1/20 Model Factory Hiro 1974 Ferrari 312B3 Argentine/Brazil

[robmarsh]

Hi All

I have just finished building this kit which I started in August. It consists of parts made in resin. white metal and photo etch and the manufacturer, Model Factory Hiro has included some superb detail. It was a very interesting build which took me some 70 hours all told. Hope you enjoy it.

[charleselan]

Rob,

That is really lovely work, simply stunning.

Two questions :-

(1) Do you use Tamiya paint, or automotive mixes?

(2) Are the polished metal wings provide in the kit as finished or do you polish them or apply metal foil?

Just out of interest  .

JC

[René]

Rob, what a fantastic model. The detail level is amazing!

I have never done a Model Factory Hiro kit so I have kind of the same questions as JC; are all the parts and the body pre-painted or have you done it all yourself? And do you apply the decals yourself?

Fantastic Ferrari model. Wouldn't look too bad in my own Ferrari collection.

[robmarsh]

Hi JC/Rene

Thanks for the compliments guys-I really appreciate them. WRT to your questions. The bodywork is a mixture of resin and white metal. In this instance I used Tamiya white primer (2 coats),to neutralise the difference between the white metal and the resin, then Tamiya TS47 (chrome yellow) and Finally Tamiya Bright Red TS86 (3 coats). The metal wings were in white metal which I polished using Tamiya Sponged Sand paper. Starting with 180 I worked my way through 240, 340, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000 and then micro mesh cloths from 3600 to 12000. I finally finished off with brasso, but after I spilt it on the dining room table cloth it has been banned by the boss. To maintain the shine I sprayed 1 coat of Tamiya metal primer and then 1 coat of Tamiya gloss clear TS13. The decals I applied myself. They come with the kit. These kits are really good but you have to have your wits about you. Many of the holes for the suspension parts, pipes etc are really just little dents which need drilling out. You need to do a lot of dry fitting and studying of the instructions up front. After all the polishing, drilling etc I now have tennis elbow. But it was fun.

[René]

That is real craftsmanship Rob with a wonderful end result. Hats off as Niki Lauda always says!

"I finally finished off with brasso, but after I spilt it on the dining room table cloth it has been banned by the boss."

Ha ha, that is very recognizeable!

[Jamie]

That’s breathtaking Rob, quite stunning as the others have said.

I think a morning nosing around your model collection should be added to my bucket list.

[robmarsh]

Thanks Jamie anytime you are in the neighbourhood

[mikael]

Rob,
amazing level of detail and "realism" -- like the burned area on the heat shield in front of the battery, the battery-caps, the thickness - and variety in thickness - of the cables, the springs of the suspension system, ... Amazing, really. A beautiful work.
Best wishes
M.

[Deleted]

Beautiful. Stunning detail, really.

Also driven by the greatest ( ) to almost the title. Bloody Luca.

(PS: Cheers guys, see you next week, I'm offline for the weekend)

[robmarsh]

Thank you all for the very nice comments and compliments-I really appreciate them.