Peterpools

Thanks Rob and that's exactly how I feel about F1 racing of that era. I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure out how to display the Ferrari as my earlier idea of leaving the outer shell off and displaying the Ferrari with the full chassis bare to the wind didn't sit well. Sounded good at the beginning but the more I looked at the model and thought about it, I just wasn't crazy about the idea and no matter what, she surely wouldn't have the look and power of the 312T at all. I needed to make these the display decision now as I would have to fill and remove a lot of panel mount pins and holes and that wouldn't be possible after painting. After a lot of test fitting, I decided to add all the side panels, giving the Ferrari her look and feel and leave the upper panels and shells off the fuel tanks and the cockpit off. I was shocked how poor the molding of the outer sides panels are as compared to present day Tamiya - lots of interior injection pin marks that can be seen had to removed and there are sloppy fit issues that need to be dealt with. I'm only guessing but I feel Tamiya went with the three piece side panels trying to replicate what Ferrari did and also the limits of molding back in the mid 1970's. I've been working strictly now on the six outer shell parts and will shoot to make each three part panel, just one piece prior to adding it to the chassis at the end. See how it goes .. By the way, I've have the Brabham kit and am looking at both the 935 and 934 down the road. Love to see how you work your magic on the 935 and Martin's included. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Noting like a Gift Certificate or cash for a birthday present - removed the hesitation from buying what we want/need regardless of price (sometimes). Nice chipping and damage to the Zimmerit - looks so good. So glad to see the base coming together as it adds time and place. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kriss Nice work on the engine - looks terrific. Tires and masking do look good as well. Keep 'em comin Peter

John Thanks for the info .. are they enamels, just not sure? They absolutely do shoot beautifully .. of course the skills of the painter is the missing ingredient. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob Simply astonishing work ... just a treat to follow and enjoy. Keep 'em comin Peter

Oliver I simply blown away - - just incredible work and the detail is spectacular. Keep 'em comin Peter

Jeroen The Office looks great - perfect touch Keep 'em comin Peter

Carl Front office is so nicely taking shape as the details being added. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Martin, much appreciated. Great photos and memories. Lauda surely dominated and I loved watching him if the race was broadcasted here in the states, as cable was just getting starting; their big push: No Commercials - now it's more commercials then anything and at times unwatchable. Keep 'em comin Peter

Carl Enjoying my trip back into my younger days and the kit has been all fun so far. Holy smokes a MFH 1/20 scale Ferrari 312T3, now that's livin' for sure. Love to see you do a build thread on the kit. Keep 'em comin Peter

John Your gloss finish looks mighty good and looking forward to the next stage: decals. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz So glad the Panther is back on the bench and the weathering is continuing, as it looks so realistic; tracks with using oils for the mud is spot on. Now the Christmas tree ... something I never would have thought about and wish I I had some ideas. Keep 'em comin Peter

