Rich Chernosky

This kit holds some great memories for me. It was the very first resin kit I purchased. It was at NNL East from a vendor I knew from a forum. I also got to watch this car win the 1998 Watkins Glen 6 hours. I ran into my friend Oscar Koveleski. He was there promoting something but was finished. We watched the race from several locations but decided to watch the last 15 laps at the start/finish line. We were also directly behind the Ferrari pits. We talked to the owners of the team , who were just on the other side of the fence, but only briefly. Reason being...the Ferrari and the Dyson Ford had been running nose to tail for the last 25 laps and they didn't want to be bothered. And the race finished that way with the Ferrari beating the Ford by only a car length. We saw the chequered flag, and the team celebrating. It was just one of those memorable moments. Oscar was great fun to watch the race with as he explained a lot of things I didn't know. He's gone now and I miss him. Don't know why I waited so long to do this kit. It was fairly complicated for a resin kit as it included full suspension, interior and some engine detail. I had fiddled with it over the years. Cleaned some parts, did the really cool wheels and tires and some fitting. But now it was time for paint to hit resin. Color is Tamiya TS8 Italian red. I added some extra features like steering wheels and seatbelts and a few other details. There are more details below the pictures. Thanks for looking and comments welcome. Detail of the working steering. Had to drill out the steering rack and fabricate the 5 piece tie rod. The boots (wire insulation) helped me adjust the track. The brake assembly and upright also had to be modified. It all worked very well in the end. The two holes through the bottom chassis pan were for screws to attach this to the body. Took 5 screws and mounting posts as none were provided in the kit. Interior was fairly well detailed. Seat material is silk thread and decals from the spares. Hardware from the kit. The black looking cowl is actually a vacuum form piece that was tinted on the inside with clear green, smoke and a little semi black. Mirrors are pinned on. Finished car on its wheels. Despite the many piece suspension parts all four wheels sat flat. Those decals over the hood louvers took some cutting and solvent. Rear end detail and not my best photo. Lots of detail here but most of it hidden by the body. The wing, although delicate looking ,fit well and adjusted easily. Still had to be careful. Side veiw. Not sure I used the right decals for the Momo. My research showed they changed the decals from race to race so it could be right. Those wheels and tires were 5 pieces each and nothing beats the look of turned aluminium and photo etch. I made new center lugs and threaded them into the uprights. Way better than the resin thingies that came with the kit. A few other pieces were made as well. Decals were by UMI and fit well and went on easily. Had to take this picture of the whole tribe. 1/18 diecast is a Hot Wheels item and it came un-decorated. I sprayed the wheels and added after market decals. 1/43 dicast is of unknown origin and the 1/64 is also a Hot Wheels.

Steve...now that is about as cool a project as I have ever seen. And the background story just added to it. The model is great and the creativity that went into it. Can't tell you how many times I thought about doing just what you did but never had the resources. Really enjoyed this post and the great story.

Pierre...what a great way to make a recovery. And it turned out so nice. You and I are a lot alike in this respect. After spending more than a month of steady work on my 1/12 Ferrari 641/2 I needed something to keep my creativity up or I was going to face burnout. A Hasegawa 1/24 Datsun 2000 convertible was just the ticket.

Dave...good luck on this restoration. Those new wheels look great. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask.

What a paint job, what a car, nice carbon fibre work. This turned out to be a real beauty Mathias. Great job.

Dave...this really turned out cool. I follow your WIP's and can appreciate the work and creativity you put into these projects. I will really look forward to your restoration of the 1/16 version since I just posted a build of that car here. I will be re-doing the wheels and tires on mine as soon as they get here and add to that post. And thanks for all the input.

Michael...I am rooting for you on this one. 1/43 is tiny. I have done a few of them for friends and a couple for myself. Needless to say ,I don't have very many of them in my collection and avoid them, preferring the larger scales which are much easier on these ancient eyes. The fact you are missing pieces makes this even more of a challenge. So the very best of luck to you on this one. I got to see Gilles race both here in the states and in Canada. He was spectacular and even from where I was standing it was obvious there was no other driver like him. This will be a fitting tribute.

