Tamiya Ferrari FXX Wip

Hi all, this will be a WIP thread for my Tamiya Ferrari FXX. I will be using the SMS superkit to make the carbon-fiber version, and will eventually be making door decals with numbers for this thing too.

I have a Tamiya Enzo that a friend messed up, which I am using for fitting all my custom parts and etc, so everything works out nicely.

To start, I got to work with the LED lights which I plan on installing:

1. Glued up the hood/fenders/front clip.
2. Cut open the hood.
http://images49.fotki.com/v1520/photos/1/1591111/8150308/2_hoodcutopen-vi.jpg

3. Prototyped my LED circuit on the breadboard (day and night pics)

http://images52.fotki.com/v729/photos/1/1591111/8150308/3_circuit1-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v726/photos/1/1591111/8150308/4_circuit2-vi.jpg


4. Soldered up the circuit on some perfboard. You will see I'm using 3mm white LEDs in front and 1.8mm red LEDs in the back for the FXX's tiny rear lights. I have blacked out all but the tips of the rear LEDs to reduce the amount of diffusion the light has. Resistors were placed inline on the red LED wiring to reduce the space taken up on the perfboard, and it is all powered by a 3V coincell battery. Hot glue is a nice dielectric so I used a the glue gun a bit to hold everything in place, and make it all nice and neat, as well as liberal heat shrinking. I will be routing the wires to the rear lights through the tunnel in the floor, then under the engine and up to the rear lights. This is my first attempt at lighting so take it easy on me :runaround:

http://images52.fotki.com/v638/photos/1/1591111/8150308/5_circuitbuild-vi.jpg

Up next: I will be fitting this inside the hood section of the messed up Enzo and building a plastic cover that replicates the underhood of an FXX. I have nice reference pictures, so it should be no problem. Will also be grinding down the switch tab so it doesn't stick up so far.

nice idea!

i reckon the front lights should be the ones that all the newer cars have with the super bright light with the slight blue tinge to them!

good luck with your build and i will be watching!!

This is 'exactly' what I have planned, 3.7v coin battery..... what is perfboard is it the same as stripboard?

Also are your wires just wrapped in black tape?

Looks awesome!

Actually, I detest electrical tape. all the "wrapping" you see there is heat shrink tubing. i may have to cut a bit of the heatshrink off the back lights.

Be careful when applying the heat tubing, hold your heat gun far away and take your time, as the little 1.8mm LEDs are easy to melt.

You read my mind on the front lights, I finished this late yesterday and had to hurry up and post it, so I could study for an exam today (mechanical engineering student here)... I will be experimenting with some Tamiya clear blue on the front LEDs.

Good luck, i got the sms kit too and plan on starting it soon. Just make sure to be careful clearing the cf decals.

Got back to work installing the circuit in the body.

Here I have the circuit installed under the front hood, I had to do only minimal surgery to get it to fit.

http://images54.fotki.com/v564/photos/1/1591111/8150308/3_circuitinstalled-vi.jpg

I added some styrene strip inside the trunk opening, and puttied all the imperfections. The hood is also filed down to fit, I will be hinging it when I receive the photo-etch parts I have ordered.
http://images112.fotki.com/v1531/photos/1/1591111/8150308/4_frontclip2-vi.jpg

I also removed the bracing on the rear fenders and puttied it, although I didn't put a ton of work into the putty since this will be covered by photo-etch parts as well.
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/1/1591111/8150308/4_fenders-vi.jpg

Here is a shot of everything for the body primered.
http://images112.fotki.com/v1531/photos/1/1591111/8150308/4_primered-vi.jpg

Here is a picture of the modifications I did to the monocoque to allow room for my light circuit to fit.
http://images53.fotki.com/v421/photos/1/1591111/8150308/4_chassismod-vi.jpg

Awesome work, great idea adding lights!! how are you going to light up the rear lights? theyre about 2mm wide!! Cant wait to see what you do with this one!!!

The rear lights will be done using 1.8mm diffused red LEDs, which I have blacked out around the edges. My next plans are to hinge the trunk, then work out the mounting of the rear lights and lenses. Then onto completing the body. I am also reconstructing the overlay which will cover up up the battery under the trunk.

