Ferrari F430 Challenge

[Nacho Z]

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.

[Nacho Z]

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.

 

Edited March 26, 2017 by Nacho Z

[Gt fan]

This is the hardest one to find. I have this one , but did the shark nose graphic one instead. The rear under tray is the italian flag. I'll look to see if I can find all the photos I have  on it. Great start, can't wait too see it finished

[Quick GMC]

I will be following this. I have the non-livery version of this kit with the Hobby Design detail set and full engine set and can't wait to dig in. 

[Nacho Z]

This is the hardest one to find. I have this one , but did the shark nose graphic one instead. The rear under tray is the italian flag. I'll look to see if I can find all the photos I have  on it. Great start, can't wait too see it finished

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

[Nacho Z]

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.

[Taxdude]

Very cool.  I did a Challenge F430 as well.  But your livery is way cooler  

Edited April 1, 2017 by Taxdude

[Nacho Z]

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

[Gt fan]

I will start looking through my pictures I have. I use the Tamiya dtm car kit slicks for my challenge cars. They seem to have a good profile. He is one I just did. Yours is off to a great start.

[Funkychiken]

Yes, I hate masking too, but your paint has turned out just great...

[Nacho Z]

I will start looking through my pictures I have. I use the Tamiya dtm car kit slicks for my challenge cars. They seem to have a good profile. He is one I just did. Yours is off to a great start.

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.

[Gt fan]

If you can find the Hobby Design kit get it.  It gives you the photo etch floors ,the  window sliders for side windows (as on mine) . All the vent screens and brakes .  

[Gt fan]

Here you go

[Nacho Z]

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.

[Gt fan]

They looks great. I just wish they made more. 

[martinfan5]

Well I will be darned, its you, that same one that is a member of the stash project on FB

Love the finish , hats off to you

[Codi]

I have to agree, it IS a shame to put decals on that paint.  Looks flawless to me & what a beautiful car.  cheers, tim

[Nacho Z]

Well I will be darned, its you, that same one that is a member of the stash project on FB

Love the finish , hats off to you

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.

[Nacho Z]

I have to agree, it IS a shame to put decals on that paint.  Looks flawless to me & what a beautiful car.  cheers, tim

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.

[Mixalz]

Beautifully polished

[Chris Smith]

Great paint work! Looking forward on your next update

[Nacho Z]

OK, trying to bring this one back to life but have been having trouble posting to this thread.

[Nacho Z]

Time to update this build.  As with most of us, life has a way of getting in the way of bench time.  It looks like it has been about a year and a half since I've updated this thread.  Fortunately, I have built other models in this time frame.  I've recently had a minor surgery and am off of work, so I thought it would be a good time to work on this model.  I would like to have this finished up by the end of September so that I can enter it in a model contest.  I have decided to keep this model "box stock" so that I can enter it in that class at future contests.  On to the update!

The tire on the left has the decal applied and the tire on the right has the decal coated with dull coat.

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Nacho Z
Added text to picture

[Nacho Z]

Working on the rear diffuser.  The car has the Italian flag colors on the rear diffuser.  I had to paint this.  It was a little tricky to get this done.  It came out OK but not perfect.  I also had to paint a small piece for the front chin.

 

Edited September 4, 2018 by Nacho Z

[Dann Tier]

This is looking BEAUTIFUL!!