Ferrari F430 Challenge

[ismaelg]

Looking good!  Love it!

[jchrisf]

Wow John.. this looks really good.  Can't wait to see it finished.  You sure know how to put a showroom finish on a paint job!  I'm going to read back through there again and see if you reveal any secrets.

[Nacho Z]

Interior is done and installed on the chassis plate.  As I stated earlier, this is being built for "box stock" or "out of box" categories for model contests.  Unfortunately, there are no seat belts, decals or otherwise, included in this kit....  What a stupid oversight on Fujimi's part.  The seats are a nice flat red.  They are showing up a little overexposed in the following pictures.

 

[jchrisf]

That is some nice, clean work!

[Ich_Will]

Way cool!!! I might have to ad this to the want list. 

[Rider]

Very clean build. 

[Nacho Z]

Thanks for the kind words, guys!  If you have read my postings in this thread, you will notice that I said I am further along in the build than what I post.  I will try to get this thread caught up with my current progress.  I finished the engine bay this weekend and began decaling.  I was doing some test fitting of the body and found that the engine assembly is interfering with the way the body sits down over the chassis.  I have done lots of sanding and have more to go. 

Anyhow,  here is the beginning of the work on the engine.

 

[jchrisf]

Wow John.. you are a superior builder!

[Gramps46]

Looking really good.  Anxious to see more.

[Italianhorses]

The interior is looking sharp! 

If you want to add some seatbelts, hobby lobby and such sell this very thin ribbon (ask for 2mm) in different colors, I usually get red, black, and white. One yard of each should last you a lifetime. Then you could grab one of these photoetched kits off eBay with various buckles and hardware, and build your own harness.

[Nacho Z]

8 hours ago, Italianhorses said:

The interior is looking sharp! 

If you want to add some seatbelts, hobby lobby and such sell this very thin ribbon (ask for 2mm) in different colors, I usually get red, black, and white. One yard of each should last you a lifetime. Then you could grab one of these photoetched kits off eBay with various buckles and hardware, and build your own harness.

Thanks for the tip, Alex!  I am keeping this one out-of-the-box so as to stay within most model contest's rules for that class.  It really bothers me that it didn't include anything, not even decals.

[Dann Tier]

It is looking OUTSTANDING!!, but in my opinion, I think you were saved by not having those decal seatbelts!...I cringe whenever I see them...lol, a car can still look more realistic WITHOUT them, than with that "Suctioned to the seat" look...cant wait to see more!!

[Nacho Z]

4 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

It is looking OUTSTANDING!!, but in my opinion, I think you were saved by not having those decal seatbelts!...I cringe whenever I see them...lol, a car can still look more realistic WITHOUT them, than with that "Suctioned to the seat" look...cant wait to see more!!

"suctioned to the seat"...yup, I agree with you.

 

Of all of the tasks to build a model, masking is probably my least favorite thing to do.  I don't think I'm good at it and to be honest, my results bear that statement out.  This Fujimi kit does not have a full drivetrain.  It has this little insert.  Fairly hard to detail paint.  It will be fairly visible in the completed model so I did the best I could.

Masking up the exhaust.  I often use Silly Putty or Blue Tack for masking.

Here is the final engine bay. The blue stain on the exhaust is exaggerated in this picture.  It is much more subtle to the naked eye.

 

[Ich_Will]

5 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

It is looking OUTSTANDING!!, but in my opinion, I think you were saved by not having those decal seatbelts!...I cringe whenever I see them...lol, a car can still look more realistic WITHOUT them, than with that "Suctioned to the seat" look...cant wait to see more!!

I've gone as far as making seat belts out of masking tape. They weren't perfect but still better than a decal. 

This build inspired me to order up a couple Ferrari kits including the Shark face F430. Can't wait!

[Dann Tier]

16 minutes ago, Nacho Z said:

"suctioned to the seat"...yup, I agree with you.

 

Of all of the tasks to build a model, masking is probably my least favorite thing to do.  I don't think I'm good at it and to be honest, my results bear that statement out.  This Fujimi kit does not have a full drivetrain.  It has this little insert.  Fairly hard to detail paint.  It will be fairly visible in the completed model so I did the best I could.

