Zoom Zoom

Thanks guys! I had seen and heard about the final assembly problems on the standard C6 (the chassis often looked like it didn't fit), so I was somewhat prepared for them. Everything dry-fit well until the very end when the glass was installed and things were glued. The only problem I had prior to that was getting the radiator and shroud in place properly. Instructions there are vague and if you glue it in the wrong place as I did, the hood won't stand a chance of ever closing. I ended up securely gluing the interior tub to the chassis so there were no gaps at all, especially under the luggage compartment. I also trimmed some material from the hood hinge locator that seemed to be interfering with the air cleaners. No problems with the headlamp units contacting the chassis. Building it a second time I'd spend more time fitting the windshield and sanding it's sides a bit to get it to fit better. The wheel locators seemed to be in the right place, I wanted a bit more aggressive stance so I enlarged the locator holes into slots on the chassis to mount the front wheel/brake units a bit higher up.

I'm one of the select few who yawn at the sight of the new Challenger while I instantly fell in love with the new Camaro 8) Wonder if we'll see a Challenger kit?? I'm dying to get the AMT Camaro in my hands. Gotta take it to the orthodontist first to get it's braces removed from it's face :twisted: After that it's all gravy.

It's almost finished. Sub-assemblies went well; I enjoyed detailing the racing seats w/harnesses and all the P/E latches and whatnot. Final assembly wasn't fun, getting it all to fit together and sit correctly wasn't easy, the tolerance stack is too tight. The radiator/shroud was tricky to fit properly, the windshield was a bit too tight as well. I lowered the ride height a bit in front. Only minor trimming was necessary to fit the Fujimi brakes/wheels. Since there are so many design similarities w/modern Ferraris, the wheels are BBS/Ferrari CS from a Fujimi F430, brakes also stock F430 w/Corvette decals. Racing style resin seats from Arrowhead Aluminum. Paint is Tamiya Mica Silver. Tamiya XF 63 dark gray and TS Italian red interior. I still have to make the oil sump tank. I have the parts but will finish it when I'm not so tired, and will get some engine/chassis shots then. Fun kit up to final assembly... :roll:

After hearing about it from Steve Milberry, I have tried Zinsser BIN primer/sealer. It's a flat white alcohol-based varnish primer. You can get it at Home Depot/Lowes, etc. It comes in spray cans (very poor nozzle, you need to transfer to airbrush for good results :cry: ) or in quart cans (hard to mix thoroughly but airbrushes and sands beautifully-I used 91% alcohol to cut it). This stuff should be applied over a thin layer of lacquer primer, and under the color. It does a great job of blocking color bleed and ghosting from use of lacquer paints. I recently painted a '70's era Monogram model that was molded in red, it turned my Tamiya white primer pink. The BIN sealed it nicely, it went on and stayed white. The model itself is painted white.

Neat little model (I used to work w/a guy who had a yellow Opel GT); I've always been amused by it's mini-Corvette appearance and have seen at least one of the 1:1's sporting a V8 and more Corvette styling cues. Also because of design similarities I have plans to make an Opel GT model into more of a mini 275 GTB, giving it a bit of Italian flavor :shock:

See for yourself. They are both 2-piece wheels that you can paint the centers in whatever color/finish you want and leave the outer trim ring chrome if you like. Paint the centers aluminum or gunmetal or black for a less-blingy appearance. I kind of prefer the LXZ's, but without painting them I can't say which would look the best. The choice could be color-dependant. Perhaps order both sets :wink:

Those are nice (I have a couple sets of them), but they are a scale inch in diameter smaller than the ones in the F430's. They do look great on a 360 Modena. Scale Auto Style did the best ones; slightly larger than Fujimi's but SAS is OOB :cry:

I don't know if you have a source to buy the Maisto diecast F430 cheap, but I got one of the kits w/two sets of wheels (only one set of tires :roll: ) for about 6 or 7 bucks. Their F430 wheels are better (and bigger) than Revell's or Fujimi's. These are the split 5 spoke design. Great tread detail too. If you want the BBS style rims, only Fujimi makes them currently in a size that looks right; either on the Optional Parts version or the Challenge version. If you don't mind a slightly blingy appearance, there's a set of Pegasus BBS style wheels that look good inside a set of their 23" sleeves. I almost used this combo on my Z06, looked great up close but from across the room they looked just a bit too big so I stuck w/the Ferrari rims. The stock Revell rims are sufficient if you lower the car a bit. Dave Thibodeau built one that way and it looks pretty good.