I like to complete the body first, that way I have great inspiration sitting on the bench to help me complete every detail of the interior.

I'm very interested to see how you tackle adding the rear lights. It looks like you've made some great progress. I hope the trunk lid manages to close considering how much you're putting under it, but it's a nice solution to hiding the wiring.

Here are the rear lights. It's hard to see, but even harder to photograph something this small. The LED I used is about 4mm wide and 2mm high, so it sits behind the lights (parts L1 and L2) perfectly. I built a "box" around the LEDs using clear styrene sheet, then glued this to the back of the light parts that came with the kit. A bit of silver paint covers up the parts where no light should shine through.

by day (hard to see the styrene work)
http://images50.fotki.com/v1569/photos/1/1591111/8150308/5_rearlights1-vi.jpg

lit up
http://images53.fotki.com/v432/photos/1/1591111/8150308/5_rearlights2-vi.jpg

Nice, very nice

Wow, great work! I've never seen this sort of thing done to an FXX before.

nice results and it looks to have a realistic light intensity. I like the light box surround you've made and hope you don't mind if I experiment with the idea for my R8 I'm working on.

Hope it works for you Kev! Next I will be cutting open the sliding side windows on this model.

subscribed!

Hi, I got to work on putting the carbon fiber decals on parts of the body. These doors and front hood/clip took about twenty hours to decal. I can report that the SMS decals fit great, the only problem I experienced was on the very front, the decal which covers where the front Ferrari logo is. Instructions say not to use the the red decal stuff, only the solution in the blue bottle. However, I used both MicroSet and Microsol (don't remember which is which but I used both liberally on this project) with no problems.

This car will be #89, that is a special number for me. This is sort of a fantasy, of what my FXX would look like, if I had my own. Everything was coated with TS Black, now on to the pictures.

There are no Ferrari logos yet, as these decals will be applied over photoetched badges and then glued on later.

http://images50.fotki.com/v1523/photos/1/1591111/8150308/6_noflash-vi.jpg

http://images17.fotki.com/v372/photos/1/1591111/8150308/6_flash-vi.jpg

http://images54.fotki.com/v555/photos/1/1591111/8150308/6_front-vi.jpg

http://images17.fotki.com/v372/photos/1/1591111/8150308/6_doors-vi.jpg

Nice CF work!!!

That CF-work is fantastic. That is a very challenging project that I really dig. You got to love a superdecal-job!


Robert

Looks good, i got the itch to start mine now. Becareful if you plan on clearing the decals. Cf came out nice.

BTW Scalemotorsport now sells that type of cf in sheets, so if you ruin a decal you can always buy a full sheet. I plan on getting on just so i can practice clears on it.

I have already clearcoated the decals. A local friend runs a body shop and was kind enough to donate to me a can of "Spraymax 2k Glamour High Gloss". I cleared everything and it looks stunning! I would have pics up already, but I'm working on improving my photography and haven't got around to getting posterboard to make a white background with haha.

I Love the idea of building what you would want your FXX to look like.
Why did most of the owners opt for Red? hell if id just paid 2million Euro for one it would have to have some kinda irresident or candy or simply coated in 22K GOLD.
Great work, im folowing this one!!

Okay, here are a few pictures after clearcoating. I installed photoetched mesh on the rear, and cf'ed under the back wheel wells, as well as some photoetch bolts on the spoiler area. You can also see the front amber lights that I scratchbuilt. As I was holding the kit parts with tweezers, they flew across the garage never to be found again, so it was time to break out some clear styrene rod and get to work.

Sorry for a few fingerprints here and there, took these pics in a hurry.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/jtroutman89/FXX%20Model/7rearfenders.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/jtroutman89/FXX%20Model/7backtrunk.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/jtroutman89/FXX%20Model/7front.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p214/jtroutman89/FXX%20Model/7all.jpg

Looks great so far.
I have one of these and I still can't decide on CF finish or a deep metallic red.

Keep up the good work!

Jesse.

WOW, i didnt see these pic before Xmas, amazing!!! I love the CF look & those new clear ones look awesome!!! Cant wait to see more!!

this looks great.....

i love that carbon fiber...
:D:D