1/20 Tamiya Ferrari F189 (late version)

[Pete75]

My second ever build. IMO the most beautiful F1 car in the downforce era. I've seen some really impressive examples here and elsewhere which have provided instruction and inspiration.



Quite enjoyed doing the drivetrain so far. I mixed up the Tamiya paints as suggested in the instructions & the colour actually does tally with my reference pics. Highlighted some raised areas on the engine block - my first attempt at dry brush technique. Did the trumpets with the trusty Molotow chrome marker.



Just Tamiya rattle cans for the bodywork. Haven't flatted the laquer on most of it yet, but wanted to finish off the nose section to see what it will look like. Have got AM tobacco decals ready to go.



The wings are done. Sprayed with Tamiya semi-gloss black then semi-gloss clear before decals. Reference pics (see below) show lines on the front wing that aren't indicated in the instructions. I went for Humbrol acrylic 171 (antique bronze).




Sanded down the tyres by putting the wheels in an electric drill and running them over 400 grit paper & put some Vallejo gloss on the walls. In the process of applying AM decals.



Ferrari F1 seats have been finished in a fawn coloured Alcantara (synthetic suede) for as long as I can remember; the pic above is of a later car, but the material will be the same. I ordered AM seatbelts before opening the kit (a lesson learned), and was displeased to discover the harnesses moulded into the seat (see below). However, I have acquired a tester patch of Alcantara from eBay (may get a different colour) & plan A is: 1) Take away the highest parts of the harness moulding using an electric burr. 2) Even out the resulting surface with Vallejo plastic putty & sandpaper. 3) Fix the Alcantara to the seat with contact adhesive spray. Owing to previous build errors I have a second kit, so plan B isto just paint the other seat & sell the AM belts on eBay!

[Kevthemodeller]

I'll be following this one with great interest

[Gary30]

If I ever build an F1 car, it will be this kit, Ferrari nailed it with the F189 (in terms of looks at least, outright pace not quite a match for the Mclaren's) such a great looking car.

Looks like a good start, be nice to see this one progress

[theoneaeon]

like it. looking forward to see more

[barryf1fan]

Beautiful start!! sub'd.

[Pete75]

Update:




This part of the assembly was trickier than I had imagined as I had to do a bit of fettling to get the suspension arms into their correct positions. Also the exhaust manifolds didn't really want to line up properly and required some plastic putty to close up gaps, but I'm happy with how they turned out as the colour is a pretty close match to my reference pics: mostly Tamiya XF-16 with a touch of XF-56 and XF-59, then finished off with Vallejo dark panel wash. I intend to return to the engine later to add some leads and ducting (probably), but next up is the chassis...

Thanks for looking. Pete

[barryf1fan]

YES!! This one is gonna be out of the park!

[Shunter]

Nice start and yes a beautiful car of it's time. Nice to see it being the #27....

[Pete75]

Update:




Have progressed to the chassis/monocoque. My first attempt at carbon fibre decals and using self-adhesive foil. The latter is Bare Metal chrome which I found (barring the odd inexplicable bubble) conforms easily to irregular shapes, as advertised; however, it's quite brittle so I didn't fancy cutting holes in it for the exhaust and just used XF-16 for that section (which will be mostly covered anyway). The CF is Tamiya extra fine twill which, although subtle (you have to squint to see it), looks about right to me.

If anyone has experience doing the radiators on this model (or similar) then suggestions will be very welcome: the XF-16 suggestion in the instructions is not going to cut it!

Cheers, Pete

[DRUMS01]

Your care and eye for detail is really going to make this one a show stopper. I am enjoying watching your build.

Great job so far!

Ben

[Shunter]

Looks good and nice work with the CF.

[Pete75]

Mixed report. On the good side, having put off doing the radiators because I was short on ideas, I just took the plunge:



Reference:



I've seen smarter and more precise examples but I reckon my iteration is quite faithful: radiators are, after all, not pretty things. For those interested, I found the grille lines are both narrow enough whilst being raised sufficiently that a 2mm Molotow chrome marker will run over them without affecting recessed areas (sort of). I used a mixture of XF-16 and XF-56 as a base coat but found it wasn't dark enough, so I ended up flooding the lattice work with Vallejo dark panel wash a few times before repeating the chrome. I would just use XF-10 if I did it again.




On the down side, I found the front suspension assembly plus the side panels of the nose section a real pain to line up. In truth, they didn't line up at all (inexperience I expect) and required a mixture brute force, filler & touching up to get it to where it is: I'll be de-emphasizing this in final photos! Thanks to those who've left kind comments

[Twokidsnosleep]

Radiators look very good
Lots of cars gotta be muscled into place...it builds character

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking good, it's all coming along very nicely

[theoneaeon]

looking good so far

[Pete75]

The monocoque is now complete. It gave me a few difficulties, so I'm not really sorry to move on from this section!



