Build Blog: 1/8 Rosso Ferrari

I never thought I would witness, never mind build, one of these kits.

This is the build blog of the legendary and large one-eighth scale version of the Ferrari 643 by doomed Japanese manufacturer, Rosso Corporation.

The Car

It’s Ferrari’s stunning Formula One race car from 1991, the 643 driven by Alain Prost and Jean Alesi (plus Gianni Morbidelli at the final race of the year, replacing Prost who had been sacked for comparing the car’s handling to that of a truck…)

It was not ready for the start of the ’91 season and first raced at the French GP, round 7. It retained much of the architecture of the previous year’s 642, such as the V12 engine, paddle-shift semi-automatic gearbox, pushrod suspension etc. Despite initially showing flashes of speed, the team was never able to develop it into a race winner.

For more information about the real car, go to its Wikipedia page HERE.

Jean Alesi at speed in the #28 version

The Model

Just after this model was manufactured in 1992, there was a fire at the Rosso factory. It destroyed the production equipment and much of the stock of this model (ref: Wikipedia). The company never recovered and this promising model manufacturer was declared bankrupt.

With limited supply reaching retailers, prices for this kit on eBay are now rather spectacular.

Cutting edge in its day, the model lacks the fine detail you find in a modern kit of this size. Even Tamiya’s smaller 1:12 scale Ferrari 641/2 contains more detail.

The box is big – 755 x 470 x 150mm. This pic is on the dining table because it won’t fit in my work area!
Rosso Corporation’s first (and last) 1/8 scale Formula One model, item number 80001, officially approved by Ferrari.

The kit is a mixture of plastic and metal parts, some of which are pre-painted. For example, the bodywork is all metal and baked a lustrous glossy red. The wishbones are diecast metal and already semi-gloss black.

Around 95% of the parts fit together with small screws. Glue is only required in a few areas. Strangely, the kit did not include any wiring or plumbing, other than the water hoses to and from the radiators.

The Build

I should point out, this kit is not mine. The owner made a start on it many years ago and commissioned me to finish it off. He also gave authority to share the kit and the build process.

First decision was to determine the level of detail of the build. Back in the day, Rosso marketed a detail-up pack, but they are very rare and therefore expensive. Some beautiful after market items have been produced over the years, but again, too expensive.

A set of after-market decals designed specifically for this kit were sourced from Belgium, but otherwise all the further detailing or enhancements used generic modelling supplies, such as wiring, cables and paints.

We were not going down the path of re-manufacturing parts like seen on some exquisite high-end builds.

So, this is what we had:

All the parts that come in this giant kit. Most of the plastic sprue bags were still sealed, but the owner had opened a few to use parts for the section’s he’d already started, such as the nose and base monocoque.

Below is a full “What’s in the box” YouTube video that I filmed just prior to commencing the work.

