Academy - Ferrari 250LM

[Funkychiken]

It's coming along nicely Kurt! 

[89AKurt]

23 hours ago, Funkychiken said:

It's coming along nicely Kurt! 

Thank you, even though not much is done?

How to milk out a really simple build....... Fiddled with the putty spots, next step was to paint rare antique vintage Model Master primer on the putty, which will get sanded before spraying primer.
Decided to keep the same diameter exhaust pipe for the tips.  Bent upward before cutting off the ends, drilled for stretched sprue, and got half of them glued in place.

My OCD is wanting to do the door windows with two pieces of flat plastic, and make it slide, see my Porsche 904.

[Bainford]

Cool project, Kurt. Never even knew this kit existed. I'm following.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'll be enjoying seeing your spin on this.

I bought one after seeing Bernard's build; didn't know about it previously.

It's got some of the hunkered-down purposeful look of the GT40, probably why I like it.

 

[Misha]

Great to see you start on this build Kurt. Just in case this begins to be in line with your usual builds, I thought these shots may be useful 😉….

 

Back in the day I thought the 250 LM was the most beautiful road racer ever made, still feel that way. I believe that Monogram had a 1/32 slot car back then. Need to check the stash as I may have one in that scale. 
 

Cheers Misha

[89AKurt]

2 hours ago, Bainford said:

Cool project, Kurt. Never even knew this kit existed. I'm following.

That's the great thing about this forum, especially the What Did You Get Today thread.  I'm also shocked at the asking price on eBay for this kit (applies across the board too).

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I'll be enjoying seeing your spin on this.

I bought one after seeing Bernard's build; didn't know about it previously.

It's got some of the hunkered-down purposeful look of the GT40, probably why I like it.

Thanks for chiming in.  Considering it's one of the first mid-engine cars they built, is why I like the honest purposeful style.  Similar to the Porsche 904 too.

1 hour ago, Misha said:

Great to see you start on this build Kurt. Just in case this begins to be in line with your usual builds, I thought these shots may be useful 😉….

[...]

Back in the day I thought the 250 LM was the most beautiful road racer ever made, still feel that way. I believe that Monogram had a 1/32 slot car back then. Need to check the stash as I may have one in that scale. 
 

Cheers Misha

Thanks for checking in too!  Now you are confusing me, LHD when the kit is RHD, not going there. 😅  Note the black diamond padding, the kit doesn't have that, so will stick with painting the interior "gun metal" which is a dull but glossy silver (door panels).  That car has reupholstered seats, ditching the blue, looks much better but no going there either.  Because it's LHD, the cool parking brake is different, the kit part is somewhat accurate.  5 point seat belts, that's something that is kicking in my OCD, thanks alot.  😜   Fire extinguisher is something I've added to other projects.  This is a curbside kit, so that's why I have a chance of finishing; have the Fujimi 330 P4 kit and HRC resin engine so that can occupy months of time in the future.

[Misha]

Actually Kurt, the yellow vehicle more closely resembles a road going version rather than a competition one. While I understand your time constraint on this one, if anyone could accomplish a detailed build on this curbside you’d be the one.

Cheers Misha

[89AKurt]

11 hours ago, Misha said:

Actually Kurt, the yellow vehicle more closely resembles a road going version rather than a competition one. While I understand your time constraint on this one, if anyone could accomplish a detailed build on this curbside you’d be the one.

Cheers Misha

Not disagreeing.  If you knew all the other projects I wish to go nuts on..... 🤔

Knife pointing to a stupid thing to OCD about, the chassis tube was cut, obviously for the way the mold had to work.  *Had to* stretch sprue, cut, and superglue with a little baking soda to fill the gaps.  Exhaust tips are done.  I have about used up this size of stainless steel tubing, going to get at least 2 next time (12" long).

First light coat of Tamiya primer, because I used up the bottle.  I'm really liking this paint, compared to the (now unavailable) Model Master.  Alclad polished chrome sprayed on the bare black plastic.  I masked the steering wheel rim, to help with brush painting the wood so it won't mix.

