So I saw a great picture of a Ferrari California and got the bug to build one. As fate would have it, I was at Walmart and saw a Ferrari California on clearance after Christmas. You know I had to buy it.

http://images51.fotki.com/v303/photos/8/1044538/10309978/DSC_18361-vi.jpg

Just like the inspiration, this will have the ADV.1 wheels but, the paint will be black. Thanks to 124models.com readers for the color help! Interior will be Rosso Red leather with carbon fiber accents. My goal is to have this be the cleanest build ever. Two of my new focuses are scale, keeping wires etc. in proper scale, and sheen to make sure that the paint and finishes are as you see on the 1:1 car.

This car is something that I am using to perfect some skills for the Ferrari 250TR and the Shelby CSX2001.

Unveil is scheduled for the 2012 Birmingham Alabama show.

A trip to the Ferrari configurator on line helps me select all of the options to use for interior and exterior colors, finished, etc. The interior will be red with some carbon fiber accents.

http://images54.fotki.com/v627/photos/8/1044538/10370048/CalIntFinal1-vi.jpg


The exterior is black which I think should go nicely with the interior.

http://images107.fotki.com/v71/photos/8/1044538/10370048/Black-vi.jpg


I am using the KA Models PE kit. With the focus on scale, a lot of these pieces are going to have to be scratch built instead. I am excited about the brakes and the air vents as well as the seatbelt hardware and some the of the engine dress ups.

http://images36.fotki.com/v1134/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01444-vi.jpg



I made a body kit to be subtle yet try to add some masculinity to the car. It is hard to believe, but the body has about 6 hours of clean up at this point where I was rescribing door and panel lines, filling the minimal sink holes, mold lines and making the car crisper and cleaner. I was going to open the doors and trunk, but realized I was getting in too deep. I really think those ADV deep concave wheels are going to make this thing look great. (Teaser: I am converting some FXX wheels into 21" deep concave for my 458 that I got at an ACME meeting last month)

http://images56.fotki.com/v371/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01414-vi.jpg


Since this is a drop top, the interior has to be 110% top notch.

The dash is two pieces and having a hard time fitting together thanks to some air vents. You can see it all looks a little sloppy.

http://images109.fotki.com/v785/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01460Large-vi.jpg


I am going to rebuild the vents so I can ensure they fit tight. They will also be floating, not connected to the lower part of the dash, which will help things fit better. you can see the styrene that I have shaped as a mock up on the vent on the far right. Now that this fits, I know I can safely cut off the stock vents.

http://images51.fotki.com/v102/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01462Large-vi.jpg


Stock vents are gone. You can see things want to fit better already.
I have also gotten rid of those huge out of scale stitching indention that Revell had in the dash.

http://images51.fotki.com/v299/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01464Large-vi.jpg


Now it is glued together. Look how much better it all fits together now. I am going to be using the radio from the KA kit, so that radio is about to go.

http://images51.fotki.com/v303/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01473-vi.jpg


Doors are getting their pockets rebuilt and the tweeters got drilled out and replaced with some round styrene that I shaped to have a concave nature. The purpose of the tweeter adjustment was to reduce the gap on the stock tweets which was too large and out of scale. The drivers side door will have a scratch built mirror adjustment panel.

http://images59.fotki.com/v791/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01445Large-vi.jpg

The seats have been cleaned up and have seams scribed in them. I cant wait to see these suckers in red. I have mixed a darker red custom paint that I have decided will work for the interior. Some shading is going to be used with some underlay tricks with white and gray primer to add depth the interior. Look for the PE painted prancing horse trick I picked up from Dave T (daveyracer) on the seats in the front and the back.

http://images61.fotki.com/v219/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01446Large-vi.jpg


In order to fill some join lines and replicate the real car, I have had to cut apart the interior pieces and put them together a little differently. This is a pain, but will be worth it in the end.

http://images16.fotki.com/v383/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01450Large-vi.jpg


The car has since been painted black and cleared and is being colorsanded now. I will have some pics up tonight of the color and I am warning you, get ready for some shine!!!!!!

Thank you all for following!
Andy

progress looks good so far. looking forward to the rest of the wip pics :)

Here are some pics of the car with the clear and buffed.

Today's ACME meeting was bring something to work on (modelpalooza) so I spent some time on this and my son Andrew and I worked on a 1970 Mustang Boss 302 diecast.