This kit hold special memories for me. It was purchased from a department store along with 3 other Fujimi kits in the same scale. They were all $20 but the store was getting out of the model business so they were 20% off. The other three were Ferrari Testarossa spyder and berlinetta and the Porsche 959. These kits have a wealth of detail plus a lot of working features which is what atrracted me to this scale in the first place. A long time on the priority list I finally painted the body in 2020. Testors Model Master Guards red was the choice and their clear for the top coat. I also sorted and painted all the parts. Since it was enamel I knew it would be a good month before it cured so everything went back in the box. That is until now. Details of this build are below the pictures. Completed car with everything open. Getting all this to work and fit was a chore. Seats are a color of Gunze Aqueous called Middlestone H71. It represents the leather used in this period Ferrari quite well. Flocking for carpet. There are four screws (two on each side) that hold the upper body, interior floor pan and chassis all together. Glue was never going to hold this assembly in place so the screws were the answer. Considering this kit is motorized the engine was quite well detailed and engineered. The struts holing up the rear deck were included in the kit. I opened the vents in the deck and would up eliminating the attachment points for the struts. It wasn't easy getting them attached where they were supposed to be but in the end it all worked perfectly. Grain of wheat bulbs were included in the kit but I replaced them with LEDs. They fit better and look better. The headlights go up and lock in place but were very fiddly to get right. Rear veiw with the lights on. Tail pipes are chrome tubing ( I lost one of the kit ones anyway.) It took forever to open all those vents. Rear Ferrari emblem was bare metal foiled before painting then exposed before clear coating. Full side veiw. Body fit on this kit was not bad but still needed some tweaking. Wheel color is a mixture of gold /silver/copper. Campagnolo cast these wheels special for Ferrari and this is the actual color of the metal they used. They were not painted. Thanks for looking and comments welcome.

You knocked this one out of the park Ken. Luv the engine and interior (saw it on your WIP) And the wheels and tires really make this. Great job.

Pierre...a beautiful rendition of an iconic racer. Followed your WIP and can well appreciate the work and diligence it took to bring this masterpiece to life. Congratulations on a job very well done.

A fine example of excellent craftsmanship on what many consider a mediocre kit. A great post too with lots of good info.

Doug, gotta luv a black and gold Lotus. Shes a beauty. Really like the engine detailing too.

Tim...I did the same you did. It was great fun to re-visit a kit you failed miserably at. Mine was horrible. I clear-coated the white body and it yellowed. Not to mention mine was assembled badly. Second time was the charm. Aaaaahh much better. Must say yours turned out great. What a difference, years of experience and new materials make. Congratulations on a job well done.

This is Otaki's 1/16 scale version of the Alfa Romeo 33. I have had this kit for quite awhile and recently did some of the bodywork mods and painted it. Color is Tamiya TS42 Gunmetal. Hood center is a combination of TS38 silver, Ts71 Smoke and TS13 gloss Black. This was all clear coated with Krylon latex clear. This is an interesting clear as it dries very hard but takes a long time to cure. I recently sanded and polished it out and once that was done it was the incentive to finish it. And interesting and now rare early Japanese kit that had many features I enjoy. These include all oipening doors, engine cover and front bodywork, working steering and suspension and working head and tail lights. Kit was also motorized and the motor was well hidden and allowed some good detail on the engine. more details in the picture captions. Thanks for looking and comments welcome. Chassis ready for the completed bodywork. I re-engineered the cockpit sides, removing them from the chassis and attaching them to the upper bodywork. This allowed me to fill the seam in for a smoother body. Engine was quite detailed for a motorized kit. The motor is in front of the dash and is connected to the gearbox with a long shaft. I added fuel lines and ignition wiring. The tail pipe ends are chrome tubing from a radio antenna. Yes, the suspension works and the motor runs. Front end aslo had some good detail and was fairly true to the real car. It all fit and works quite nicely. Interior was fairly well detailed. Interesting placement of the gear shift. Seatbelts came from the spares. Carpet is red flocking over flat red paint. Color is Tamiya LS79 flat red. Finished car on its wheels. Can't say I was too happy with the tires and wheels in this kit. If I ever find a replacement they are removable. I replaced the grain-of-wheat bulbs with LED's. Much better. The bodywork fit quite well, especially the doors. Rear veiw with the passenger door open and tail lights on. The body actually fits tighter than this photo. Moving it around for the pictures loosened them up. I like the stance of this car and no adjustment was necessary. A cool kit and a nice addition to my Alfa collection. Thanks for looking.

Interesting take on one of Ferrari's best selling cars. Nice color and cool mods.

Great job there Jim. Amazing photo of the dash.

Bruce...really like your rendition of this car. It looks super sharp. Followed you WIP and can relate to some of your struggles. But you came out on top and that is what counts. well done.