Ferrari 599 Hamann

[KevHw]

Incredible stuff! One of the best interiors I've seen. Really enjoyed following this even if 99% complete

[Gamerxz]

U r Fucking sick, like a seriously..... i find it quite difficult to get good detailing done for interior and urs is sick. I wonder how many more years i need b4 i can reach that level

[MidMazar]

I just have to say, thank you for sharing this build with us. One of my fav 599 builds to date. Just so much detail, you have a show stunner on your hands.

[tuned.by.twenty]

Originally Posted by MidMazar

I just have to say, thank you for sharing this build with us. One of my fav 599 builds to date. Just so much detail, you have a show stunner on your hands.

[valek222]

I saw 599 yesterday in centre of Moscow...It looks fantastic! It was like your model...Black and hamann))) So what... your model looks like real 599)))))))

[lemansnut]

Looking absolutely spectacular! Can't wait to see it in person next weekend at the Ferrari Expo.

Mike

[Dadimix]

one of the best builds i've ever seen.
felicitaciones!

[jayll]

Awesome work, the best 599 I've seen. I found pics of this car online one day and thought I would build the 599 I have into the same car. Considering the work you put into yours, I've decided to build mine in a way that requires a little less scratch building skill.

[rx7king]

Originally Posted by lemansnut

Looking absolutely spectacular! Can't wait to see it in person next weekend at the Ferrari Expo.

Mike

Me too

[Bossolani]

Amazing job!!! I was wondered!!!

Thanks to share us!!

Cesar Bossolani

[agamo]

Again, thank you KevHw, Gamerxz, Mark, Bill, Valentin, Mike, Dadimix, jayll, rx7king and Cesar for your great comments, I’m so flattered that modelers like you all dedicate sometime to write such highly motivating words, they are much appreciated.

And well, onto the works… things become a little funny this time…

The wheels drama…

Back from the IPMS Nationals where the 599 got the best results, the car is disasembled to finish the last details, starting with the change to the correct wheels.

Few months after this model was started, and a little bit after I finished the wheels you already saw, “Hobby Design” issued the “Hamann Edition Race” resin wheels, which are the correct ones for this car, the box includes 4 resin wheels, 4 tires, hubs for polycaps (Fujimi type) and rods (Tamiya type)…



The finish of the resin is not the best, some work is required to correct the rough finish, another problem, is that all the wheels have the same width and the 599 Hamann has (345/25) at the rear and (245/30) at the front…


Another problem commonly found on resin wheels, is that the circumference of the ring is not always perfect, in this case the circumference is not a problem but the centering of the perforations for the lug nuts is a little offset…


The label on the box states that these wheels are 20” (22.61 mm at 1:24 scale) but measure 22.96 mm, so they’re off for scale 8 mm and since the Hamann rides on 21” wheels, new aluminum wheel rings will be made to the equivalent diameter of 23.66 mm…


As was mentioned before, the finish of these resin wheels is far from smooth, so a lot of careful sanding is required to obtain the correct surface finish (at the left the corrected wheel)…


Since the suspension is the Fujimi type, the polycap-hubs will be the fixation parts to be used; when checking the wheels from behind I feel the wheel branches are too thick, so they have to be thinned…


And the drama begins…
So, one of the wheels was mounted in the lathe to remove some material from behind, but a movement of the wrong handwheel of the crosslide and I broke the wheel in pieces!!!!!...


My first thoughts were going to the Internet to order a new set, but I have already spent a lot in this kit so I don’t want to spend more, another solution was to copy one of the wheels in resin, the problem with this solution is shrinkage, with the best of resins you get at least a 1% to 2% shrinking, so I would have to make 4 copies, plus, I don’t have the materials to do this, and go back to the first one, I don’t want to spend more, so, the only solution was trying to repare the wheel, if this fail, ordering a new set would be the only solution…


A good picture transferred to a 2D image will help a as a basis…



5 studs will help to mount the wheel center over the drawing, then plastic strips curved to an approximate shape will do the branches…


Plastic stripes glued to the wheel center…


Cutting and sanding to make things even…


While glue dries, I go to the lathe to remove the wheel ring of the rest of the wheels, this time more care will be taken…


Some sanding to correct the external shape…



The casting part extracted, some of the wheel ring was left to increase the branches length…


Wheel rings removed and everything is going back on track, new aluminum rings will be made…


After some primer, the finish is still bad on the 3 wheels that weren’t repaired, so more sanding is required…


The casted part of the Hamann wheels includes a ring (which is part of the casting) that will fix the center to the aluminum rings, so this small ring is cut out from the old resin rings…


The repaired center (looks better than the originals LOL) over the resin ring…


A temporary aluminum ring is machined to help centering the wheel center to the resin ring…


New aluminum wheel hubs for the polycaps are machined…


Testing the wheel hubs in the brake discs…


The front tires should be thiner than the rears, so, a section from the center of the tire is carefully cut and removed…



Once the width of the tires was determined, the aluminum rings are machined…


Sanding and polishing for the right finish…




The new wheels are almost finished; the rears are wider and their centers sit deeper into the wheel rings…


The “Edition Race” wheels are offered with 26 and 17 bolts to fix the center to the wheel ring, to ease a little the process, the 17 bolts version is chosen, this bolts will be reproduced with “MCG” bolt heads…


The resin rings are perforated to fix the bolt heads from “Model Car Garage” and the air valve from “Sakatsu”…


And the resin centres go to the painting process to a final flat black finish…




Bolt heads and air valves are added…


To fix the aluminum wheel hubs ensuring a perfect centering of this parts, a receptacle is machined inside the wheels, again, very carefully…



And the wheels are finished and ready to mount…


And are mounted to the chassis…


For the lug nuts the first idea was to use the newly released (or at least I just discovered them) “Hobby Design - wheel nuts” but even the short ones resulted to long for these wheels, so the other option are the “MCG” bolt heads which provided the desired result…



Well, that’s all for a drama, I wanted to share this mess, because it resulted in some interesting technics, and as I always say, any comments, advices, corrections or suggestions are always welcome.

In the next installment, which will be the last, you’ll see the final assemblies and the last detailing to finish the car.

[Entau]

RAMON, you are amazing!!

[kans0002]

Originally Posted by agamo

In the next installment, which will be the last, you’ll see the final assemblies and the last detailing to finish the car.

All I can say is WOW!

How is any more detailing possible?!?!

[bri g]

jst ran into this thread and OMG! the details are amazing. the last step by step write up on how to improve the wheels was great. I felt weak seeing the smashed rim on the lathe but the results with the metal sleeves are 100000x better. great job! subscribed to this

[F1Tommy]

Those wheels are great. I had a problem with the Hobby Design wheels for my California model. I just glued back together and sanded them, no machining. Your attention to detail is amazing.

I want to see these wheels in person now.

Tom Tanner/Scale Designs/Ferrari Expo 2010 model/photo contest-Chicago April 24th 2010