Williams FW14B "The Red 5"

This machine was driven by one of my all-time favorites; Nigel Mansell. In 1992, no one could touch the Williams or Mansell. Mansell won 9 races, was runner up in another three, and DNF in another 4 races. He won the championship handily, scoring nearly double the points of the runner up; Williams teammate Riccardo Patrese.

The Williams FW14B was equipped with an active suspension and semi-automatic transmission. Renault supplied the 3.5 litre V-10 powerplant.

The parts, part one

Parts, part two

The kit decals and tobacco decals(I was fortunate to find).



And the first round of detail parts

Thats nice and detailed.

The first assembly steps which cover the powerplant, gear box, rear suspension, and brakes.

Mock-ups for the engine and brakes

Ooooo! 'Red Five'. Really looking forward to this one Cole. You'll do a fine job as usual.

Mansell was a favourite of mine too, a real racers racer in my book!!

Cheers Al

The detail parts arrived today. Set 1 is for the cockpit.



Set 2 is for the active suspension on the front end.

It's a good thing I have time on my hands. This should prove quite the undertaking.

An awesome amount of detail work ahead. Can't wait to see it come together.

The paint scheme has been applied to the powerplant and gearbox. It calls for some machined surfaces(chrome-like) but really won't be visible after mounting all of the parts. But heck, why not. Also, applied 1:12 carbon fiber decals to the spark plug covers. I think it looks much more like the 1:1

Nice subtle variations of shade and color in those silvers. Great work.

Thanks Mike.

Lots of carbon fiber decals to place on the model. The additional Tamiya decals are conforming quite well considering I have to rough out the shape. Also, a mock-up of the engine assemblies. All that remain are the rear dampers with active suspension. Then I can connect all of the plumbing.

Time to get started on the cockpit. In this case, the aft bulkhead and floor. Not included in the photo are the fasteners and washers that will attach many of the parts to the bulkhead.

A few steps closer, but now I will have to work out the order of assembly for the tub, forward bulkhead, plumbing, and wiring, not to mention the harnesses.



I'm keeping the smallest parts(not shown)on the fret until it's time to attach them.

Although the Top Studio replaces the kit harnesses and tub, I will keep them for possible display with the finished model. All this will be set aside until the interior is complete. Then I can start planning the wiring for all the sub-assemblies.



In the meantime, I will get started on the steering wheel.

This went together without any problems. So now it's time to work on the harness.

Sweet build and great work.

Beautiful little pieces. Love the toggle switches.

Thsi is as far as I can proceed for now. After the body is prepped and painted, I can continue the wiring and plumbing.



The steering rod which features some very small photo etch parts

Some elective surgery for the main body.

Despite the very small parts, no problems encountered during assembly.

Nice. Love that U-Joint on the steering shaft.