My grand plans for the seat, involving power tools, putty and Alcantara ultimately came to nought; not for the want of time and effort, however. I did indeed use a rotary burr to flatten out the moulded seat belts but found it to be (for me, at least) too heavy duty an approach: it did the job but split off a couple of pieces of the seat edge; if I tried again I think a sharp blade & patience would suffice. I persevered, however, and grafted on replacement plastic and smoothed everything out with Vallejo plastic putty, but the process took days to complete (with all the drying time, then sanding, then repeating). Utimately, however, when I put what I'd done next to the unmolested spare seat, it didn't look as good! So I couldn't be bothered to proceed to the fabric lining & the AM belts (I wasn't particularly convinced by the cheap swatches anyway) and reverted to plan B: paint! My mix was mostly XF-2 (white) with some XF-59 (desert yellow), plus X-21 (flat base).

Cockpit dash:



Reference:



The hydraulic lines are 15 amp fuse wire painted with X-8 (lemon yellow) with a dash of XF-53 (neutral grey), then varnished. The fastenings are just 5 amp fuse wrapped around, then painted black and glued down. The gluing was a bit nightmarish as it damaged my CF decals, which had to be partially replaced...



I also decided to have a quick go at doing a fuel cap/valve by drilling out some sprue.

Reference:



So onwards to finishing off the engine bay and trying to construct some radiator ducting. Thanks for looking.

Pete

[Shunter]

Looks great, very nice work.

[barryf1fan]

Man, this is looking spot-on, great work. Love the details!

[Pete75]

Started sticking bits together. Added a couple of extra tiny decals and an oil pump hose (as per reference below). The radiator pipes along the sides of the monocoque exist thanks to @Motoholic (Andy) who shared his process in the thread for his own build. The only possible difference (not visible in his photos at least) is that I fashioned flared ends (ref photo above) by simply heating the styrene rods over a flame before flattening them with a screwdriver blade; the ends then hook nicely into the natural slot on the inner edge of each radiator.





So, touch wood, not that far away now: side sections > bolt on wheels > glue on front & rear wings > finish bodywork. Thanks for looking

Cheers

Pete

[Pete75]

Back after a 7 month hiatus. I had intended to finish this, my second build, a long time ago but circumstances intervened...

One night, after too much wine, I held up the above chassis to admire it and the next thing I remember was the sound of plastic hitting the kitchen floor tiles... I made a horrified sound like Doc Brown from Back To The Future but was too stunned to even swear. Unsurprisingly it was in several pieces which, once located, were shovelled into a box and thence into a cupboard where they remained until I could work up the courage to revisit them: a few days ago, to be precise. As it turned out it was only couple of hours gluing and touching up to repair and really could've been much worse, so I count myself lucky.

So back on track, I've pretty much finished the bodywork bar the mirrors & the side latches; just need to get busy with the trusty Molotow chrome marker and stick everything together and the next post will be finished article.




The fit of the upper removable body to the lower part is not the best in the world. I've worked hard to get everything as good as I can get it when I was gluing the chassis back together but something, somewhere, is out of alignment and the lid (for want of a better term) will only sit flush with downward pressure on opposite sides. I'm considering trying Blu Tack to hold it, but I'm not sure it'll work. I suppose I could glue it, but it seems a bit of a shame to cover up my hard work permanently. Suggestions/comments welcome.

[Hawkmoon]

Looking good have you tried the small magnets-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100PCS-5mm-x ... 6d071cfd3d

[Pete75]

Looking good have you tried the small magnets-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100PCS-5mm-x ... 6d071cfd3d

Thanks Hawkmoon, great suggestion. I wasn't aware of these & will be giving them a try

[Pete75]

Finally done...



Employed Hawkmoon's magnet suggestion (great idea) but the body panels are so misaligned that I'd have needed an electromagnet to hold everything roughly in place, so I took the nuclear option and used the magnets as anchor points to bond with epoxy. Thanks for looking & especially to those who've left kind comments.

** Edit: see update below...

[Kevthemodeller]

Superb build Pete

[Pete75]

** Postscript

The panel gaps have been bothering me; specifically, where the top section meets - or should meet - the flanks at the rear. During assembly, the rear suspension arms and the body panels really didn't want to play ball causing the latter to be forced into an unintended angle:



In my haste to get the thing finished I had, ultimately, glued down the ill-fitting cowl believing that there wasn’t much to be done about it without risky major surgery. Then, having recently tested my first file set, I got to thinking: perhaps I could alter the angle on the top edges of the rear panels?

