Background

In 1962 and 1963, Ferrari produced a small number of cars that were essentially racecars for the street. FIA rules at the time required that at least 100 examples of a car had to be built in order for it to qualify for racing in the GT class, but with a little sleight-of-hand and a few other tricks, Ferrari managed to get by with building only 39 vehicles in a couple of variations. These cars have gone on to become legendary and highly desirable, to the point where collectors today will pay several million dollars to get their hands on one. Over the years, several kits of this vehicle have been produced. I still have a 1/24 scale slot car that I can remember my Dad purchasing and building in the mid-1960's, and I also have a kit (still unbuilt) that I purchased over 20 years ago. Fujimi has recently brought out an all-new tooling of this car in 1/24 scale; let's take a look at it.

I would like to thank Dragon Models USA for submitting this item to IPMS for review and IPMS for allowing me to review it.

Background

The Ferrari 312T was designed by Mauro Forghieri for the 1975 Gran Prix season. Over the next six years the 312T series won 27 races, four constructors' and three drivers' championships The car was powered by a flat-12 cylinder engine which produced approximately 510bhp. The "T" in "312T" stood for transverse. This was the mounting configuration of the gearbox which improved the car's handling characteristics over its predecessors.

Those of us that like to display our automotive models with the hood open generally face two problems. The first is, of course, having an accurate-looking hinge mechanism, and the second is keeping the hood open. It’s just about impossible to build accurate-looking hood hinges that are also strong enough to do the job they are supposed to do: they’re fairly complicated mechanisms with springs and multiple pivot points that just can’t be accurately reproduced in plastic. Well, J3 Models has a solution to this problem in their fixed open hood hinges.

Each hinge consists of a piece of photo-etched (I assume) metal representing the hinge itself, and a spring which attaches to the hinge to produce a fairly good replica of a hood hinge in the open position. There is a large horizontal surface available to attach the hood to, and another large surface that can be glued into the engine compartment to hold the hood in the open position.

The Porsche 962 was one of the most successful race cars ever produced. Being a customer based car, there were many teams that raced them at all the major tracks in Europe and the US. Every superlative fits this amazing car, and M & S Hobbies has chosen it as the basis for a series of decal sheets that will fit the Tamiya 962 kit. M & S also produces a transkit for the 962 that will enhance and accurize this kit, but that’s the subject of another review!

I received three decal sheets in the series. There are two sheets for the #86 Bayside Disposal car, One in Budweiser markings and the other in Bridgestone markings. The third sheet is in #16 Dyson Racing livery. Produced by UMI for M & S Hobbies these sheets contain all the markings for the featured car. Theses decals are about the finest I’ve ever seen. They’re extremely well printed and in perfect register. The colors are spot on to the actual cars according to my references and observations.

Introduction

Tameo Models is an Italian firm, and their kits are arguably the best 1/43 scale models in the world. From their earliest days these kits have featured fine, white metal castings, delicate photo-etched details, machined aluminum parts, rubber tires, vacuform windscreens, and superb decals. They have led the 1/43rd world, and have never looked back.

Tameo is best known for its extensive line of Formula One cars. Taken all together, by my count there are over 475 kits offered by this prolific firm in 1/43 scale… and this does not include their extensive line of detail parts! Best of all, ALL of their kits are kept in production at all times!

The Kit

This kit is from their World Championship line (their most detailed offerings, with some kits containing over 300 parts). The kit contains finely cast white metal components for the body, chassis, engine, some strut elements, engine, instrument panel and wheel hubs.