Great color combo!

Sounds like a plan! Now I gotta figure what to build...has to be something unique :wink:

Very classy 8) Don't see them built very often. I have a couple of those models to build as well; one will be stock, the other an open-wheel vintage racer like one that's displayed at the Citizens Motor Car Company, a still functioning Packard dealer (for service and restoration) and museum in Dayton, Ohio.

The silver Ferrari that I saw from pics looked like it was a Revell F430. Revell does a stock F430 and F430 Spider, both have engine detail (but not to the level of a Tamiya 360 Modena). Fujimi does curbside stock, Optional Parts (Stradale-style wheels, sport seats) F430, and F430 Spider (coming) along w/versions of both w/some photoetch (though not for the Challenge, at least yet). For a stock F430 Revell's is pretty good for the price. I've seen excellent examples built, one in particular by Dave Thibodeau. There is a good amount of engine top-end detail on this curbside Fujimi kit, plenty of detail for all that you see through the clear rear window/engine cover. The car has aero skirts underneath that completely cover any engine/transaxle detail, so this kit should satisfy most people except the hardcore that just have to have an opening engine cover. If that were the case they should buy a Modena from Tamiya and use it as the transkit for an F430; and also buy some aftermarket photetch that should be soon available for the Challenge grille mesh. This is a great relatively simple kit to start with, and a great start for someone wanting to do a very detailed racer. I would imagine the aftermarket will be offering more. A lot of these parts could also do a roadgoing "Stradale" that should be announced by Ferrari soon; so Fujimi will probably have that as well.

I've started the new Fujimi F430 Challenge. I'll show some shots of the body itself, some shots of the Challenge-specific parts, and some comparos with the stock "Optional Parts Version" F430. Fujimi made a myriad of changes from stock, and for the most part have done a really admirable job of the conversion. The body is crisp but there's a ton of work to polish out the mold lines and rescribe some of the slightly-faint cut lines for the doors and bumpers; I spent the better part of Saturday getting this model into finished primer. I also spent time molding in the separate front air ducts ahead of the front wheels. This model will be built in basic Pure White w/red seats and no race markings; basically an "as-delivered" custom-ordered car that the owner can decorate (or not) for club racing. I will refinish the wheels in bright painted gloss silver. Recesses for hood pins, headlight washers deleted (by Fujimi) Comparo with stock: Stock fuel door deleted, replaced by quick-fill fuel inlets on both sides. Slight crease on body is a bit soft in comparision w/a Tamiya Modena. Sharpening the crease requires more work/putty than I feel will be worth it on a gloss white model, so I'll leave it be. Many changes from stock. No place for a license plate either. Challenge Stradale style rims from the optional parts F430 on left; Challenge wheels w/centerlocks on the right. Sizes are the same between the two wheels from the two kits. Tires are lame. The CS wheels and extra set of stock brakes from the Challenge kit are going on my Z06. Multipiece seats; the seatbacks/sides are separate which will aid in the application of C/F decals to them. Challenge-specific parts. Also included is a two-piece fire extinguisher, chrome exhaust ports, hood pins, tow hooks. Only disappointment is the Challenge grilles are engraved (nicely) vs. using mesh. I'll keep them as molded. Engraved side glass detail is a nice touch if not 100% prototypical. Lots of changes to the interior, from the tub to the door panels to dash and the rollcage.

I made some minor progress this weekend on the Z06. On Friday evening I polished the body with 3600/4000 and Tamiya fine and finishing compounds. It's amazingly glossy; my pic doesn't show that off too well. I feel like I cheated; this was an easy finish to achieve with a minimum of effort. The Mica Silver is a cooler shade of silver than gloss aluminum. I also painted the window trim and aero spats in Acryl flat black. On Saturday a few ACME and CARS members met at Brian Venable's house for a modelpalooza where I cleaned/fitted some resin racing seats I bought at the NNL East from Arrowhead Aluminum (they're supposed to be vending at our show :cool: ) and will use some Museum Collection harnesses/belts on them. I also glued the engine/torque tube/transaxle together, did some minor work on the seam line, attached the other parts to the engine/transaxle that were to be painted in aluminum and shot them w/Krylon Dull Aluminum (which works well and didn't seem to affect the plastic). I also removed the battery and will fit an oil sump tank in it's place under the hood.