There are some areas which need to be hit again with the sandpaper and then buffed through the grits again. Kind of disappointing, but I want this one to be dead on perfect. I want to be able to say there are absolutely no imperfections in the paint. I am not there yet.

http://images55.fotki.com/v586/photos/8/1044538/10370048/LargerDSC01492-vi.jpg

http://images53.fotki.com/v249/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01491-vi.jpg

http://images61.fotki.com/v218/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01490-vi.jpg

http://images54.fotki.com/v104/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01489-vi.jpg



After I put the finishing touches on this paint, it is time to start interior final touches and painting the interior a nice red, based on the testors model master lacquer stop light red.

Thank you again for following and the nice words!
Andy

Nice job on the paint, great color ! :thumbsup:
Just curious to see the red inside...

Looks great so far!

Progress looks good, i like the silver cali IMO. Keep us updated.

beautiful paint work

Shaping up to be a nice project. Will be following!

Thank you guys.

Rallymaster, I am a little worried about the red interior as sometimes I try to do too much and it comes out looking a little weird. After seeing the pics from the configurator, it gives me a little more confidence this could turn out okay.

Here are pics of the even more polished body. There is still work to do!!!!!!! Man. I got some sunlight/daylight florescents in my workbench and they show everything. The great thing is, if you can make it look good under these lights, it looks really good when you display the car elsewhere. It looks great in my kitchen and then depressing under these lights.

http://images55.fotki.com/v55/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01548-vi.jpg

http://images12.fotki.com/v531/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01549-vi.jpg

http://images109.fotki.com/v785/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01554-vi.jpg

http://images109.fotki.com/v785/photos/8/1044538/10370048/DSC01550-vi.jpg


It is time to progress elsewhere and come back before I mess something up.
I think it is back to the red interior after this. The dash specifically and then I want to hit the interior with some color.

Thank you all again for the kind words!
Andy

beautiful paint job! looks flawless to me. What paint did you use?

Wow, it looks sweet so far!

nice job on the paint, great color ! :thumbsup:
Just curious to see the red inside...


:1:

Looks good! I like black & red together

Well, I spent all morning shooting the red interior and it looks terrible. The paint didn't cover well at all and it is very inconsistent with color, some very dark red and some light red/pink. Maybe I should have primed it with grey vs white. Regardless, it is getting a purple power bath right now and I am going to start on the engine while I get my head feeling a little better about this thing. We have all been through it, but I am totally bummed right now. It may be getting tan leather. We will see. Damn.

Well, I spent all morning shooting the red interior and it looks terrible. The paint didn't cover well at all and it is very inconsistent with color, some very dark red and some light red/pink. Maybe I should have primed it with grey vs white. Regardless, it is getting a purple power bath right now and I am going to start on the engine while I get my head feeling a little better about this thing. We have all been through it, but I am totally bummed right now. It may be getting tan leather. We will see. Damn.

What red were you using?

Don't give up! It probably didn't need to be stripped!

Testors bottled lacquer "Chevrolet Engine Red", Mr. Hobby bottled red (and they have darker) should mix up easily and cover easily.

Hey Bob, it is the Testors MM Stop Light Red Lacquer mixed with Testors MM Black Lacquer (which isnt getting touched by Purple Power). I have started wetsanding it with some 2500 to try to level it out and recover it. I may throw an enamel on top of it cause this original stuff isnt covering at all. I sprayed it about 6:00am in my garage which was maybe 40 degrees which might have caused a problem too. Not sure. I started with some mist coats and then the wet coat simply wouldnt lay down consistently. I think some enamel is on the docket. I kind of lost faith in this current paint on the interior.

Could very well be the temperature. It's going to be back in the 60's by Wed.

There's a dark red Testors lacquer spray can, can't remember the name offhand, might think about shooting that color to make it uniform, then airbrush over that.

91% or 99% alcohol to strip hobby lacquers. But use that as a last resort. Your paint should be covering. Could be you thinned it too much, necessary to flow at low temperature, and resulting in blotchy color.

Thanks Bob.
I have sanded some pieces, they are looking better.
I am going to mist those pieces with the Stop Light Red and then I found some Boyd Red enamel in my stash that I think I will make it look good. It will all get a misting of a semigloss clear (about 65/35 flat to semigloss) so I think this should work.....

:runaround: :swear: :runaround: :swear: :runaround: :swear: :runaround: :swear: :runaround: :swear: :runaround: :swear: :runaround: :swear: :runaround:

The seats and doors have the carbon fiber which has been cleared with the 2k and I have to say it looks pretty good with the red.

This is where you guys who make it look so easy get me in trouble!!!!!!!!!
Andy

Could very well be the temperature. It's going to be back in the 60's by Wed.