Several parts had been started many years ago and had accumulated quite a bit of dust. I didn’t want that getting anywhere else in the build, so cleaned it up before starting any work.
The nose assembly has been sitting like this in the box for many years, which over time has bent the front wings up quite badly (the central piece is quite heavy as the red bodywork is metal).
Cleaned parts out of the way in another box until I need them. The nose section is sitting up on a block to prevent any more wing sag.
The steering wheel is just black plastic and has already been fitted to the metal steering column with a tiny hex bolt. But the look can be improved…
Semi-gloss black was used for the centre piece while the rim was done with black surface primer (to create a bit of a contrasting textured look). Bolt heads and buttons were painted with a small brush. Prancing horse sticker and clear lens cover are kit items.
Kit-supplied self-adhesive heat shielding foil had to be cut to allow mounting brackets and screws to pass through.
All the kit’s brake components are plated in aluminium/silver colour, which is not correct.
Test fitting the calliper-upright-axle-disc assembly. Most of this is partially hidden if the car is displayed with the wheels on. The kit instructions do not call for any painting, but colour is needed to make this look better for displaying with the wheels off.
So, pads and pistons masked off, ready for ‘titanium’ colour (Tamiya TS-87) to represent the anodised finish on the real car.
The pads were hand-painted matt black, but the pistons retain their metallic silver colour.
The brake hubs/hats are sprayed Titanium, then masked off so the braking surfaces can be painted a different colour. Each disc is made of two halves that required masking – the back half I used tape cut to shape, while the front face required Liquid Mask.
Rotor surfaces were then sprayed Tamiya LP-20 Light Gun Metal.
Masking removed.
The two disc halves are screwed together with a nut held captive between the two. This allows the disc to be screwed onto the metal axle that’s mounted in the upright.
All four brake assemblies done! A dark wash was used in places to bring out the detail. Metal wheel nuts are fitted here so they don’t get lost.
The instructions call for each calliper to have a temperature-sensitive sticker on the side, allowing mechanics to quickly check the max operating temp. After zooming into the photos I can confirm the tiny print is actually legible! (Though it appears the scale is wrong for brakes). Evidently, this area should have displayed Brembo branding instead, but the kit did not include the markings. This was corrected mid-way through the build when the after-market decals arrived. Bolt heads and bleed nipples are painted silver.
Callipers attach to the metal uprights via two 1.7x5mm screws, which sort of detract from the good looks of everything else, but that’s just how this kit is engineered to fit together.
Back of the upright will be covered over by brake ducting later in the build, but otherwise, these assemblies are ready.
The upper surface of the front pushrods had this casting line all the way down the middle, plus weird speckles of missing paint (some of the parts in this kit are pre-painted from the factory, including all the suspension arms).
So I sanded and filed to smoothen it out ready to re-paint.
After primer and re-painting semi-gloss black, the ends were masked and the tips hit with a quick squirt of SMS Stainless Steel.
The front shock & linkage assemblies are cast and plated as one piece, which is rather boring.
They also have significant mould lines. I removed most of these lines to establish a smooth surface on the main cylinder and tapered areas.
After a coat of primer they were hit with gloss black
The black was then masked to add SMS Super Silver and Tamiya Titanium Gold to various areas.
They were then finished off with a little wash and the grey wrap-around sticker from the kit.
Ignition box was painted semi-gloss black then the mounting straps masked off and sprayed Tamiya Rubber Black.
I cut a lot of the kit’s original fittings off the ignition box so I could add some leads (not provided in the kit) to up the detail.
Other side with Magneti Marelli identification (which is provided as a sticker, not a water slide decal). Yes, the white leads are not the correct colour (fixed later in the build).
Front suspension hardware, ready for fitting. All these part are metal and came pre-painted or treated.
The fit of the suspension is mostly pretty good. The big issue was selecting the right screw! There are so many different sizes and shapes and for some parts that required multiple screws, every screw was different!
Upper and lower wishbones on as well as the steering rods. The steering is operational on this model, but the suspension is fixed in place and does not work.
Shocks mounted, fixed to the dashboard bulkhead via screws.
Bell-cranks are secured by the nicely done brass screws which simply screw into their mounts by hand. I had to play around with the clearance of the top pushrod mount (ie, drill the hole a little bigger) so the holes in the bell-cranks would align with the pins on the parts.
Upright/brake assembly screwed in place.
Next step was to start on the engine, so I threw the monocoque in the photo booth for a couple of shots because once the engine gets fitted, the model is too big for my booth!
On to the big V12 power unit and semi-automatic gearbox. The parts are cast in black plastic and, like much of the kit, not intended to be painted. However, I wanted a more realistic look, so all the engine block and gearbox casing pieces were prepped ready for paint.
I used a mix of Tamiya semi-gloss black with some light gun-metal added to get a blackened metallic effect.
These are the internal supports for the bodywork that runs inside the rear tyres. The parts are plated but have heavy seam lines down the middle, so I scraped and sanded the upper surfaces (lower surfaces not visible once assembled) to reduce the line, then sprayed with SMS Aluminium colour (see below).
