Ferrari F40 1/8

[Ferrarifan]

Today, I am starting with the standalone engine, which is part of the transkit by Tommaso Iuele (Transkit Modelcars). As with the Testarossa, Tommaso has created a completely new engine made from 3D printed parts, etched parts, and turned parts.

The print quality is somewhat better than on the Testarossa, but some parts still have strong layer lines.

The original engine is made of aluminum, with the cylinder liners pressed in. Unfortunately, Tommaso forgot the liners in his model.

Even though this detail won't be visible later, it bothered me, especially since Tommaso included the pistons and connecting rods in the model. Because Tommaso made the pistons larger in diameter, I couldn't recreate the liners without significant modifications. I chose a middle ground and at least closed the central webs.

Furthermore, Tommaso made undercuts in the crankcase at the transition from the sidewall to the banks, which are not possible in casting and thus look different on the original. I filled these areas with Revell's Plasto putty. After drying, the excess putty was removed with a scalpel.

Then the engine was painted. Here, I used the same approach as for the built-in engine. Primer with Tamiya Primer, followed by Aluminum from Vallejo's Acrylic Metal Color series mixed with Micro Balloons to get a cast-like surface. However, I then sanded all sealing surfaces again and painted them with True Metal Silver from AK. This makes these surfaces smooth and shinier.

As mentioned above, the transkit also includes the crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons.

Even though these parts won't be visible later, I couldn't resist painting them neatly as well. The connecting rods were bolted with M 0.8 screws.

Regarding crankshaft bearings, Tommaso omitted the inner bearings in the crankcase. He also forgot the bearing caps on the outer bearings. I then simplified these from ABS.

The next part was the gearbox-side cover, which is necessary for the oil circuit and serves as a carrier for the TDC sensors. The cover was painted with Tamiya's Titanium Gold. To increase realism, I replicated the gasket from green cardboard.

For screws, I used M 0.8 screw imitations and washers (both from Knupfer), with the brass screws repainted using True Metal Color Steel.

The next step was the oil pan. Here too, Tommaso made design errors. There are again undercuts on the oil connections, and in the area of the fastenings, he made circular thickenings.

I filled the undercuts with putty again and sanded away the thickenings.

Then the oil pan was painted like the crankcase.

Afterwards, the oil pan was attached to the crankcase with super glue. Again, I used M 0.8 screw imitations and washers from Knupfer.

That's it for today.

Next time, the clutch is up.

See you soon,

Your Ferrarifan

[Ferrarifan]

After a long break, it’s time to continue.

The next construction stage is the two-disc dry clutch for the standalone model of the engine.

Tommaso has once again created very detailed 3D-printed and etched parts.

The parts were painted using different Metal Colors from Vallejo.

The lining of the friction discs was slightly roughened and then painted with True Metal Paste from AK.

To increase the level of realism, I added rivets using etched parts from Top Studio.

Once all the parts were painted, assembly began.

Step 1 involved mounting the flywheel and the clutch cage.

The screws used to attach the flywheel to the crankshaft are from Autograph.

Next, the friction discs and the intermediate plate were installed.

Following that, the clutch housing, the pressure plate, and the diaphragm spring were assembled.

 

Since I want to remain flexible when displaying the standalone engine, the clutch housing can easily be placed over the bolts.

The next step involves the crankcase cover on the side of the belt drive.

While the Testarossa engine uses two timing belts to drive the valves of both cylinder banks directly from the crankshaft, Ferrari’s engineers took a different approach with the F40.

Here, the crankshaft drives two gears, which in turn power the timing belt pulleys.

These gears, along with the gear driving the oil pump, are located behind this crankcase cover.

Tommaso’s transkit has accounted for nearly every detail.

Here is the painted cover with the screws.

To enhance realism, I replicated the gasket using green paper.

Even though the following details will no longer be visible later, it was a lot of fun to assemble these parts.

Here is the gear for the oil pump.

Tommaso even included the ball bearings for the gears. The cage is a 3D-printed part into which small metal balls are pressed.

After assembling the gears and bearings, the cover was installed, and the timing belt pulleys were mounted.

In the side view, you can clearly see the green gasket, just like on the original.

Finally, here are some images showing the current construction status of the standalone engine.

That’s it for today.

Next time, we’ll continue with the engine that will be installed in the car.

See you soon,

Your Ferrari fan

[deuces wild]

WoW!!!!!.....?

