WIP: Tamiya 1/20th Ferrari F189 (Early)

[SeanyG]

Billy,

great stuff! I love the first picture after your picture of your new soft box. I must admit its something I am looking to improve with my work too. I heading straight down to Tesco's to pick up a cardboard box in the morning (along with some greaseproof paper!

Just out of interest what camera are you using and any special settings?

[billypee]

Originally Posted by SeanyG

Just out of interest what camera are you using and any special settings?

I'm using a Canon 400D digital SLR Camera with the kit supplied EF-S 18--55mm lens. In terms of settings, I control the depth of focus (DOF) using the aperture setting. By making the aperture on you camera smaller (increasing the F value) you ensure that a greater depth of the image is in focus... and vice versa. What this means is that you need a tripod because, for example, the second image that you said you liked was a 10 second exposure. To minimise shake induced by pressing the button, I use a remote cable.

A DSLR camera is a substantial investment and not necessary to improve your photographs. Even with a modest point-and-shoot camera, learning how to use the manual mode, using a tripod, getting close and having the good light will all result in better pictures than the average modeller posts. If you want to know more, PM me.

Bill

[billypee]

Quick update,

I have added ignition wire, which is MFH 0.28mm piping cord. As you can see I also picked out the spark plug sockets in X-18 and X-11.



The bottom rear fairing is attached to the engine and transmission by 3 post on either side. The reference pictures show that these don't exist on the real car but I decided to include them anyway. As they were called for X-18 I decided to CF them. The inside surface of the fairing will be covered in BMF so I am unconcerned about the untidy bottoms.



The trumpet tray (anyone know the proper word for this?) has had some extensive work done to it. In the previous post, I told you that I was going to delete the moulded trumpets. This I did and they have been replaced by AcuStion trumpets. The trumpets were too big so I filed the sides a bit to have them fit properly... close up you can see that I did not do that good a job with that task, but from a foot away they look great. The tray itself was painted using my airbrush and is the very first thing I have painted with an airbrush since the camouflage on a Lancaster bomber about 25 years ago. I sprayed gray primer, gloss black and Alclad White Aluminium on the outside... the inside stayed black. I covered the inside with CF and painted the top edge in pure XF-7 Flat Red (not the mixture called for in the instructions). Overall, this item was the most complex part so far and I don't think it would be possible to paint it properly otherwise (well at least not me)



Test fitted, the engine and transmission look pretty schweet now



Moving onto the cowling, I have painted the interior XF-1 Matt Black (un-thinned) with a heavy brush stroke, to recreate the rough surface I saw in the reference photos.



The lower side fairing got the same treatment, but this will ultimately be CFed over. Note that the side vent interior is supposed to be black as some other notable F189s on AF have not been



Finally, for this update at least, I have painted the air vent on the nose section XF-1.



Still plenty of work to be done on this to get it finished this year... but I am enjoying this build very much so it should be in the bag.

Regards,
Bill

[OrangeR]

Great an update! opcorn:
Nice work on the engine it looks very good.
As I recall the posts on the rear fairing are present on the real car but they are not circular they are plain, I think Tamiya made them circular for strength.

One thing has been on my mind and that is: How did you manage to get the same hight on the trumpets? Are the Acustion trumpets the same hight than Tamiya ones? Hope I made myself clear I'll personally not make changes to that part, it scares me you, on the other hand, did a splendid job. Congrats.

[billypee]

Originally Posted by OrangeR

As I recall the posts on the rear fairing are present on the real car but they are not circular they are plain, I think Tamiya made them circular for strength.

Hi Rodrigo, yes you are correct, there are some thin metal supports on the real car although they appear to be located differently. I decided that I would leave them they way Tamiya wanted them as I would have had to fill the holes in the engine and transmission and they were already painted... maybe next time when I build the Portuguese version

Originally Posted by OrangeR

How did you manage to get the same hight on the trumpets? Are the Acustion trumpets the same hight than Tamiya one?

I used a rotary drill to delete the moulded trumpets, and a pin vise to drill out the holes to 2mm. I remove the parts underneath the tray too, which I was going to replace with brass rod but as they cannot be seen, I am not going to bother. The AcuStion trumpets just click into the 2mm holes very easily and because I sanded the edges they sit side by side properly. Despite their obvious short comings, I will definitely use them again.