Some of the main rear suspension parts, ready to be added to the gearbox. Some of the pickups were masked and sprayed gold, the CV-joints were done in Tamiya Titanium and bell-cranks on the pushrods sprayed in SMS Steel.
Most of these parts were then fitted into place with small screws.
Top of the bell-housing/transaxle casing clicks into place with just one screw. It has lots of holes to locate many more parts that fit on top later in the build.
Another hole that required drilling out. The metal engine mount brackets (top of pic) that screw to the cam covers have locating posts underneath, but they need a holes to seat in, and this raised post didn’t have a hole.
Cam covers were sprayed a metalized black, then the centre strip masked to be sprayed semi-gloss black.
Cam covers screw to the central ‘V’ section from underneath, which itself screws to the main block. It was a tight fit!
Kit parts cut off the sprue ready to fit
But rubber black paint and dark wash lifts the realism.
Pulleys and alternator added to the front of the engine. Unfortunately, this is mostly hidden once assembled.
Oil tank and rear anti-roll bar fitted. The white hose will change colour later in the build.
I don’t know what this part is, but it’s supposed to have wires coming out of it! There is no wiring included in this kit, so holes are drilled in the end of each outlet and tie-wire (from the go kart toolbox!) is CA glued in place.
The unit was fitted and the wires aligned to clear the rear shocks/springs which are added later in the build. Plumbing (not included in the kit) has been added to the gearbox oil cooler.
The body panels that run inside the rear wheels are cast metal and pre-painted. Unfortunately there is moulding flash that needed filing off.
The kit includes silver stickers for heat shielding on the floor and monocoque, but not for the inner surfaces of these panels. The foil from a tub of butter is perfect, glued to the red painted surface (which was lightly sanded prior) with Kristal Klear, then trimmed.
The foil settled down really well, followed by some semi-gloss black on the edge.
The panels mount to support struts that come off the gearbox, but they don’t sit in position very well. I filed the mounting pins thinner to give some room for adjustment.
The panels were also temporarily screwed to the floor and the top bodywork put in place to ensure correct alignment while the glue cured.
The main body is heavy. It’s diecast metal and comes pre-painted. The rear pushrod and spring assemblies are on the left, ready to be fitted.
Once the pushrods are screwed in place, it’s time to finish the rear suspension with the uprights and driveshafts. Again, these are secured by small screws.
With the rain light and jack point added to the gearbox, the rear end is basically done. The kit included double-sided adhesive film to stick the rain light to its housing. Unfortunately its stickiness was not-so-sticky (presumably due to age) so I used Kristal Klear.
Next job is the fuel and induction system
As mentioned earlier, the kit did not include Brembo decoration for the brake calipers. The replacement decals arrived at this point in the build, so the temperature stickers were carefully removed (and re-applied to the bottom face of the caliper) the the Brembo logos applied.
The parts for the fuel/intake system. Kit instructions call for these to be fitted to the model as is, but again, there are some improvements to be made.
Fuel rail had heavy mould seams down each side, so the plating was stripped, the seam removed and pipes smoothened.
Fuel/Intake parts ready for assembly. Bare Metal Foil was applied to the outside of the airbox base (top of pic). The fuel rail was sprayed Alclad Polished aluminium (having prior been prepared with primer then gloss black). Clear blue on the fittings give them a metallic anodised look. Red and silver was brush painted on the 24 injectors.
Underside of the intake assembly, prior to fitting to the engine.
Intake assembly fitted, held to the engine block with four screws that go down the inlet trumpets.
The exhaust system does not get attached until later in the build, but as I was going to add plumbing not included in the kit, had to check for clearance beforehand. As such, this is just dry-fitting.
The main floor required a few pieces to be glued in place plus silver heat shielding applied to the inside. A couple of 4.5mm holes are drilled so the model can be mounted to a base if the owner chooses to do so. Two nuts and bolts are supplied in the kit for this.
The fire bomb mounts to the underside panel of the monocoque. I’ve added chrome strips so the mounting straps contrast with the bottle. I was going add lines to the fittings, but the seat will eventually cover most of this meaning the fittings and pipes would not be visible.
Radiators screw to the base. I’ve added wash to the lower cooler to add contrast.
Another element that will be almost invisible once assembled is the pedals. I painted these with metallic colours, then dry-brushed some silver to give the appearance of wear from the driver’s boots.
Another test fit of the engine to the floor with right-side the exhaust pipes sitting in place.
The seat is pre-painted and pre-flocked to simulate a suede finish. All that was needed (other than trimming some flash from a belt hole in the seat) was to thread the seat belts (a woven material with sticky backing) through the buckles. I wondered why Rosso had not metal-plated the buckles, but when I look at period photos (as opposed to pics on the internet of the car as it’s run and presented these days), black buckles is correct for 1991.
The only plumbing included in the kit are the pipes to and from the radiators. All the pieces are on one beautifully plated aluminium coloured sprue. But they all had these heavy moulding seams running the entire length…
All the parts were cut off the sprue, the mould lines cleaned up, parts primed (seen here, in Tamiya Grey) then gloss black followed by Alclad Polished Aluminum.
