Tamiya LaFerrari

Hi Fellas,

This project is a lot of firsts for me. First Ferrari, First project where the body work will be done with airbrush, first car in a long time, first time using carbon fibre decals. The last car I completed was a Tamiya Nissan 370z about 2 years ago. I'm more of a truck guy but I love cars too. Since I'm using an airbrush I've assembled the body in sections. I've noticed there is a lot of seams where the body work attaches to each other that don't exist on the real car, so I've used filler. will sand them clean soon. The kits going together well so far. Here's a pic. Any tips or advice, I'm all ears. Cheers

Ben

off to a good start so far.

Just went crazy on eBay buying sanding sticks. Was trying to sand the putty/bog with stuff from the chemist, but it was no good. Will do as much as possible without the body work. Should progress alright.

Ben

Go to a paint shop, or autobarn etc, get some sheets of wet/dry sand paper, 400,600,800,1000 grit, a couple of sheets of each will last you a long time, at least it will conform to the shape of the body you are sanding mate, sticks will give you a flat surface where you probably dont want one.

I agree with DeeCee on buying wet/dry paper, I also get 2000 W/D paper.

Cheers fellas. Got wet and dry. I've ordered the flexible stuff. Can't get into places with the wet and dry alone. Wet and dried the body ready for paint. Will put up the pics of what I got when they get here.

Ben

Just a little update. Test fitting the main structures. Fits together well, but way different to a truck. Hopefully haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Also pictures of the sanding sticks I'm using for the body work. Cheers

Hey thats the Batmobile! Lookin good dude.

Looking really good so far. I love the way Tamiya kits just fit so well.
Haven't got the La Ferrari kit yet as I still have two Enzo's and an FXX to build.
Keep up the good work.

Josh.

I like it like that, chuck some offroad wheels on and a seat and its done

blatdriver wrote:I like it like that, chuck some offroad wheels on and a seat and its done

Lol. I like the structure of the vehicle. I've got two colour schemes I like the look of. Red with a black roof and black mirrors and wheels, or all red with black mirrors and wheels. Interior will be black with red outlines on the seats. Will be working on paint prep the for the next week. Should be ready for undercoat by Friday next week. Cheers.

Ben

It should look good   

Hi fellas. The flexible sanding sticks are great. Best investment I've made apart from an airbrush. No flat spots so far. No pics as I am away from home and can't get my laptop working on the net. Wil update with photos when I get home on Friday.

Ben

Sanding sticks look useful where'd you grab them from Ben?

checkmate wrote:Sanding sticks look useful where'd you grab them from Ben?

Got them from eBay. I live out in the country. I haven't seen them anywhere apart from the net. Type in sanding sticks in the search engine. It was out of need that I got them. I'm very impressed. The laferrari has so many complicated panels that need sanding when you use filler. My usual automotive sandpaper didn't cut the mustard. Also tried flexible nail files from the chemist but they didn't work either. Cheers.

Ben

Thanks Ben, I'm out in the sticks too mate so the net and evilbay are sometimes the only option for me.
I'll have a look for some.
Cheers
Rob

I use these from Hobby Tools Australia.

http://www.hobbytools.com.au/detail-sander-stick-2502-9-blue-w-240-grit-belt/
Very good for getting into narrow corners and when the paper loses it's bite you just move it on and you get a fresh bit.
I have 3 different coloured handles (different grades of paper) but there is no reason why you couldn't just buy one handle and keep swapping the paper.
I haven't investigated yet but I suspect that the narrow loops are cut from belt sander belts and if you wanted to save money you could make your own.

zenrat wrote:I use these from Hobby Tools Australia.

http://www.hobbytools.com.au/detail-sander-stick-2502-9-blue-w-240-grit-belt/
Very good for getting into narrow corners and when the paper loses it's bite you just move it on and you get a fresh bit.
I have 3 different coloured handles (different grades of paper) but there is no reason why you couldn't just buy one handle and keep swapping the paper.
I haven't investigated yet but I suspect that the narrow loops are cut from belt sander belts and if you wanted to save money you could make your own.

That looks handy. Cheers.

Ben

Small update. Started wiring the engine. Cheers.

Ben

I was wondering how this was going. good to see.

Hi Fellas. Small update. I've been playing with my airbrush. They are great. Using alclad 2 light grey gap filling primer as the base coat, then I will use Tamiya white primer after I fill in the gaps I've missed.

Hi Fellas. Small update. Great kit, would be good to do a full detail version with the engine fully wired up. Cheers. Ben

bennyg wrote:

checkmate wrote:Sanding sticks look useful where'd you grab them from Ben?

Got them from eBay. I live out in the country. I haven't seen them anywhere apart from the net.  

I stock up on each trip to Japan, they are great and can be found in various widths, the little plastic sticks with abbrassive surface can wear pretty quicly but the pinted ends are very useful in some tight sanding situations.

Although the full sized (like nail files) versions can be found here, I've not seen the narrow sticks anywhere I shop here in Oz.

I also use the sanding belts as shown by Zenrat, they can be found at most local hobby stores and I have 12 different grades of abrasive (only 2 handles), although I do pick the belts up when I travel so I may end up with more than what's available here

Hi Fellas. Small update. I've mocked it up to show it's progress. I will be stripping the primer that I've used on the body panels and swap it for etch primer. The current primer is alclad 2 primer and it is flaking off easy. The LaFerrari is a great kit but I probably should stick to trucks. Cars are crazy hard. Learning alot from this though and plan to get another Tamiya LaFerrari and really detail it. Cheers. Ben

Up to the last phase. Need to get the body panels stripped and repainted. Hopefully should be done soon.


Ben