Fujimi 1/20 F1 87

[vanhookvintage]

Hi All,

I was unable to finish the 1/43 "Black Nose" (my tribute to Tinkerbelle, our cat who just died) because I totally mangled the rear suspension. So, I'm starting this, and hopefully will see it through. It's the early version, with the low-profile turbo intakes.

I got the missing Mboro driver's name chevrons in a F'artifice sheet, and the Joe Honda F1/87 photo book from Mac's. Will do #28, Berger.

One thing that I see from the Joe Honda book is that the engine in the kit is from later-season versions, with the most notable difference being the pop-off valve. The kit has the pop-off valve on top of the plenum, but in the early versions, the pop-off valve was on the tail end of the plenum. I haven't really scrutinized the kit engine and the book yet for other differences, but if that's all, it should be easy to scratch the correct pop-off. Either that, or build it curbside.

This is my 1st Fujimi kit, and so far I really like it.

Gonna use Gravity Colors Rosso Corsa and Clear Coat.
Cheers,
Greg

[R.Wells]

Good to see you back at it Greg!!

[vanhookvintage]

Thanks Russell.

It's been a chaotic Summer, but I did get to meet the President with my son at the White House Reception for the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act!

Cheers,
Greg

[1slowhand]

How very cool!!! Congrats to you and your son ( and hoorah for the ADA)

[gtziaf]

Congrats to you and your son.
I follow this closely. Good luck!

[jordan]

Cool ! All the best

Alex.

[Starr]

Hi Greg,

I'll watch your w.i.p. with great interest, I have the Japanese GP version of this kit.

Thanks for share it. Nice picture with your son and Mister President.

Regards,

Starr

[Eagle50]

Sorry to hear about Tinkerbelle. I'm sure she had a great life.

Congratulations on meeting the Prez.

If you've got a kit with early release instructions, DON'T paint the insides of the of the side radiators ducts black. The insides should be body red like the rest of the car. (But if you've got a Joe Honda reference book, I'm sure you've noticed that.)

She'll be a beauty. It's a nice car when done.
Cheers, Chris

[vanhookvintage]

Hi Chris, Thanks, I was just looking into that last night. Yes, that area IS red, and instead of being a sharp break (the vertical joint where the sidepod and that part meet) it's a smooth curve where the Agip logo wraps around into the vent. So Ive been pondering how to handle that.

Cheers,
Greg

[Eagle50]

Yes, the side pods can be done better. I'm looking at my instructions set, and my three year old finished build, trying to remember how I did it...

-- First I sawed the "radiators" (surfaces that the H8 colour hints point to, with the molded mesh) off parts B1 and B2. I used one of those photo-etched plastic saws that fits in a box cutter. And I cut parallel with the face of the "radiators" so they'll still be a smidgin wide (i.e. the width of part B1 and B2 plastic), and not show an ugly gap in the final assembly. This made the radiators look more realistic when seen through the side ducts (i.e. obviously not one molded part of B1 and B2). And it made them easier to spray paint silver, separately.

-- Then I cut the tops off B1 and B2 (i.e. what should be the inner radiator ducts off) so that I could paint them black separately.

-- Then I was just left with the upright sections of B1 and B2, minus the "radiators" and (what should be the black) duct tops. That is, I was left with only the inward curving surface that should be painted body red.

-- Then I glued the side pods (three parts on each side) together. That is, what was left of part B1 + part B5 + part B12 (to make the right side pod), and what was left of part B2 + part B4 + part B11 (to make the left side pod). If you think about it, these are all the side pod surfaces that should be painted body red as a unit. I used small dabs of super glue to "weld" everything together. Then when that dried, I pumped super glue into the joints from behind, to give me two rock solid side pods.

-- Like you, I noticed that there should be a smoother curve where the ducts "go in" near the Agip logos, so I sanded that joint into a rounder curve from the outside. I couldn't go too far, without sanding through that vertical joint you're talking about. But it looks better than the sharp join you get from assembling the side pods "out of the box".

Hope this helps. I'm sure you'll find a good solution. That's what modelling's all about.

-- Oh, you can also cut / saw / cut / hack / saw the back off part B8 too (cut back-to-front, and save the rear lip so the body cowl still fits against it). That will leave a little "cave" under the rollbar for the telemetry electronics that were on the real car. Which (as I learned from a modelling magazine) you can fake / scratch-build easily with a stack of little plastic card rectangles glued together to look like a "box with cooling fins" to go in that cave, if you want to go that far.

Cheers, Chris