Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

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ferrarissimus
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Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by ferrarissimus »

I wonder why I never saw a conversion of the 1/12 scale Tamiya Ferrari 641/2 from 1990 into a 640 from 1989, although it seems relative easy, because there are many similarities.
I'm going to make an attempt and post a WIP here in the f1m site.

There are two versions of the 1989 car. I will do the early version with the low motor cowling as it raced from the season opening until the Monaco GP, cause I like the sleek lines of the car.

What are the main changes of the conversion? Here is a to do list:
1. Chassis:
Central fuel tank behind the driver's seat is lower than the '90th car and has to be reduced in the height and the backside straightend.
Lateral tanks need a new shape.
New roll bar and electronic boxes.
2. Floor needs only marginal change at the front air intake.
3. Motor can nearly be unchanged overtaken.
4. Only slight changes at the suspensions.
5. Simplified cooling system. The early '89 type had only water coolers in the side pods. The oil cooler was located in the V of the motor and is not visible. Although I had an intensive recherché I got no idea how it looked and worked.
6. Front and rear wing need only small corrections.
7. Cowling needs the greatest changes, but with some styrene sheets and putty it could be managed.
8. Decals: The 'Eni Chem' and the 'digital' signs are missed in the Tamiya Kit, but Indycals offers a complete 1/12 decal sheet of the '89 type.
I am going to comply with this sequence and will start with the chassis in the next post.

Regards ferrarissimus
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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by lezdep »

Interesting project. Not sure why it wasn't done before either. May be there is more to correct conversion, that meets the eye.
Trasn-kit for such conversion, should not be that difficult to make. May be you will make one yourself.
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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by daveyman »

Be interesting to watch this, please could you share your progress if at all possible...

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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by jaykay »

Looking forward to this project!
I've thought about it, but no time and many other things to do...
The reason nobody's done it yet may be, that most people like the 641/2 better anyway. I like the 640 better too, but prefer the late version.
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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by gp-models »

Interesting project you try to run, will be watching it! Like the late version more, but to see any conversion on it would be great! :)
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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by JamesB »

ferrarissimus wrote:I wonder why I never saw a conversion of the 1/12 scale Tamiya Ferrari 641/2 from 1990 into a 640 from 1989
Easy: we tend to update rather than backdate. I saw no bakdating of Tamiya's 1/20 MP4/5-B (besides the very stalled one of mine :roll: ) when it's such an easy thing. And there was more than a decade between this one and Fujimi thing, to do it.
Besides, it's easier to update the 89 to 90 (I did at 1/20)than backdate the 90 to 89. Besides, IMHO, the '90 is sooomuch more beautiful..
ferrarissimus wrote: 5. Simplified cooling system. The early '89 type had only water coolers in the side pods. The oil cooler was located in the V of the motor and is not visible. Although I had an intensive recherché I got no idea how it looked and worked.
Reeeeaaaaaaalyyyy????? :shock: :shock:
never heard that, though I don't doubt it. The way you describe it, it sounds like a heat exchanger, of which there were some examples at that era, and where the oil gets cooled by cool water within a small box.
Where you got this data?
Besides, ultra interesting project.
BR
James
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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by daveyman »

For What it's worth I prefer the early season low airbox with the intake slots. Very elegant looking solution, but then I also liked the Benetton approach from the same era.
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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by JamesB »

daveyman wrote:For What it's worth I prefer the early season low airbox with the intake slots. Very elegant looking solution, but then I also liked the Benetton approach from the same era.
Yep, it's more distinctive, I suppose... Not sure which one I prefer... but being one of the last with visible roll hoop (made with metal tube) has its charm...
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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by ferrarissimus »

Thank you for the comments yet. I's not my intention to make a transkit of the car.
The source for the oil cooling system is the 'Ferrari Formula 1 Annual from 1989 by Enrico Benzing published by Automobilia. On page 70 Benzing writes about the development since the Monaco GP: 'One significant detail concerned the oil cooling system, altered from the small heat exchanger inside the cylinder V to two lateral coolers inside the side pods at the height of the engine subframe'.
Remarkable for me is, that Tamiya's '89 Ferrari in scale 1/20 has no pipes for the water and oil coolers.
First pictures from the conversion will follow soon.
.
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Re: Conversion Tamiya 1/12Ferrari 641/2 to 640 '89

Post by JamesB »

Thanks for the info! So they did put two small radiators, yu know, like in a seventies car, amidships of sidpods? :shock: well, roo, there was.
Remarkable for me is, that Tamiya's '89 Ferrari in scale 1/20 has no pipes for the water and oil coolers.
Don't read too much in this, in fact Tamiya has skipped those in soooo many cars..
Anyway maybe on this one they were hidden? though I think not. They should be there.
I'll try to look my old magazine pis, there might be something revealing.
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