Quick wet-sanded the primer, second proper coat sprayed.  Model Master flat black done on all those parts!  Testors blue on the seats, didn't wish to get flat blue, so it's covered with Dullcote (should do another coat).  Kind of fun dealing with so few parts.

All I did was wrap the tips with BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH purple masking tape, can clean off with a toothpick later.  One of my top OCD items is exhaust tips, started when I was 5 years old, looking at my drawings. 😅  I've seen too many really well done models, to spot the lack of attention to not drilling out the ends, or painting flat black inside the hole, come on man!

Tomorrow is a model club meeting, they will be shocked to see I'm building a model, after about half a year of silence.

[89AKurt]

This morning got to this stage (except painting the clear), before the model meeting.  Explained my OCD about exhaust tips, so everyone afterwards made a crack about whatever being drilled out. 😆  Interior is Model Master German Silver, engine is Alclad white aluminum, second coat of Dullcote.  No matter how hard I tried, still got junk in the clear coat.  Seems like this plastic gets static charged easier, or it's the weather, but made sure I'm wearing a 100% cotton shirt, and took off the polyester sweats.  Drives me nuts! 😡

My high tech drying booth.

Something I'm going to do more, is polish photo-etch.

Tires got the tread sanded.  These are good looking tires, have not looked at pictures of the real Dunlop tires, but does not seem to be generic.  I usually despise spoke wheels that you can't see through, but the front are accurate with a row at the outside of the rim.  The plating didn't get to the deepest areas, but still painted Model Master flat black acrylic, and cleaned up with a cotton swab.

The decals worked great.  Being so old, was concerned, but I'm also not using the yellowed roundels anyway.  Solvaset was compatible, Microsol didn't touch them.  This is the first model with gold lettered tires that I've done, digging the look.  The main gauge cluster doesn't really fit well, the top of the center gauge goes onto the hood.

Got the interior done, unless I add seatbelts.  Had the Modelers seat belt for years, been intimidated about putting it together.  Didn't know it was only one seat, thought it would be funny to have only a lap belt for the passenger, just to add to the thrill of going for a ride. 😏

Somewhat happy with the texture on the dash.  Added steel wire for the shift linkage, with some hypodermic tubing for added detail that isn't accurate, but just for eye candy.  "Plug wire" for the door pull.  Shirt pin for the shifter, one of the oldest tricks for detailing.  Must have been an uncomfortable cockpit, with the parking brake handle to hit your knee on, steering wheel way forward, and the pedals in the middle.  No cup holder either.

[89AKurt]

Today I wet-sanded the first clear coat.

Used the hot-wire to cut off the side windows.

My OCD kicked in, the mirror location is way too far back.  Pictures show it was almost against the windshield.  Another thing, seems like Ferrari sent an apprentice to the local salvage yard to get mirrors, every car is different, some are black, some aluminum, some mounts are chrome, some black.  But why did they have the mount on the chrome tree, and the wiper not?  Since the "headliner" was getting painted flat black, did the mirror too.

Now a pet peeve, the axle shaft did not fit in the wheels.  No way was I going to hammer them home.  First I found my drill index was missing the next size bigger, so mounted the axles in the drill press to sand the shafts down.   Instructions don't show which long/short axle went where either.   LOL

Sprayed the second coat of clear.  Not as smooth as I wish, but one more time of wet-sanding, then a light coat of clear again, and then the polish routine.  Forgot to say I got this paint at the Phoenix IPMS show, ScaleFinishes.com from Salt Lake City.  Maybe I've learned how to lay down exotic paint, but no issue with it dissolving or melting like another paint I've tried.  It was ready to use, no thinner needed.  Since Model Master is history, the cottage industry will step in, so maybe it's for the better.  /end rant/

In order to park my impatience, and not screw anything up, baked cookies.  Here I flocked the coat of chocolate with walnuts, and didn't worry about cutting into perfectly sized squares (after taking the picture).

[89AKurt]

I was just shopping on eBay, saw this listing in Russia, looks like a scam to me.  They found a picture of a real car with the newer Cromadora wheels, no brake duct, fender mirrors, not at all what I know this kit looks like.

[Bernard Kron]

2 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

I was just shopping on eBay, saw this listing in Russia, looks like a scam to me.  They found a picture of a real car with the newer Cromadora wheels, no brake duct, fender mirrors, not at all what I know this kit looks like.

