screw things up and only one approach to get the perfect result." I bet he was fun to work for. 😜 Anyway great vid Andy and love the future Andy feature, you should use this again. 👍🏻😆

I feel your pain. In the 1970's I attempted the Williams Bros. Martin B-10 bomber as a gift for my brother. After constructing it, I tried painting the colorful 30's blue/yellow scheme. With a limited choice of finishing products available back then, I masked the kit with Magic Tape and sprayed it with Floquil lacquers. Allowing it to dry overnight, I tried to remove the tape...which disintegrated into a thousand tiny pieces, leaving the plane's surface covered with adhesive. It was the only time in 60 yrs. of modeling I ever threw a kit against a wall!

Love your Tenacity! Also your humility keeeps me coming back and

It is great to see a common issue I have finally on RU-vid Andy! For me it was the Aoshima Lamborghini Aventador 50th anniversary. Had mistake after mistake, could not fit the front splitter on, left if, came back a few weeks later and completed it in one sitting. End result of your Mclaren is still awesome! Great work!

i have had a few kits fight me back over the years, always cars or bikes so I stick to military kits these days!!

I had this 1/72 scale trumpeter ferdinand kit. And it was my very first model kit to build outside of gundams. (It was gundam 00 that got me started in the model kit building hobby. And now that i got that ferdinand model kit, i glued the tracks in reverse. Meaning i glued the tracks for the right on the left and vice versa. So yeah... i screwed up a very beautiful kit hehehehe. But then after that i improved myself and got better with it. Now i couldnt get the tools i need to continue building my wip ships due to covid restrictions. (Sucks a lot) anyways keep safe oyt there and keep rocking those builds, Andy! Much love from the Philippines!!!!

You are absolutely right Andy! This is Tamiya's once in a while over designed product. I think! Too intricate to build but a great lesson to understand the design of the car! I am still staring at it!

Over the years I have found the more variety of subjects I build (Armor, ships, Aircraft and cars) the more I learn. If you only like building one subject and jump to another you may encounter more moments of “aww crap!” You learn as you go and it’s part of the fun of this hobby! Still a great build sir!

I understand this kit is both easy and difficult to build, I still want to build this model!

After many months waiting for it at a fair price, I pushed the button. With these kits it helps if you have the mindset you are building the real thing and take alot of time (its not a cheap kit). I trust the fit will be good and you have indicated that

I’m newly back into this fun (but sometimes maddening) hobby, and this will be my 4th build. The one that kicked my butt was the Tamiya Toyota Gazoo TS050 Lemans!!!! Had no idea what I was getting into but after 2 months, repeated strip and repaints and many mental breaks it came together. Anyone wants a challenge, the Toyota TS050 is your winner! But man it looks fantastic completed

Mod Podge is excellent for Windows, headlights Etc. you can get it all over the window and it dries clear.. awesome build love watching your videos!

Clear plastic is really tricky and that's one thing that always test me

One of Tamiya's gorgeous models. It's really a lot of detail, in fact, the details are separated into two or four parts to increase the difficulty for the player. Really very interesting !

just bought this kit for my brothers birthday, he doesn't build kits but is a big car fan. usually stick to planes and armour so hope I do it justice!

Fantastic plastic. Space station V Never again. You pulled it out of the fire. Great job. With all that clear plastic, my super glue would never get near my workbench.

As always Andy great video and build, thanks for sharing

you selected one very advanced car model kit to build.... so it makes it fun to watch a guy with more experience in tanks or non glossy or civil vehicles experience (from what I have seen in your videos) trying to build something this complicated and delicate maybe another kind of kit would be better to start. I do understand the intention to build a novelty in your store... but...

I am using Formula 560 canopy glue (The worlds best canopy glue) on clear parts. I also use it on other parts as well.

I think you done awesome. It looks good. Well done.

I have an Aoshima pagani Huayra that I have not started, but, from everything I have read, it is a butt kicker. Front and back panel fit issues.

Wow, what a wonderful modeling studio. It's heaven....

Still Andy, nice job anyway! What I like about this kit is the brake calipers and rotors are separate for the first time! About time they started doing that! "One kit that kicked my but was Tamiyas' NSX Honda! I stripped the paint job twice to respray the main body because I went too heavy with the airbrush and got a few runs in the paint. Then when I polished it I went to the primer so I had to respray it a third time! The rear taillights weren't the easiest to assemble either, I kept having to reposition them until they finally stayed! What a blood boiler!

Next video, perhaps a painting tutorial on how you achieved such a brilliant finish to the exterior shell.

The kit is intricate, and I suppose that you was the guinea pig to see how it went together, still turned out nice, good job Andy.

