WIP Fujimi Ferrari 550 Maranello + Revell Superamerica

[drunken monkey]

My first new project for the year and a bit of a no-brainer.

With several Ferrari builds in various stages of completion, there had always been one model that was noticably absent; the 550 Maranello. After many, many years of wanting and waiting from all of us here on AF, it finally arrived from Fujimi but was alas, a curbside kit.

Then one day, Revell released their Superamerica kit with decent enough looking engine bay (obviously re-worked from their 612 kit).

So it begins:



How to squeeze two kits into one?
More later.

[drunken monkey]

Decision was made pretty quickly to try and fit the Revell chassis under the Fujimi body as opposed to re-working the Fujimi chassis to accept the Revell engine and running gear.

First things first.
The Revell kit has the lower sills moulded onto it whereas the Fujimi kit has the lower sills moulded onto the chassis so off they came with the help of a PE saw and cemented into place on the Revell chassis.




Next step was to transfer the Fujimi wheel hubs onto the Revell chassis.
A quick side by side revealed that both kits are extremely close to each other in terms of dimensions and more importantly, wheelbase and track.
As such, another simple saw and glue was all that was needed for the rear.




The front was slightly easier as all that was needed was to thicken the little tabs on the Fujimi hub to fit into the existing Revell wishbones. However, a quick test fit revealed that the Revell chassis sits higher up in the body that the Fujimi one does and as a result, the wheel arches needed to be trimmed in order for the chassis to fit correctly under the Fujimi chassis.

About 2mm was removed from the bottom of the wheel arch.
In doing so, I lost the locating tabs so had to replace them with my own very makeshift and not very pretty looking ones but they do the job and will not be visible when completed.




Another problem with mating the Fujimi kit with the Revell chassis is that the rear wheel arches needed to be trimmed as well to accept the Fujimi cockpit.
After much trial and error, this is what was removed for it to all fit (very) snugly.




Quick shot of how the under body parts fit together.




Here, you can see the beginnings of some putty and sheet styrene work done on the engine bay surround to make it fit the Fujimi body.
You can see the putty around the headlight surrpunds.
What you might be able to see is that the sides have been extended with sheet styrene and invisible is the lot of sanding underneath the wheel arch area to, like before, lower the whole engine bay area to make it fit.




Fitting the body over the chassis shows that it does all fit quite nicely.
There is still more work needed on the engine bay surround to fill in the gaps as well as the need to fabricate the area under the windscreen that holds the wipers and vents.




Final shot of the day.
Hood back on.



While everything is in pretty much the correct location, there is still a whole lot of little somethings wrong here and there because as it is, it doesn't hold together without some pressure.
Most of it will be to do with removing plastic to give the parts clearance. The tricky bit is finding what bits need more clearance...

More later.

[jano11]

Great project and it's coming along nicely!
I'll watch this one closely as I intend doing the same operation.

[janositamas]

Impressing project, you are brave to cut those Ferraris into pieces, waiting for the progression!

[b-art]

Impressive work so far! Although it still needs some trimming, it's amazing how well the two kits fit together.
I'm sure you can make this work out beautifully....

[tonioseven]

I feel confident that this will be a fantastic build!!

[rockinanko]

it's amazing how well the two kits fit together.

well, believe me when i say that nothing will fit so well without cracking your brains out...at least.
what you may see there may just be a small portion of styrene or putty added but behind that move usually involves many calculations in the mind simultaneously!

once you're out of the comfort zone of building as per instruction sheet, you're more or less on your own to call the judgement.
but it's ultra challenging though...i suggest you try it & see for yourself.

cheers!

[BVC500]

Nice work so far!

[AustinMartin]

Awesome!

[da_ashman]

Thats a really cool project and wonderful idea combining the kits together.
But didnt Ferrari change the engine after the 550, It has a 5.5ltr V12 & the 575 & superamerica have a different engine a 5.7 ltr engine. Im not 100% certain, Is the basic architecture the same between the 2?
Great build cant wait to see more

[endac]

Looks really good, nice progress.

[drunken monkey]

Not really an update; busy working on the seats for this.

Just wanted to say:
always check that you have replaced the cap properly on whatever solvent bonding agent you use before going to bed at night.

That is all.....

[AustinMartin]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

Not really an update; busy working on the seats for this.

Just wanted to say:
always check that you have replaced the cap properly on whatever solvent bonding agent you use before going to bed at night.

That is all.....

What did you do???

[jano11]

He left it open and had some incredible dreams!

[AustinMartin]

Originally Posted by jano11

He left it open and had some incredible dreams!

Hahahaha