LaFerrari

Started by Richard Mcstay · 44 · 6 years ago
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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Hi mate, cheers! I've tried various different varnishes over the top of the decals, but came to the conclusion that you don't need any... That's just the decal set with micro sol. Even gloss varnish will dull that finish!

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 5 months ago:




    That's the engine finished in its various sub assemblies. I added some wiring onto the engine and airbrushed a bit of metallic blue onto the exhaust tips for a heated metal look. I'm quite happy with the result at this point!

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    Work has not been fairly slow on this one due to the weather! You have to make the most of it when you get a bit of sun in the UK!

    The radiator fans from the original kit were removed and replaced with the PE ones from the detail set. A fair number of pieces but the end result is a lot better.

    The entire interior is made from carbon fibre on the LaFerrari, I've started putting the decals down for that. And finally the engine is in the back of the car. With a top of the range Tamiya kit like this, the boot will be fully movable on the final model for it to be displayed.

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    There were quite a few sub assemblies needing completed before I could move any further through the chronological steps in the instructions, but I got there in the end! I must admit, the nice weather has been quite a distraction...

    The wishbone suspension and axles were all painted and dry brushed with Tamiya acryllics. I can only assume that the bright yellow boxes are the electric motor battery cells. I used the photo etch set for both the batteries and pedals.

    With the sub assemblies complete, I can now start to build around the chassis of the car.

    The next step in the build was the rear wheel arches. They got the carbon fibre treatment also, as well as the photo etch for the mesh over the radiators.

    It's always fun at certain stages to have a little test fit with the sub assemblies! It's starting to resemble a million pounds worth of hyper car now anyway!

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    I reckon I would have this finished by now if it was straight out the box! The brake discs from the aftermarket set took some putting together! The photo etch parts on the centre drum were tiny, I've included a match in the photo to get an idea of size.

    I think one of those brakes cost more in real life than my actual car! The brakes have been attached with poly caps to allow the wheels to turn on the finished model. I painted the wheels with zero paints chrome to match the standard finish on the production vehicle.

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    That an incredible bit of detail and it's very well done my friend. These photos are valuable as so much for the detail will be hidden in the end result, which always feels like such a shame. Almost makes you want to build two… It's a work of art so far, I'm sure the final product will be a site to behold.

    Keep building!

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    Allan J Withers said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    Certainly looking a million pounds Richard, so much detail !

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    Cheers gentlemen! All this detail should be visible on the final model as all the parts are fully working. Well apart from the engine that is...

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    IAN JACKSON said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    This is museum quality workmanship !

    Ian.

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 3 months ago:

    Thanks Ian, appreciated mate. It could still all go horribly wrong yet though!

    Well a bit of a confession here guys. I've been cheating. I had a little bit of help from Stephen, I did the painting, he did the building 🙂 He's great for the fiddly bits.

    Our Stephen is actually getting a bit fat. He's on a diet now as we speak.

    That's all of the interior done now apart from the door panels. The dash was a fiddly process... lot's of masking and detailed brush painting to get the desired effect. The part underneath the carbon fibre decal had to be finished in gloss for adhesion, whilst the other panels were finished in matt's and satin's to try and portray the different materials. I used a cocktail stick to put the smaller dots of paint on the steering wheel and the control dials.

    With the cabin interior finished, the final step before moving on to the exterior was to wire up the engine bay. I used a mixture of lead wiring and rubber tubing and went off some reference pics. With the wires and hoses in place, the airbox and wheel arches could finally be fixed. I did a quick test fit of the roof as well and it fits perfectly.

    The roof on the majority of the cars is painted black, but I've seen a few examples where the roof is painted the same colour as the rest of the bodywork. I personally think that the latter looks a lot better so I'm going to attempt that. Just to make the build even more difficult.

    I've had a lot of thought as to what colour to paint the car. When buying the real one, you can choose whatever colour body work you want, as well as the interior panels and seats. I've decided to paint the different parts the exact same colours as I would choose in real life ( hypothetically of course, I don't have a spare million quid... ).

    So now for the bombshell... It's going to be white! So I'll leave you with that for now, and I will swiftly depart before the Chris Evans jokes come rolling in.

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    Allan J Withers said 6 years, 3 months ago:

    Coming along very nicely Richard, I like white, good to see Stephen earning his keep, although a little to much keep by the look of him, how old is he and what is his life span ?

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 3 months ago:

    Cheers Allan!
    I'm not actually sure how old he is, I've had him a couple of years. He isn't fully grown yet, still got a few moults left to go. They can live for 20 years in captivity apparently.

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 3 months ago:

    The kit provides you with some plastic mesh to replicate the grills of the car. Whilst it is still a nice touch, the difference is plain to see when using the photo etch detail set.

    Now for the painting! The body parts are moulded in a red plastic, which would be ideal if you wanted a red Ferrari... but I want my one in white. In order to do this I have primed all of the parts in a gloss black. I just used Tamiya X-1 for this, you get a nice glossy finish.

    The plan is to mask the insides of the body work to keep them black, then give the parts a coating of silver. Once the silver has cured then I'll go over with a glossy white. Now that's the plan anyway... hopefully it will work! It's the best way I can think of to get an even bright white colouration without any other colours showing through.

    Sometimes I wish they would just mould the parts in white anyway, but I suppose it will be fun seeing the car in a few different colours before we get to the final one.

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    Allan J Withers said 6 years, 3 months ago:

    That's an interesting approach Richard, making it even darker before going to white, good finish with the black !

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 3 months ago:

    Seems to have worked as well mate! I was airbrushing late into the night. I’ll post the photos after work.