Here’s another diecast conversion to create Brad Pitt’s race car from the F1 Movie – but this one’s in the much larger 1:24 scale!
I’ve already done a Red Bull to Apex GP conversion, but that was in the smaller 1:43 scale (there’s a build video on the YouTube channel). This conversion is not only bigger, but also includes a driver figure.
The donor: Red Bull RB19 diecast by Bburago in 1/24 scale. The Alpine F1 car is a closer shape to the APX car, but Bburago does not do the Alpine in 1:24 scale. Switching to something like a 1:18 Spark could work, but that would take the conversion to a level of complexity and increased cost we didn’t want to undertake.
Step 1 – disassembly. Many parts need to be stripped of their decoration and having them as separate pieces makes things easier. A series of screws hold all the main bits together, but note that not all the screws are the same. Several of the plastic components clip into place, so these clips have to be carefully released with a small screwdriver. Much of the front and rear suspension can stay intact as it does not need to be re-painted.
This is the only metal section of the entire model (well, other than the screws and rear axle). Paint stripper removed the paint and decoration before it was sanded, ready for primer.
Tamiya Fine Gray Primer on the metal body and the engine cover, which is plastic. I use lacquer thinner on a cotton tip to remove the tampo print decoration from the engine cover, which was also lightly sanded prior to primer.
All the main parts, ready for their new look! Sponsor signage, logos and colour decoration has been removed from the wings, wheels, halo, barge boards etc
First coat of body colour – Tamiya TS14 gloss black.
The decoration on the driver could not be removed with thinners or various other chemicals, and was still visible after priming. I sanded down much of the lettering, being careful not to smoothen out the driver too much!
Now needs another coat of grey, then white primer.
Sonny Hayes, now in white (Tamiya)
Steering wheel (originally just plain black plastic) had buttons picked out in various colours, hand grips painted rubber black and the screen painted German Grey (all Tamiya).
The seat (originally just plain black plastic) was painted flat black so the moulded-in seat belts could be seen and to give the cockpit some life.
Exhaust tailpipe (originally just plain black plastic) was sprayed stainless steel (SMS).
On to the bodywork, and something I hadn’t considered – the rear wing has a carbon texture moulded into the plastic. In photographs, this wing is smooth and shiny, so I sanded the texture off the top surface that was to be painted gold. This turned into quite the job due to the complex curvature of the surface.
After various grades of wet sanding, the wing was then masked up for painting.
Masking on the rear of the rear wing. FYI, it’s all Tamiya brand masking tape.
Several pieces of bodywork have to be clipped back together before masking for the gold livery can be applied. Thin plastic tape for curves was used as the main masking edge. Placement is all guess work, just trying to make it look something like the movie car.
Trying to get the livery consistent on both sides was…. fun… (not). Amazingly, with all the peeling off and re-applying, none of the black paint lifted.
Initial nose outline mask.
Then filled in.
Rest of the model masked off, ready for the gold paint.
As per the 1:43 version, the gold is Tamiya TS-21, run through the airbrush. It came up ok – no bleeds, just a small spray leak on the engine cover, which was easily cleaned up with a little polishing compound.
So, with the livery masked and sprayed, on to the decal decoration. I knew this would be a big job, but underestimated the level of complexity and adjustment that would be needed.
The large decals for the cockpit, sidepods and engine cover have to apply over multiple pieces of bodywork. I hold these pieces in place with Tamiya tape. In retrospect, I should have just re-assembled the model.
The main decoration for the cockpit top and sides is ONE decal. A lot of careful cutting and manipulation is required to get it positioned and to clear and go around all those suspension arms and camera pods!
This is the livery pattern for the left side. I cut around the outside edge of the pattern to reduce the area of decal film to work work with. Nothing lines up where it should (remember, these decals were designed for a computer game, not a diecast model). I should have cut this into several pieces. I thought once it had been applied to the contour of the car, the fit would not be too bad. I was wrong – the sizing and fit was a long way off. With beads of sweat forming, I was able to slowly lift this decal off the model, return it to the backing paper, then carefully sliced it into multiple pieces before re-applying each piece to more suit the shape of the Bburago Red bull. Kudos to the decal supplier (Patto’s Place) for the quality of the clear film they use – there are other brands of decal that would have fallen apart with all this manual handling!
So, for the righthand side I cut the decal into multiple parts before wetting.
The decoration after application and some decal setter. It should be noted the pattern in the livery design is not symmetrical on the APX GP car.
Originally, the pilot tubes and aerials on top of the cockpit fit into the model from the inside. However, with decals now sealing the model, they have to be re-fitted from the outside. The square base was cut off this pilot tube tower, then white-glued into the original hole in the casting.
The finished model with aerials etc in place.
Metal colour on the exhaust boosts rear end appearance.
Base colour down on Sonny’s helmet, which is an eye-balled mix of Tamiya Coral Blue TS41 and Pure White TS26.
Masking for the centre stripe, which was sprayed with Tamiya Black TS14.
Masking removed. Notice the white paint has scuffed off the driver’s knuckles and fingers? I don’t know what material Bburago has used for the driver figure. It feels flexible and rubbery, and lacquer paints do NOT like sticking to it! It’s very easy to scuff and damage the surface.
So, I’ve started experimenting with making my own decals with a few of the key logos from Sonny’s race suit and helmet. Using a pretty basic inkjet printer onto clear decal film, it was then sealed with clear (a light spray of Tamiya TS13 straight from the can) before each was cut out and applied.
It’s a long way off accurate, but at least the driver no longer looks like a Red Bull employee! My custom decals were mildly successful, but definitely need more work.
A piece of black decal was cut to shape to represent the visor. Again, this is inaccurate as in the film, clear visors were used for the cinematic reason of showing the driver’s face.
I was able to retain Bburago’s factory carbon fibre finish in many areas, such as inside the radiator ducts, the floor, suspension arms, diffuser etc.
But areas like the front wing had to have the texture re-painted black due to the damage that gets done removing the original Red Bull decoration.
Left over reflective chrome sticker material from another build was cut to size and inserted to represent rear-view mirror lenses.
Wheel nuts were touched-up in metallic colour to more closely match photos. The red rim rings were wiped off with lacquer thinner prior to the tyres being re-fitted.
Just in case you’re curious about what the underside looks like! No changes here, it’s stock Bburago.
