In Progress: 550 Maranello in Willenium Jade

Willenium Jade?! :icon16: Or is that Willemonium Jade?

Here's my 550 Maranello. I bought it from Scott Hards at the HLJ table last week at the IPMS Nationals. Of course my mail-order one arrived this Monday. Nevertheless, I had to have the satisfaction of walking up and finally being able to buy a Maranello kit after all these years of agonizing over having one.

I did some of the fixes/upgrades as mentioned on the hirofkd thread of the same model. I opened up the fender vents, re-shaped the opening in the rear fender scoop, added the missing panel lines for the hood and front fender, added the small bevel on the rear bumper. I did not bother to do the window trim, except for finessing it where the mold lines met. I'll "fix" the smallish hood vent w/black paint. I'll do more detail when I get my 575 which I like better than the 550. This one's a learning experiment.

I'm stealing the 550 door panels and seats from a Burago diecast Maranello. The Fujimi parts are incorrect, and the Burago parts are more accurate and have better definition. I'll take a few pics to compare later.

Here's the body after applying Cobra Colors VX primer and the first color coats of the Cobra Colors Millenium Jade. I think the color looks really classy on this particular car (it sure looks good on Nissan R34's and Infinitis). What do you think?

http://images10.fotki.com/v203/photos/1/10258/17860/DSCN6691-vi.jpg

From here the paint will be wetsanded smooth once dry, I'll apply black panel lines, and then fog on a few more coats of Millenium Jade before applying clear.

:eek2: That color look fantastic on that car ! One of my all time favorite colors;)

excellent colour! :bigthumb:

Love the color. I dunno if it fits the ferrari, but it looks good so far. Keep up the awsome progress.

Nice work Bob!

Ooooooooooooohhhhhhh Bob, that's pretty!
Would have never thought of that color. It has something.
Looking forward to that being finished.
Chris

that color is great!

Thanks for the comments! I was inspired by this color since it's one of the ones I've recently acquired. I had briefly thought of using this color on my Scaglietti (with custom bodywork inspired by Veyron's Stradale). That one is going to be Grigio Titanio.

I knew I'd like this color on this car, I just didn't know I'd like it this much. Aston Martins look good in metallic green, and the Maranello is sort of an Aston competitor, though in real life Astons have paint jobs that are far superior to any factory Ferrari. Ferraris have way too much orange peel :biggrin: .

I've already done the second color coat and some clear. Looking better all the time.

Good start.

nice color!

Coolness!!:sunglasse

Great start! Love the color!

I've done a few more rounds of paintwork. I have probably one more round of wetsanding and more clear before wetsanding and polishing.

http://images10.fotki.com/v202/photos/1/10258/17860/Dscn6696-vi.jpg

I'm experimenting w/Cobra Colors clear. I found last night that it mixes well w/my lacquer thinner to spray on a bit smoother/wetter. As expected, it slightly reacted w/the plastic underneath, at least on the hood and roof. I quickly blended in some more CC MJ, and that hid it. Since then I've applied another round of color over the complete body (and layered in black door panel lines so they're darker than body color), and started applying the CC Clear (first few coats mixed w/some of the color, and then on to pure clear), but this time cut w/Mr. Thinner. So far that doesn't seem to be affecting the plastic underneath. But I'm putting on thinner coats, and wetsanding in between so that I hopefully don't get any more reaction w/the plastic.

Beautiful color, looks amazing :sunglasse

Very pretty

I'm surprised how well it suits this car!

It's polished and ready for window trim paint, the chassis is 90% complete. Ready for interior and final assembly.

I'm using Burago seats and door panels on the interior. Pics of the interior etc. tomorrow.

http://images10.fotki.com/v204/photos/1/10258/17860/Dscn6698-vi.jpg

Bob, it's gorgeous!
Can't wait to see the end result!
Chris

Since I have a pile of Maranellos on order with HLJ that aren't in my hands yet I'm glad to have a look at how nice the wheels look. Millennium Jade looks right at home on that car. Nice progress Bob!

I like how that color looks with the yellow brake calipers, wasn't too sure about this color on a Ferrari in the beginning but you proved it can be done, and done very nicely. Keep it up

It's such a good looking car. Many people may say otherwise, but I think it's the most beautifull Ferrari since the 280 GTO, IMHO.
I also think that you're doing it justice. The color is exquisite (spelling?) and original. Congratulations. Keep us posted, please :)

Cheers,
Pedro.

Well, it's basically done. Thanks for all the comments so far! I have really enjoyed putting this one together, and love how the color scheme worked out.

Here are interior shots:

http://images10.fotki.com/v203/photos/1/10258/17860/DSCN6711-vi.jpg
http://images9.fotki.com/v166/photos/1/10258/17860/DSCN6710-vi.jpg
http://images10.fotki.com/v204/photos/1/10258/17860/DSCN6709-vi.jpg
http://images10.fotki.com/v203/photos/1/10258/17860/DSCN6708-vi.jpg

I used some slightly modified Burago seats and door panels. They trimmed/fit beautifully. This model was so easy to put together w/o drama it might as well have been a Tamiya kit :cool: .

Check out the finished thread coming next.

Your 550 looks great! Its due to 550 threads like this that I put in an order for both a 550 as well as a 575 from HLJ (and am itching to start on those myself). I think its time for me to move away from the tuners and I'm more than eager to start on this kit to break the trend. Great job once again!

a.