A kit that kicked my butt and ended up on the shelf of doom for over a year, was Eduard's 1/48th Scale Hawker Typhoon Mk.IB Profi-pack - awful fit issues (from the Hasegawa tooling), warped resin & overscale photo-etch. I didn't help matters that I brought Eduard's Tempest V (same scale) which went together beautifully!

I pre-ordered this kit from you Andy. Can't wait to start it! With my current build rate, I think I should complete it sometime between now, and 2035.

I like how you've shown all the obstacles in this build, there are so many tutorials that seem to breeze through the build and everything looks perfect ,probably through careful editing of course. I'm doing the Honda RC213V at the moment and the fuel tank air box assembly as kicked by backside (ass) about. Its gone from bad to worse and its frustrating because its quite a simple part.

I build this kit now and add it later also to my channel. Thanks for tips, good to know!

the one model which kicked my butt was my first one. I glued my fingers together and decided to give up after that. LOL

I still messed mine up even after Andy showed us how...it's still a cool build though!

I plan on getting this kit, so this video was helpful, thank you. I'm going to wait to build it until some company comes out with a detail kit and carbon fiber template decals.

Monogram Motorcraft Mustang and Hotwheels Camaro.....both of those kits kicked my ass all over my hobby map! The Mustang especially

Thanks for the tips on building this. For clear parts, I always use Micro Crystal Clear.

There can occasionally be disappointment when a build goes south, whether with the build itself, or the finish. When kits were cheaper (and I was younger) I screwed the pooch on a couple kits. Tried to salvage one and repurposed the other ie wrecked tank lol. I think the expense motivates me to stay focused and not get in a hurry, all while remembering to enjoy myself. Now I can appreciate mistakes by how I overcome them, mend the situation and make the best of it.

Omg I feel you... the revell 1/32 ec145 has kicked my but literally every time I have tried to build it

First model that kicked my butt: the revell F/A-18E/F super hornet Twas my first model, I was a complete newb and literally filled the wings with glue bc they wouldn’t stick together, the plastic melted and the right wing looks like it was covered in lava, did the same with the landing gear, the joint basically melted and so the rear left gear is at a 45* angle, and I have to stick an eraser beneath it to keep the model level. Great learning experience. The next model I got, the tamiya sheridan was absolutely beautiful

The Tamiya Laferrari kicked my butt. Mostly the carbon fiber decals. Your Senna looks great. I have one on order from your online store so I much appreciate your tips on this build.

You have really put the wind up me with your honesty about the difficulty encountered in putting the body together. I have 2 kits on order and really looking forward to the challenge now. I'm currently building the Magnifier 1/12 Ford GT40 so it will be a while before I get to work on the McLaren. Keep up the good work mate. Cheers from Oz.

Andy your the man!!! Your videos are excellent, and fun Not a fan of cars, but if I do a car model I would make it a “MadMax “ type of vehicle .... I am an armor freak , turning all things into weathered Armor Your good Andy!!! I had a dragon 1/35th Jadgtiger, the build went well, but my weathering was out of control , I lost the direction , it was a mess . But I learned so much and by watching your build tips and painting. Right on as usual Andy !! Fun stuff !!!! We want Armor!!!! lol Excellent Video!!! Cheers!!

That‘s the thing with car kits. They seem to be easy, but to get a clean and smooth finish one need‘s to be super careful. It‘s not like on tanks where one can just be like: well I will make that mistake a battle damage, throw a tarp over it or whatever😅 I‘m glad you have still finished the model despite the frustration! One recommendation: use a black permanent marker to paint the edges of all the transperent parts! It simulates the sealing and take‘s away the toy caracter. Easy step to bring the model to another level!

STILL a Beautiful Looking Final From Denver Andy, thanks for Sharing n God Bless All.

With cars I think it is a good idea to buy two kits. You can use the first as a practice run, and the second can be your good copy. If your first one goes like a dream, then sell the second one or give it away to an up and coming modeller.

nice build Andy.. I've been waiting for this build.. :)

The one that kicked my butt the most was the Hasegawa 1/32 P-51D. That is a horrible kit that I fought with tooth and nail. It now sits on my mantle as a reminder to buy Tamiya! LOL.

I guess modeling is all relative like everything else. To you it's not your best work. If mine turned out that well it would be a once in a lifetime piece de resistance. Great job Andy and I whole heartedly agree with "my car, my colors". Fitting the engine in the 2001 F1 Ferrari to align with the rear cowl was a struggle for me as well as the decaling and wing assemblies.