Masking up the exhaust.  I often use Silly Putty or Blue Tack for masking.

Here is the final engine bay. The blue stain on the exhaust is exaggerated in this picture.  It is much more subtle to the naked eye.

 

Its looking VERY klean and professional!!  As you stated recently, we do have ALOT in common, but I LOVE masking!...i'd rather do that than to brush paint...lol  My least favorite part of modelling is the sanding stage!!…...especially tubular frames, and suspension parts....HATE it!!!!…...lol

[Dann Tier]

8 minutes ago, Ich_Will said:

I've gone as far as making seat belts out of masking tape. They weren't perfect but still better than a decal. 

This build inspired me to order up a couple Ferrari kits including the Shark face F430. Can't wait!

I've tried lots of different things for seatbelts, and I always go back to masking tape myself. It has a VERY subtle texture that simulates texture pretty good....unless you flood it with paint...lol  Me personally, I cant stand most of the aftermarket "really woven" belts -they are sooooo out of scale its ridiculous!...haven't seen them all mind you, but I've seen quite a few, and they're not for me.

[Justin Porter]

Personally I'm pretty partial to Eduard's photoetch racing belts. Instead of fussy buckles and material or the unrealistic flatness of decals, they're a single piece of photoetch that's pad printed.

[Italianhorses]

Yes, Eduard is great. 

[Nacho Z]

34 minutes ago, Ich_Will said:

I've gone as far as making seat belts out of masking tape. They weren't perfect but still better than a decal. 

This build inspired me to order up a couple Ferrari kits including the Shark face F430. Can't wait!

 

25 minutes ago, Dann Tier said:

Its looking VERY klean and professional!!  As you stated recently, we do have ALOT in common, but I LOVE masking!...i'd rather do that than to brush paint...lol  My least favorite part of modelling is the sanding stage!!…...especially tubular frames, and suspension parts....HATE it!!!!…...lol

 

7 minutes ago, Justin Porter said:

Personally I'm pretty partial to Eduard's photoetch racing belts. Instead of fussy buckles and material or the unrealistic flatness of decals, they're a single piece of photoetch that's pad printed.

Thanks for the comments, guys!  Over the years I have used a number of different options.  I have used the Eduard belts.  I did have trouble with the paint flaking off.

I have also made my own.

 

[Funkychiken]

Your build is excellent, I always have the paint flake off my Eduard belts too...

[Italianhorses]

Sticky surgical tape (I assume that's what you used for the blue set) also works great.

[Nacho Z]

I said earlier that one of my least favorite things to do is masking.  I know it has to be done but I hate spending all of that time laying down tape just to take a minute or two to paint...lol.

My favorite thing to do is decaling.  I know there are builders out there who avoid decals like the plague.  I must admit that I have never really had a bad time with decals.  Over the years I've had a few issues but I have never had a totally disastrous decaling session.  Here is the decal sheet for the F430.

I try my best to trim my decals as close to the actual image as I possibly can.  Some decals have a ton of carrier film that will show up on the finished model.  I have a good pair of scissors that I use to trim that carrier film off of the decal.

Here is a quick mock-up.  The body is just sitting on the chassis.  Decaling has started on the other side of the body.

 

[youpey]

which polish did you use to get out the dust? i get that often and try to wet sand it out, but it never looks right and typically will stall/stop my build at that point. 

 

 

[Nacho Z]

23 minutes ago, youpey said:

which polish did you use to get out the dust? i get that often and try to wet sand it out, but it never looks right and typically will stall/stop my build at that point. 

 

 

Miles, on this particular build, I used Micro-Mesh polishing cloths and Gravity's polishing compounds.  This was the first time that I've used Gravity's compounds.  They are very nice and worked great.

[youpey]

23 minutes ago, Nacho Z said:

Miles, on this particular build, I used Micro-Mesh polishing cloths and Gravity's polishing compounds.  This was the first time that I've used Gravity's compounds.  They are very nice and worked great.

thanks. i will have to give it a try. i am forever ruining my paints by wet sanding out specs of dust or stray cat hair that landed on the paint. i always end up still seeing the spot because the that layer is very slightly thinner, so the paint isnt consistent. (if that makes sense).