Ferrari 250 LM: Complete, mostly (#2 for 2026)

This Ferrari 250 LM, chassis #5893, was built in late 1964 and sold to Luigi Chinetti at NART, who fitted the more aerodynamically efficient longer nose by Piero Drogo in early 1965. The history of the car is remarkable. 

Driven to a first-place finish by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt in the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. (This would be the last Ferrari win at Le Mans for some time.) The kit, a 1/12 Model Factory Hiro kit, models the car as it was set up for this race.

Entered in the 1966 24-Hours of Daytona, driven by Bob Bondurant and Jochen Rindt to 9th overall.

Entered in the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, driven by Masten Gregory and David Piper; DNFed due to an accident.

Entered in the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Masten Gregory and Charlie Kolb; DNFed due to an accident.

Entered the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Sam Posey and Teodoro Zeccoli to 8th overall.

Entered in the 1970 24 Hours of Daytona, driven by Luigi ‘Coco’ Chinetti, Jr. and Gregg Young from 44th on the grid to 7th overall. 

So six long distance races in as many years, and still managing to acquit itself well in spite of being a 6-year old race car.  

Sold to Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum following the Le Mans race of 1970.The museum kept it road-worthy, but did no major restoration work.

With matching-numbers Tipo 211 engine and type-564/940 gearbox/transaxle, indicating that the car is powered by the same drivetrain that won Le Mans in 1965, it fetched €35M ($56M CAD) at Sotheby’s Paris 2025 auction.

See Sotheby's site for more info by clicking here. 

The kit includes some incredible detail, including engine internals (crank, rods, pistons, camshafts and their drives, and rocker assemblies). I doesn't turn, of course, being made of white metal; in a fit of optimism I tried to turn the crank over once the engine was closed up, and the crank promptly sheared. So much for white metal for crankshaft material... 

The photos show the kit with only the spare rim missing, which still requires 60 more spokes. 

The eagle-eyed will have noticed the engine cover still doesn't close. I don't know how this happened, as it all fit during early mock-up stages; but disassembly did not reveal any major flaws. So I am going to leave it alone and pose it with the lid open (or set to one side). 

What's next, you ask? Hard to tell. But there are some new items in the stash which are attracting my attention... stay tuned! 

Ferrari 250 LM: Wheels

Drilling for spokes is complete. 5 wheels, 72 spokes each, 360 x 0.016" (0.4 mm) diameter holes to drill in the hubs. Only broke six #78 drill bits, and only stabbed myself once with a spoke (so far -- three wheels left to assemble). 

Once the last three wheels are complete, I will have assembled 1136 spokes over 19 wheels, with another 8 wheels and 336 spokes to go in three other unstarted kits.

Ferrari 250 LM: More body updates

Well, the rear clamshell still doesn't fit but at least it has a proper hinge on it now so it can be posed with the clamshell open or removed. That's enough, I'm moving on. 

So the body is back on the chassis and a load of little stuff has been fixed, mostly fixing stuff that fell off or got damaged with all the manhandling. Headlights (10 pieces each, including 4 rivets, 0.5 mm diameter), fog lights (4 pieces each) and the wiper (5 pieces plus an actual strip of rubber) are now installed. 

 

Doors are complete and the hinges will be glued into the body at the absolute last minute. 

My to-do list is getting increasingly short. Along with gluing in the door hinges, last minute stuff includes the gas caps, exhaust tips and a decal for the clamshell. All easy stuff which leaves me with the need to spoke up the 4 remaining wheels (it has a spare, for which I will have to make a tie-down strap). This requires some Zen time. Stay tuned!

Ferrari 250 LM: Body updates

Finally got back to the Ferrari 250 LM (1965 Le Mans winner at 1/12 scale by Model Factory Hiro). You may recall I quit in disgust when I couldn't get the engine lid to fit -- the first picture illustrates the problem. 

 

Also the dinky little hinges in the kit didn't like the manhandling and bailed on me. So built a new hinge out of 1 mm wire, 1.5 mm brass tube and a block of 40 mm x 60 mm styrene rectangular section rod. Then added some paint to fix the chips, also due to manhandling. 

 

Next the body goes back on the chassis and I get back into it, for instance doing up the spokes on the remaining 4 wire wheels (yes, there are five wheels -- there's a spare). These MFH kits are like a love-hate relationship. Beautiful but frustrating.

1972 Lancia Fulvia HF 1.6: Complete (#1 for 2026)

The issue of a completely new kit, with completely new molds, is always a cause for celebration. Even more so when it is of an obscure Lancia from the pre-Fiat era. So of course I had to have this new Italeri kit of the Fulvia HF in the 1972 Monte Carlo winning livery. 

The kit is typical Italeri, not as high quality as Tamiya and with some bizarre decisions around where to mold parts together and where to offer a separate piece. But it goes together reasonably well, with one note on fit.  

The oddball narrow-angle V4 is well modeled. Getting the blue stripe on the valve cover, unique to the HF version, was a bit of a struggle, and the distributor could be better detailed.

A tidy fit in the engine bay. The battery is moulded in to the chassis with the inner fenders.I added wires and fuel lines. 

The interior is well done but not extravagant. 

The body fits well until the system for the hinge is installed. After that it seems to sit a bit high.

The hood hinge involves the cabin ventilation system and the firewall, and prevents to a certain degree easy installation of the chassis. In particular the leading edge of the front inner fenders had to be cut away to allow it all to be inserted. 

Nonetheless the kit builds up nicely with a small PE sheet adding to the detail. I love the light roof pillars giving it a definite '60s vibe,

The Fulvia was a very successful rallye car. This 1972 version was the last one to won the Monte Carlo, with the Stratos taking over as works car in 1974. The Stratos was designed after the takeover by Fiat and benefited from Fiat's access to the Ferrari parts bin for the 2.4 litre V6.

My collection of pre-Fiat Lancias includes the 1953 D20 (Targa Florio winner driven by Umberto Magliori) and the 1960 Flaminia GT, a high-end Gran Turismo with either 2.5 or 2.8 litre V6 engines.

The full set of Lancia race cars is shown next. The ESCi Beta Monte Carlo is not shown as it is an older build and not really up to snuff.  

 What's next? Hard to say! Stay tuned. 

 

Giannini 650NP: Complete (#2 for 2025)

Behold the mighty, er, Giannini 650NP? Right then, fat little tires and fat little fenders all in the service of a rip-roaring air-cooled twin, 650 cc, about 40 horsepower, apparently driven by one M. Leonardelli to a number of European hillclimb wins in Group 2. KMP transkit for the Tamiya Fiat 500F. Loads of fun and a quick build for my second build of 2025. 

 

 

 

  

Porsche 917/30: Complete (first one for 2025!)

Yes, I have completed only one kit in 2025. Life got in the way. 

Posed here with my selection of 908 and 917 kits. The first 908, on the far left, was really a 906 with the new 3 litre flat 8 engine, but the 908/03 shared a chassis with the 917. 

The Can-Am versions of the 917 were unbeatable, especially the 917/30, here in the Sonoco colours as driven by Mark Donohue to the championship in 1973. The classic Can-Am cars, with their 7-litre pushrod motors, were no match for the 5.4 litre flat 12 with the twin turbochargers. 

This kit was provided to me by a colleague who had painted it but didn't feel up to the engine and chassis. I've now boxed it up and shipped it back to him. 

As always with these Model Factory Hiro kits, a lot of stuff doesn't fit or is excessively flimsy. The fit of the engine cowl and its ridiculously weak hinges are just one of the stories. I did get the doors to open and shut, however.