WIP Fujimi Ferrari 550 Maranello + Revell Superamerica

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:

http://x76.xanga.com/924f377bc1732230144899/b181347535.jpg

How to squeeze two kits into one?
More later.

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.

http://xf1.xanga.com/ec2c824307331230156044/w181356616.jpg


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.

http://x07.xanga.com/804c9b4308531230156061/w181356629.jpg


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.

http://x98.xanga.com/03af154338430230156068/w181356635.jpg


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.

http://xe8.xanga.com/9f9f1344d1130230156076/w181356642.jpg


Quick shot of how the under body parts fit together.

http://x53.xanga.com/45ef1046d1330230156086/w181356650.jpg


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.

http://x30.xanga.com/fbff0243c8133230156095/w181356659.jpg


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.

http://xd5.xanga.com/7f3c834328131230156104/w181356668.jpg


Final shot of the day.
Hood back on.

http://x5e.xanga.com/784f1043c8d30230156117/w181356677.jpg

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.

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

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

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....

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

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!

Nice work so far!

Awesome!

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

Looks really good, nice progress.

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.....

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???:uhoh:

He left it open and had some incredible dreams! :D

He left it open and had some incredible dreams! :D


Hahahaha

ok, as well know, the interior of the Fujimi 550 kits aren't 100% accurate and the biggest cause of offence in there is without doubt, the seats.

For reference, this is what they're supposed to look like.
http://www.ferraris-online.com/cars/FE-550M-117036/images/P019Web.jpg

And this is the various options open to me from my little box of spares.
http://x75.xanga.com/7fff300439432230496208/w181649765.jpg

From left to right:
Big black blob = Fujimi 550, Revell Superamerica, Italeri 365 GTB, Italeri 288 GTO
and in the front, KA Models Daytona seat for the 599GTB.

As you can see, none exactly match the 550 Maranello seat but what they offer, is a "quick" option for surgery for the lovely padded sections. Except that none of them match that well either apart from the KA models' option that has a very useable lower section. That would mean that I'd need to scratch a back-rest section. However, I doubt that I could scratch a back-rest section that would match the finish of the KA seat so......


Let's make my own.

Step 1: Frame.

http://x82.xanga.com/0b0f0417d3133230496251/w181649797.jpg

http://xd0.xanga.com/608f3111d5332230496286/w181649810.jpg

The difficulty in making a seat is how to make the sheet styrene conform to the various curves and how to make two near enough identical copies.
It is always possible to just make one then to cast that master to make multiple copies as neccessary but I'm too lazy for that right now....

In the photos above you can see that I cut bits of box section tubes to act as reinforcement for the base "plate" and more importantly, act as a guide for the change in height of the seat and for the angle of the cushioning at the front of the seat.
The circular tube on top of the frame is the guide for part of the curve of the seat.

The seat is then made by simple cementing in place a thin sheet of styrene following the angle at the front, rolling over the tube and meeting with the corner of the cut, then cementing down at the centre of the cut-out, and finally end is cemented to the vertical box section at the rear.


Strips of styrene were then cut and cemented into place to replicate the padded sections.

http://x94.xanga.com/a76f3b10d6035230496366/w181649881.jpg
By having this framework, I can replicate the pattern very easily.


With that done, nect comes the padded section of the back-rest.
Again, a "measured" pattern was formed out of sheet styrene and box sections and tubes.
The angle of the back rest was made by cementing a 1mm strip of styrene to the top edge of the box section. The rear sheet was then simply cemented to the bottom edge and followed the angle created by the extended lip.
http://xc1.xanga.com/772f1117d8730230496410/w181649908.jpg


After more sanding and cemeting of strips, you end up with this
http://x39.xanga.com/11cf0010d8233230496432/w181649925.jpg

And when tacked together for checking
http://xcd.xanga.com/212f320416732230496452/w181649938.jpg

Still got lots of sanding to do before the holes are filled.
THe back needs to be sanded into the correct (curved top) shape before the next step of fabricating the side bolsters. Haven't quite figured out how to do that yet and I'm off to Hong Kong for the New Year on the 23rd so may not have time to work on this tomorrow.

wow~ love the seats!!
im sorry to say it still looks like shit for now, but i admire your effort and all thaat... and im really lookin forward to your progress!! haha

Those seats are insane!

DM you aren't 100% sane to me :D
I wait for more, great stuff!

DM you aren't 100% sane to me :D
Must be because of that open glue bottle! ;)


I wait for more, great stuff!
Agree, excellent job on those seats.

I will be following this one closely. I can’t wait to see how you replicate the yello piping.:popcorn:

Great thread-nice work so far; I plan to do a similar upgrade to the Fujimi 575 Maranello from the Superamerica.

As for the 550 interior, I had a Burago Maranello kit and it's seats/door panels were adapted pretty easy and looked far better than the Fujimi parts. Glad I had that parts kit when I did :) I wasn't going for super-detail, but a good upgrade from the kit parts.

http://images110.fotki.com/v559/photos/1/10258/17860/DSCN6708-vi.jpg

Hirofkd created his own seats and door panels too, and created a copy for me. A lot of work, but worth the accuracy!

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x82/BVC500/550int-1.jpg