Ferrari F40 "Blackstar" WIP #6

 One benefit of being off work, is that I get to spend more time in my workshop. Got another week and a half before I go back to work, so more time can be spent in here. Not allowed to do anything strenuous, model buildings the ideal recovery therapy. 

So, progress over the last few days. Firstly, all of the body parts have been primered and sprayed in black. These have been sitting to harden over the last few days before I give them all the clear coats either tomorrow or Monday. Next, I detailed up the bucket seats a little by adding the ridge where the seats padding and upholstery is secured to the seat body. This was done using some half round plastic rod and gradually glue it around the outside edge of the seat. This was finished off with a little filler and sanding. The F40 has 4 point harness belts fitted to them, but the seats are made for a 5 point harness system. So I had to drill out three extra holes in the seats to accommodate the harness belts.
  

Next, covering the seat backs with carbon fibre decal. My original plan was to try and do this with a single piece. So I made a template up then drew up and cut out a piece of decal. But when I went to lay it onto the seat, it would not behave and sit properly on the seat. So that idea was scrapped along with a large piece of decal. So a new reversible template was made of the side of the seat and four pieces were cut out and added to the seats. A final template was made for the back panel of the seats to complete the carbon fibre off on these. Once it was all dry, I trimmed off any excess and the openings for the seat belts to go through. I painted the seat to finish them off. The instructions for some reason, say to paint them matt white! I did not think this was right and all of the photos I have seen of the prototypes, the seat upholstery is all red. So the seats received a few coats of Revell's Carmine Red which I think looks a lot better then they would in white.

A quick dry fit of the seats and body to see how it all looks now that the interior is finished and the body is painted. The carbon fibre decal was well worth the time and effort of making the templates, cutting out each section and applying them all. Painting these areas on the model would have not looked right, especially in this scale. The seats I think are just perfect in red, white was definitely a no no. All that is left to do with the interior is assemble the two sets of racing harnesses and secure them in place, then the chassis and interior will be completed. The body is looking okay even without being cleared, but once that is done, we will be heading towards the finish line on the F40.

Now just to finish this post off, mounting the racing harnesses! The F40 has anchor loops to clip the harness belts to. Now, the harness sets that I had got for the model does not supply any parts for mounting them. So I have made some loops out of some wire and glued them into some drilled holes. I am also making the clips which hook onto these from plasticard. So below are two of the loops in place on the model and I will post about the clips and harnesses in my next installment.