A somewhat atypical Provence Moulage kit, in that it incorporates some nice engine detail into the casting. Generally, their kits are curbside. In this case, since the engine can actually be seen, they had to build in that detail as well. The casting is very fine, of typical PM quality. No bubbles or other marks on the exterior surfaces. The biggest defect was the roll bar (see arrow, above), which was severly damaged - it would have been incorporated into the lower half, but was malformed and broken. I discarded this debris and made the part from brass rod.

The kit also includes a sheet of photoetch, two vacuformed windshields and a bag of miscellaneous parts.

The prototype for this model was the 712 CanAm car driven by Mario Andretti in 1971. There was only one of these cars built, and I believe it has the distinction of being the largest engine Ferrari ever produced. The body itself was converted from one of the 512 series cars
First, I cleaned up the flash and sanded the rough areas down in the body openings and wheelwells. I've found that these kits usually need a bit of extra work around the wheel openings. Also sanded the bottom edges smooth.

After a brisk scrubbing to remove any dust and mould release, I started out by applying the PE fins and spoilers. I've found it's much easier in the long run to do this stuff up front. It reduces potential damage to the finish later. And applying bare PE to bare resin is quick work using CA glue - just be very sure that the part is position correctly, because it sticks almost instantly.

Next the body was primed using Model Master white primer. I used white since the overcoat was going to be the typical Ferrari red. I dusted on several coats, doing touch-up sanding between coats. Then the body was set aside to cure for a while, and I started on the detail painting of the interior and engine.

Finding reference material on this car was practically non-existent, I guess because it was a one-off. The images I was able to find were generally external shots, nothing of the interior or engine. So I used the PM instruction sheet (such as it is) and an assumption that since it seems that the car was loosely based on a 312 that some of that detail should cross over. And of course, since it was a one-off, how many folks have actually seen this car up close? :-) Yeah, I know - somebody out there will tell me, "I have, and...."

The whole thing was sprayed with Model Master silver and set aside to dry. Then the details were picked out. Flat red for the seat, gloss yellow for the box and gloss red for the tank. Ignition wires were painted gloss red and the distributors gloss black. Headers gloss white. The transaxle was done in metallic grey, and the injection stacks were something new - a local hobby shop has started carrying Badger airbrush colors, and they have a very neat metallic silver that I used for the stacks. Once all the colors had dried I used washes to bring out the detail.
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