Once the Alclad had cured, it was lightly buffed with a cloth to bring up the lustre.
Another after-market delivery. This one included these MFH Cable Ties/Zip Ties in three sizes. I used the largest 0.8mm wide bands on this 1:8 scale model.
Rear brake lines to both calipers are secured to the upper wishbones with the miniature cable ties. A dab of glue on the connector stops it from unravelling, then the tails are clipped off. This was a very fiddley job!
The end result, all zipped up
The nubs on this part were too big for tubing to be fitted, so I cut them off, drilled a small hole and used small pieces of wire as a connector for tubes to attach to.
I’m not sure what this part actually is (I suspect it’s part of the fuel system), but now the tubes are attached, it’s ready to fit. The tubing is an old composite video cable that’s been pulled apart and the wires gutted leaving just the outer conduit.
And fitted to the model.
First of the coolant pipes fitted. The temperature sensor in the upper pipe has been drilled so a temp wire can be added later. I wrapped some foil around the tank as I’d seen photos where this part had extra heat shielding and it was easy to add.
It took a long time to get to this point of marriage – Front Half, meet Back Half!
Once united, this is now quite a big model (about 44cm in this pic).
Four screws attach the engine to the chassis. These are the lower two, plus another two that anchor off metal brackets on the top of the engine.
This is the underside before the first floor piece goes on. It shows a metal rear bulkhead for the engine to screw to, plus further metal bulkheads that pick up the front suspension.
The two coolant pipes that run alongside the engine were not properly aligning with each other, so a couple of metal ties were added to hold the pipes closer together. Multiple loose wires/cables get tidied up later (and more added…).
Seat drops in and is secured by a single screw from underneath.
Like the coolant pipes, all the exhaust pipes had heavy seam lines that had to be removed – which subsequently ruined the metal plating which had to be stripped and re-painted.
There are six extractor pipes per side. Some of them are poorly made and required lots of re-shaping to make the pipe somewhat circular.
The tail pipes are supplied with a recess in the end, but I drilled them deeper to give the illusion of a hollow pipe.
The top of the tailpipes had several ejection-pin holes from the manufacturing process. This is an example of poorly planned tooling. If this part was manufactured the other way up, these pin holes would not even be visible once the model was complete.
Once the plated parts were cleaned up, they were sprayed with a household caustic cleaner to strip the metallic finish (see how to do this on YouTube HERE)
Drilled exhaust exit (left) compared to the stock outlet (right)
The plan was to paint all the pipes as separate pieces, however, getting them to fit into the collector and engine at the same time is a very fiddly job, so much so I was afraid that once painted, all the handling would ruin the metallic finish. So…
….all the exhaust parts were fitted and lined up, then glue added to the joins. Essentially, this all became one big part fitted (but not glued) to the engine.
Once the glue had set, the floor was removed so the exhaust assemblies could fall out the bottom.
Burning the midnight oil…
Tamiya Surface Primer (top) Vs home-made Sprue Goo (bottom) for filling gaps, pin marks and imperfections.
Tamiya Surface Primer in the gaps and sink holes of the airbox
Sanding down the filler/primer.
Grey primer on the airbox and exhaust assemblies.
Rear wing was a straight forward assembly, eight pieces fixed together with 12 tiny screws.
On all the rear wing parts, sink marks and seam lines from the moulding process are visible under certain light. I decided to not correct this for two reasons: (a) it’s a lot of work! The parts would need to be filled, sanded and painted, meaning the moulded carbon fibre affect would be lost thus requiring carbon decals be applied, and (b) the front wing was already assembled by the owner using unmodified kit parts. To keep the wings looking the same front and rear, we just went with the finish as supplied by Rosso.
SMS Stainless Steel for the metal finish. I had planned to heat stain these, but as the pipes were already fixed together, I decided to just go with a standard ‘new metal’ finish.
Thinners on a cotton bud was used to clean the paint off the exhaust pipe ends so the Tamiya cement can do it’s job properly when pushed into the engine.
Everything lined up fine 🙂
Coolant temperature sensors were made from fine wire, threaded through a piece of yellow tube. One for each side.
Wires were added to the Lambda sensors in the collectors.
Further wiring wiring between the cockpit and engine, plus from the radiator across the top of the cooling duct.
On some photos of the real car, there is additional heat shielding under the exhaust areas, so I cut up more sealing foil from a tub of butter to the shape I wanted.
The two shields were glued to the kit’s existing silver sticker with Kristal Klear.
Attaching the floor was a nervous moment, hoping all the screws would line up with the holes in the chassis! About a dozen small screws are used and after some manipulation, they all found their home 🙂
The underside of the body was a mix of red overspray and exposed cast metal, plus some casting veins and surface irregularities. Semi-gloss black was brush painted in here, just to make it dark. This pic is after the first of two coats.
Progress mock-up with the nose cone and rear wing sitting in place.
The after-market decals appeared to settled down well onto the carbon fibre texture of the moulding. Unfortunately, the white ink on the number decals is too thin in places, allowing the black to bleed through.
Also, the after-market decal maker did not realise the large yellow Agip signage is different on each side… The yellow should go all the way to the top left corner of the wing.
