Ferrari 312 T2 1977 Lauda 1/12 MFH

[vekkuli]

Very nicely built . So precious.

[bossy122]

Are the wings polished white metal or painted? Quite shiny either way.

[marlborored]

Terrific build!!!

[sky1911]

I like what I see in this thread for the most part. The model is beautiful, with the exception of the fitment issues you have quoted. I am with any that comment, it shouldn't be the case, but then again, what is modelling, if everything would fit right away? It takes a bit of the fun away really (if you are so inclined). Like for example, the first kit I have "built" after a +25 year hiatus was a Bandai 1/72 Tie Fighter kit. You don't even need glue for it, they just go together like that plus you could take them apart at any time, if you didn't paint them. It feels like Lego, add a brick to a board, add another brick, done. That does not take skill, just patience - if even that. However, it was great to finally have something "completed" for a change. With the average plastic kit you will always need some sanding and filling to hide or minimize gaps before you apply paint to make the model look perfect. Depending on how much you have to sand and fill the kit is either good, ok or bad. Think Tamiya T70 and other similar kits, far from perfect (doors anyone?), but still fun to build and not overly complicated or tricky to do.
The thing I wonder about is, would those issues not be apparent during a test build of a kit to see where issues are. I assume with rapid prototyping parts you would be able to do so before you go into production, right?

I'm just starting this MFH kit.
Your Ferrari is nearly perfect except the body fitting. I have built many MFH kits and most of them had more or less body fitting problems. So my conclusion for this brand is: Never start painting the body before the chassis is completely finished and the fit defects of the body parts are remedied.
These fit defects are very annoying for such an expensive kit and after all the building efforts to get a perfect model car.
Regards ferrarissimus

Do you have an outline for us that may yet embark on the first MFH build? I.e. which steps do you take first? I'm asking for a friend, j/k. Actually I started working on the 1970 LH 917 a long while ago and what I did was prepare the body, tape all the resin parts together to see where fitment issues were obvious and went to sand them so that the body parts would line up properly for near perfect transitions (exception: the bleeping doors). Regarding the tubular frame... well I intend to not use the supplied WM frame anyway, but instead build my own via brass and aluminium tubes on a jig, but from what I saw, the supplied frame should work ok. I chose to go the "build your own" route because I didn't like parts of it or thought they were "off" or they were bent due to packaging (and being WM and heavy at that, too), plus I prefer original materials...
The way I read your post you basically leave the body be until you are done building the frame, engine and suspension parts and only when it's time to fit the body you start working on it, trying to make it fit the rest, correct? Or do you have preliminary test fits of those parts at an earlier stage, too?

/soory for Hijacking

[plastiksurgeon]

Spectacular build ! I've always loved this second T2 on its way to looking like a T3 !

Cheers,
Steve Mohlenkamp

[gp-models]

Very nice and clean work, looking good, especially the polishing job on the wings and the cockpit tub, awesome! Would you share your technic how you polished these parts to a mirror chrome effect? It does not look like paint, so i bet you spent a lot of time on bringing this amazing polished effect on, impressing!

[eriroc]

Are the wings polished white metal or painted? Quite shiny either way.

wings are polished only.

[Teles]

Wow, great work!

[f40]

Nicely done.

[Seema]

Very good work. I love this era of vehicles with large and partly exposed engines. It's a shame that the hood doesn't fit. That could have been adjusted for the drywall phase, but since they display it openly I see no problem. I still have the 76 version to build. Let's see how I can handle it.