Le Mans 1970 Ferrari 512S

Ok all. Started this long before I decided to photo log it. This tooling dates back to 1971 (as old as I am and only a year younger than the actual car). Considering its age the level of detail and finesse is astonishing when compared to what Airfix was putting out then. Also the complexity of the build is equally impressive and frustrating. There is a decent engine that is held onto the chassis with 8 very flimsy and flexible plastic representations of engine bearers. I have been unsuccessful in ensuring all mounting points reach the firewall at the back of the cockpit.  

I spent 2 hours last night getting all 12 exhaust pipes, all four collectors and all 4 outlets aligned and glued. They are rough but I've decided this will most likely be a closed hood build.  

Instructions and most online builds show the forward 6 pipes outlets on top of the rear 6 outlets. Photos of the real car show them below, so that's what I've done. Otherwise they exit onto the rear valance 

These won't match up no matter what I do. 

Warped floor 

Engine is "floating " around the bay. This may not be a bad thing actually as it will help all 4 wheels to touch the ground.  

See? 

Painted the pipes with some tamiya LP insignia white. Looks a bit better... 

But not much. Another coat maybe. (This is after 2). 

Got back to the bench for an hour. Got the rear bodywork done. Small bit of fettle needed on the aero bits. 

Not sure if the centre spoiler is needed on mine yet. 

Not completely square but that will do for me. 

Painted interior all black. Tamiya LP. 

And inside the front. Anyone know a good source of colour references for the chassis? 

Test fit. Actually starting to look like a car of sorts now. 

Masked and applied black around windows to kill the clear edge that shows later. Only taped in place for now.  

Also painted the back of the wheel arches black.  

For the lack of a better alternative I used this picture as a guide. (Google) 

Masked off the front of the radiator ducts. 

And the rear light panels after a coat of satin black. Contemporary photos show these as black. 

This is the kit option as per Daytona showing the black panels.  

This is the subject of my model. You can see the opening here. I decided to not cut mine open here, there is a resin replacement rear cowl/deck that I may ( or may not bother) get to replace at a later stage. The window and side vents arealso missing on my model so it's more work than just cutting one hole.... 

And here the no 10 NART entry at Le Mans 1970. This rear deck is actually closer to the kit part (no opening where the rear no plate goes) but is in berlinetta configuration (I.e. no roof).  

You can see better what i mean about the opening on this 1:18 scale model.  

Ploughed on with this today. Made a photocopy of the decals to enable me to make a mask for the white nose area. This might be a mistake..... 

Primed with humbrol enamel matt red and left to harden for 24 hours. Then applied this expensive paint following the instructions.... it went on ok but very thin. I did the hood first before the main body. Did the main body and went back to put a second coat on the hood and found it was cracking up. A rag soaked in IPA removed it all before it hardened, and i was back to humbrol red primer; except where the zero paint had lifted it.... 

So i cut my losses and dug out my 20 year old tin of Humbrol Ferrari Red 220.  

First a primer of thin gloss pink to even out everything again.  

And on the main body. Its not glued yet, just positioned for painting. Note the masking on nose. Not sure if this will work out. 

Looks ok.  

Not so worried about the nose line, the decals will cover it. I hope. Will probably have to touch up the circle though. 

Note to self.... humbrol works...  

Most of the time anyway. Why do i put myself through these trials, again and again? Back to work rest of the week, so this has until Saturday to harden up. 

Got wheels attached. Everything behind past the cockpit is slightly out of whack, so had to fudge and guess how to line up the very loose fit wheels. They will not turn now. 

Centre lights installed. This was one part that actually went OK, but you need to have the upper body placed to ensure it's angled correctly  

In process of painting and handling another two mounting points have come loose. 

I may have to add reinforcements to this, and if I have to glue the rear deck on I will.  

Headlights went in ok
 

Cover even fits well. 

Dash installed. However the steering column fouls the body so cut it short at the back of the dash.  

Test fitting of the 3 main body parts. 

Not too bad, this could actually work after all.  

Still need to let the paint cure fully, as I managed to put another fingerprint in it... 

Grrrrr.  

I removed the masking from the rear deck and somehow got the feeling this model is laughing at me.  

So for today's model session I broke this kit out.... who's laughing now, eh? 

A lot of tape and brute force required to get the top bodywork on.  

Body glued and seams filled, filed and cleaned up. Paint added... 

As above. 

Hmmm.. 

Decal applied on nose. I didn't get the masking quite right.  

I've taxed worse, I suppose... 

Other side. No more work today, watching the actual Le Mans 24H race.  

Applied decal softener, will see how it looks tomorrow  

Added some more decals. The Le Mans Decals work well, stick nicely but are on a continuous film so need individual cutting out. Windows are only placed in for now. 

I was right about masking some white areas as a mistake. The white of the decals is a bit translucent so looks a bit pink compared to where I painted white.  

If I left it all red, it would be ok I think. Anyway, I'm past caring. It will look OK from a metre or so. 

All decals now on, there are a few spares but looking at photos online of the car at the event there are differences in stickers in different photos (different days maybe?)
Anyway all possibilities are covered. The font of the "1" on the front of the car is incorrect though.  

Final assembly tomorrow hopefully. The engine is now hanging by only 2 points now, so first job will be to reinforce and reattach the engine mounts. Family gathering tomorrow, as soon as I can escape that I'll be back to this. Then on to the Tamiya Toyota GT One. 

Used some stock tube to reinforce the engine bearers  

Broken joint at shock absorber  

Short cuts of tube 

Slid over the existing bearers 

And other side. Glued to the base of the shock. 

This should show the areas where the tubing was attached to reinforced the joints. 

Clamped the windows while glueing in place. Roof was still slightly warped.  

Use this nowadays for clear parts needing strength ?  

C'est fini... almost anyway... some beauty pics follow.. 

Actually looks passable in this photo. Went over everything with 3 thin coats of brushed on Klear/Future. Hides a multitude of sins. 

Just noticed I've lost one of the bonnet pins. 

Forgot the wiper. Used some parafilm to hold it while the gorilla wood glue set. Masking tape would probably have pulled it off.  

Boxtop effort. I got this kit as a birthday present many years ago, probably 20 or more.  

How does it stack up? 

The decal option in the kit (and also included in the Fujimi release) no28 is an interesting Ferrari works team car from Daytona, finished third driven by Andretti/Merzario. The same chassis (1026) later ran at Sebring and won, and finished 4th at both Monza and Spa 1000kms. At Le Mans it ran as the no 7 works car driven by Bell/Peterson in coda Lunga form. DNF in that race following a blown engine caused by over revving in downshift, when Bell was taking evasive action to avoid the accident at Maision Blanch that took out 3 other 512S. 

And with a photo of one of her 1970 sisters from the 1971 poster. If I ever do this kit again I'll probably do the no 5 Coda Lunga as pictured here.  

C'est fini ..  

This option ran in Le Mans as the third Scuderia Filipinetti entry, but was originally ran by Gianpiero Moretti/Corrado Manfredini (and his Scuderia Picchio Rosso). Moretti, besides having a racing career (winning Daytona in 1998) was also the founder of MOMO.  

Unfortunately for both they were a DNF in the 13th hour due to transmission failure  

Next photo will be when I get it on display at our public "model room" in Camden Fort Meagher. In my Le Mans display. Thanks all for looking and comments.  

Final photos as she has taken her place on display at the Fort. With the rest of my Le Mans collection (so far..) 

Thanks all. The Toyota GT-One was also added, and was finished 5 mins after this photo was taken, with mirrors added.