Pierre Rivard

Thanks Helmut for pointing out. That P2 was listed in the Motorsport Images database of the 64 race and I did not spot the mistake. Anyhow, I've decided to go for chassis 0816 as the 64 Le Mans winner. I am also getting a better handle on why the Dunlop tires look so big on my mockup. I measured the body vs specs of the 250/275 P body. The ratio is 1/25.4 on length and both wheelbase and body width are at 1/25. So it's a 1/25 scale kit, not 1/24. The kit tires don't look so good but they are a good size at 1/25 scale.

Still working on my tire solution. I re-did my search of tire dimensions on the 275P. Dunlop rears were 700M15 with a 706mm diameter scaling to 29.4mm at 1/24 The fronts were 500M15 with a 648mm diameter, scaling to 27mm at 1/24 The HRM Dunlop on my mockup are 30mm rear (0.6mm oversized) and 27.9 mm front (0.9mm oversized) The kit tires are 27.7mm rear (1.7mm undersized) and 25.5 front (1.5mm undersized) New mock up with both tire sets. Which looks more balanced? The slightly oversized Dunlops or the significantly undersized kit tires? Go figure...

Great insight Helmut and you got me thinking what I need to do here. I'm honing in on 64 Le Mans for my subject. There were 6 Ferrari P cars in that race and an interesting mix. 3 275P entries, #20 (the winner) and #22 had the 63 body style, #21 had the new 64 body. 3 330P entries, #14 and #19 had the new body but #15 had the 63 body. I scanned the Motorsportimages files and came up with these comparisons. My learning is that the differences between the 63 and 64 bodies were much more substantial than I had originally perceived, different back end, front end & hood, engine air inlets, airfoil, windshield angle etc. A big learning for me.

The rad has that perfect polished metal look. I hope the Molotow paint holds up. It's spot on for appearance.

First item is looking at tires. The kit tires are not good, too wide but mostly they have a very poor thread definition and embossed Goodyear lettering. I could work around that but digging in the stash I found a set of resin Dunlops from HRM and they look much better if a bit oversized in diameter, by an equivalent 1.3 inch for the fronts and 1.1 for the rears. Using kit wheels as place holder in pictures and the mock up, until I receive the set I ordered. Mockup compared to full size car (chassis 0818). The profiles are not identical but reasonably similar. Making a list of items I will need to address on the body.

Thanks Gary, I did not know about these. Now I don't have to fit my build to whatever decals I have in my spares.

Thank you Steve, I appreciate the offer but I think I'd like to do a version that retains the original body design with the wing/roll bar, so 63-64 campaign.

Absolutely agree. You're making something here. These old NASCAR are very interesting subjects providing you want to put the work in, and you obviously are my friend.

Well...0820 as it finished would be interesting...but ugly! As I am researching a bit about this line of 250/275/330 P, which frankly I know nothing about, I realize that the back end configuration changed along the way in a bigger way than I thought. I'm not sure what chassis / when the change happened. The kit is clearly based on an earlier version. I might be able to change it but not sure If I could do it justice. Gotta think about this. Advice & info from the experts are most welcome.

At this point open to suggestions. A driver refueling his car makes a strong case. Think Verstappen or Hamilton would do that? ?

No confusion from my part but perhaps it's the way I constructed my sentence (english being my second language...). I meant to say that I had not yet decided which driver/race configuration I would build, but I am leaning towards one of the Nurb 1000 entries.

And the kit. Good old Monogram kit with an intimidating part count of 38. As impressive as the Monogram body was for the Chaparral 2D this one may need a bit of work to achieve the right look. I have not yet figured out what to do but it looks a little off, and If I go for the Nurburgring look the rear end will have to be very different. Starting research but to start definitely different wheels are needed, with dedicated front and rear wheel design. I think different tires may be needed too, narrower and taller profile maybe. Also a need to add detail to the interior.

Starting work on a Ferrari 275P. I'm not sure yet which race and driver. This ref picture is of one of the 3 entries at the 64 Nurburgring 1000km. I like it but not set yet as I need what I can do on the decal side and research a bit more about the evolution of the body configuration relative to the kit.

Merci Claude. It was an easy but fun build. My favorite era in motorsport. Thank you Albert. Thanks Ace. I completely agree. At best cars of the era were about 70 degrees gloss level typical of lacquer jobs, and that's with a factory reflow oven. Race cars were no better, with the best of them having their 210F baked lacquer polished to achieve about that level of gloss. I think the paint job I did reflects that reasonably well.

Looks gorgeous Andy. Looks like you are nearing completion. Which Ferrari? I thought you were working on the Sebring Daytona coupe?

Thanks Trevor. I was holding off on that one and I have to agree I like the look of the GT40 in black. It was fun to figure out a way to brush paint black up to a reasonable standard. Now trying to figure out if brush painting silver can be done. Trying different ways...we'll see.

Very nice. Tough one to do on the paint & decal side.

When a man is not afraid to park his creations next to Exoto die casts it means he knows they can stack up...and they definitely do. I always enjoy your beautiful builds and the rich details you put into them. Simply gorgeous. It seems like everything you build is something I want to build but there's no way I'll ever get there. Every time I finish one there's 3 of your's popping up on the forum. Damn good and fast work sir! I blame you for my wish list growing to an unmanageable level. ?

Thanks Mark. No w.i.p. on this one as it was just OOB. I only fabricated the front jack hooks because the kit's hooks were too big. That's it. I keep refining the recipes for brush painting. I now thin the primer up to 25% with water and apply very thin coats (3 to 4) which leaves practically no marks to sand. Just a light 4000-6000 sand fro the primer. Same for color coats, I thin more than ever, sometimes as high as 60%/40% thinner/paint ratios. I have recently switched from the Vallejo thinner to Green Stuff World acrylic thinner and I like it better. New experiment on this build, I replaced the Future seal coat with Holloway House Quick Shine.

Thanks Larry

Paint looks good Gary. Now we'll start working on your photography. ?

That's a great find Helmut. Finally replacement wire wheels that do not require to mortgage the house! ? I will order some today. Meets some of my needs but not all. the 15" (16 mm) will fit the tires of my Revell 300SLR nicely and the style looks a good match. Not sure if the larger 22mm would be ok for my Bentley 4.5 Blower but I might try. What I can't really fit is a set for my newly acquired Monogram Ferrari 275 P. The 16mm would appear to be a good fit for the front end but the deeper rears have more of the classic Borrani style and I would need to modify these to work. Decisions, decisions...

Very nice revival of this old build. I can understand about the decals. On a first look the livery seems reasonable to do but on a second look I can see it's actually quite complicated. Looks very good Justin.

Beautiful work Bill. Just a suggestion, instead of a bigger front tire you might want to consider dropping the ride height. I did it by about 2 mm front and 2 mm rear for the #1 entry and it helped a lot. I hope you don't mine if I post a picture to illustrate the idea.

I got it at Canadian Tire here in Canada but it is advertised by Walmart and Home Depot so easy to find. Just make sure you get the one with the green label (as posted on my pics)