TAMIYA 1/12 FERRARI 312T 1975 NIKKI LAUDA World Champion and Construction Champion KIT MOLDED IN 1976 (BACK TO THE PRESENT) Our contractors have resumed work and that means any chance of painting my GT40 body with a gloss finish is on hold until the renovation is completed – way too much dust from cutting wood, painting and construction. I’m guessing but it easily looks as if three weeks mores or maybe four will be needed before they are finished and I can resume work on the GT40. In the meantime, I thought I would get a jump start on my next build project: Tamiya 1/12 F1 312T Ferrari. I purchased an original production kit from 1976, now a good 46 years old on ebay and I was hooked. The kit was the state of the art back in 1976 and if memory serves me correctly, light years ahead of most model companies. The kit with shipping was costly and no PE or resin at all. There are a number of incredible AM upgrade sets still available but the cost for all, would bring the total close to a MFH kit! Tamiya has been upgrading and releasing it’s 1/12th scale F1 kits but when I purchased my Ferrari, I didn’t realize the 312T was available as part of the upgrade series of kits. I have since purchase the 1/12 Brabham BT44B, which comes with PE and Cartograf decals and I do have my eye on a few more the upgrade kits. The way I see it, there are a few ways I can go about building the kit: 1. Go all out, buy the AM detail sets …not a chance. 2. Build it OOB and see what I can do 3. Purchase a new set of decals from Indycals. I’m going down the path of number 2 and 3 as my favorite part of any build being painting and decaling. So that’s the plan, an OOB build with the best presentation as my goal. Since I’m still a newbie to automotive modeling, I’ll be following Tamiya’s instructions closely and seeing how I do. Where else would Tamiya start: the main body tub and front office. Molding is crisp, nearly 100% flash free, most parts have faint molding lines that need to be removed and there are a number of injector pin marks that need to be dealt with. Part fit is good, not perfect and a few parts even have their alignment pins keyed; Tamiya was on the right path. While the instructions are thorough and well laid out, nowhere as comprehensive as we have today and to my eye a bit confusing, especially for a newbie struggling a bit to understand the orientation of some of the components. I made a note to go easy on following the color callouts as Alclad, Gravity Paints (Spain), Tamiya Lacquers and Model Air didn’t exist in 1976, as it was the world of enamel paints. Geez, there wasn’t even Extra Thin, just good old tube glue and liquid cement. Sanding sticks and sponges – not a chance. Since I’m restricted on what I can and cannot paint during this period of our home renovation, I’m hoping I can still prime and maybe attempt a NMF on the chassis and if not, then just keep going forward, completing sub-assemblies. OFF TO THE RACES Starting with the aluminum interior chassis, all the parts had the mold lines carefully removed, concentrating on part fit and squareness. The firewall had six large injector pin marks that needed to be filled in with CCA and removed. The rear fuel tank and oil cooler thanks assemblies had seams that needed to be dealt with that’s about all the issues encountered at this stage. At the front bulkhead, the rack and pinion steering was a bit fussy, since this is a working assembly and ultra-care needs to be taken on part orientation and what is glued and what isn’t. Once I figured out how the parts should fit, all went well. The two oil coolers and two radiators were tackled next, no issues at all and I got carried away with myself and as they were primed black, base coated and finished with Alclad Dark Aluminum. Pin washes and some detail painting is still needed to bring out the details. If I would have purchased some of the optional PE detail sets, the radiator screens would have been replaced, but that’s not the plan. Right at the start, the builder should decide how the Ferrari will be displayed as it effects how the numerous exterior body panels will be utilized with the following three options: 1. Is the Ferrari going to be finished leaving all the body panels off the chassis and displayed next to the finished model? 2. Are all or a portion of the exterior body panels going to be glued in place, helping to insure the best possible fit? 3. Will the body panels be removable, offering unlimited display options? My choice is to build the Ferrari with the body panels off and displayed next to the model in the display case. Fit is good but dealing with 46 year old plastic, I worry about the plastic cracking with all the handling and being snapped into place each time a panel is added or removed. I’ve reached step 8 in the instructions and the interior body, front suspension and cockpit are now ready for priming. Thanks for checking in Peter The white dot on the upper cowl is close to the only filler I needed! Just the beginning of the army of parts and assemblies.

John Got ya! Keep 'em comin Peter

Drifter Much appreciated Keep 'em comin Peter

Gus One good looking Huey. Keep 'em comin Peter

Scott Glad it all worked out well in the end Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob What a build and education. Completely agree Mike's suggestion and inputs are a toolkit of techniques. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz I'm simply blown away - just incredible work. Fit and finish is spot on and weathering looks so good. On a prop that small, your hand painting looks just fine. Keep 'em comin Peter

Oliver Simply brilliant work ... I've never seen an IP and center console look this realistic. Incredible work. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks John Just a fun build and no filler ... now how about that. She is on hold for a few weeks now as painting is impossible with the contractors resuming work on Monday. Keep 'em comin Peter

Hi Ant Thank you for the very kind words. The GT40 is on a week weeks hold as our contractors are back tomorrow and will need a good two or three weeks to finish up our home renovation. No chance of doing any gloss painting with all the dust from the construction that will be all over the place. I starting to do the initial sub assembly work on my next build: Tamiya 1/12 F1 Ferrari 312T that will at best right now only require primer. Gloss wet coats just aren't in the cards while the construction crews are here. Keep 'em comin Peter

Jeroen Have to agree - the Eduard decals do look better then the Quinta offering. Keep 'em comin Peter

John Your P-51C is looking mighty good and I've never seen you on this type of roll - you're working at a speed I just can't fathom. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kev Awesome progress on your Sabre - she is looking mighty good. Model photography isn't easy and I would go with the two images taken with flash, as the one without the flash, the bright light is a killer. Best bet is to try and either diffuse the light so you won't have the hard glare reflecting of the model. A piece of white linen oftenr does the trick. Keep 'em comin Peter