Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

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Gabrielabadi23
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Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 4:59 pm

Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

Post by Gabrielabadi23 » Mon Aug 05, 2019 5:08 pm

Hello dear forum members, my name is Gabriel, I wasn’t planning on sharing this on forums since I’ve never done it before, but I decided to share it with you guys.

So I have this Maisto Ferrari F50 for around 15 years approximately, always knowing how inaccurate it is but since no high-end brand had made it in die-cast on 1/18 scale I lived with it.

I own 4 BBR Enzos and obviously the level of detail is amazing.
This led me to deciding on making this Maisto Ferrari F50 BBR level so I can properly and proudly display it alongside the Enzo’s and the upcoming FXX-K Evo’s.

I’ll add a few pictures of the model in it’s current state

But the mod’s I’m planning on doing are the following.


1. Repainting the whole car

2. Adding the proper carbon fiber decals as the real one being twill or weave in certain areas. (Inside and out)

3. Removing the doglegs and adding the proper hinge mechanism on the front and rear clamshells that resemble the real one. Also modifying both lids on the inside so they look as the real ones.

4. Modifying the engine (basically I’ll have to build one) to get the proper amount of detail and parts it’s should have including the wires and piping including the gearbox.

5. Adding the mesh grills in the front bumper, intakes, and of course the rear one which is the most tricky one since the one on the model is way out of scale.

6. Build the proper rear light encasing

7. Adding metal pipes for the exhaust replacing the cheap plastic looking ones.

8. Building the whole front compartment as detailed as possible. (Battery, wires, fans, the whole thing, the metal frame)

9. Adding the proper strut support for the engine lid with it’s real mechanism.

10. Adding windows to the doors.

11. Adding a openable fuel cap door.

Those are the things I have in mind at the moment of writing this, I’ll also be adding aluminum tape insulation to the engine and more stuff including all the badges, engine plaques.

This will take me a bit of time since there are many things I need to order online, including a micro drill set to make the proper holes for screws for the new hinge mechanism.

Any advice or opinion is very welcome and I hope everything comes out the way I’m picturing it so this could be the most detailed and real looking Ferrari F50.

Greetings.

Gabriel


Here are a few pictures of the model as it was, I had already started working on it, so there are also some updated pictures.
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[KRAFTIG]
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Re: Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

Post by [KRAFTIG] » Mon Aug 05, 2019 6:28 pm

Hi, welcome Gabriel to DS! This is an ambitious project. Looking forward to the results!

Gabrielabadi23
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Re: Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

Post by Gabrielabadi23 » Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:02 pm

Hello thank you for the reply, here are some pictures of the process I already began.

I was also thinking on buying a 1:18 Looksmart Ferrari F50, since some parts like the grills,windows, rearview mirrors are a lot more accurate and could help me with this. Definitely not cheap, but I think it's cheaper than creating my own.

I'm using an actual technical blueprint of the F50 which I found online, print on scale to figure out where everything goes. Right now I'm trying to build the structural steel support frame for the front and back since on the model this was made of cheap plastic, any ideas of what kind of metal I could use?

I found some old shel support brackets I could cut and use for the main steel bars.
but for the tiny ones I have no clue since on the back a few of them are round.

I'll appreciate the help.



Here are the pictures:

Still need to sand the gas cap hole I made. I cut the metal part on the engine bay that hold the rear bumper with the main body since this is not present on the real car. I still need to cut the wheels arches since the ones on the model aren't complete, I need to add the other side to make a complete arch, later cover it in carbon decals.

On the front I need to cut the plates behind the intakes so I could add the proper parts with the right depth to it.

On the hood the air vents are filled with putty to make them one piece as the real thing (still need to sand this tho)

Also, I'm showing the movable strut supports I'll be using for the engine lid. The hinges for the front and back obviously are not the same as the real car but I'm still thinking on making them look more accurate. (btw and idea what type of micro drill bit I could use?)

I'll appreciate your comments, thoughts, ideas.

The gas cap hole is already made but still need to sand this area
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I separated the rear bumper from the main body
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The metal piece that was under the area where the roof goes and attached the whole back to the main body is gone and I already sanded the area
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This is the hinge and strut mechanism I'll be using for the rear clamshell (dog legs are gone)
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This are for the front clamshell
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Air vents filled with putty and attached to the front hood.
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the idea is to make it look like the 1:8 Amalgam Ferrari F50 which is mind blowing and basically the real thing in miniature
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[KRAFTIG]
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Re: Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

Post by [KRAFTIG] » Tue Aug 06, 2019 5:57 am

I wish I could offer some genuine guidance, but I don't really modify models. As for parts, I'm not sure buying other models are more cost-effective than creating your own. The biggest challenge I see is the motor, a donor might be the best option.

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StratosWRC
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Re: Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

Post by StratosWRC » Tue Aug 06, 2019 6:56 am

I believe Tremonia make PE kits for this model, which you can find on ebay. For random PE parts, hoses and rivets, use evolution-online seller on ebay. For machined metal parts for the throttle linkage assembly etc use rbmotion.com

Legende Miniatures will have lots of parts for the F50, like seats, maybe even kits. I believe they have the GT conversion kit so you could borrow some parts from that.

Nothing wrong with using a Looksmart as a donor car but resin models are very poor in terms of detail so I doubt that's worth the money. When I was building my R30 Skyline, I basically joined 2 autoart models together and I think the whole build cost me about $500-600 if you count both the models, wheels, interior and engine detailing etc.

Gabrielabadi23
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Re: Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

Post by Gabrielabadi23 » Tue Aug 06, 2019 10:51 am

Thank you guys for the replies I really appreciate it, I’ve been looking online for months now. As for the engine I contacted a company so they can 3D print me one, It will be between 60-100 separate parts to make it as real and detailed as possible.

What I thought about using from Looksmart were the grilles, the rearview mirrors, the windows if they fit and basically see what other part I could use from it.
I still need to buy a lot of parts and I had that in mind, this whole thing would probably cost between $400 and $600 dollars to make; that’s the reason I want it to be as close as the real thing

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Re: Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

Post by [KRAFTIG] » Tue Aug 06, 2019 5:47 pm

I basically joined 2 autoart models together and I think the whole build cost me about $500-600 if you count both the models, wheels, interior and engine detailing etc.
That's an expensive proposition. Love the passion! :popcorn:

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StratosWRC
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Re: Making the most detailed 1:18 Ferrari F50

Post by StratosWRC » Wed Aug 07, 2019 7:13 am

[KRAFTIG] wrote:
Tue Aug 06, 2019 5:47 pm
I basically joined 2 autoart models together and I think the whole build cost me about $500-600 if you count both the models, wheels, interior and engine detailing etc.
That's an expensive proposition. Love the passion! :popcorn:
:beer: :beer: :beer:

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