Nacho Z

She is looking great so far! I’ll be following along on this one.

It is the Three Rivers Automodelers show in Castle Shannon on Sunday.

Welcome to the forum, Barry. I am located just South of you, near Morgantown, WV. Did you know that there is a model contest in Pittsburg this weekend?

Dennis, while doing research on this car, (I really didn’t know very much about it), I noticed that the wheels were a dull aluminum(?). I’m not crazy about them. I decided to leave the kit wheels as they are. I know that they are not prototypically correct but I like them. I truly do appreciate the input on them, however. I’ve got a lot more Ferrari kits and you can count on me hitting you up for help and information! Curtis, I really struggled with the choice of creme, (their spelling), or tan from Splash Paints. I went with tan. Thanks, Atin! The clear blue is TS shot straight from the can.

Simply gorgeous!!

Thank you, Sonny! I was very happy with the stance right out of the box. The tires are also centered in the wheel wells which isn’t always the case. I don’t have to do any work on the stance and that is a good thing! Thanks, EMRE! Honestly, the reason for the picture of each coat was to help me keep track of how many coats I laid down…lol. And yes, I’m pretty darn happy with the paint job! Very much appreciated, Justin!

Wow!! That is just fantastic! A really great looking model.

Time for my Monday night update. My last post I showed where I painted the body in OPI fingernail polish, polished it out and then shot Tamiya Clear Blue over that. I let the clear blue cure and then set about polishing out the body. I use Micro Mesh cloths and then Tamiya polishing compounds for this. I'll spare you all of the in-progress shots and go straight to the mock-up of the polished body. I should point out that there is no actual clear, clear on this model. Clear blue, yes. Clear clear, no. Here are the 3 polishing cloths that I used, one for each stage, or grit, of the Tamiya polishing compounds. I also use Q-tips for hard-to-reach places, places that my fingertip will not fit into. I have actually been chided, (there's a word you don't see every day!), for using Q-tips but I find them very useful. I do not use any type of rotary tool for polishing out my paint. I actually enjoy the process of doing it manually. My kitchen light fixture. My Alclad paint on a shelf above my bench. Next update will be the interior and another mockup with the interior installed. Thanks for checking in. Comments, suggestions and advice are always welcome.

Thank you, Dann! It is such a pretty color and it was just about exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks, Jim! Patience is probably my weakest point in model building. I mean, I suck at a lot of things modeling wise, but patience is my Achilles heel. ? I appreciate it, Sonny!

That is one beautiful Oldsmobile!

I do this every single painting session.

You did a wonderful job with this! I’m like you in that I love doing decals. Truly my favorite part of modeling. I imagine that there was a good bit of applying decals on top of other decals with this kit?

That is fantastic, Robert! It is great to see you posting your work over here on MCM. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work.

My hat is off to you, you nailed this!

Great looking ‘57! This one just has “that look” to it.

Very cool, Matt, very cool indeed! I’ve never seen this before.

My first update from my original post. This update will be all about laying the fingernail polish down. I took a picture after each coat. I tend to very slightly over thin my paint and polish, it is just how I like to do it. I feel that I can lower the air pressure and get into tighter spaces without excessive blowback. This was especially true when painting the side scoops. Anyhow, I git a kick out of seeing the model get a little darker blue with each successive coat of paint. I always test my colors on spoons, usually white and black. This is NOT to test how hot a paint is. Spoons and models are made of different material. It is just to see how base colors affect the final color. I went with a white base for the F355. If you scroll up to my last post you will see that I laid down a white base coat. My wonderful wife is always willing to help me with my hobby. She found some small Ball jars that are perfect for mixing up larger volumes of paint. I thin my fingernail polish with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. Here we go! I shoot thin coats so that I don't have to worry about crazing the plastic. I wait 10 minutes between coats. I'm in no hurry when I do this. I have screwed things up in the past by being impatient. The finish was just about what I was hoping for but in the back of my mind I thought I could make it better. After the fingernail polish cured for a week, I polished it out and shot 2 coats of Tamiya Clear Blue right out of the can. I laid it on fairly heavy as I would be polishing it out. I am pleased with the results. The pictures do not do justice to the color. Next update will have the body polished out and a quick mockup. As always, comments, suggestions, etc are welcome!

HI Dennis, thanks for the feedback! I love the work you are doing on the Restomod!

Fandamntastic!!

Just wonderful!! You do such great work on these MFH kits. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful!!!

I like it!! Great color choice! You really did a great job with this.

I saw this build when I was doing research on the kit. We are going to have the same colored Ferraris! ? Yours looks good!

Thanks, Justin, you are right about that. I believe Fujimi is the only game in town when it comes to the F355, barring any resin kits. This is only my second Fujimi kit. My first was the Ferrari F430 Challenge and it was a nice kit. I think this one will turn out fairly nice. Not a competition killer but a nice shelf queen.

Next up on my hobby bench is Fujimi's Ferrari F355 Berlinetta. I picked this kit up at a model contest a year or so ago. The kit does not get rave reviews. I am no expert on these cars but from what I have read Fujimi used many parts from their prior kit, the Ferrari 348. Indeed, several of the sprues are labeled "Ferrari 348"...lol. As I understand it the interior in this F355 kit is really the 348's interior. The chassis may be shared as well. Don't put any of this in stone but I believe I am pretty close with my statements. All of this is quite OK with me as I am really just wanting a nice shelf model. Let's start with some of the basic information regarding the build. I wanted this F355 to be done in a dark blue and I wanted to paint it with some fingernail polish that I had on hand, (no pun intended). I was going to build it box stock but when I looked over the kit I found that the decals were shot. Also, you cannot beat PE scripts and badges for realism. I had a buddy who was willing to part with an Acu-Stion PE set and some rare T2M badges. The only problem is that both sets are designed for the Challenge car so some of the items will not work on the Berlinetta. Let's look at what I have to work with. This is the color that I aim shooting for. I know that I can probably buy an exact match but I really wanted to paint it with the OPI fingernail polish that I have. I started with the body work. I highlight seam lines with a Sharpie. I also rescribed all panel lines. The side scoops are separate pieces and a real PITA to install and make look good. Honestly, I got them to about 90-95% and finally gave up. Big seams in a tiny space. Filling and sanding were a nightmare. I seriously doubt that anyone will even notice the less than 100% perfect finish on them. Along with the side scoops, the rear spoiler piece did not fit even remotely properly. More big gaps. I really questioned whether or not I wanted to build this thing. Next update will be covering the thinning and shooting the beautiful OPI fingernail polish.