Helico

( PLEASE START READING AT THE BOTTOM AND WORK YOUR WAY UP :>) Thanks, Keith! )

Btw, curious as to how tight you had to pull the panty hose around the model to get it to conform so you could spray color to get the carbon fiber look ... did you have to do it over and again a few times to get it right? I'll be trying it for myself...

Thanks for all of your help!
Keith

Right now, Dragon USA On Line.com has this kit on sale. I can get it for $18.00 delivered because I have $10.00 built up in special "Dragon dollars" ... so I believe that i will jump on an order this week. I bought the pegasus hoops w/ tires this last Friday at my local hobby shop.

I'm excited about a build - I want to try to duplicate what you've made!

I saw something new while I was there, a few new Revell Ferrari "California" kits on the shelves. These are some really NICE and DETAILED model Ferrari kits that are marketed by Revell. the new Revell Ferrari California closed top kit looks like another great model to try out your addition tricks to ...

The Fujimi brand of kit of the 575M is the ONLY kit I can find of this particular Ferrari model. It is a bit of a disappointing model kit, with missing detail in the engine bay, and the suspension is a simple and bare bones item, to say the least. I get the impression that this line of fujimi models was originally created to be used as a slot car bodies. The retail asking price of this kit is OUTSIDE of what you'd normally expect for a simple curbside model ... as it retails for almost $50.00 US dollars! Never the less, it's the ONLY example of a 575M model kit in 1/24th scale that I've seen.

then I'd probably use liquid cement to attach these to the body. Once the glue has died, I'd use a very fine grit sand paper to sand down the raw edges, and then I would build up the gaps using sanded plastic powder and ground down bits of plastic styrene that came from the sheet styrene, and using the liquid cement i would make up a paste from that, and apply it to all of the gaps, ... then wait till it all dried, then sand it all smooth ... then start hitting everything I added with primer paint and follow that up again with some more light sanding .. "

Please tell me, am I even close to guessing with how you built up your model?

... as i've stated, it's quite AWESOME looking the way you've addressed those aftermarket body issues. In your pictures, I can only imagine that the body has been widened around the bottom of the rear wheel well openings - not around the top areas.

Hi Helico!

Keith here .. I have to say, that is one great looking 575M build... and yes, I DO have a few more questions for you. I thought I'd send you a private message, so you wouldn't be put on the spot with giving away any special techniques you've developed to everyone in the world.

Since you modified the body without a resin aftermarket kit ... I'm left to assume that you made body additions using thin sheet styrene. Am I correct on that?

Here is how I would do it - please tell me if I'm wrong about how you managed to get things added:

I would first make a paper template for the wheel openings that also showed the surrounding body lines. then I'd cut out the little paper templates, and transfer the outlines of them to thin sheet styrene. Then cut them out with extra care using a #11 exacto blade. Next, I would pre-form the parts, so they fit the curves of the body and folds and edges ...