I Checked OUT of Rehab !- Ferrari 312B

Finished models...
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steveracer
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I Checked OUT of Rehab !- Ferrari 312B

Post by steveracer »

Face it guys, I am a modelahalic. I am stuck in the basement, keeping to myself, antisocial and distancing for the winter. My wife works on cardmaking next to me, so painting causes tension at times. So I am putting myself through Rehab with a very dear model to me. And will do a brief WIP of this with as Elvis sang, a little less conversation a little more action.

However to start, this kit was presented to me in I believe 1973. For Christmas. It was the ONLY gift I received, as times were tough and a $14.00 model car was pricey for my parents. But is was THE gift and I remember the excitement of opening the package to this day! Built it back then, displayed it, and for maybe 20-25 years it went to the barn, and was rediscovered and rekindled fond memories. Mario's first F1 victory, South Africa, red car, 12 cylinders, awesome design mixing cigar car with fat tires and wings. What is there not to like for a 15 year old kid that loved racing!

I gotta restore this gem.

Follow me along the path to deconstruction and reconstruction with updated skills from 45 years ago :)

We enter the barn on Christmas Eve, 2020, rummage around in the back room looking for a new kit to build. In the back under a stack of old papers and Scale Auto magazines, is an old Florsheim shoe box. Florsheims! And there it is.

My Uncle had country place that no one knows about...."I strip away the old debris, that hides a shining car. A brilliant red Barchetta from a better vanished time".

Wow! Jackpot!
https://i.postimg.cc/SRTBP66K/1.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/RhZrGsn8/2.jpg

So let's tear into this, 47 years or so to the DAY!
https://i.postimg.cc/Qx6bRffx/IMG-4061.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/G21JkVmz/IMG-4065.jpg

I kinda like the ageing of the engine case....
https://i.postimg.cc/sgvcy5LP/IMG-4063.jpg

Rear tires shot, rims look nice with patina.
https://i.postimg.cc/g2kDj9b1/IMG-4139.jpg

A few days of work to disassemble and assess. Strip the old paint and decals.... (used oven cleaner on old Testors red)
https://i.postimg.cc/br96D80Q/IMG-4045.jpg

And you end up with this...
https://i.postimg.cc/MG6hz39G/IMG-4057.jpg

There are a lot of little broken pieces in the suspension, and some malfeasance from the original builder, who melted radius rods to "fit" around the air intakes....we can rectify that now, since this originally was a Model Rectifier Company kit.

More detail to come.
Last edited by steveracer on Tue Mar 02, 2021 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Indy1977TX
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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by Indy1977TX »

Fun project! Good luck with this one.

Jordan
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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by blakebirk »

How fun!
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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by AJP01 »

Thank you very much for the Neil Peart lyric reference. Rush has been a great influence in my life and I appreciate them more and more over time.

Are you going to use Icon's tire replacements on this one? I can't remember if they will fit the Tamiya rims as well as the AZRM metal ones as well, but I'm sure we'll find out.

Cheers,
AJ
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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by steveracer »

AJP01 wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:53 pm Thank you very much for the Neil Peart lyric reference. Rush has been a great influence in my life and I appreciate them more and more over time.
No thank you AJ for noticing! I saw Rush live once maybe 7 years or so ago, and was an awesome show. Unfortunately they did not play my favorite tune ! Now I have this in my head all day, and it makes me want to drive in rallies again! It is the perfect rally song, the images can be so strong! Your Welcome!
Are you going to use Icon's tire replacements on this one? I can't remember if they will fit the Tamiya rims as well as the AZRM metal ones as well, but I'm sure we'll find out.
You will see that I have another set of sources gold Firestones. Got these off ebay maybe two years ago along with the wheels. I plan to maybe use the patina'd wheels on the finished model, and if they look out of place, I will refinish them.

https://i.postimg.cc/8z2hS9MD/IMG-4143.jpg
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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by Daryl_Huhtala »

Following along on your build. I have one to restore & one fresh kit. My issue with the kit tires was always the overwide front tires. I've never seen a picture of a 312B with tires that wide. They seem to be 2 extra tread grooves too wide so when Icon came out with a corrected set I grabbed a set.
SUMUS QUOD SUMUS
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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by wastgate »

Great restore .I follow.
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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by gp-models »

Nice project! Very tough work ahead!
Can you explain how you uploaded these pics? They look much bigger than most of the pics actually around, how did you get managed to post them that large?? Tried it for a couple of times now, but no succes and me and many more followers like the big pics!
Take a stand!
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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by steveracer »

gp-models wrote: Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:03 am
Can you explain how you uploaded these pics? They look much bigger than most of the pics actually around, how did you get managed to post them that large?? Tried it for a couple of times now, but no succes and me and many more followers like the big pics!
I really just cut and paste these from Postimage. When I saw how they were composed on the COMPUTER, I wanted to find out how to DOWNSIZE them! The right portion of the images are cut off on the landscape ones on my computer, but appear ok on my iPhone. So I wanted to get them to at least include all of the intended image. Having said that, I may have my screen res set a bit different for 120% text and that indeed does skew my view.

What are you guys seeing? For example the car in the box should show the whole car. I only see 70% of the actual image.

I will be uploading another installment maybe today or tomorrow as a lot of work got done over the weekend.

Thank you for the encouragement and looking in! As usual my research is a lot of fun and am learning about this car and the 1971 races as well!

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Re: I Checked in to Rehab - Ferrari 312B

Post by Chinamalc »

steveracer wrote: Tue Jan 19, 2021 9:08 am As usual my research is a lot of fun and am learning about this car and the 1971 races as well!
Hi Steve,

Great project, I am seeing the whole of the car in the box (viewed on a PC running windows and Chrome as browser).
I think the Tamiya kit represents the 1970 car? In 71 the team transitioned to the squarer shape 312B2 and ran lower profile slicks on both the 312b and 312b2.
An easy improvement is to remove the inner fairing of the front wings, I have yet to find a picture showing these, I have no idea why Tamiya thought they should be there.
Indycals also do a nice decal that simulates the seat material, see here:-
https://www.indycals.net/decals/f1/70ferrari312b.html

Looking forward to the next update.

Malc.
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