Kit: 1/24 Tamiya Ferrari F40, kit #24040

Pros: This has been said many times before - Tamiya F40 is a great kit. But a kit that was excellent in 1987, is less so nowadays - technology has changed, the mold has worn out, the detail level of modern kits is way up, and in the end we have a kit that is simply not up to modern standards. Still, one of the best (if not the best) kit of the Enzo's last creation, the brutal F40. Correct body shape, very nice wheels and tires (even though a bit on a small-ish side), great interior detail, outstanding engine detail, still crisp details (despite an old tool) and traditional Tamiya packaging. Good engraving on all parts, easy to follow instructions and nice, thin decals.

Cons: It seems that this time I noticed a lot more negative things about this kit than when I built it the first time around. The dreaded engine lid fit problem is still there (no surprise really), the fit on some of the parts is still horrible. Some heavy mold lines on the chassis sub-frame, heavy ejector marks on more than few parts. Not very realistic-looking headlight assemblies, glass engraving is very faint and rather toy-like. Very faint panel lines that required re-scribing. Not entirely correct color guide, no mention of placement of composite decals.

Verdict: Given the number of mediocre F40 kits on the market, it is unlikely that any plastic kit manufacturer will release a new kit that is better than this Tamiya offering. It still remains one of the best kits to build F40, and the only one that has full detail. With some work, it could be built into a good looking replica of the beast, but fit problems and lots of cleanup required stops me from recommending it for the beginners. Its a great kit for more seasoned modelers though. Enjoy!

Here is what I started with: Tamiya kit, paints from Zero, few various carbon decals from SMS, Studio 27 and Acu-Stion photoetch sets, Crazy Modeler racing harness set and emblems, ProTech braided lines, Sakatsu fittings, and few other goodies for a nice superdetailed build.

Tamiya kit is a really good and detailed kit, but it is rather old (1987) and it shows. Amount of mold lines, ejector pin marks, and flash was scary! The tool is just plain worn it is quite evident. I started with correcting all little imperfections on the chassis.

All flash and mold lines were cleaned up, pin marks were filled with Tamiya putty, and everything has been lightly sanded and tidied.

If you are familiar with the kit, you know that rear bodywork is a very ill fit, and requires a bit of massaging to fit right. In fact, even after cleaning the parts and removing all of the imperfections, it was still fitting pretty bad.

I started with some sanding here and there to make the main body fit to the chassis. The fit of the chassis is very important because it will eventually affect the fit of the engine lid. The problem lied in the rear wheel arches, which were adjusted to make the chassis fit correctly.

Finally, the lid was sanded and test fitted to the body and chassis. I had to cut and sand the lid here and there, and finally made it to fit right.

Entire body was lightly sanded and test fitted – I had to heat and bend the lid and body itself in few spots again to make it fit right. This body required the most amount of work I had ever put in a plastic kit body!

Once the body was more or less corrected in its stock form, I decided to fix couple of things that were just incorrect and annoying. Additional engine cooling ducts behind the rear windows are part of the body on the real car, but given as part of the window in the kit.

So, both sides of the body were extended with sheet styrene and carefully puttied and sanded to make a smooth transition.  The real cars' ducts are a bit curved, but I decided not to replicate that curve, simply because it won’t be really visible on the model anyway.

This modification necessitated changes to the side windows – the “duct” part was shaved off the windows, and windows were carefully sanded and then polished to restore clarity and get rid of the sand marks.

Once the modification was completed, I sprayed a light coat of gray primer to check my work. It looked good so I re-scribed/deepened the panel lines, and followed it with a coat of gray, then coat of white primer over entire body.

All F40s left the factory in Maranello painted red. Several were repainted by their owners later, and this model was destined to be painted Giallo Modena. First I painted all internal crevices and inside of the body. Most of these areas will be covered with Kevlar decals later.

Then I painted the rest of the body. I used Zero paints, and their Giallo Modena base coat is wonderful and covers really well. I had to wet-sand couple of imperfections, but additional coats blended really well.

Chassis was also painted, wetsanded, and painted again. You can see the amount of work that went into making all these body parts fit.

Finally, body was clearcoated with Zero paints pre-mixed clearcoat. For some reason (probably too much thinner in this batch) it cured rather heavily textured. I decided to  add another coat to make sure I have enough thickness for polishing.

Body was polished with 3M polishing compound, followed by Tamiya Fine compound and that took care of all the texture and made the body really nice and smooth.

Finally, body shell was washed, and waxed with Last Detail’s Treatment model wax.

Before proceeding with assembly, I have separated most of the parts, and removed all mold lines and tiny imperfections from them. I also pre-drilled necessary holes, etc

Sink marks were filled with Tamiya putty, and sanded smooth. Amount of pin and sink marks is really high for Tamiya kit, and here is where the age of the mold really shows. Took a while to clean and fill all these.

To replicate texture on the seats, dashboard and cam covers, I used textured paint from Rust Oleum (fine grade). The texture is especially convincing on the cam covers - they look exactly like cast iron covers on the real car!

Shock absorbers were cut, springs replaced with metal springs made out of Radio Shack black coated wire (great for this purpose), and absorbers themselves were made out of aluminum tubing of suitable diameter. I used plastic hats from kit shocks.

Brakes were detailed with photoetched faces from Studio 27 set, and I also drilled the calipers and attached brake lines made out of coated wire.

The nut that secures the wheel on the real car has a pin that holds it in place. Tamiya provides these nuts as one piece with wheel shaft. To replicate the pin on the model, I drilled a tiny hole in the nut...

..then made a pin from black coated wire. While not quite the same as on the real car, it looks a lot better than plain nut without the pin.

After repeating the procedure 4 times, I had four pins, four nuts, four disks - the brakes were ready to install on the chassis.

Then I continued with my favorite part - the engine of the beast. Block was put together, filled, sanded, primed and painted Model Master Aluminum metalizer, then buffed. Exhaust system was fitted with S27 P/E shield, then painted with various MM metalizers, then also buffed.

Chassis plate was carefully masked, and black portions of were painted with Tamiya acrylic flat black.

The insides of the chassis were also carefully painted since parts of it will be visible after assembly. Rear bumper/tray was not painted since it will receive heat shielding/carbon kevlar treatment later.

Engine was test fitted to he chassis to make sure it fits properly. Trimming after decals are applied and sealed is very risky proposition.

Cam covers were painted red, wired and detail painted, This picture shows the awesome texture from Rust Oleum paint very well.

I wanted to add some more detail to the engine and decided to fully plumb the turbos, etc. Used various ProTech braids, Sakatsu fittings, scratchbuilt fuel rails, and some additional plumbing on oil and turbo hardware. Clamps are made with BMF.