Ferrari 360 Modena, fully open

[Ezekiel7]

I agree....Color match the rim spokes to the body color, with a chrome or aluminum lip.

great job so far!

[jmwallac]

Originally Posted by mrawl

Thanks for the nice comments guys, I really appreciate it. And please don't be shy on criticism, suggestions, building tips, etc. jmwallac asked what is a good rim color for a silver car. I was asking myself the same question, so I tried a few obvious options, but none of them are doing much for me. What do you think?...

It's not easy, is it? I love black rims, but they aren't suited with this "classy" job; it would look better on a red, yellow or white car. What about XF-56 with a semigloss clear over it? My other favorite is X-11:3 / X-10:2 / XF-56:1. Has a perfect sheen to it. The tires pictures in this thread are painted with that mix. Since your car is darker, maybe make the rims a little lighter? I'm also a huge fan of body colored rims. My F430 in my sig has matching rims (although it is no where near the quality of your build...)

[rsxse240]

I used model master metalizer plate aluminum on some mustang cobra wheels, and quite honestly I think they turned out better than the real deal.

[mrawl]

Thanks for the great suggestions for the wheels, I like them all! Actually I've already gone ahead with an idea I had for the wheels, I hope you will like them (later).

I finished some work that I was really looking forward to. Tamiya's engine bay includes some well molded areas where the engine hood gas springs mount. Seeing that, I could not possibly finish this model without making my own gas springs. So here are the hood and springs in detail...

I installed very fine brass bushings. The rod runs all the way through to keep things aligned.




Here is the piston arm of the gas spring. It really has to be one piece for strength, hence the bend. But this makes it more difficult to install the boss, which I also wanted to do in one piece...


But look mom, it might squeeze around the corner


Yes! That saves messing around with shaping, aligning, and attaching some super small pieces.


So far so good.




The sleeve end. The solder fills the inside to make the corner solid.


Test fitting.


It's a goer - just need to clean up the ends. Those are small brass tubes soldered to the inside of the hood.


The bottom end complete.


Top end.


Final check. It works nicely - a miniscule kink in the rod creates enough friction to hold the weight of the hood.


Finishing off the mess where the PE is attached to the plastic. Should have used polyester here, but Mr Dissolved Putty is nice to work with. You have to wait a few days for it to fully stabilize.















Still a few loose ends to tidy up before it's finished, but getting close now!

[jano11]

I'll have to search for my jaw first, than I'll try to find the right words to describe your work!

[sjelic]

Simply amazing, did you have any problem soldiering brass to PE parts or PE is brass also, can't really see from the picture.

[klutz_100]

Insane! Incredible work

Come clean - this might be your second plastic model but it's hard to believe that you are new to this kind of small scale, detail work What's the story?

PS If this IS all new to you, change your screen name to Micheal Angelo - because you a genius!

[Decs0105]

This is exactly why I love this forum... just sensational!!!

[mrawl]

Originally Posted by sjelic

Simply amazing, did you have any problem soldiering brass to PE parts or PE is brass also, can't really see from the picture.

Initially yes, I did. It's stainless steel PE, which makes it more difficult of course. I am experienced with a soldering iron and fine electronics work, but I don't have any decent equipment here, so I tried resin core solder and a crappy 2$ iron. This usually works ok if you just heat it until it almost glows red, but not with stainless steel or CA'd PE. I needed a new iron anyway, so I got a temp-controlled iron. I also switched to plain solder with a separate paint-on flux. This works beautifully. If you have the iron at the right heat it will solder cleanly and quickly. I did get slight separation of the PE laminations in a couple of small spots, but it was easy to run some thin CA back in there. So, it's tricky but not impossible.

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Come clean - this might be your second plastic model but it's hard to believe that you are new to this kind of small scale, detail work What's the story?

I grew up with a soldering iron in my hand, built several electronic projects, even R/C radios at the component level, etc. Try soldering up an old style servo board, now that is smaaaaalll, and fun!! I had a brother who used to smash our slot car motors and I would try to fix them, rebuild/rewind the armatures, etc. Lol, those were the days. The smallest and most difficult thing I ever attempted was to rewind the heads of a VCR recorder. You have no idea what small is until you try that!

It seems to me that modeling is a pretty simple equation of care and detail vs time - you can do as incredible and detailed a job as you want, but it will cost you in time. I actually want to do a whole string of easy OOB builds just to become more efficient, in fact this build was supposed to be one of those.

I take my hat off to the master modelers on this site - the work and artistry is just unbelievable, much of it far beyond me at this stage. Everyone here seems to share a pursuit of perfection, I think we must have been exposed to some nasty chemicals or disease as kids

[stevenoble]

Lovely work on the engine cover 'struts' (is that the right word ?) They look so real....

[Joe Blyth]

Holy crap man, those hinges are wonderful.

[jmwallac]

Originally Posted by mrawl

I take my hat off to the master modelers on this site - the work and artistry is just unbelievable, much of it far beyond me at this stage.

Um... shit... where does that leave us average modelers?

[mrawl]

Originally Posted by jmwallac

Um... shit... where does that leave us average modelers?

Hey!! I said everyone, and I meant it. If you've read my inane comments on AF you know I love all the models on this site, regardless of level. And I think we all pretty much feel that way, that's one of the best things about this hobby. Anyway, you are just about the best photographer here, and your models don't exactly suck either, except for the time you disintegrated that Ferrari in the oven! I don't know what makes a master modeler, I think those guys have some sort of disorder or something!

[jmwallac]

Originally Posted by mrawl

except for the time you disintegrated that Ferrari in the oven!

My wife did that (along with my Cliff's DTM)!!!

What's next? I'd love to see what you can do with a Revell kit. Maybe the 599, Superamerica or 430?

[sjelic]

Originally Posted by mrawl

I am experienced with a soldering iron and fine electronics work

Ok this explain a lot I must practice a bit (few years) more