12 replies to this topic

[Ralph_S]

My crazy two weeks of building have sadly ended (I have to work again), but after my recovery truck and motor cycle I did manage to crank out one more model. Unlike the other two, which I posted in the Technic/Mindstors/Model Team forum, I decided that this one probably best fits the Racers theme. After all, LEGO had a Ferrari License.

One of the truly great Ferraris of all time has to be the Ferrari F40. It isn't pretty, but it did and still does offer blistering performance. I'm not normally a fan of super cars, but back in the 'eighties when I was a teenager, I loved the F40 and after seeing Jeremy Clarkson drive a Ferrari in the last episode of Top Gear, decided it was what I was going to build.  


Part of the fun for me was making everything I could open. The F40 is basically a street-legal race-car and like most racecars that means large sections of the car's body can be removed or raised to give mechanics decent access to the mechanical bits.



One of the things I didn't give my model, at first, was three exhaust pipes. I knew the F40 had them, but chose to keep things simple and just add two. I don't know whether it's the result of high expectations, but several people on flickr commented that it should really have three. So, I gave it a bit more thought and managed to come up with a reasonably straightforward way of making that work.


Cheers,
Ralph

Edited by Rufus, 24 June 2011 - 04:46 PM.
Indexed

[prateek]

Wow! I have a real die-cast model sitting next to me right now, and this thing is pretty darn close! I love how everything opens so accurately

[Marckeyh]

The resemblance of that F40 is amazing, considering it's in such a small scale!
Just like your scania, not much to say other then it's spot on.

Looking forward to your next creation.

[lightningtiger]

AWESOME F40 'Ralph_S' - I really like everything openning like on a real F40 and the colour red - true Ferrari !
Keep on bricking 'Ralph_S' keep on bricking !

[Ralph_S]

Thanks guys.

prateek, on 09 August 2010 - 10:20 PM, said:

Wow! I have a real die-cast model sitting next to me right now, and this thing is pretty darn close! I love how everything opens so accurately

One of my most-prized possessions as a teenager was a 1/18 Bburago die-cast model of an F40. I didn't use it as a reference for building this model (as it's currently stored in a box somewhere), but my memories of it did play a big role in deciding to build an F40 rather than another Ferrari, the opening bits in particular. I always loved how the large rear section hinged up.  

Marckeyh, on 10 August 2010 - 08:53 AM, said:

The resemblance of that F40 is amazing, considering it's in such a small scale!
Just like your scania, not much to say other then it's spot on.

Looking forward to your next creation.

The relatively small scale, compared to LEGO's Ferrari sets for instance, did cause a few problems. Specifically, I'm not too happy about the windshield/windscreen. It seems too narrow, while the A-pillars seem to wide. I fiddled with that for a few hours, but couldn't come up with a way of making it look nicer.
    
I'm not sure what I'll build next. It's likely going to be another European truck or car, but I haven't decided yet and it may be a while before I have the time and opportunity to build again.  

lightningtiger, on 10 August 2010 - 09:42 AM, said:

AWESOME F40 'Ralph_S' - I really like everything openning like on a real F40 and the colour red - true Ferrari !
Keep on bricking 'Ralph_S' keep on bricking !

It just had to be red. I know that Ferrari GT cars, such as the 456 or 612 Scaglietti, sometimes look great in dark blue, but when I think of F40s I think of red ones. I spent a lot of time making it look like a Ferrari, but I'm sure that it's the colour that makes people who don't know much about particular models of Ferrari still recognise it as one.



Cheers,
Ralph

[KielDaMan]

Great looking Ferrari F40 Ralph_S! This is one of those MOCs where 'unsmoothness' actually looks good. The opening front and rear hoods and the internal mechanisms are simply amazing. Great job on this!

[Plastic Nurak]

I like it, it looks so nice!

[tulatin]

Plastic Nurak, on 12 August 2010 - 02:46 PM, said:

I like it, it looks so nice!

Ralph, this is an absolutely insane MOC. You've got an incredibly striking resemblance to the real thing here, and you've done a great job building it. Apart from a few illegal building techniques, this seems like a set TLG would sell, it just looks so good.

[Ralph_S]

KielDaMan, on 11 August 2010 - 09:12 AM, said:

Great looking Ferrari F40 Ralph_S! This is one of those MOCs where 'unsmoothness' actually looks good. The opening front and rear hoods and the internal mechanisms are simply amazing. Great job on this!

