The McLaren 720S GT3 #111 and #112 competed in the 2022 1000 km of Paul Ricard with JP Motorsport, carrying the distinctive JP for Kids charity livery.
I immediately fell in love with these liveries and thought they would look fantastic on a Kyosho body. The first step was easy: I bought 1:43 scale models of both cars so I could replicate the graphics as accurately as possible.
The real challenges came afterward.
The first issue was scaling the graphics. Kyosho bodies are not perfectly to scale, so matching the proportions of the original livery was more difficult than I expected.
The second challenge was the sheer number of graphics covering the entire body. This gave me quite a headache. I am comfortable applying a few decals here and there, but placing large, complex decals in one piece is something I do not enjoy.
I painted the bodies fairly quickly, but I wasn’t sure how to tackle the decals and kept postponing the project for several months.
Wanting to finish the bodies before winter, I eventually decided to apply every graphic individually. I printed several decal sheets at different scales and used the 1:43 models as references for the placement of each element.
In total, it took about ten hours to place all the decals. Far too long, really. It’s a huge amount of work for a body that will most likely end up getting damaged on the track.
Still, looking at the finished result, I have no regrets. I’m very happy with how they turned out.
