10330 McLaren MP4/4 F1 Discussion

[Vilhelm22]

I think there's a very strong rumour that the next vehicle will be arriving fairly soon, and the details so far are as follows:

10330

693 pieces

US79.99 / EUR79.99 / GBP69.99????

March 1st 2024

The latest rumour is that it will be a McLaren MP4/4, and will include an Ayrton Senna minifigure.

Source: Brick Clicker (who I consider a very reliable source for rumours and leaks)

 

I think this will be quite an interesting set, but it seems very small after the more recent sets (going by the name I would have guessed Ford Mustang / Porsche 911 size and scale).  In fact, the Mustang has more than twice as many pieces, at 1471.  The smallest actual car (ie not the Vespa) since the ICONS move was the Corvette this year with 1210 pieces.

Edited February 22 by Vilhelm22

[brickphisto]

The German competitor Bluebrixx offer some models based on classic F1 cars. Piece counts are between 550 and 750, scale matches approximately 10248 Ferrari F40 or 10220 VW Bulli. In contrast to mostly all of their other car models I think they did a fairly good job here. So my expectations for the Lego McLaren are very high since the Creator Expert/Icons cars are next level compared to Bluebrixx. However I do not think there will be any kind of steering mechanism.

[Scotticus the White]

I’m really hoping it will scale well with other sets. IRL the car is relatively small and low profile, so hopefully the form allows the saving of some bricks that would otherwise be used for walls, seats and roof. So we hopefully still get an okay size to display with the other cars.

[El Garfio]

I wonder what kind of stickers it would have? 

The tobacco brand?

McLaren?

Team?

Code bars?

The red and white logo without letters?

For Tamiya sets you always can get the tobacco stickers sold separately 

[RedBrick1]

On 11/27/2023 at 9:13 AM, El Garfio said:

I wonder what kind of stickers it would have? 

The tobacco brand?

McLaren?

Team?

Code bars?

The red and white logo without letters?

For Tamiya sets you always can get the tobacco stickers sold separately 

I would anticipate McLaren branding in place of the Marlboro logos. 

[Scotticus the White]

Looks like pics are out in the usual places. For the price it looks initially better than I feared, but really would like to see how it looks next to some of the others.

I think the nature of the cars design allows for a fair bit of negative space, so hopefully the part count hasn’t impacted as badly as I thought it could.

[Sven J]

3 hours ago, Scotticus the White said:

Looks like pics are out in the usual places.

No MP4/8 (which I would have preferred, as I really love that clean, nimble car), but an MP4/4. And a terrible one, too, as it seems...
Rear tires as wide as the front ones, crooked nose instead of a straight one, very odd rendition of the iconic white/red Marlboro livery.
A disappointment.

[R0Sch]

14 hours ago, Sven J said:

No MP4/8 (which I would have preferred, as I really love that clean, nimble car), but an MP4/4. And a terrible one, too, as it seems...
Rear tires as wide as the front ones, crooked nose instead of a straight one, very odd rendition of the iconic white/red Marlboro livery. A disappointment.

It's cheeper this way. They did the same thing with 42171. And nobody expected a cigarette company to be sponsored on a LEGO set livery. But then why even choose this car in the first place?

They should have stayed with the classic road vehicles. This set does not fit the 1:12 scale collection at all.

[TheDeeGee]

First looks arn't very positive, mainly due to the aweful rear tires.

Hopefully the tires are 15413, then they can be doubled up for the rear and single in front as rain tires look.

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

Oh no, this looks terrible. My hopes were high for this one too. Very disappointing.

[alpinesman]

 

Where did you see the first photos?

[Vilhelm22]

Well I've (unfortunately) updated the thread title and description back to MP4/4, but not a great set in my opinion.  We'll have to see how it turns out with more pictures beyond that one,

 

As I'm not a completist I won't be picking this one up, but seeing as several sets I want that are retiring this year cost £1600 total it's probably no real shame that I don't want this one as well.

[RichardGoring]

The rear tyres are the first thing you notice looking at it, and they're far too thin. Such a shame. The nose isn't ideal, but I might have been able to ignore it, but with the skinny rear tyres, it's just not right. In fact, are the front tyres a bit too narrow as well?

I suppose it's a problem of trying to use LEGO, for something this intricate where the lines and geometry are everything, and then doing it at this scale.

Who knows, official images and other angles may help, but this is a pretty decent photo. Again, a shame.

[StudWorks]

I'm for one incredibly excited for this set and I would want it as soon as it releases. Any imperfections the Rebrickable community will tidy it up in no time.

Edited January 24 by StudWorks

[TheDeeGee]

Seems the tire size is actually based on 49.5 x 20 so perhaps double it up with the 49.5 x 14 and then single 49.5 x 20 in the front.

Edited January 31 by TheDeeGee

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

New pics are out. It does look better from above, and has a nice display stand. But the nose and wheels are still an issue.

[El Garfio]

It's a total mess 

The tyres

The design

The stickers

[Scotticus the White]

I’m liking it more, new pics give a better sense of scale and I think it will fit in well with my other car sets. 
more stickers than I would like though so may need to dial back on the caffeine when I do this.

[TheDeeGee]

I was thinking something like this to fix the tires.

Sure they ain't slicks, but Senna was a king in the rain :D

[alpinesman]

I'm thinking of 3D printing rear wheels instead. Even if it's plastic and not rubber, at least I keep the slick tire appearance

[karmadrome]

From all images available so far, it seems that the dark blue stripe is missing on the helmet. Lego, seriously?! The most iconic helmet in racing history and they just leave one of the two stripes off?!

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

Here's an early review I found. There are a few more prints than I thought, but the white-printed-on-red is apparently pinkish rather than opaque. The steering and engine look good, though the skinny rear tires and stickers on both display plaques are not great.

 

 

[Sven J]

7 hours ago, BrickMonkeyMOCs said:

The steering and engine look good

And when you remove the engine cover, the top half of the fuel tank and the roll hoop are also gone... that's not what I call good design.
Besides, the rear view looks terrible, too,,, no diffuser, strange mock-up of the rear wing struts. A really crappy model.

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

Racing Brick's video shows what this set could have been. I could easily have forgiven the set's other weaknesses if they'd just got the wheels right. Hopefully someone will eventually put custom wheels like these into production, or at least share completed files for 3D printing. It just makes such an enormous difference.

 

 

[RichardGoring]

The video above by @kbalageis excellent, and really does show what the set should have been. The fatter rear tyres really do make me look past all the other compromises.

I would certainly order any 3D printed wheels if anyone fancies making and selling them!