[Ferrarifan]

Today, work continues on the engine being installed in the car.

Specifically, we’re focusing on the intake system.

Here is the starting point from the Pocher kit. Pocher didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory here.

The biggest flaw is in the area of the intake manifold. The entire injection system and throttle control are missing.

Fortunately, Autograph paid a lot of attention to this area.

For the intake manifold, the transkit includes resin, photo-etched, and white metal parts.

In the real car, two intake channels are connected. Accordingly, I connected the resin parts using a 2 mm ABS pipe. Thin connecting ribs were also added.

The engine-side flange is made from etched parts. Since the surface of the resin parts had some imperfections, the parts were filled, primed, and sanded.

The parts were then sprayed again with Tamiya primer. After that, a thin layer of “Hewland Gearbox Textured Paint” by Zeropaints was applied.

This brought the color and surface texture very close to the original.

Next, initial details like screws and nipples were added. To add throttle control, the intake channels were split in the middle.

At the connection point between the intake manifold and the plenum, there are hose clamps. Autograph’s transkit provides nice etched parts for this.

The throttle control in the original is very complex, featuring many components, adjustment screws, and multiple springs.

I created a simplified version. The base is an etched part from Tommaso’s Testarossa transkit, which is used there for the throttle. Luckily, Tommaso included two extra parts on the plate.

The screws are from Knupfer, and I made the spiral spring from thin craft wire.

Here’s the finished mechanism.

The two intake manifold segments were then glued back together.

Next up were the fuel injectors. Autograph includes white metal parts for this in the transkit.

These were painted satin black and red.

The injectors were then glued into place. Since the top of the injectors connects to the fuel rail, I sanded the top ends flat.

The fuel rail is made of a combination of white metal and etched parts, which were glued together.

Then, the rails were painted blue. I made the front mounting pins from sewing pins.

Here are some pictures of the mounted fuel rail.

Another detail is the wiring of the injectors.

I made the connectors from heat-shrink tubing.

Here are the finished intake manifolds. To ensure clean assembly with the upper plenum later, I sanded the contact surface flat.

That’s it for today.

See you soon,

Your Ferrarifan

[Ferrarifan]

Today, the work continues with the intake system.

Here’s the starting point of the upper intake manifold:

The Autograph transkit includes etched parts for the flange connecting to the side intake ducts. Once these were glued in place, the bolts for the mounting were also added.

Afterward, the part was primed and painted.

The side intake ducts from Pocher lack many details. The ribs and mounting domes for the ignition coils, for example, are completely missing.

In the meantime, Leadfood Models has released a fantastic transkit that includes highly detailed intake ducts. The quality is outstanding! Even the raised lettering matches the original down to the smallest detail.

The only modification I made here was adjusting the flange to fit the intake manifold. I also used the etched parts from Autograph and added the mounting bolts here as well.

Afterward, everything was painted.

After painting, the parts were glued together. For the bolts, I used micro-studs made of copper. Since these are made of brass, I recolored them to steel using AK Interactive’s True Metal paste.

In the Pocher kit, the ignition coils are made of rubber and also include the ignition wires and spark plug boots.

In contrast, the ignition coils from Leadfood Models are highly detailed. In addition to the ignition coils, there are also plugs for sensors. The print quality and fit of the parts are the best I have seen so far!

A big advantage is that they consist of several individual parts, making them easy to paint cleanly. Another special feature is that the parts can be glued together perfectly thanks to printed positioning aids.

Subsequently, the ignition coils and sensor plugs were attached to the intake system.

Here are a few close-up shots:

That’s it for today.

See you soon,

Your Ferrarifan

[terrible4130]

Hi there. I just came across your build. Outstanding work. I am getting back into my model after a nearly 2 year hiatus. I moved homes and had a daughter...life can get in the way of hobbies some times. Either way, I am about 90 percent done and pretty much just need to finish some things up and do final assembly. Your model is EXCEPTIONAL. I really like how you split up some of the interior panels behind the seats as well as the scratch built computer systems. Also using the riviting tool on the seatbelt decals is genius. Im gonna get back to documenting my build on my page:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235060917-pocher-f40-with-autograph-transkit-18/

As soon as I complete this build I have a few amazing projects lined up. Cant decide which one to do next. I look forward to watching your build come together. Cheers!

Edited January 27 by terrible4130
changed wording

[Mr.1/16th]

Truly Amazing project 👌