It's the same kit but with different box art. I bought one in 2020 on eBay, although not from the same vendor. It took quite a bit of time to get to me but arrived in goof order and was a very good molding. I liked the look of the Cromadoras so I built mine with aftermarket copies of those wheels instead of the more prevalent wire wheels. The Cromadoras were used by some privateer entrants, notably David Piper.

[beeRS]

Nice work. The wire wheels came out really well - just shows how careful painting can make these look so good.

impressive cookies too. 

[Funkychiken]

Lots of progress now Kurt, interior and exterior look great! 

[89AKurt]

9 hours ago, Bernard Kron said:

It's the same kit but with different box art. I bought one in 2020 on eBay, although not from the same vendor. It took quite a bit of time to get to me but arrived in goof order and was a very good molding. I liked the look of the Cromadoras so I built mine with aftermarket copies of those wheels instead of the more prevalent wire wheels. The Cromadoras were used by some privateer entrants, notably David Piper.

Thank you for chiming in.  I did notice some cars running the alloy wheels, I have a set from the Fujimi Daytona, but they are the same width.

7 hours ago, beeRS said:

Nice work. The wire wheels came out really well - just shows how careful painting can make these look so good.

impressive cookies too. 

Had to do something for those wheels.  Yum!

5 hours ago, Funkychiken said:

Lots of progress now Kurt, interior and exterior look great! 

Thank you.  If this was a Fujimi Enthusiast Series, would still be in the starting blocks.

[89AKurt]

Made the license plate, using the AZ MVD website.  They changed it since last visit, didn't see where I could check for an existing #X which is how I did it before, so now I screenshot the blank plate, and use a close font to write the #X.  Will have this, and the kit box reduced to scale, and printed.

Soon after the third coat of clear.  It looked like there was orange peel, but after curing in the "drying booth" it leveled out nicely.

One thing I really like about this paint, it cures hard the same day.  No more putting it aside for a couple of weeks, worth the money just for that.  Used the Detail Master polishing kit (nothing unique about the fine emory cloth compared to what other vendors offer).  Last step was the Novus polishing creme, which makes the paint soft enough to leave fingerprints when I space out, which I did.  grrr.🤬  I would not say this is to the high standard that I've seen others capable of at contests.

Painted the grills with Model Master flat black acrylic, which was immediately dabbed with clean paper towel.  Jamb lines done with Micron 005 pen.  Started gluing on the chrome parts; headlight lenses are really nice, with chrome reflectors that have a "bulb", glued in with Testors canopy glue.

I'm fairly happy with the paint.  So my routine goes like this:
1. Wet-sand the bare plastic body after washing with dish soap and hot water.
2. Light wet-sand the primer, two coats this time.
3. For the paint stage, I wipe the bench with a damp paper towel.  I try to clean the booth before doing each project.
4. I am* not drying the body with a paper towel, I immediately use the shop air compressor with high volume of 60 PSI to blow dry, which gets all water out of every nook and cranny.  I try to avoid touching anything to the body, just get it on the stand.  I'm super aware of having a firm grip on the body, asking for disaster doing this step!
5. To avoid static charge which is my culprit, best to not wear clothing that is not 100% cotton.  I even take off the shirt and pants before going into the paint booth, I'm that paranoid.
6. Because my hands were just washed from wet-sanding, I chase off all lint with my finger, like it's a tack rag (which I have never used, gotta be something on that).
7. After finishing painting, I take the airbrush apart and put in thinner.  I do not clean the parts until later, messing with the paper towel introduces lint.  For non body parts during a session with several colors, I don't worry about it.
8. Leave the paint booth for a few minutes, then take the body to the pickup cab if it's a sunny day.
I've only been doing this for half a century, still learning what to adjust.* 🙄

Next scratch-building is the vacuum-form headlight covers, side windows, front grill, fender mirrors, door handles (which were removed and saved).  Bare Metal foil a few things.  Still debating about seat belts.

[Spottedlaurel]

Great to see this one progress in such a methodical way, it's coming together very nicely.