Thank you. I know this isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I like to use a mix of tiles and studded plates to smooth out curves a bit.

Plastic Nurak, on 12 August 2010 - 02:46 PM, said:

I like it, it looks so nice!

Thank you.

tulatin, on 15 August 2010 - 06:49 AM, said:

Ralph, this is an absolutely insane MOC. You've got an incredibly striking resemblance to the real thing here, and you've done a great job building it. Apart from a few illegal building techniques, this seems like a set TLG would sell, it just looks so good.

Thank you. That is very flattering. I'm not quite sure which of the things I've done would technically qualify as illegal, but I think this would make a pretty terrible set, however. It looks nice sitting on my shelf and I am very happy with how it turned out, but it is complicated and fragile. I suspect most 8-year-olds wouldn't be happy.

Cheers,
Ralph

[Legostein]

Hello Ralph!

Very impressive once again! I am very fond of all the half stud withs you have used all over this model. Especially the shape of the doors is remarkable.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

[Ralph_S]

Legostein, on 15 August 2010 - 03:51 PM, said:

Hello Ralph!

Very impressive once again! I am very fond of all the half stud withs you have used all over this model. Especially the shape of the doors is remarkable.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

Thank you. Whenever I start thinking about building something new I always try to make a little mental list of what the difficult bits will be and I think about how to work out how to make them in advance. The roof and doors were definitely on that list. The sides of the roof are tapered and I felt I had to include that taper in my model as well. I did build a Testarossa about two years ago and that experience came in very handy now. It too has the taper, but was a bit easier because its engine cover opens in a different way. I considered setting the doors at an angle, as I did on the Testarossa, but I saw all kinds of issues. It's not just the doors that get wider further aft; the body continues to get wider all the way to the rear wheel. I realised that a combination of SNOT work and half-stud offsets might be able to give small enough steps to look decent and decided that was the way to go. Some parts of the side still look a bit messy, I think, but I am reasonably happy with the result.

BTW, after writing my post about illegal moves this morning, I realised that I overlooked an obvious one: rear-view mirrors (1x1 tile clipped attached to a clip. I have also stuck bits of flex tube into headlight brick, which if it isn't considered an illegal move, probably should be   

Cheers,
Ralph

[Lasse D]

Wow. It's simply amazing what you can do in 1:22!
The resemblance to the real thing is striking, and I'm amazed that you got the doors working.
If you want ideas for what to build next, then please don't build a Honda S2000 nor Ford GT. There are so many other much nicer vehicles out there

PS.
Wouldn't it be awesome if LEGO released clear jumpers?

Edit:
The 3 exhausts version is a great improvement.

Edited by Lasse D, 17 August 2010 - 01:09 PM.

[Ralph_S]

Lasse D, on 17 August 2010 - 01:07 PM, said:

Wow. It's simply amazing what you can do in 1:22!
The resemblance to the real thing is striking, and I'm amazed that you got the doors working.
If you want ideas for what to build next, then please don't build a Honda S2000 nor Ford GT. There are so many other much nicer vehicles out there

PS.
Wouldn't it be awesome if LEGO released clear jumpers?

Edit:
The 3 exhausts version is a great improvement.

Thank you. I think you've got your work cut out for you trying to build a Ford GT on a similarly small scale.

I have built a new car since I finished the Ferrari. It's a current model Volkswagen Passat in dark blue. It's not the most spectacular or glamorous car to build. I have built rather a few sportscars and classic cars lately and I felt it was time for something a bit more normal, also because it presents a somewhat different challenge. Many modern cars are very similar-looking at a first glance and I wondered whether I'd be able to build a fairly normal car and still have it look recognisably like the real thing. This was surprisingly difficult. I think I've pulled it off, but haven't had the time to take photographs. You deserve some credit here, by the way, because I used your little 'griddy' program and a blueprints to help out. When I post the pictures, I'll be sure to mention that as well.

I haven't yet decided whether I'll build more cars soon, but if I do they will likely also be cars that you are likely to frequently see on European roads. Currently I'm thinking of a Fiat Panda or Renault Megane. My recovery truck has also made me look at building more European trucks. I'd love to build a DAF XF105, for instance, in a nice colour. Dark red with a tan stripe, for instance.    

LEGO have made trans clear jumper plates, but they were never available in sets. I do have a few dozen and used several on this model.

Cheers,
Ralph