There's a dark red Testors lacquer spray can, can't remember the name offhand, might think about shooting that color to make it uniform, then airbrush over that.

91% or 99% alcohol to strip hobby lacquers. But use that as a last resort. Your paint should be covering. Could be you thinned it too much, necessary to flow at low temperature, and resulting in blotchy color.

The red is called "Flame Red" and it covers really well, at least out of the spray can.

Andy, the California is looking awesome. Makes me want to build one. Love the red and black color scheme.

I did my Clai, closed top version interior in tan, added flocking and belts:

http://images58.fotki.com/v448/photos/9/737869/8510959/P1030597-vi.jpg

Oh, your black paint looks stunning!

Thanks for the help Eric!
Dino, that interior looks awesome!!!!!
That looks great. Seeing that great looking pic of yours confirms I need to strip mine, I am still going to try red again... what a disaster of a day on this one.
Do you have any more pics? What color did you paint your exterior?
Thanks for the pics!
Andy

I did my Clai, closed top version interior in tan, added flocking and belts:

http://images58.fotki.com/v448/photos/9/737869/8510959/P1030597-vi.jpg


Wow nice inside !! :thumbsup:
I chose tan/sand inside too mixed with black floor, central console and top dashboard.
I didn't want the full tan/sand but your pic almost make me regret my choice...! :naughty:

Thanks, I did the car in Silver.


http://images116.fotki.com/v107/photos/9/737869/8510959/P1030672-vi.jpg

Here's the chassis and engine with some minor detailling.


http://images42.fotki.com/v1363/photos/9/737869/8510959/P1030508-vi.jpg


http://images58.fotki.com/v447/photos/9/737869/8510959/P1030528-vi.jpg


http://images110.fotki.com/v565/photos/9/737869/8510959/P1030626-vi.jpg

Back to the black over red Cali, how's that coming along, I'd love to see progress pics, your paint looks so smooth!

Wow!!..interior looks perfect!!.. i loved!!.. fantastic job!

I am halfway through this exact same kit now.

I know - aren't the vents on the dash annoying! I am having a real hard time getting them sorted.

I have ordered that PE kit from KA Models and I am waiting for it to arrive. Is it any good?

Jake

what'd you use to paint the fine details on the engine?

Awesome black paint finish it seems flawless!

You gave me great Ideas to improve the interior door panels, I'm also building a California.

If you apply the red over a flat brown base you get a nice shadow of interior red.

I want to see those interiors, and how did you solve the AC vents...

Very nice job so far, keep it coming!

Awesome black paint finish it seems flawless!

You gave me great Ideas to improve the interior door panels, I'm also building a California.

If you apply the red over a flat brown base you get a nice shadow of interior red.

I want to see those interiors, and how did you solve the AC vents...

Very nice job so far, keep it coming!

Thank you all, thank you Ramon.

Ramon, you're right about the red and a darker base. I discovered this when painting a room in our house years back. We painted it red and primed in white... big mistake. Later I found out we should have primed it in grey. When I was testing colors and paint for the Calil interior, I noticed when primed in gray, it was a nice rich/dark red and when primed in white, it was lighter and robust. This made me think that coating the interior in white primer, hitting it with a mist coat of grey primer, concentrating on the lines of the seats, doors, etc. and then lightly sanding the grey primer back to white which will leave gray primer in the crevices would lead to a nice shading effect when the final red is sprayed as the final color coat. I am on attempt #2 on the interior now, so I will let you all know how it goes. I will pull it off (psyching myself up here :lol2:)....

The AC vents will be easy, they are all done and just need to be cleared and assembled, but I have to get the darn red right first!!!! I will post some pics of a how to on that one. You will be able to pull it off with ease based on your ability.

...and for the black... I just shot another coat of clear to be smoothed out. This car has to be perfect and there were some issues with overspray crystallizing on the trunk which caused some impurities when sanded and buffed. I want to say that one may think the paint may be getting too thick with multiple coats, but they are all being flattened and buffed. I promise it will all be PERFECT. :grinyes: I will let Bob Downie be the final judge when he sees the finished product at our next ACME meeting... :eek: That's right, I am calling myself out on this one. Mike Lawrence too, if he is at the meeting (with his custom built carbon fiber water cooled computer).

Anyway, enough of a pictureless update.
Back to the bench with some pics tomorrow.
Andy

Hey super cool interior Dino.
What color is that and paint from?
Hey Mr. bmw I think its safe to say we were all impressed
with the color and shine...what paints are those??
Also do you have any shots of the "bad trunk "?