Nacho Z

Cool model! I do not have this kit but have several Tamiya 1:12 kits. I would test fit everything. Check the tires. My JPS Lotus had the wrong rear tires. I have heard that the tires can get out of shape(?) from sitting so long. I have also heard about kits of this vintage being motorized at one time, therefore making the cockpit too shallow and parts of the drivetrain can be compromised. My JPS Lotus, which can be found on the forum, had a few of the larger parts warped. Most everything fit very nicely but then I would have some parts that did not. Good luck with your build! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

Jon, I too, am wondering if this came straight from Jimmy. Me and a couple of model buddies help Jimmy set up and vend every year at NNL East. This means unpacking tons of small, individual boxes from larger packing boxes. We randomly open one box of every product number to display the actual model. Then we open every box that is sold and make sure it is not broken, chipped, etc. I have never seen any body any where near as bad as what you have. Actually, I have never seen a bad casting at all. I'm sure if this is from Jimmy, he would make it right for you.

I know that NASCAR gets no love, and I actually get that, but being a racecar guy I am really looking forward to the new NASCAR kits.

What a great looking model! Very nice, Geoff.

I love it! It appears that you and I have the same taste in subject matter.

Thanks, Tim. This model has a lot of decals. I wanted the paint to be as smooth as possible to prevent any silvering. I have never cleared any racecar that I have built and I don't want to clear this one.

Yes, Jonathan, I'm the same guy. I've known James for some time now and do my best to support his page. Thanks for the compliment on the paint.

I'm at a loss for words. Thank you to all of you who have said, for me, what I can't put into words. R.I.P Harry. You will be missed.

Yes, the news of Harry's passing is a smack up along side my head, reminding me of exactly what you said, life is too short. The older I get, the more true it is. Right now, my job is taking its toll on me. After 30 years at this job, I am thinking of leaving, and it is all because I just don't need this stress in my life any more. I'm not happy and it is consuming my life and time. I have told many younger co-workers to go out and do what makes you happy and do it while you can. As Bob said, tomorrow is not promised to any of us. My wife and I are avid bicycle riders. In what seemed like overnight, I had horrible pain in my left shoulder, chest, arm, and hand. Long story short, I blew out a disc in my neck. At about the same time, my wife slipped in the snow and tore up her knee and had to have surgery. No biking for us for several years now. You just never know.

Haha, they say that timing is everything. I was just taking a break from masking the chassis pan so that I could paint the rear. I'm painting it all white and then I'll mask it again for the red and then the green. Thanks for the pic! This is one sexy car.

Tim, that is a beautiful F430! You and Fred have set the bar pretty darn high. I'll be happy to stand on my tippy-toes just to reach it! Keep tuned and please, give me any input you may have.

Beautiful F430!! These are great kits. How were the decals? Any problems with them?

I have had very good luck when masking with Silly Putty. Actually, I have used the cheaper Dollar Store stuff. It never once pulled any of my paint off. I would be happy to share a few pics of the car if needed.

Oh man, Fred, that is nice! I hope mine turns out as nice as yours!

Time for an update. The Ferrari body is polished out. There is no clear on this, just Tamiya black. It is almost a shame to cover it up with decals. This first picture is slightly over exposed but shows the level of shine that can be achieved.

Thanks, Tim, that would be great. I'm not finding many pictures of this car. Mostly finding pictures of diecast cars.

Beautiful!

As with all of my other threads, this one will follow the same format. I am posting work that has been done a while back. In real time, I am further along with the build than what I am posting. Work continues on the body paint. There are a lot of decals which will cover up a lot of painted area. I am not sure if I am going to clear coat this model after I decal it. There are a lot of curves on this Ferrari and you just cannot get into all of the nooks and crannies with your finger tips. I use Tamiya's cotton swabs for getting into all of the hard to reach spots. This is not the final result on the front trunk. More work was done on it. The front fenders also will have more work on them. Finally for today, the lower nose area must be painted red. On the real car, it is bright red. I painted the area white first so that the red would be brighter than if I had painted the red directly of black. Personally, masking is probably my least favorite thing to do.

She looks great, Bo! The nice, clear, uncluttered pictures really show it off. Great looking model of an iconic car!

Ditto. Nice build!

I thought I would share my latest project. This is Fujimi's Ferrari F430 Challenge kit. I fell in love with the livery the moment I saw it. It was not an easy kit to find. It had been out of production when I learned about it. A buddy of mine found it on eBay for me and I hit the "Buy It Now" button immediately...lol. Progress will be slow due to a ridiculous work load at work. I began by working on the body. No complaints on the molding. The entire kit appears to be very well done. I re-scribed all of the panel lines. After shooting the first coat of primer I found a few areas that needed a little more work. Once I was satisfied with the body work, I shot Tamiya gloss black right out of the can. My first attempt left way more orange peel than I am used to. I let the paint cure and I shot several heavier coats right over the top of the previous coats. The paint leveled out nicely, with no runs, but I ended up get a few specks of dust in the paint. I had to polish it out. I will mask off sharp edges to prevent burning through the paint when I polish out the paint.

Now that is just downright cool! Nice execution of a neat idea.

Great looking model, Steve! I like the Red Bull livery. You did a nice job on this.

I agree with Ace. I use it for very small jobs. Not very wide or very deep filling. I have not had any problems when used like this. I should say that I have only used the green stuff.

This happened to me last night while trying to send a couple of PMs. It happened while I was on my laptop. I finally gave up and tried on my cell phone. I had no problems while on my cell. I did not pay attention to the ads, but I do recall seeing the ad that Snake mentioned.