Ferrari 158/1512, 1964/65

These cars were already presented in an older thread called "Delicatezza Italiana' I started a year ago. I have now decided their build will only be continued in this thread but you can still read the original posts and comments here.
This double project was on hold for a while as I had trouble finding the right size wheels and tyres. But luckily I have found them now and even painted them in the characteristic 'baby blue' color!

This is the original planning and short background story of the cars:
Building John Surtees' 1964 title winning Ferrari 158 and simultaneously the Ferrari 1512, sometimes called 512. The latter is an evolution of the 158 (= 1.5 litre V8) with a 12 cylinder engine (so 1512 = 1.5 litre V12) and was introduced for the last two races of 1964 and then raced for the entire '65 season.
The 158 was the more successful car, winning the German and Italian GP's and subsequently the championship for John Surtees. The 1512 finished several times on the podium but unfortunately never won a race.
The kits are from Penelope Pitlane and I plan to add some additional detail along the way. For the 158 I have chosen John Surtees' Monza Grand Prix winner with the No.2 and for the 1512 I will build the No.17 that finished second in the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix driven by Lorenzo Bandini. The 1512 needed some plastic surgery as Bandini drove the short nose version in the race. It looks like it has actually been cut off, just below the Ferrari badge!

Below a brief picture overview of the project and the current status.

Cheers
René

 

Ferrari 312 B3, 1974

This is an entirely new project I started only a few days ago. The idea has been buzzing in my head for a long time but after reading on the new Flyslot Formula 1 cars for the coming year, I decided to give it a go. With the Brabham BT44 and the upcoming Tyrrell 007 from the 1974 season, I felt they needed a Ferrari to race against!

As a kid, I used to have a huge Polistil slot track and one of my cars was a Ferrari 312 B3. I lost the original car somewhere along the way but I re-purchased it some 15 years ago out of pure nostalgia. And now I decided to cut it into pieces!
The plan is as follows; I use a Flyslot March chassis as a base and then remodel the Polistil body to fit the chassis and have the same scale as the other Flyslot F1 cars. In case someone of the 'scale-police' reads this (just kidding

) I don't know how accurate to scale the end result will be and I don't care, I just want the car to be in line (optical) with the Flyslot cars. The Polistil body is far too big, I guess somewhere between 1/28 and 1/30 or so so it needs slimming down.

What I do like on the Polistil body are the bodylines and details so I want to keep as many of these as possible.

So here we go, cutting the body in half. Looks already a lot better but the nose is much too high so needs some bending and I cut a bit more from the body to make it even more narrow.

Seeing from behind you can really see the asymmetrical shape of the B3.
I also worked on the March front suspension to make it more like the Ferrari's: first I removed the high brake ducts (I will make new ones). Also removed the shock absorbers as the Ferrari has them neatly packed inside the chassis and I removed the upper front wishbones. The new ones will fit neatly in the Ferrari body.

Just for a first impression next to the Brabham. The wings are all wrong, the rear wing is from the March and the front wing is the way too big Polistil wing but it gives an idea. So far for now!

Cheers
René

 

The B3 from 1974 is my all time favourite Ferrari. Great to see someone tackle one and interesting to see the Polistil car used rather than the spanish scaley one!
Looks good so far, lookign forward to the reat of the build.
Cheers
Andi

 

Nice cars, nice photo's and nice article, keep it comming René, this is the good stuff that should be here to read.
So it can inspire other SF readers. Well done so far.

with kind regards
Tamar

 

Gorgeous builds - looking forward to seeing their ongoing progress...

 

You're an open wheel mad man!!! What an awesome job you've done on each of them.

My favorites are the 312 and 158, but where are the Porsches?!

 

Thank you all for the nice comments!

@Andi: yes, the 312 B3 is a georgeous car and it marked the beginning of a very successful period for the Scuderia. The Polistil car was laying on my desk for a long time and it somehow triggered my imagination. I also don't see any manufacturer doing this car in the near future. Carrera has the licence but don't do classic F1 and if so, it would be too big and heavy anyhow. Then it could be Scalextric, SRC or maybe Policar but I am not going to wait for that!

Cheers
René

 

Kudos Rene.
The work so far is terrific, and shows a lot of promise.
Your stated plans seem quite reasonable in these rebuilds, particularly the old Polistil B3.
I am afraid I am not as brave as you with the cutting and changing, mostly due to my limited abilities.
As Tamar mentioned, these are great projects, and I also look forward to your continued posts and progress.
Bob

 

The 312 B2 is beautiful what a transformation, inspires me to have a go at one. Lovely cars.

 

Fantastic work Rene.

The B2 is beautiful, the 158 and 1512 are looking good and will be wonderful examples from this classic era, and the B3....well I have a feeling that you are making a silk purse from a sows ear!
It is looking good and your work on bodywork (and fitting a fly chassis) is going to improve the car 1000%. I am so jealous of your talent!