Yeah. What he said. 8)

Looks great; my camera has a very difficult time w/dark blues. They never look right, and the model always looks 10X better in person.

Not sure how long you waited before commenting on the smaller parts being softer; but larger parts heat up more and kick a bit faster just because of the volume of resin. Smaller/thinner parts cure a bit slower, so they might seem a bit more flexible. Mixture is very important though; I cast some parts in simple open molds and my results varied greatly but I got enough good parts to make it worthwhile.

How did I miss this one?? Really cool! Can't wait to see the entire rig w/trailer. I painted my H1 snapper in camo colors.

Len, great to see you here and posting!

Thanks! Enjoyed meeting you at the NNL East. I used Tamiya white primer; it barely crazed the leading edge of the hood where I had block sanded it flush w/the bumper, but a couple scuffs w/micromesh and further coats of primer kept the color from causing any damage. I did the final clearcoat this evening, everything looks A-OK to polish out after overnight in the dehydrator.

The wheels are from a Fujimi Ferrari F430 "Optional Parts Version" which has these 19" BBS wheels and sport seats. The ones you show I think are 17's or 18's and might look small on a modern Ferrari, but I don't have that set in my stash. My F430 Challenge just arrived; it has correct looking 19" BBS-style racing wheels w/centerlock hubs, a modified body w/the correct Challenge trim, modified glass, completely new interior tub w/full rollcage...this one's getting built ASAP (as in hopefully by the end of the long weekend)! I've been dying to build a 360 Modena Challenge in white w/red seats to match an unmarked one I saw at a car show; this one will get built like that 360 since nobody kitted a 360 Challenge car properly. I knew painting the Z06 would get the Ferrari here faster :wink:

Well, at least the Z06 is worth the extra effort. I don't know if it's the soft plastic, but honestly I think it's just sloppy finishing of the molds. My Z06 just got pushed aside as my Hobbylink order just arrived and I have a new Fujimi Ferrari F430 Challenge car that's going to get fast-tracked over the weekend The body mold is much crisper than the Z06, it's also quite a lot different from the standard F430 kit. Fujimi's really gotten their act together in the past couple years.

This one already looks a lot different than Ismael's screaming yellow monster Started this new Z06 earlier this week. Spent the better part of Tuesday evening sanding away mold lines, but when I painted the body silver I noticed a good amount of waviness to the body, primarily the hood and front fenders. I already did a bit of rescribing; Revell's body molds just aren't up to snuff w/the Japanese. So there was an extra step of block sanding/repriming/reshooting the silver before applying the clear. However what you see paint-wise all was accomplished over a 4 hour period w/help of a hair dryer and dehydrator...prime (Tamiya white), color (Tamiya TS 75 Mica Silver), dry, micromesh 2400/3200, spot prime (airbrush), spot color (airbrush), dry, micromesh 2400/3200, apply panel lines, respray silver (airbrush), airbrush a few light coats of TS 13 clear, then a couple mist and wet coats of TS 13 directly from the can. I'll micromesh one more time and recoat the clear. I don't do the "wait X number of days/weeks/months 'til dry" deal w/my paint :wink: Before painting I also removed the molded grille mesh and opened up the side vents to a better scale thickness. Here she is; looks decent so far, and I like the Ferrari F430 "optional parts" wheels-considering how similar C6's and 360 Modenas and 550 Maranellos look. Got the wheel idea from the BBS rims on the LeMans C6R's. This will have a black/red interior. I may use some Ferrari seats as well. The factory Z06 rims from this kit will grace either a C5 or C6 convertible.

Looks great in yellow 8) I should have shot mine in a solid color. Did you do a lot of prep work to the body to get it smoothed out? I've shot some coats of silver on mine; wrong color if one doesn't want to see how sketchy Revell's tooling/engraving/polishing is in certain places :roll: Stuff that didn't show up in the primer. Lots of extra time getting this body smooth...lots of block sanding (before primer and after color coats) and rescribing, and it's still a bit sketchy but that's as good as mine is going to get. I guess I shouldn't expect an $11 Revell kit body to be as well molded as a $25 Japanese kit body. Because it isn't :wink:

Mmmmm. Maserati Birdcage. I'd love to see Tamiya (or anyone) tackle that one prototypically...though the engineers would go nuts before the first tooling was cut Here's a bit more translated data (see how they translate "Mille Miglia" and other names...very amusing :shock: :wink: ) on the SLR. It's coming in late August. http://translate.google.com/translate?u=ht...Flanguage_tools