1:8 Ferrari 643 F1

[sky]

well i have bought and built this kit in my teens almost 20 years ago and i sucked at building then. i probably still do considering the only kits i have ever built are this and the pocher F40 (which i still consider to be quite bad - the door fit was abyssmal..) with a stack tamiya 1/12 (lola t70mk3 and ferrari 312T) bought last year and sitting next to my desk now while working on scale plans to recreate the chassis in metal...

anyway, i have built it oob and i just remember i loved doing that. i won't comment on fit, as my building skills then were most likely sub par and i should have done the sensible thing and wait and do something easy before - but i didn't. in any case i LOVE this kit and the model. as for the transkit - i'm not sure if you are referring to the detail part kit for the engine by the manufacturer of the kit or to some aftermarket parts from a 3rd party manufacturer. if you want to display it without the rear body shell, those parts would probably make it real sweet. i didn't know about that transkit until a year or two ago so naturally mine is the stock version - i decalled it as prost's car. something i still regret as i preferred alesi's driving style of prost's.

also age hasn't been kind to this car as i had it sitting in a display shelf that was getting hit by sunlit for several hours a day and some of the decals have faded, which it is covered by cloth most of the time (some things you learn the hard way). i am surprised to see the asking prices for these kits nowadays. and at times i was thinking what if you hadn't built it... but i will never part with it, not for any money. i just love it too much.

i would have to dig around the attic, but i think i still have the box up there. and the build manual has fairly recently crossed my path somewhere around the house as well.


/edit
on getting it out of storage, i have to say that i now see it offers ample opportunity to take it to the next level. the naca ducts could be opened, the chassis could be decked out in carbon fibre decals, as could be the wings, the visible parts of the front suspension which are made of metal in the model, the dashboard would definitely need to be redone

in terms of bang for the buck, you are better of with the mfh 1/12 lotus. looking over this car made me realise it is beautiful (imo still one of the most beautiful f1 cars, at least of the modern age), but it is lacking in detail. and especially given the asking price for this kit nowadays, i'd say go for the lotus.

[Dougritt]

David...Andy Marks used the Ferarri kit as a platform for a truly amazing super detailed 1/8 version. Check out his images at SCG, it is truly spectacular!

[Pocherboy]

I built several of these kits for clients about 20 years ago, when I had the time to build professionaly.

It is an amazing model, with excellent fit. Remember this is a Japanese kit and not an Italian Pocher.

It come with many different size screws, all of which catch nicely and do not strip the thread.

It also comes with tempo transfer decals that are bit tricky to apply. Fortunately it comes with 2 sheets in case you make a mistake.

However, I think these sheets may all be dried out by now.

The model is great for extra detailing.

[spinellid82]

Thanks for the input guys, I do apreciate it!