Keep the pictures coming and thanks for showing us what can be done with some time a skill.
Cheers,
Philip

 

Great thread Rene, I look forward to the next instalment (and the Sport cars)

Joel

 

I have just started carving a 1974 B3 - I look forward to your build for inspiration - it looks great so far - I like the "scale police" comment, there have to be some allowances for gears and motors.

keep going mate - I love it

 

A lovely selection of subjects and great techniques in your builds.

My personal favourite is the 312 B2, it shows what can be done with those nice old Scalex bodyshells with a little nip and tuck, paint and decals you have produced a stunning car.

I look forward to seeing your updates to this thread.

David

 

Thanks again guys! I feel some pressure now to provide regular updates!

@Bob: you only need to be brave for a very short moment; when you decide what car or bodyshell might be ruined if things go wrong. That's all!

@Philip: "well I have a feeling that you are making a silk purse from a sows ear!" That would have been a great title for this thread so don't underestimate your own creativity!

You have done some wonderful builds yourself.

@Joel: the sportscars will come but first I have a few other F1 projects in the planning.

@DNQ: Yes, the scale thing can be a sensitive issue for some...

Don't get me wrong, I admire scale perfection but it doesn't always work on a slot car. Just as with my track, I tend to be more of an impressionist than a perfectionist with my builds.
Great that you are making a B3 too...or is it? I can see some B3's popping up on this forum soon and mine won't be that special anymore!

@David: thanks for the compliment, coming from one of the master builders on this forum!

Cheers
René

 

Update on the B3

I have been working on the cockpit. The original Polistil cockpit/airbox was all wrong and after trying to use some elements without success, I decided to make the cockpit and airbox all new.
This is the second attempt which I am happy with. The air intake is still rough but the overall shape is correct now.

Shaping, re-shapig and fitting...

Proportions are correct now. Don't mind the wings, they are wrong but just there for the impression.

Cheers
René

 

Rene

A great piece of work to create the cockpit surround/airbox out of sheet plastic. You haven't said but did you make up paper templates first to experiment with how to fold and shape it?

Thanks so much for showing us your work.

David

 

Hmmm, that cockpit looks so good, why not get rid of the whole body and build everything yourself?!

Andy

 

QUOTE (David Lawson @ 14 Mar 2016, 14:37) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>You haven't said but did you make up paper templates first to experiment with how to fold and shape it?

David, I have build a few cars before out of card board or plastic sheet. And many (many) years ago I worked at a professional model builder (for architects) during my study at art school so I kind of developed a feeling how to create a 3D shape out of a flat sheet.
I did use a template though for the correct side profile. I transfered a blueprint drawing on the plastic sheet to have the angles correct. But then again you have to take the roundings into account as they use more material than a flat shape...

Thanks,
René

 

QUOTE (Coides @ 14 Mar 2016, 14:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hmmm, that cockpit looks so good, why not get rid of the whole body and build everything yourself?!

Andy

Andy, it did cross my mind. But the body actually isn't that bad. I like some of the details so I believe I can make it work. But if it doesn't, I can always follow your advice and go for the full works!

More of a challenge will be to find the right five spoke wheels that will also fit on the steering front suspension.... Any suggestions are welcome. I did think of the Slot.it Matra wheels but I will need to measure.

Cheers
René

 

Rene, this is a fantasic thread which I have saved. Your ideas and process give me hope for a place to start
And with just some luck a decent finish. I happen to have a couple of old Scaley Ferraris, that would really benefit from
your ideas.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Bob

 

what glue do you use when joining the two body halves and the cockpit to the body shell. I,ve tried loads of different glues but not one of them was able to survive a shunt. the best so far is a homemade toluene and chassis plastic mix. John

 

Very nice work on this conversion. That old Policar looks so 'toy' like so its great to see you working it into something much more akin to the real car.
I have always struggled to find good plans of this car. Have you found some or are just working from photos?

Keep it going.
Andi

 

Wow that are some great looking builds René.

 

Thank you all for the nice comments.

@John: I use ordinary super glue but as you can see I work with reinforcements to create a firm construction. But to be honest, I do not use these home builds for hard wheel to wheel racing. Only for some fast laps on my home track.

@ Andi: I have this great book from Paolo d'Alessio called Formula Ferrari. It covers all the Ferrari grand prix cars from 1950-2000 and has blueprints (at 1:32!) of all cars. For the 1974 B3 unfortunately no topview but I can use photos for that as this is not a very scientific project

.

Cheers
René

 

Update 312B3

After building the new cockpit I thought the wings would be the easy part... how wrong I was!

The Ferrari rear wing and support have quite complex shapes so they took me longer to make than I anticipated. But hey, it's fun. And the front wing should be easier to make.

I used the bottom wing support of the March to build the new support on so I can still use the same fixation with the small screw. I also lowered the entire body even more, (those seventies car are very low) and added some more detail.

I chose the so-called 'swallowtail' wing, introduced for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Niki Lauda won this race from pole position and I have decided this is the car I will build.
The wing end plates still need some rounding here and there and the support isn't ready yet either but I hope you like the progress.

Cheers
René