[Bugatti Fan]

Kurt, your 250LM is taking shape nicely. Look forward to seeing the finished model.

Incidentally, Airfix made one in 1/32nd scale too many years ago to remember. I am not sure if they ever re released it.

[Misha]

Speaking of which, today I was going thru the shelves and came upon the Airfix 1/32 250 LM. Upon looking at the details, apart from the wheels, they are decent considering the age and scale of the kit. Separate flip top gas caps, delicate knock offs and an accurate appearing body and interior.

 

 

Cheers Misha

[slusher]

Beautiful finish and shine!

[89AKurt]

23 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Great to see this one progress in such a methodical way, it's coming together very nicely.

I must be faking you out with pictures of every excruciating step. 😬  Thank you!

21 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Kurt, your 250LM is taking shape nicely. Look forward to seeing the finished model.

Incidentally, Airfix made one in 1/32nd scale too many years ago to remember. I am not sure if they ever re released it.

Thank you too.  I see below......

6 hours ago, Misha said:

Speaking of which, today I was going thru the shelves and came upon the Airfix 1/32 250 LM. Upon looking at the details, apart from the wheels, they are decent considering the age and scale of the kit. Separate flip top gas caps, delicate knock offs and an accurate appearing body and interior.

[...]
Cheers Misha

Thanks for showing that.  I wonder about the taper of the cabin, seems extreme.  Has suspension parts, thats amazing for a smaller scale.   The headlight covers would really drive me nuts.

5 hours ago, slusher said:

Beautiful finish and shine!

Thank you!

Bare Metal foil is applied.  After reading some recent comments elsewhere, glad this sheet sticks.  The photo-etch grill is also glued in, so glad I did this.  Too bad more manufacturers don't do headlights this nice.

Note the air scoops.....

Taillights and license light done.  Now that I look at the picture, might work on the grills, this is why I prefer using real screen.

Black paper is put behind the air scoops and front grill.  Painted flat black behind the window edges.  The inside of the doors need to be painted, either aluminum or flat black, that will be a last minute decision.

I should brush paint flat black in the wheel well areas.  Seat belts, I have Scale Motorsport photo-etch hardware, if I wanted to have both seats match.

Edited December 22, 2021 by 89AKurt

[89AKurt]

Vacuum-forming time!  I made the box last century, and use an old Oreck vacuum cleaner with the dust bag removed.  The clear plastic is a package that a game camera came in, it's thick enough, and more clear than Plastistruct's product.  The frame is masonite, could use hobby plywood.  I use aluminum duct tape because it sticks really good and won't come undone when heated up.

First time I have used Simply Tacky, that I found at Hobby Lobby.

Managed to get it the first time!  I have a glass top electric range to heat the plastic, wore a leather glove.  The trick is to watch the plastic first get soft, but keep over the heat, then watch it shrink and get tight, almost to the point it starts smelling but not smoking.  Then the quick flop over the box, this is usually when I screw up.

The exciting moment, looks good!  (I wolfed all the cookies while posting this)

I'm not excited about this part, so will keep the kit parts.

Can you tell the difference?

Yikes, these close-up pictures make the model look terrible! 🤭

[Belugawrx]

Nice work on the vac forming Kurt. 👍

[absmiami]

Sure looks good on my I phon. 

[89AKurt]

7 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

Nice work on the vac forming Kurt. 👍

Appreciate you leaving the comment. 🙂

3 hours ago, absmiami said:

Sure looks good on my I phon. 

Good, thank you.  ☎️

But shoot me now.  Botched gluing one of the air scoops on.  My mistake was using the canopy glue, should have used the Elmers clear glue.  Might have to make a feather duster, and set on the that mistake, too big for bird poop. 🤬

Made the kit box, and license plate.

Side windows were something I *had to* fix, they should have made the part with steps instead of raised lines to fake the two panes, and they were not angled.  First made a couple of cardboard patterns; the outer pane is the rear fixed window which I extended to the front, then the slider pane was glued in, did not make it moveable.  Cut tiny photo-etch fret latches, can barely see them.

Last scratch-building is cleaning up the door "handles".  Still thinking about the seat belts.  Taillights need to get painted, and might Bare Metal foil the bezel.