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Raison D’Etre
If anything I have made brings pleasure and a degree of wonder, please do give God the glory and praise, for it is merely the talent He has given, that I am exercising. Amongst the F1 designs I have incorporated as wall tiles in my workspace, are two with the Bible texts John 3 v 16 and Romans 10 v 9 which help me keep my mind focussed on what really matters. Do give them a read. These models were built as one-off, hopefully unique cars of the 1970's mainly (some late 60's and fewer 90’s and later) which I am now prepared to sell from my personal collection, to the right special people. Over the years, I have been unable to accept commissions due to lack of time and an over indulgent approach. Each model is a museum-display exhibit and they are not in any sense 'working models'. Over many years, I have built 1/12 scale F1 models almost exclusively, each being in the order of 12-14" (30-36cm) long. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, my aim was to increase in a small way, the 1/12 scale representation of Grand Prix car entries to the F1 World Championship that were not available commercially, as kits to be built. Since 2010, Model Plus and Model Factory Hiro especially, have supplied more and more of these older subjects to model makers. The models shown here, perhaps represent my desire to own the the full-scale car, yet that is not feasible or practical (unless you are Bernie Ecclestone) and each of my models feels like the real thing to me, having often spent so much time with the actual car. The photographs of the original cars were taken with special permission. Out of respect to the owners of actual Grand Prix cars or race 'shop owners, these photos are not available for further distribution, nor are my own inexpert engineering drawings. The models are built with the idea of 'no effort spared' and to look as realistic as possible. I will go to eccentric and sometimes otherwise unreasonable lengths to replicate every detail of design and engineering in order to satisfy myself that I have something properly accurate. This includes the concept that all bodywork should be removable in the same way as on the full-size car though not actually with working miniature fasteners of course, but instead faithful visual representations of these important details. In this way, I am able to allow the model to reveal the engineering within. Additionally the underneath of the car is also modelled, for there is much to be enjoyed regarding 'how it all works' from seeing what is not normally visible. I have felt that in this way, these models may serve to educate interested folk as to what makes a Grand Prix car 'tick', for access to the real thing is rare and makes this aspect somewhat mysterious. I have shown some of those I consider the better models at shows, but do so relatively infrequently due to the effort and logistics of getting to often far-flung venues, not to mention the potential accelerated ageing effect on the models themselves, in transporting them. Inspiration comes from the great model makers such as Henri Baigent, Gerald Wingrove, also my friends involved in the same hobby and in particular folk like John Shinton here in the UK and especially Andy Matthews from America who produces 1990s 'gems', which are wonderful to study. Hopefully that covers everything; now all it remains is to enjoy! MRO, August 2010 (updated November 2023)
Author Archives: Mark
Visit to McLaren!
December 13, 2012On the 30th November, I was invited to join Neil Trundle at McLaren to display some of my 1/12 scale models. This followed various communications with Neil over the previous year or so regarding the steady completion of the Tyrrell … Continue reading
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Tyrrell 006/2, in 1/12 completed!
September 23, 2012This iconic 1/12 model is now finished and pictures appear on my Twitter ; the Twitter icon also appears on the right of the menu bar for fast access whilst on other pages. The fully detailed monocoque is equipped with removable … Continue reading
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1973 Tyrrell 006/2, in 1/12 scale
May 11, 2012To see how this virtually scratch-built model is coming along, take a look at my Twitter page. You can also click on the Twitter icon on the RHS of the menu bar. I tweet a lot of photos to do … Continue reading
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Website Activity via Twitter
February 4, 2012Thanks for viewing content of this site, the subject material of which, I feel very passionate about. Since August last year, all my spare energy has been focussed on the Tyrrell 006/2 build, Jackie Stewart’s 1973 Championship winning car, never … Continue reading
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Happy Christmas everyone!
December 21, 2011Thank you for viewing this website over the past several months, I hope it satisfies interests. With the building of the Tyrrell 006 in full swing since August, I have not added any new material to the website for the … Continue reading
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Twitter – ‘Followers’ required.
September 11, 2011Thank you for watching the progress of the Tyrrell 006/2 as it is assembled from the individual items made over the past one to two years. The photos are quick to acquire but unfortunately show every blemish in harsh contrasting … Continue reading
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Twitter – @mrof1models
August 23, 2011Perhaps against my better judgement (there again perhaps not), my IT genius twin sons (Thomas and Philip) have persuaded me to join
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“Let building begin!”, Tyrrell 006
August 20, 2011After nearly two years (Oct 2009) making all the parts for this Tyrrell 006 in 1/12 scale, all but the last few parts have been completed. So, this week, grey-primered parts and the aluminium and brass parts made on the … Continue reading
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New photos added!
July 9, 2011Thomas (nearly 17 years old; see last years post re Jochen Rindt) who has recently completed his GCSE exmas, has been busy adding updated photographs of various cars, namely the 1974 Ferrari 312B3, the 1980 Ferrari 312T5, the 1969 Lotus … Continue reading
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Tyrrell 006/2 progress
July 5, 2011This beautiful car is an ambitious project and is currently progressing slower than planned due to the busyness of summer activities etc. Compounding this, has been an exceptionally busy time at work (others on holiday etc) and my choice a … Continue reading
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