Resin anxiety - 1954 Panamerica Ferrari Vignale

[Pierre Rivard]

Perhaps not my brightest idea to tackle a resin kit after a long break from the bench. I did not initially plan a w.i.p. as this is a simple kit (by part count...) but here it is. Call it a w.i.p. espress?

This is only my second resin kit, and just like the first one it does trigger a fair bit of anxiety. Styrene is my friend, resin is like someone I can't quite figure out. We'll try to get along but nothing feels natural.

The kit

 

[Pierre Rivard]

Starting nice and easy. Hand laced wheels on a Pinto kit are special. Not sure how long these will be in the catalog as Fernando is starting to incorporate 3D printing. I sprayed them with a flat clear and added a dark wash to take some of the shine off. More weathering of the tires to come.

 

[Pierre Rivard]

Next was not so easy. The engine. Basically a lump of resin with soft features and pits/voids everywhere. Replacement parts shipped by the vendor were pretty much the same, so it is what it is. I was considering a "closed casket ceremony" but in the end decided to try making a go of it. I made a fuel pump, fuel lines, throttle linkage, cooling lines, generator and a good dose of weathering. 6/10 result but started out with 3/10 parts...

 

Edited November 27 by Pierre Rivard

[Pierre Rivard]

Lot's of work on the body to make it look as good as I am capable of. The biggest challenge was the decals. Very brittle and fragile. The big "20" on the rear deck shattered in multiple pieces. Patched up the pieces as best I could and painted in the missing links. Stopped decal work for emergency trip to the hobby store to get some liquid decal film and micro sol.

I applied a layer of film... which moved some of the decal ink a bit. I proceeded very carefully from there. As expected the biggest challenge was the side numbers which have to wrap over a side trim and even worse a molded side scoop. Solution was to cut the decals in multiple elements and tie in the pieces with a paint application.

At that point I decided to coat the body with a low gloss finish (period correct to me) which will provide a foundation for race weathering... in the attempt to mask the so so paint & decal job.

Now on top of resin anxiety I have decal anxiety ... and let's not think about weathering for now...

 

[stavanzer]

I can see you triumphed on the Body. It looks very good.

Much better than I could have done.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Looks good to me. I'd be happy.

Pinto's stuff is pretty cool, the only game in town for a lot of interesting subjects, and well worth a little "anxiety".

[kensar]

Good to see another of your WIPs.  Good progress on this.  Looks like the decal job worked out fine.  I found resin to be different than styrene - not more difficult, just different.  Looking forward to seeing more.

[1959scudetto]

Finally - it seems that I've been waiting endlessly for this one, Pierre.

The body looks very good, and your decal troubles with the "20" could hardly be noticed if you had not pointed them out to us.

I'm looking forward to the next steps.

[Dave B]

Pierre, it's coming along beautifully. I'm sure resin will become your friend, I love it.

The last plastic kit I built, apart from finishing the Cheetah and the building salt laker must have been 5+ years ago.

Dave B 

PS, would never have picked the broken decal!!

Edited November 27 by Dave B

[absmiami]

 Nice save

[89AKurt]

I better follow this one!  We all just *have to* build subjects that only Pinto has, anxiety is not really an option but .... I haven't been on the bench for years now, awesome you are progressing.  I built his Auto Union C Vanderbilt and have some cough others in the stash.

[Pierre Rivard]

22 hours ago, stavanzer said:

I can see you triumphed on the Body. It looks very good.

Much better than I could have done.

Thank you Alan. It came out pretty good with the low gloss finish but it did not come easy.

21 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Looks good to me. I'd be happy.

Pinto's stuff is pretty cool, the only game in town for a lot of interesting subjects, and well worth a little "anxiety".

It's a 10 footer but race cars in those days were not trailer queens, so the result is satisfactory for what I aim to achieve. Pinto's stuff is indeed pretty cool. I love 50's and pre-war race cars so I better make friend with resin.

21 hours ago, kensar said:

Good to see another of your WIPs.  Good progress on this.  Looks like the decal job worked out fine.  I found resin to be different than styrene - not more difficult, just different.  Looking forward to seeing more.

You may be right Ken, I just have not reached that level yet. This is only my second resin kit and I will persevere.

20 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

Finally - it seems that I've been waiting endlessly for this one, Pierre.

The body looks very good, and your decal troubles with the "20" could hardly be noticed if you had not pointed them out to us.

I'm looking forward to the next steps.

Thank you my friend. I have been away from the bench and even offline for 7 months but now refreshed and good to go. Started slow with this one, only 1-2 hours per day and gaining speed. Will share updates more frequently.

14 hours ago, Dave B said:

Pierre, it's coming along beautifully. I'm sure resin will become your friend, I love it.

The last plastic kit I built, apart from finishing the Cheetah and the building salt laker must have been 5+ years ago.

Dave B 

PS, would never have picked the broken decal!!