For a kit that kicked your Butt it sure turned out really well. Nice video Andy!! 👍👍👍👍

Great video as usual Andy. The Ford GT4 is back in the box. Kicked my butt. I messed the paint up fixed it. Then I had a drop of CA right in the centre of the drivers windshield. New windows ordered I will finish it.

Great build, can't wait to get mine. When will it come?

For me it was the new-mold Airfix 1/72 C-47. But the full interior was too much - the fuselage wouldn't close. First I thought the kit was faulty. Then I realized it was me, so I jumked the kit and bought a new/same kit, to do it right. I mat buildcit as a Basler BT-67 turboprop version of the venerable Gooney Bird, which means most of the interior is no longer relevant. However my BT-67 conversion kit is for a different C-47, probably the Italeri version.

So refreshing to hear a modeller of your experience admit that sometimes things just don't work out! Looks like a magnificently engineered kit by Tamiya. But I find the Senna so ugly, not sure I would want one on my shelf!

I built the old Matchbox Vincent Black Shadow about a year ago. My problems were a lot my own fault but the kit and the instructions must share some of the blame. I had to take a razor saw to it a couple of times to correct stuff I put together in the wrong order and stuff that didn't align. I even had to saw apart the frame and put in a shim behind the top of the head tube to kick the front end out a little so the front tire would clear the magneto cover. And by that description you can see that it was after the girder fork and wheel were all together and glued to the frame! Luckily, the gas tank covered the work to the frame. But, it came out okay in the end.

Special Navy's Vesikko submarine 1/72 kicked my butt.

Sweet build

The bodywork is so complex that you probably should polish each part separatly before assembly. Thanks for the video you just had another kit to my wish list .

The Aoshima Pagani Huayra was / is a nightmare -.- If I wasn't so in love with the car I would've binned in the early days

Looks great.

The metallic red looks good. I'd like to see one in that color. The wildest Senna I've seen so far was one that was black with diamond dust in the paint. It was a $70,000 paint job.

Great video of a build I just learned about by reading Tamiya's magazine. I agree it seems it will push my skills to the limit. I've only returned to modeling in the past year and a half, but I think I can hack it. Thanks for giving us a heads up on some possible problems.

Thanks Andy for posting the stuff to look out for. I’ll do an online build on my channel as well.

Glad you finally finished it,Andy!

Great build Andy and its nice to see that you have problems with models as well the kit that kicked my butt was a Russian cargo lorry from hobby boss Steve 🇬🇧

Very nice model!

I've had many that have whooped my arse! If it was easy, everybody would be doing it! Great work as always Andy! We are always our own worse critic.

Car modeling ......... I know the pain to well. If you really want a challenge go for the SimilR Ford GT I would love to see you building the kit.

It came out looking great,despite the few problems 👍👍

A fun fact. The oil change cost $ 4,000 dollars. They have to drop the motor from the bottom of the car, there is no access from the top of the car to the motor.

I really enjoyed the comments from Future Andy. I understand that you are trying to prevent others from making the same (small) errors that you did, but since this probably happens at least once with every kit we build, Future Andy's comments could become a regular feature...given a second chance, what would Andy do?

I think every modeler has had a kit that put up a fight at almost every step of the way. I would probably build another one entirely, but after quite some time, as this is a car I really want to nail.

Nice job Andy on a very challenging kit. I just got my first one before the weekend and it's amazing. Somehow the Canadian shops seem to have gotten them in before the US shops. For the clouding around the windows from your wax/polish, try using some of the panel line wash to see if it will darken up that film and hide it. Definitely a very fun build I've only just finished up the inside of the "engine bay" and the supports. Still a long way to go. Thanks for the honest review, helps us all avoid some of the pitfalls you ran into.

I learded I believe it was from HPIGUYS WORKSHOP that if you use Mod Podge on the windows and headlights that It dries clear so you won't have that fog look from the glue, nice little tip

Thanks Andy - a good open, honest review and we've all been there. I sometimes end up building two kits - one to learn and the next to get perfection, well close anyway. Certainly some Eduard aircraft kits can be like that, given how vague instructions are and the fact that they're engineered in a way that if you screw up in one area, it often comes back to bite you when you start brining sub assemblies together. Thanks again mate for one of my favourite channels - stay safe from the UK.

Yes, I’ve had kits “fight” me too. Just think of it as “lessons learned “!

Very nice kit Andy. If you want a real butt kick challenge, try the Tamiya Toyota gazoo Ts050...and i promise you will have lots of fun 😉

When the tank guy builds a car....lol

Oddly enough, in a front engine car, the rear wall is still a firewall, on a rear engine, the front is a bulkhead or braking or impact wall. On the front engine it's still called firewall because of the fuel tank.