Mirrors are one-piece metal with a thread cut on the end of the stalk to take a securing nut. The lens is a pre-cut reflective sticker that fits nicely in the surround.
A felt sticker is included for the embroidered suede Ferrari emblems on the seat and headrest. The material is very easily damaged and frays around the edges when cut.
After-market decals include the correct “fluro” colour chevron for the driver name backgrounds, plus extra decal for the Marlboro signage (see below) allowing the model to be built to a specific Grand Prix if required. These background decals were on a separate sheet and their quality was far superior to all the other decals.
Airflow blankings were fitted to the radiator outlets (again, these are pre-painted and made of metal). The kit includes double-sided self adhesive stickers to secure these, but I used Kristal Klear as I was concerned about the quality of the adhesive due to age of the kit. I decided not to clear coat this. I was not prepared to take the risk with these decals which we could not easily replace. Besides, the factory finish on the red was already excellent.
The owner of the kit completed the front wing assembly many years ago, including the yellow markings atop the wing flaps for the Alain Prost #27 version. These had faded over time, so were removed and replaced with new decals. The Goodyear logos and other signage on the nose was fine, so remained as supplied.
This small nub on the inside of the black cockpit surround is used to locate a small clear windshield flap, but the part could not be found in the kit. We considered cutting this off and just leaving as is (the small clear flap was difficult to see in photos anyway), but I decided to try fabricating one from scratch.
The missing windshield part. Interestingly, the kit’s instructions include all the part numbers and pricing for Japanese residents to re-order any parts from this kit.
I found a sheet of transparency film, so played around with that. The hole secures the film on the small tab, otherwise there is no way of fixing it in place.
It took multiple attempts and lots test-fit/trim/test-fit/trim, but this is the final result, glued in place with Kristal Klear from underneath.
As promised, wiring to the rain light!
As with the rear, brake lines were fitted to the front and secured with miniature (and infuriating!) zip ties.
With the rear wing and nose cone fitted (all secured by screws) the chassis is essentially done!
With the model almost complete, it was time for a f*#king disaster! To this day, I have no idea where the glue came from (A spill? A leak?), but I almost superglued my finger to the fuel tank.
I masked around the resulting mess and sanded down the glue.
Then masked the panel and hit it with semi-gloss black to try match the factory colour on the tub.
The result is far from perfect, but it’s only noticeable under certain lighting. If it was my own model, I’d just be frustrated and angry with myself. But when it belongs to someone else, mistakes like this hit hard.
With tyres fitted to the rims, they required the Goodyear branding decoration be applied to each side. However, waterslide decals don’t always take too well to rubber. So, the tyres were cleaned with a little Shellite (petroleum spirit) on a rag, then the treads and rims masked up.
Sidewalls were all sprayed with SMS Clear Gloss.
Once the clear was cured, all the decals were applied (both sides). I used the Microscale solutions and the decal film appeared to react well, settling down tightly on the fine print that was moulded into the tyre (as per the real car).
Once the decals had dried (I gave these over 24 hours), some Tamiya Smoke was sprayed on the Goodyear branding to take a little of the brightness off the white.
A day later I tested straight flat clear on the sidewall, but once dried it appeared rough and almost had a chalky appearance. So, I mixed some gloss clear with about 30% flat and achieved this effect.
Painted and decalled airbox fits to the induction tray with four small screws.
I decided last minute to add angled floor support straps on each side. They’re made of sheet styrene cut to fit. The ends are bent at an angle to face the floor and monocoque, then painted a metallic colour.
Chassis complete, wheels off.
Sitting on all fours for the first time!
Each wheel is secured by a single lug nut which pulls the rim up on the brake disc pegs.
Done! It’s too big for my photo booth, so these pics will have to do.
Not only is the finished model physically large (560mm long x 275mm wide), it’s heavy too – almost 2.4kg!

Conclusion

The finished model has a real presence. There is plenty of scope for further detail, but even with just the additions we’ve made, I think it looks really good.

If replacement decals were readily available, I’d have a crack at grinding down the inside of the metal body to open up the various NACA ducts on the engine cover. A paint strip and respray would therefore be necessary.

The model also lends itself to going crazy with carbon fibre decals, but this would dramatically increase build time.

Additionally, there’s lots of further wiring and plumbing that could be added, though it would require better reference material and knowledge of the real car to know what goes where. A point to note on reference material: lots of photos of this car on the internet are of how the car is presented today at historic meetings. Lots of things have changed since 1991, simply because the car is maintained, which invariably means parts get replaced. Something to be aware of with any model build of an older car.

Two models of the same car by the same manufacturer. Rosso Corporation produced the ’91 Ferrari 643 in 1/8, 1/24 and 1/43 scale. I built the 1/43 scale version in 2017. It’s the subject of a kit review/how-to-build video on the YouTube channel – click/tap HERE to watch.
Like its big brother, the body comes off the 1/43 version to reveal chassis and engine detail.
Obligatory closing shot – the build with the box art.

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