Hasegawa Ferrari 312T 1975 Monoco Winner

Hello everyone!
It is my birthday tomorrow and I went to Udisco to celebrate a few days early! I picked up Hasegawa's kit number HAS-23202S with the PE upgrade set HAS-72136, the Ferrari 312T from the 1975 season that raced and won at Monaco. The cost was 78.00 CAD before taxes and after looking at some other kits I wanted to originally buy, this kit turned out to be quite the buy.

The model:
196 parts (sans PE parts) molded in red, white, black, grey and clear.
Decal set for Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni. Included are decals for the drivers helmuts and uniform, but there is no driver supplied in the kit.
PE set, which includes venturies and............wait for it...............mesh screens to cover them along with adhesive backed seatbelts.
One set of 4 tires, nicely molded in a nice gloss rubber.
Instruction manual for assembly of both the model and a seperate instruction manual for the PE set.





Overall first impression is that Hasegawa's extremely fine molding process I enjoy in there aircraft is present here in this model. I see 2009 on the instructions so I must assume this is a recent die and release. There are NO sink holes and edges are crisp and fine. I have found a few ejection pin marks but as of yet I have not seen any on a exposed area, although there are a few on the front and rear wings(bottom) and on the underside of body panels. The plastic is neither brittle nor is it too soft and I think Goldielocks would be in heaven. The instructions seem straight forward but I never could get used to how Hasegawa uses its call out for color. No worries as I have plenty of reference material for painting. The only thing that I find so far is that I will have to strip down the chrome wings. There are fine hairs and dust which have spoiled an other wise excellent chrome finish and there are obviously seem lines on each leading edge which I would have had to remove anyway. Alcad will be a must for producing a new finish.

Ok now the surpises!! I told you that this kit has turned out to be quite the buy, well let us get started. The PE parts are fantastic! If I can I will insert a scan of them here. I was pleasently surprised to find that the PE set has the "Good Year" stencils! So excited about that! There are plenty of fun little things there such as a battery holder, some duzz fasteners, wing end plates, disk brake surfaces and radiator grills and of course set belt metal, just to nake a few. Now for the goodness! Milled aluminum venturi trumpets WITH mesh covers! Both are excellent quality and a total surpise once the kit was opened up at home. Actually my wife drove and I opened it in the car on the way home. She got tired of me saying WOW as I inspected the contents of the box hehe.

Unfortunaly my digital camera's usb cord has flown the coop so I will have to give pictures at a later time.

Pros: Crisp detail molds, execellent PE set, (reserved for edit)
Cons: Poor quality control on the chroming process (although I dont think I have ever seen a "perfect" chrome piece ever!) Slight warp of very thin leading edge on the air intake (pictures later)

Once I figure out how to post a few scans I will.

Best regards,
Mike Olds

Well, this model has been put on hold. I have just received all my models from San Francisco and I have to prioritize what I will be working on. The list is long but I think I will list below the models for priority one....

Hasagawa Me 109FX Galland 1/48th
Dragon Me 163B 1/48th
Tamiya Porsche 935 with Scalesport 500+USD upgrade kit 1/12th
Several Group C prototype Tamiya kits 1/24th
Several F1 Tamiay 1/20th kits

More later on the 312 but for now I have several kits near completion and MUST focus on them.

Best regards,
Mike Olds

Youch!
I know what you mean...
I am also guilty of being the world's ultimate procrastinator!
I have over 200 projects that are at the 50% done stage or more...
I have 26 projects at the 95% done....
Killroytech can be called as a witness to this!
So we can be called upon for motivation if you need it... (I know I do )
You can count on us!

Beware the Hasegawa decals, sometimes the white part becomes yellow after a while.
Besides that, it looks like a super kit!
To answer Coyote about procrastination: I'm almost as bad... I have a few one who could vote because of their age!

LOL you guys.....well I know about putting things off and starting anew...hehe

Best regards,
Mike Olds

i don't think i have finished a kit in about a year and im getting more for my birthday
i don't know what im going to do ???!!

the kit you have gotten Mike is a great one i have built it before and the decals are really nice unless they yellow like most revell decals do
the PE set you have looks nice also never used it though my kit didn't come with it

enjoy the kit i hope it comes out nicer than mine,

Robert

Thanks Acro 94!  Ok just some pics of the engine and front suspension components WIP.














Best regards,
Mike Olds

You're putting me to shame, Mike...

The brake air ducts, maybe sand them so the thickness of the plastic won't be so apparent? Just sayin'

I thought about doing that Buzz but I just did not feel like making a proper tool to do the job correctly.  Next time.  lol  Plug wires are installed and just need some tweaking.  Broke the anti roll bar so taking the time to add some detail and replace the actual bar and drill out the mounting holes.  Next up is the fuel filter and oil filter.  Should be done this weekend and I will post some more pics. Also scratch built the front and rear shocks. I have a special tool to make them and it works very well. I will include the tool and shocks also in pics.



Best regards,
Mike Olds

Excellent job Mr. Olds


What kind of metallic paint did you use ?   Metalizer, Humbrol metal cote, alclad ?  


or ... Is it some metallic paint from Michael's ?



C U,

Fernando V

Tolo, Everything is Tamiya or Model Masters and was airbrushed.  Tamiya colors used are Titanium Gold (heads, end plates, transmission), Aluminum (body of the engine block), Metallic grey (wheel hubs, brake calipers), Semi Gloss Black (Suspension components and everything else ;-)).  Model Masters Chrome was used on the distributor/fuel pump plate.
The axles are covered with Bare Metal Foil. The actual face of the caliper is a photo etch part that came with the kit.

Best regards,
Mike Olds

Wow, Ï never thought Tamiya could give a nice metallic finish.

Thank you sir,


Fernando V.

You are welcome Fernando. The Tamiya "metallic" colors have two very different finishes and looks depending on how you apply them. When hand painted they have a sparkle look to them as if there is glitter in the paint. If you airbrush them they become more, for a lack of a better word, creamier. That is why I always airbrush them as the finish looks more like a metal and less like a 10 dollar hooker. ;-)


Best regards,
Mike Olds