With Tamiya it's always the builder and never the kit.

I've had two that have kicked my modeling butt. The Tamiya 1/35 Elefant; after three years, still cannot get the tracks done. The other is the Tamiya 1/32 Mosquito; never could figure out the bomb-bay and gun bay.

The beginning of this video is the scale model equivalent of, "It's not you... It's me." :)

You should show off your model collection in a video!!! And make more diorama's!!

haha auto modeling is no joke! that’s why it’s my favorite though :) the toyota ts050 prototype racer by tamiya really kicked my butt too

The Rutscher (Panzerkleinzerstörer) from Das Werk was my nemisis. The fit was horrible, the gluing was a nightmare and at the end I couldn't get the tracks right. (I saw the assembly on RU-vid and was inspired by a suggested camouflage pattern, so I deside to rebuild it...) It was the first modell after a very (VERY!) long time, which I wanted to crush several times during the construction. The only thing that saved me in the end was that I is so tiny, that all the mishaps and awful parts are hard to see (at least from a distance)

Great job Andy, beautiful kit

It was the Academy Warrior. Tricked it out, corrected it, added PE, forgot about the tight tracks and the delicate running gear. SNAP. 100 hours of work tossed into the garbage

I had a HMS Hood kit and for some reason or another I just could not finish it, there were a few things wrong with the kit itself where it just wouldn’t fit together snuggly other reasons why just down to me not taking my time, walking away coming back would have been the best thing to do. I lost some patience but the a gain I was a teenager at the time.😂🤣

Ebbro McLaren Honda F1 kicked my butt. It was going SOOOO great ...until I took a hairdryer to help mould the decals. Aside from melting two very crucial decals, I also bent one of the front wheel struts. Not sure if my subsequent fix is going to work. Arrrrggghhh

Lol...very rough build this time. Just got the kit, thx for the heads up.

A beautiful result Andy, regardless of any small errors! I would love to have a go at something like this, but it is way above my skill and patience level. I think I will stick to armour, where I can cover up my small mistakes with a bit of putty and paint.

Got a Meng leopard 2a7 in 1/35th. The hull was easy the turret was a mess. Still got it but have finished it.

I have to say, this senna kit is by far the most bizzare builds among all car kits... nothing conventional can be applied to building it. Just have to improvise as you go along, great job nonetheless!

It's an honest build and still looks ok, but I can appreciate your disappointment in the end result. I had major issues with a recent Italeri 1/48 F-14A build. It took 3 attempts to finish it, but more due to a lack of molding quality than anything else as the kit was otherwise quite simple with few parts. Promised myself the Tamiya kit if I finished it.

Yeah Andy we all had kids like that let's just hope you don't have any problems with the GT40 when you start that build 👍👍

The kit that really kicked my butt was the Eduard 1/35 king tiger. Just nothing seemed to go well with it. I got a replacement metal barrel for it that the superglue cured too soon and left the whole mantlet at a 90 degree angle. I decided to do a 'what if?' and put a flak gun on the top. The first one I got had a photo etch gun shield that was very vague with how to put it together. When I then primed it the primer really reacted to something on the photo etch basically ruining the whole thing so I replaced that too. Did all my painting etc then the tracks just wouldn't stick on at all so they got covered with mud to hide the problems. Came to the final protective clear coats and then that reacted to something else too making the whole texture of the hull looking like dried out mud. In the end I covered all the problem areas with extra stowage and camouflage netting and (somehow) it turned out not too bad

Great build and very intricate kit iam glad I watched you build it first lol so when I get mine I'll keep all your pointers in mind

Great build as always. Have you ever considered building a Semi Truck? I'd love to see how you would build it. It would give me the guys and motivation to build one. :-)

The Fujimi Ferrari 288 GTO kicked my butt. 250 pieces and the fit is nothing like Tamiyas. Thinking about it still stresses me out

G8 vid Andy. Always worth viewing someone build b4 I take on the quest. My butt kick kit was an Aoshima Spyder Aventador All my fault I couldn’t get paint right, wish they sold just the body part for a 2nd try. Even a clear shell would be good ( As they do in several Aoshima EG, Huayra & Sesto Elemento) As Full kit got much more pricey than my original

I've only really had the one I really struggled with so far. my most recent, a 1/350 USS Yorktown from trumpeter....the hull had chunks missing from it in box, the deck was warped and needed alot of trimming of parts to make it sit flat, a plethora of other issues, was not a fun one xD ...the final product looked amazing though.

Awesome video Andy, well done

Super cool, I literally can't wait to get mine in the mail!