Internet Modeler : New Releases : Automotive RSS News Feed

Scale Motorsport's Ferrari 1/20 F1-2000 Super Detail Kit

By John Jameson

Introduction

The Ferrari F1-2000 won both the Formula 1 2000 Constructor's Championship and Driver's Championship with Michael Schumacher at the helm. This is the car that has returned Ferrari to the top of the sport after a long draught of over two decades. The last World Champion Ferrari was crowned in 1979 with Jody Sheckter leading the way. The F1-2000 Ferrari was locked in a close battle until the final race of the season in Japan with Team McLaren and Mika Hakkinen. A battle finally won by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.

The Super Detail Kit

This Super Detail Kit really lives up to its name. It is comprised of three different types of details to add realism to the 1/20th scale Tamiya Ferrari F1-2000 kit, #20048. There is a photo-etch component, a set of machined detail bits and a templated carbon fibre decal component to make up this super detail set.

The photo-etch parts are included on two photo-etch sprues and one set of smaller photo-etch parts that are on a rubber backed 1"x1.25" square. That's more photo-etch than I have ever seen in a detail kit.

The next component of the set is the machined parts produced in conjunction with Cody Grayland. These parts include rear axle half shafts, rear wheel hubs, wheel locks, tire valve stems, and a rear horizontal shock absorber.

The templated decals are contained on three full sheets of Scale Motorsports' infamous carbon fiber decals. These carbon fiber decals are hands down the best and most realistic carbon fiber decals on the market. The templates or shapes are printed on the back of the decal sheet and allow the user to simply cut the shape printed on the back of the decal and apply it to the piece to be carbon fibered.

The instructions for this Super Detail Set are excellent and unrivaled in the detail set world. Most detail set instructions perhaps provide a drawing of the set with a description of each part. That's usually about it. Not in the case of this detail set! This set contains a 12 page set of instructions that includes everything from the contents of the kit and its description to body preparation instructions. There are Tamiya paint color guidelines for every photo-etch and machined piece in the kit. There are icons on various steps, which correspond, to page numbers in the excellent and suggested reference F1 Modeling-Scale Auto Enthusiast Magazine. These page number references correspond to excellent photos of the detail being built in that particular step.

Not only are there build instructions but helpful insights as to why to build it a particular way, such as which tracks the car ran in clockwise direction and which tracks the car ran in a counter clockwise direction. This allows the builder to locate the fuel filler on the appropriate side of the car for the race the car is being modeled for.

There are even helpful instructions on how to handle the photo-etch, such as cutting the photo-etch detail from the rubber backing and soaking in a lacquer bath. This way you wonít be bending them or chasing them across the carpet. The instructions come right out and say that this detail set isnít for beginners, but to tell you the truth, if you're at the point with your building skills that you want to try a detail set, I would recommend this set because of its highly detailed instructions. What a blessing, thank you Scale Motorsports!!

Conclusions

Wow! What an impressive detail set! The packaging is neat and eye catching, the quality is excellent, the number of parts is staggering and the instructions are so well written you canít go wrong. You can tell that Scale Motorsprots has put a lot of research and testing into this detail set. Every new item from Scale Motorsports keeps getting better and better.

The set retails for $85 and can be purchased directly from Scale Motorsports or from your favorite automotive scale model outlet. If that price is too much for your budget or you're not sure your skills are up to build every part of the detail set, the individual components (Photo-etch, machined parts, or templated carbon fiber decals) can be purchased separately.

Addenda

Keep an eye on Scale Motorsport web page as they will soon be releasing one of the most exciting releases to be offered to the automotive modeler ever. In collaboration with Tamiya Corp, ScaleMotorsports will be releasing the most definitive Porsche 956 kit ever released. This set will contain all the plastic Tamiya parts, plus the machined parts, and photo-etch to build the entire riveted front end, cockpit housing and other details throughout the entire car, tow hook to tow hook.. In addition to all this the set will contain a comprehensive research photo CD! This CD will contain over 150 images of the 1983 LeMans winning car. The images are not just random shots of the car, but specific shots for detailing the build, cockpit shots, engine bay shots, front end shots, and technical specifications. Also reportedly the CD will contain full color animated assemblies. Simply amazing! This will not just be a detail set but a study of the car! Modeling to a new level. Wow!! I can't wait.