Ferrari F40 IMSA

1959scudetto · June 29

A few weeks ago I rediscovered an old kit I had started around 1990: Body had been painted and kit decals (1989 version) applied.

When in MRRN #1 (?) Mike Quarterman wrote an article about this racer, I got me a Fred Cady decal sheet (for the 1990 version) and removed the kit’s decals and the paint, then stalled – in this state the kit had been stored away for more than 30 years ! Time to finish it, isn’t it?

It will be built mostly box stock except some modifications that are absolutely necessary:

While Italeri got the front panel and spoiler right, they left the rear mesh like the stock version (I have built this one also) which is wrong. It is a mixed bag: the rear wing looks to be correct, whereas the wheels aren’t. They do have the look of the OZ wheels, but the rims and tires have the same dimensions front and rear which is a NO GO.

So the first is to cut off the rear mesh and fabricating a replacement using the remaining frame. Photoetched mesh from the spares was used and I cut 4 small rings from a aluminum pipe of the right diameter which will serve as light housings. All was glued together with 5-min.-epoxy.

First version did not work - but the second trial went ok:

Now it needs some black paint...

I also fabricated a window net that was necessary in IMSA racing – therefore I had to cut out the driver’s side slide window. I used small strips of fabric tape.

Though the kit supplies 2 different sets of rearview mirrors both are wrong – again something for do-it-yourself.

For the wheels, I am still looking for a solution (several possibilities are there: the real car was run with the OZ wheels, with aero-discs on all 4 wheels or only discs at the rear !)

Edited June 29 by 1959scudetto

oldcarfan · June 29

Looks like a fun project!

Rich Chernosky · June 29

Helmut....will be following this one. I had done this kit many yrs ago and will be interested to see you take on it as you apply your talents. Good luck with it.

Gramps46 · June 30

Looking forward to this build. Please keep us posted.

1959scudetto · June 30

Thanks for the encouragement, folks !

Don't expect too much here, it will be a mostly oob build (apart from some alterations that have to be done).

My main concern as of now is if the decals will be still usable (I have never used Cady decals of this age - must be from 1991 or 92) - but we will see.

Dave B · July 1

Be fun watching this one Helmut, I'm glad there are other builders out there with kits started at least 30 years ago!!

Dave B

1959scudetto · July 1

10 hours ago, Dave B said:

Be fun watching this one Helmut, I'm glad there are other builders out there with kits started at least 30 years ago!!

Dave B

Dave, I have some more Ferraris laying around since the early 1990's... (started back then)

Edited July 1 by 1959scudetto

1959scudetto · July 9

Finally found some time and started applying some decals: My concerns about the (very) old decals have been totally unnecessary: These old Fred Cady decals went on like a dream - you have to work slowly and carefully, but they lay down smoothly, even into the grooves without any decal setting solution: Highly recommended if you ever find some on ebay (these are about 35 years old and behave like new ones)

kensar · July 10

Glad to hear the decals are not being an issue.

The F40 is my favorite Ferrari. I have built both the Tamiya and Fujimi kits and both had issues with the engine cover fitting properly. According to Scalemates, this is an original Italeri tooling, so there may not be any issues with the engine cover, but I would recommend checking that as soon as possible for needed alterations.

Good luck with your build.

1959scudetto · July 11

Decaling the body and wing is almost done (apart from Ferrari logos - I will look for some smaller ones) - after thoroughly drying, I will clearcoat the whole body with Tamiya gloss and the wing with semi-gloss. The graphics are not always correct - some too small, others a tad too large, but they were very easy to work with.

Issues came up with the kit itself when applying decals and comparing the kit with pictures of the original in the web. As Italeri made some short cuts here and there (they only added some racing updates to their stock kit), not everything is correct: My final result here is a 1989 version of the F40 racing car with 1990 decals = sort of hybrid. also a few body panels are not correct, but as I glued and puttied them back in 1990 (without reasonable reference material), I let it be like that, f. e. the cooling outlet on the nose should be much deeper/steeper with a spitter in half for 1990.

The car was run in 1990 with and without louvres on the front fenders - I will go the easy route here and leave them off - this is supposed to be the Topeka car which DNFed (driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille/Jean-Louis Schlesser whose names were on the decal sheet). Till next time !

Edited July 11 by 1959scudetto

1959scudetto · July 11

On 7/10/2025 at 3:29 PM, kensar said:

Glad to hear the decals are not being an issue.

The F40 is my favorite Ferrari. I have built both the Tamiya and Fujimi kits and both had issues with the engine cover fitting properly. According to Scalemates, this is an original Italeri tooling, so there may not be any issues with the engine cover, but I would recommend checking that as soon as possible for needed alterations.

Good luck with your build.

Ken, this kit is a modified version of Italeri's original stock F40 - they only added a tree with racing parts and a new decal sheet.

The engine cover is horrible, it does not fit at all - after making this experience with the stock model back then, I decided to NOT cut open the rear panel but leave it closed.

Edited July 13 by 1959scudetto

1959scudetto · July 13

Short update: decals didn't like the clearcoat at all und started becoming heavily wrinkled (NOTE modeler's rule # 1 : always try this on a piece from the very same sheet that you don't need !)

I was lucky, though: most decals smoothed out again - only the roof decal and the door numbers look a bit rough.

Next are the wheels: I will use the tires (for rear) from a Gunze Ferrari 365 GT4 BB . As I lost one of the kit's wheels, I pirated two from the Italeri Daytona Racing kit and widened it with a strip cut off a thin Evergreen sheet to accomodate with the wider (rear) tires. They look different, but they will be covered with aerodiscs anyway, and as the inside is the same as the kit wheels, they will fit on the supension without (major) fiddling.

(The 365 GTB /Daytona racer will get Jack modeling wheels - the Italeri kit wheels are totally wrong.)

Additionally, I fabricated some kind of rollcage using insulated wire and parts of JoHan's Petty Superbird (this is more of a fantasy cage but not much will be seen anyway (the kit offers absolutely nothing here).