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Anthony Ricco
41 articles

17- 1/24 Monogram Ferarri 512 TR

January 31, 2022 · in Automotive · · 12 · 1.3K

My 512 TR is complete, the first road car I've done and I was worried about the paint and how to get that on but it turned out well. I added some engine wiring and some bits and pieces to it to make it my own.

I really need to figure out how to get wheels on without destroying the suspensions because that seems to be my biggest nightmare. And I was very disappointed in the kit wheels - the rare wheels are way too wide and stick out. Other than that it was a great build and there are a lot of issues and mistakes but I'm pretty happy with it.

To see the build progress you can go to - https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-automotive/forum/topic/ferrari-testarossa-512tr/

Reader reactions:
11  Awesome

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12 responses

  1. Beautiful Testarossa, Anthony! Even the wheels sticking out is not that noticeable.
    Congratulations!

  2. The red finish looks terrific, shame about the rear wheels but they don’t spoil the model, overall a great result. It’s a pity that Tamiya appear to have discontinued all their Ferrari kits, must some kind of licensing issue I guess.

  3. Sweet paintwork, nice, even and shiny as it should be. Your extras in the engine compartment which is something most guys don't do really makes this shine, and if it had not been pointed out I'd have never noticed the wheel/tire problem. For that matter, I still don't think it looks wrong.

    Excellent results, 10/10

    • Thanks a lot Mark, appreciate that about the wheels - I think because they are also wobbly it annoys me, they don't fit very well.
      Thanks for the comments about the engine, I guess I like to add those little things and make it my own.
      Paint was my biggest worry before starting and it actually worked out ok - Just used the Tamiya TS spray cans and then polished over it. I still think it looks a bit too much like plastic. So I need to figure out why and see what I can do on the next one.

      • If you have an airbrush try the Tamiya X series gloss paint which I've always had good luck with. I'll thin the stuff down about 25% and add a similar amount of retarder to the mix, then spray light coats about 3" from the model at 15-20 psi. I developed this mix and technique because I live in the high desert; the humidity in my work space averages 25% and I have to r****d it heavily so it has time to level out before it dries. If I don't do this my painted surfaces will resemble sandpaper.

        I've heard some guys will use car compound and then wax on their paintjobs, never tried it myself. Sounds like alot of work

        • Oh really - thats great to know about the Tamiya acrylic X paints, I always avoided them instead of Lacquers for cars because I didn't think they'd give that smooth high gloss finish, I have lots of them that I use for my military builds.
          Thanks for that tip - I'll definitely try it.

          Yeah Tamiya have 3 compounds that I used Coarse, Fine and Finish - actually I didn't use the finish one on this build but I used the other 2 and just polished it a bit avoiding the edges and high points so I didn't go through the paint and it worked out well. I considered adding a wax (just normal car wax) but was happy with the amount of shine on it so I left it as it was.

          • Nice build...I particularly like your work in the engine bay.

            Regarding the body colour: is the plastic of the body in red colour, and you sprayed red directly on it without primer? I did that with my Tamiya 1/24 Mazda RX-7, and the results did still look like plastic. I happen to have Rosso Model's 1/24 512TR in my stash, and when the time comes to build it I will try putting on primer before Tamiya's Italian Red.

            Keep the Ferrari build going!

  4. Ferrari Red! Looks great, well done.

  5. Hi @akcli2008 - thanks for the tip about the painting without primer - I asked a few car modellers and they said I should spray straight instead of trying to cover primer. But maybe what you are saying makes sense the primer may dull down a bit of the shine of the plastic.
    Thanks a lot.

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