Ferrari 512bb in Giallo Fly

[jaymcminn]

So, I seem to be on a bit of an exotic kick lately. I decided to follow up my 365 Daytona with its actual follow-up- the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer. This is the recent Fujimi kit of the late-70's 512bb, which comes molded in red (aargh!). The kit has a fair amount of detail where it counts and is rather simplified in areas where you're less likely to notice, such as the suspension. The result was a fairly, but not entirely, painless build.

One area where this kit is really let down is the wheels and tires included- the wheels scale out to about 17-18" and just don't look right at all. The tires are the 15" Michelins from the old Enthusiast Porsche 930 that you are expected to force over the much-larger wheels. The result is, to say the least, underwhelming. I found the answer through Ebay, where a Japanese vendor was selling a set of five-spoke Campagnolo wheels from Fujimi. I crossed my fingers and purchased them, hoping that they might be the excellent set from the Daytona. They actually turned out to be the beautiful wide- and-narrow set from the Ferrari 330p4. The tires were too tall, but a swap for a set of spare Pirelli Cinturatos from a Countach kit took care of that issue. Trimming the wheel mounts back gave me a nice aggressive stance, and the kit's knockoffs worked perfectly with the new wheels.

Other modifications from stock included replacing the kit's pop-up headlights for sheet styrene doors- I really don't care about working pop-up headlights and the unrealistic panel gaps drive me nuts. The engine was wired and I scrounged a coil from somewhere. I also scratchbuilt a little valve-cover detail- it's barely visible on the finished model, but at least I know it's there!

On to the pics (and more commentary on the kit...)

The interior was done in a color scheme I saw online when I was researching the build- dark brown hides with black "Daytona stripes" on the seats and a black dash over tan carpet. The look is perfect for this car's late-70's vibe and works great with the yellow paint. Here's an in-progress shot where you can see the interior better...

The paintwork was a challenge on this model. It was first primed in dark-grey primer, then that was coated with DupliColor primer sealer in an attempt to keep the red pigment from bleeding through. The sealer is a medium grey color, which provided a good base color to tone down Tamiya's Chrome Yellow lacquer (TS-47) to an excellent representation of Giallo Fly. After polishing the paint, I masked the window trim and rocker panels with BMF and airbrushed Tamiya flat black. I then overcoated the rocker panels with Polly S satin clear to give them the right gloss.

[krazyglu]

Really nice looking model you built there and I love the write up. The Fujimi wheels look fantastic on there and I love the yellow. Could you explain a little more for me about the BMF process. I am not sure if you painted the BMF black or you actually used it for masking, but I am interested in the technique none the less. Thanks for sharing.

[jaymcminn]

The aluminum paint on the wheels and the engine block is from a Valspar spray bomb. The effect is great for cast-aluminum, but the color is a little dark. The engine detail, as I said, is a little basic, but responds really well to some simple detailing. The wire looms are just aluminum tubing painted black.

The only real assembly headache with this kit was the fit of the engine cover- the instructions have you install the big hinge early in the building process, and pretty much the last piece you fit is the engine cover. Despite my best efforts, I wound up with a HUGE gap (about 1/16 inch) between the pieces. I wound up cutting the hinge assembly off of the nearly-completed model, attaching it to the engine cover, and then mounting the whole assembly in the closed position up against the rear of the body using epoxy to re-mount the hinge plate. This helped out the gap a lot. I also did some minor surgery on the rear pan to get the rear fascia to snug up to the engine cover better. There's still a gap there, but I can live with it.

As far as finishing touches go, the Cavallinos and badges are from MFH and the metal transfers are from some Chinese vendor on Ebay. I decided to take the pictures of this car using red and green posterboard sweeps outdoors on a partly-cloudy day. The colors of the board really make the yellow pop and look almost like some of the brochure images for these cars from the '70's. As always, questions and comments are welcome... until next time, arrivederci!

[jaymcminn]

Really nice looking model you built there and I love the write up. The Fujimi wheels look fantastic on there and I love the yellow. Could you explain a little more for me about the BMF process. I am not sure if you painted the BMF black or you actually used it for masking, but I am interested in the technique none the less. Thanks for sharing.

Steven, the procedure is almost exactly like applying BMF normally, except you remove it from the areas you want to paint. (for example, you apply it to the area of the window frame, trim around the frame as you normally would, and then remove the foil from the frame, exposing that area for painting)The BMF, being very thin, is very difficult for paint to bleed under and allows you to mask off more finely-detailed areas than regular tape. As a masking medium it's pretty expensive, but it definitely has its place.

[krazyglu]

Yes that technique could definitely come in useful....thank you Jason. Sorry I kind of cut in on your post there. I really like the red poster board background. I agree it not only makes the yellow pop, but it certainly screams 1970's. Great work.

[crispy]

Jason, fantastic build! I love your color choice and requisite look of the 70's. I whole heartedly agree with your brochure choices on colors. Looks very good.

I've never considered adding this to my Ferrari stack, but this build really makes me re-think it. I'm sure to be looking at this build time and again to determine if it is a must. Thanks for sharing your buiild!

Chris

[Lownslow]

shes sexy

[stevehansen]

I like it, well done

[PBII]

Yeah i love the old classic Ferrari's and you did this car justice

[bigphoto]

Well done!! The 512 BB has to be my fave Ferrari.