I wouldn’t be doing anything if I couldn’t get the top off but, much to my surprise, after carefully inserting/turning a blade in a couple of places the epoxy between the magnets popped in no time. No major damage done (just some touching up and new magnets needed), I got busy with the masking tape and the Tamiya files…





It took no time to level the first side, but on the other side I rediscovered that I hadn’t aligned the long side section flush to the chassis in the first place. Having come this far I decided to prise it off, then cleaned up the old glue and did some touching up before setting it down in the right place; I could then file the adjacent rear panel - as per the first side - and then prime/touch up the bare edges on both sides by brush.



The shut lines on this thing will never be great, but I’m happy that at least the gaps are now more even and that there is no longer any need for epoxy!

Thanks for looking. The (updated) finished gallery is here: viewtopic.php?f=46&t=27780&p=338864#p338864

[Kevthemodeller]

Good save Pete some very nice modification work

[Delticfan78]

Pete, excellent detail on the engine and exhausts, I've just started building this kit ,and found your photos and comments really inspiring. I look forward to seeing it finished.

[Pete75]

Pete, excellent detail on the engine and exhausts, I've just started building this kit ,and found your photos and comments really inspiring. I look forward to seeing it finished.

Thanks for the comments - delighted my scribblings have been of some use! Best of luck with your build

[Delticfan78]

Thanks Pete. The only problem I've had so far has been with a couple of the exhaust manifolds not being formed properly.

[Pete75]

Thanks Pete. The only problem I've had so far has been with a couple of the exhaust manifolds not being formed properly.

Yeah - a bit of tidying required. Mine never did line up properly, but at least they're buried under the engine!

[bigdave146]

Hi guys, thats an amazing build !!!! I have just started on this one myself. I am not that confident with paint mixing for the engine block, so I have painted it gold (!!) and was going to wash it over with something like gun metal, but do you reckon that will ruin it ? Never done a wash before, I was just going to mix some gun metal or similar with water and see how it turns out....
Dave

[BOABModels]

Nice job! We are sometimes our own fiercest critic and whether you are happy with it is most important.

I've considered getting this myself. I have the McLaren MP4/4 to build but no other 80s F1 cars.

[barryf1fan]

Hi guys, thats an amazing build !!!! I have just started on this one myself. I am not that confident with paint mixing for the engine block, so I have painted it gold (!!) and was going to wash it over with something like gun metal, but do you reckon that will ruin it ? Never done a wash before, I was just going to mix some gun metal or similar with water and see how it turns out....
Dave

You could always try and shoot different number of coats of Tamiya Smoke, X-19, on the gold to tone it down some. I've never shot it over gold, so maybe try some spoons first.

[Pete75]

Thanks Dave Being my first build, I found myself doing a lot of experimenting/learning along the way - still am! Don't be afraid to try stuff out on engines: I think to you'll be surprised at how "forgiving" they are.
Mixing paint for brushing should hold no fear IMO. If using Tamiya pots, a drop of their paint retarder is a must to keep the consistency right & buy extra time. I also use Revell Aqua, which only needs a drop of water, if anything, and is very easy to use. Experimenting with dry brushing on engines is good fun, so is using washes (I tend to use Vallejo black model wash on mechanical things to make them look used).
Good luck!

[BOABModels]

Hi guys, thats an amazing build !!!! I have just started on this one myself. I am not that confident with paint mixing for the engine block, so I have painted it gold (!!) and was going to wash it over with something like gun metal, but do you reckon that will ruin it ? Never done a wash before, I was just going to mix some gun metal or similar with water and see how it turns out....
Dave

You could always try and shoot different number of coats of Tamiya Smoke, X-19, on the gold to tone it down some. I've never shot it over gold, so maybe try some spoons first.

That's a good idea. I have recently used Tamiya smoke over steel to make exhausts look stained and burnt.

[LWWales]

Hi guys, thats an amazing build !!!! I have just started on this one myself. I am not that confident with paint mixing for the engine block, so I have painted it gold (!!) and was going to wash it over with something like gun metal, but do you reckon that will ruin it ? Never done a wash before, I was just going to mix some gun metal or similar with water and see how it turns out....
Dave

You could always try and shoot different number of coats of Tamiya Smoke, X-19, on the gold to tone it down some. I've never shot it over gold, so maybe try some spoons first.

I used some smoke over Alclad polished brass and it takes a lot to tone it down, so I would suggest this too! Just do some.light coats!

[bigdave146]

You could always try and shoot different number of coats of Tamiya Smoke, X-19, on the gold to tone it down some. I've never shot it over gold, so maybe try some spoons first.

I have ordered some X-19 today. I will have it on Friday so I will paint a bit of sprue gold and then put some X-19 on top to see what it looks like !! Thanks for your advice.
Dave