[stevenoble]

Very nice work so far Bill,I'll be checking in for updates.

[willster127]

Billy, Very nice yet again, your work just continues to amaze me. As for the photo box, I'm gutted, I just bought one from the local photography store!!! It's a nice piece actually but is basically exactly what you have here, Oh well, it was actually for my company use so the company bought it!!!!!!

As for the correct term for the trumpet tray, I believe the correct term you are looking for is "trumpet tray"!!!!!!!!!!!! Which looks excellent by the way, Nice work, I look forward to seeing more.

[billypee]

Originally Posted by willster127

As for the photo box, I'm gutted, I just bought one from the local photography store!!! It's a nice piece actually but is basically exactly what you have here, Oh well, it was actually for my company use so the company bought it!!!!!!

I can't take all the credit for the photo box idea... this was my inspiration http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07...to-studio.html

Originally Posted by willster127

As for the correct term for the trumpet tray, I believe the correct term you are looking for is "trumpet tray"!!!!!!!!!!!! Which looks excellent by the way, Nice work, I look forward to seeing more

Thanks for confirming that although it sounds too non-technical to be true

[billypee]

This is what the AcuStion trumpets look like. They are not specific to this car, just the 12 pack for 1/20th scale. I picked them up from MediaMix in Singapore.



The bottom of the trumpet is recessed and so will just push into a 2mm hole that you have drilled in the trumpet tray.



The trumpets are too big for the F189 but can easily be sanded. I just held them in a pair of tweezers and rubbed against a sanding board. until I had taken about 0.1mm off 3 sides, i.e. a bit like this:
__
|o)
¯¯

With the trumpet now looking a bit like a 3 sided square, with one side still curved, I installed the trumpet with the curved side inward. Does that make sense?

[davesans]

Nice work on the engine Bill I like what you have done to it the dry brushing on the cam covers, the CF work on the trumpet tray it all looks great.

[billypee]

Cheers Dave... it's always nice to have your vote of confidence on one of my updates

[billypee]

F1 Modeling finally arrived from Rainbow Ten, which meant that the Museum Collection decals I ordered to be delivered at the same time have also arrived. The decals I had in the kit did feature tobacco sponsorship but some individual decals were damaged and as a whole they looked a little old and tired.

I have not used Museum Collection decals before and was a little apprehensive about them given the problems that Steve had with his Mclaren MP4/5B. Thanks must go to Steve for answering my questions sent via PM. The decals I am using are NOT Hi-tech decals but are "normal" ones... the part number is MC-D213. My experience has been curate's egg (good and bad). The good side is that they are thin decals and well printed, the downside is that the printed part of the decal will very easily detach itself from the carrier film... you have been warned. Anyway, enough chat and more photos:



In the photo above, you can see that part of the Mansell decal (the one at the top of the nose cone) fell off but as it is only a small part at the bottom right I will leave it be. The other thing you will notice is that I have omitted the WEBER decal underneath the MAGNETTI MARELLI decal. This is partly due to a piece of the R falling off, but more to do with the decals not fitting properly as they dont fit on the real car. Rather than have the MAGNETTI MARELLI decal over the air duct I decided to remove the WEBER decal so it all fits properly. The more anally retentive among you will have a hissy fit but, you know what, I will live with it



I flowed brown ink into the panel lines and have added SMS carbon fibre decals to the radiator ducts. The decals have only been on an hour so, obviously, there is no clear on the body work yet. However, at least now that the decals are on, it feels like I have made real progress.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Shunter]

It is getting there Bill. Nice progress so far.

[Decs0105]

really nice work Bill!! And I just added building a cardbox to my to-do list

But one thing I noticed while were on the photo subject. It looks like the pics have a slightly yellow undertone which is caused by your lamps. You should try to adjust the white balancing (I hope it's called like that) in your camera settings a bit this would make the pics pretty perfect I think!

[stevenoble]

I am glad the decal tips helped you out Bill.I must admit that although the Museum Collection decals are reasonably good they wouldn't be my first choice.I would only use them if there were no alternatives and the kit decals were poor or damaged and unavailable.The model is looking good.Really nice progress so far.