Tamiya 1/20 Ferrari F2001 (Finished)

Here's most of the parts that need to be filled in.

15 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

16 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

To Remove the mold seam and give the tires a worn look I sanded them down with 400 grit sand paper. The tires used during the FIA Formula 1 2001 season had groves in them. Tamiya painted on the Bridgestone & Potenza logo's.

18 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

Here's all of the parts after washing them with soap and water.

20 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

Every part is attached to a tooth pick or to a pop sickle stick, for easy handily for airbrushing or spray can.

21 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

22 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

The parts to be painted TS-49 Bright Red, after filling and sanding I primed them up with Model Master Gray Primer #2737. A good coat of X-2 White is next up.

25 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

26 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

27 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

29 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

31 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

Using TS-30 Silver Leaf I sprayed the engine radiators, then sealed in the metal color with Testors Gloss Coat. Normal metal colors don't have to be sealed in with a clear or gloss coat, when masking over them the tape peals off metal powder. By sealing them in this reduces the powder peal.

36 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

37 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

Last year I decaned Tamiya's TS-49 Bright Red, so to help use it up I airbrushed on the first coats on to the parts. As it turned out, decanning that TS-49 it removed the gloss from the paint. The parts had a flat to semi-gloss feel to them.

32 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

33 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

34 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

The Front wing was at first a little tricky holding so I CA glued on tooth picks on the side. The bottom is X-1 Black, the top is TS-49. There are white decals to be put on the top but, I'll be painting it instead X-2 White.

38 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

39 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

To help speed up spraying I taped the parts to balsa wood strips, then taped on plastic spures that fit into Tamiya's turn table holder. The parts below now have four coats of TS-49 Bright Red. The monocoque is really looking good.

41 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

43 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

Finally finished the Ferrari F2001, but first here's some construction photo's.

50 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

55 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

59 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

61 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

64 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

67 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

And now for the finished model. I was going for perfection but it didn't work out they way, I'm happy with the end result. Learned a lot about building open wheel race car models, and using Tamiya's lacquer paints. Some parts had to be stripped down to the bare plastic and repainted which seemed to take forever, the Tamiya lacquer paint does not like to be masked over for some reason, even giving it three or more days to cure. The kit itself is great, not that many parts, the real time eater is painting. The large white decals can be tricky to work with, and as you can see the rear engine cowling does not fit right. 

73 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

77 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

76 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

78 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

83 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

86 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

88 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

93 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

95 by Daniel Smith, on Flickr

Thanks for checking out my Ferrari F2001 build.