La Ferrari, even the name sounds exotic, expensive and exclusive. With a top speed of 230 mph, a price upwards of $1.5 million U.S. dollars and only 499 produced for worldwide consumption. The latest supercar offering from Ferrari is all of the above and more. The likelihood of the average Joe getting his or her hands on a full scale La Ferrari, is nil to none. But for us scale modelers; Revell gives us the opportunity to live out our exotic car fantasies in 1/24 scale.

Revell’s La Ferrari kit consists of 141 parts on five trees molded in white and clear styrene with chrome plated parts and four soft rubber tires. The clear, chrome and rubber parts are bagged separately. The decal sheet is fairly extensive and the 16-page instruction manual is clear and easy to follow. My example was clear of any flash. The ejection pin marks are located in areas that won’t be seen once the model is complete, but if you are compelled to clean them up, they sand out easily with no putty needed. I did encounter some shallow mold lines along the quarter panels but these, also, were easy to remove. The shape and dimensions of the model are accurate to the 1:1 vehicle from what I can gather from photos and information online. This is a fully detailed kit with complete engine, interior, and suspension with posable steering.

Construction begins with the buildup of the engine. Two halves come together to form the block, transmission and KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) unit. I didn’t bother to clean up the seams where two halves meet. Once the components are in place and the engine mounted in the vehicle, you won’t see them. Careful detail painting can reveal a very nice looking engine.

The chassis, like most supercars today, is a flat pan that hides the engine and most of the suspension components. The front and rear lower control arms are molded to the floor pan. The rest of the rear suspension is made up of a half shaft, stabilizer bar, spindle, and upper control arm. Getting all the parts to line up properly can be a little tricky. The front has the spindles, struts, upper control arms and tie rod. Paint the pan a semi-gloss black and the suspension aluminum. All in all the chassis build is straightforward.

The body is mostly a one piece unit with only the front fascia, rear deck lid, left and right outer door shells being separate. The instruction sheet has you attaching these parts in various steps throughout the build. I suggest attaching these parts first and painting the vehicle as a single unit, to allow for any seam filling or other bodywork needed and to ensure color consistency. This will not interfere with final assembly. Painting was a challenge, as some areas like the engine compartment will need to be masked and painted black, not to mention the myriad of air ducts and complex curves of the car. I masked and painted the black areas first. Once they were dry, I masked those areas and painted the rest of the vehicle. The 1:1 scale vehicle is offered in only three colors from the factory red, yellow, and black. I used Krylon sunshine yellow on my model, simply because that is the only yellow I had in my paint cabinet. I decanted the paint and used my airbrush for some of the more difficult to reach areas like the front air ducts.

Thanks to Revell for supplying the review sample and to IPMS for letting me do the review.