Work in progress pictures

Cleaning up the resin body and white metal mirrors + bonnet took all weekend... 

It was not so easy to get the bonnet to fit perfectly with the engine opening. Same difficulty to make the exhaust fit snugly... 

I also rescribed all the panel lines and added the front and rear oil cap panel lines, as well as the air cooling opening in front of the windscreen. Now I can put the Ferrari in primer. 

So this is what I did: I added a lot of superglue + flower mix to the bottom part of the nose, and then I sculpted the correct shape into it (or at least I tried)... 

From the exterior bottom part of the nose I removed some material... 

And at the bottom I added a lot of material, enabling me to hollow out the radiator opening until I formed a symmetric oval. Now I have to spray another coat of primer of course... 

So this is how the Ferrari looks in primer. 

I think the oval shape of the radiator opening is a lot better now. 

This picture shows the Ferrari in the same angle as the reference pic. 

Now I assembled the engine, adding some details like the wiring. I spraypainted the complete subassembly in aluminium (basic color). 

In order to allow the intake trumpets to fit under the hood, I scraped off some resin from the engine bay, this also makes it look more realistic thin. The body has been sprayed with 2 coats of Tamiya TS-08 Italian Red by the way.. 

Now the engine fits in the engine bay. 

I also had to scrape off some material from the hood interior to allow a close fit. 

Next I concentrated on the racing numbers. As stated before, the rear numbers have to be white without a roundel. So I put some masking tape over the decals and I cut out the number 5. 

I did this exercise twice enabling me to spray both numbers at the same time. 

Next I spraypainted the numbers in flat white. 

I used Zero Paints for this job. 

This is the result, magnified on your screen since this is a 1/43 model. 

I'm pretty pleased with the result, knowing that I still need to clearcoat the body. 

I also applied the other kit decals. So far this is what the Ferrari looks like. 

Ancient F1 cars are not a lot of work to apply decals on 😉 

The dashboard decal is not very convincing; so I decided to use it as a template to scratch an aluminium dashboard. 

This is how the thing should look like once installed. I also will add dial protection glass and some tiny bolts. 

Here is the body with 2 clearcoats sprayed on. 

I will let it dry for a week, then I will start to polish it. 

The white racing numbers look spot-on now. 

I will need another project to start now that I have to stay away from the body with my fingers... 

In the meantime I can of course work on the chassis and engine. 

I added the wiring and put everything in color. The seat was sprayed as well. I preshaded the leather stiching lines. 

The wheels have to be assembled from 7 separate parts, to get this result. 

After polishing the body, I painted the interior in aluminium. Next I could join the chassis with the body. 

The engine received some extra details like the throttle system and the steering rod. 

The cockpit was detailed with scratched pedals, a gear lever and the prepared dashboard piece. 

I also added something which looks like a handbrake? Don't ask, but it's there at the real car as well... 

Now I concentrate on the steering wheel, which is made from 3 separate pieces: a central photoetched piece and 2 steering wheel halves. Next an axle xas made from a needle. Only the Ferrari logo is still missing...  

Here the Ferrari logo has been fitted and the steering wheels is fixed in the cockpit. 

Next I fixed the exhaust pipe. 

So far so good, the model is coming together nicely... 

Full view of the cockpit with all the details installed. The mirrors and the windscreen still have to be fitted of course. 

First dryfit of the wheels - the rear wheels have been fixed completely but the front wheels are not finished yet. 

I also had a small misfortune: the hood fell and the paint chipped off. Not a big problem since the hood is made from metal; I removed the paint with aceton and all I have to do is spray it again. 

That is not entirely true, because I also have to re-adjust the hood with plastic strip to make it fit snugly again. The plastic of course melted away with the paint in the aceton-solution. 

For now I can enjoy the Ferrari with open hood, which is how I plan to show it anyway... 

After assembling the front suspension, I put the front wheels in place. 

I also scratched a front radiator (not present in the kit). 

The rear view mirrors were scratched as well, the windscreen was a kit part. 

After fixing the fuel cap, the car is as good as ready; only the bonnet is still missing. 

The bonnet has been re-sprayed and is drying right now. When it is ready I will take some pictures of the completed Ferrari in open air.