I think you're right, I'll get used to resin. In the end the subject is the only criteria and I will build it whatever the medium is.

12 hours ago, absmiami said:

 Nice save

Thank you Andrew. Stay tuned, today is weld ball day!

10 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

I better follow this one!  We all just *have to* build subjects that only Pinto has, anxiety is not really an option but .... I haven't been on the bench for years now, awesome you are progressing.  I built his Auto Union C Vanderbilt and have some cough others in the stash.

This morning I fired up the old Rancilio, poured a few expressos and devoured your Auto Union WIP. What an epic build. It was a fascinating read and the reason well documented WIP are so helpful. Success through adversity. Thank you for sharing it.

[Pierre Rivard]

Working on the interior. Leather covering the chairs, rear bulkhead and door pads are brown on this car. I want a look that reflects the period with a car seeing racing action. I blended some brown acrylics and also added some oiled earth washes and a satin varnish to provide the weathered look I aimed for.

 

[Pierre Rivard]

The rear bulkhead is held in place with what appears to be snaps or big rivets. Same for door pad liners. Time for solder balls, using 0.6mm size for this job ('bout as small as I can handle). I first drilled a shallow hold with a 0.5 mm bit then applied a touch of satin varnish in them to hold/bond the balls. A layer of satin varnish over the whole area to hold everything in place. 

First are the door pads on for which I also fabricated a latch pull leather cord (made with masking tape). Then same process for the leather bulkhead. I also used the same process for the lower windshield trip piece rivets.

 

[Pierre Rivard]

The kit provides a decal for gauges and I added bezels made of 0.3mm wire and fabricated what I think is the timing adjust switch.

 

[meechum68]

This is amazing!  You have better control of the little bits!  I'd of shot em all over the place. 

The seats look off the hook!  Fantastic job on the aging and appearance. 

[SpeedAndViolence]

This is the very first that I have ever seen/ heard of 'solder balls'...   I have to go find some. 

[1959scudetto]

Absolutely no need for  resin anxiety, Pierre ! So far I can see this will be another masterpiece from your stable (what else did we expect ?).

Those solder balls look great as rivets holding the leather parts in place - fabulous!

[Pierre Rivard]

On 11/30/2025 at 6:56 PM, meechum68 said:

This is amazing!  You have better control of the little bits!  I'd of shot em all over the place. 

The seats look off the hook!  Fantastic job on the aging and appearance. 

The little hooked tweezers make all the difference with the ability to pick up these tiny solder balls. 

On 12/1/2025 at 7:44 AM, SpeedAndViolence said:

This is the very first that I have ever seen/ heard of 'solder balls'...   I have to go find some. 

Try Amazon. Pretty inexpensive  and multiple diameters are offered.

On 12/1/2025 at 9:48 AM, 1959scudetto said:

Absolutely no need for  resin anxiety, Pierre ! So far I can see this will be another masterpiece from your stable (what else did we expect ?).

Those solder balls look great as rivets holding the leather parts in place - fabulous!

Thanks Helmut. It's these little details that add realism. Solder balls are a cheap and easy way to replicate rivets of snaps.

[Pierre Rivard]

The shifter on this car was a simple affair. No pretty gate, just a big ball shifter with a simple rubber booth. I decided to make my own by using a pin (from jewelry section at Michaels) and punching out 4-3-2 mm discs from 0.5mm Evergreen sheet.

 

[Pierre Rivard]

Fernando resin cast the Nardi steering wheel. No easy task. I have great 3D printed wheels but they are too small for a "fifties" style so I decided to make a go of the kit supplied wheel. After initial cleanup I brushed it with aluminum paint to better see the surfaces. The back side of the rim was hollow (like a short shot of line of pits) making it so fragile it broke twice. The solution was a fill with thick CA glue and then gently sanding and thinning it as much as possible. Then the wood rim finishing process, gold base, thinned layers of varying shades of brown (loosely applied for effects), oiled earth wash and satin clear)

 

[Pierre Rivard]

All components of the interior are done. The whole interior looks the way I envisioned it. The restored car has a saddle color interior but my research indicates I was a darker shade. I also wanted an interior with a leather finish that looks more period correct (a bit more sheen than modern tanning methods) with a bit of race weathering to it. I am pleased with the result.

 

[kensar]

Super looking interior, Pierre.  The sheen on the leather and its texture look very realistic.  Curious that his first name is spelled with two 'L's on the car.

[1959scudetto]

C'etait formidable, Pierre !

Interior (gauges, steering wheel, leather seats) looks awesome - just like real leather !

 

[Mark W]

Great work Pierre!

Your very innovative thinking has transformed the proverbial sow’s ear into a silk purse.

The Ferrari  Vignale is a beautiful automobile and your efforts to share it with us are appreciated.

The leather interior looks like a period photo of the 1:1

Anxious to see the weathering you will do on the exterior. I hope I can apply your technique to a Toyota 200GT I will be doing.