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A couple of years ago (2008) I started this project, it's been on and off my workbench. The idea was / is to change a Pocher Ferrari F40 into the F40 Beurlys. The F40 Beurlys also known as the Barchetta Beurlys was build for belgian racing driver and Ferrari collector Jean Blaton :

807163220BeurlysF40.jpg

 

Ferrari-F40-Barchetta.jpg


Before the roof was cut, the car received many modifications like a F1 style suspension :

 

Ferrari_F40_Barchetta_Beurlys_10.jpg

 

The complete history of this car is unknown. On various website you can find a kind of history, but some of it is false.

 

Here are some facts :

 

* The chassis is completely build from scratch.

* Some of the work was done by the belgian Tony Gillet.

* The gearbox is an Enforced Hewland (Crabots), 5 gears + 1 reverse.

* Rims : BBS E-19 style 3-piece magnesium centerlock racing.



I took me 2 years and hundreds of emails to find this unique car. When I finally found it in France, I took hundreds of pictures. Some of these will be shown during this WIP. Currently the car is in Holland where it got a complete overhaul :

 

http://www.forzaservice.nl/werkplaats/werkplaats/f40-barchetta-beurlys/

During the work on this project (and because of the pictures that I've posted on various sites) I found more information on its history. I was also contacted by the designer and the current owner.

The drawing made by the designer Vincent Barbereau :

Ferrari-F40-Beurlys-Barchetta-03.jpg

This body was used to make the Beurlys (were it came from is still unknown) :

1_web00ia9.jpg

A WIP picture of the real car taken in the workshop of Tony Gillet :

1_web10tu5.jpg

 

These clips show the car in all its glory after the overhaul :

 

 

 

It's been a couple of years since I did any work on the 1/8 scale model. But if you guys are interested, I'll post all the updates of the work that I did.

 

Sincerely

 

Pascal

 

Edited by Pascal
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OK, here we go. When I started this project I had only a few photos of the real car, the goal then was to make a curbside model using a Pocher Ferrari F40. I didn't own a Dremel myself (borrowed one from a friend) and had never cut into a diecast model before.

Got myself a Dremel a year later and since then I've been cutting up diecast models like crazy.

 

So here are the first steps that I took :

 

The Beurlys has a big hole in the front bonnet (like a Ferrari F40 LM), drilled some holes to make the first cut :

 

1_IMAG0642.jpg

 

1_IMAG0643.jpg

 

These NACA intakes from the front bonnet will be used to make the intakes on the sides of the body (one of the features that's only on the Beurlys car) :

 

1_IMAG0644.jpg

 

This picture give you an idea how thick the Pocher metal is :

 

1_IMAG0645.jpg

 

The Beurlys car has no popup headlights, the holes will be filled with brass :

 

1_IMAG0647.jpg

 

1_IMAG0646.jpg

 

This is the inside of the body, where the intakes from the front bonnet will be installed. To make room for the intakes the metal tube has to go :

 

1_IMAG0648.jpg

 

I made the cut for the intakes and fixed them in place with CA, then the gaps were filled with 2K putty (If I would do it today, I would use CA + flour as a filler because that is a lot stronger) :

 

1_IMAG0650.jpg

 

1_IMAG0649.jpg

 

1_IMAG0651.jpg

 

It took a lot of sanding, but I was very happy that I managed to put the intakes in exactly the right place :

 

1_IMAG0653.jpg

 

1_IMAG0652.jpg

 

1_IMAG0654.jpg

 

That were my first humble steps that I took in this project. The project got a lot more complicated in the following years.

 

Please feel free to comment.

 

Sincerely

 

Pascal

 

 

Edited by Pascal
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Really neat work Pascal! I think if someone has never tried modifying a diecast, they won't realise just how hard a material it is to work - and to get anywhere near as nice a finish as you have here, it's very hard work!!

 

Looking forward to progress!

 

Keith

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Hi Keith,

 

You're absolutely right. Zamac is a difficult material to work with. It's hard but fragile, it can't be soldered and - depending on the quality - can decay in time (zamac cancer). If the quality is really bad, the zamac will turn into a sand like dust.

 

Luckily it reacts well to CA and especially cold steel weld from J-B Weld. This steel reinforced 2K putty can be used as a glue or a filler.

 

PS : Stay tuned for more updates, the first update was just baby steps.

 

Sincerely

 

Pascal

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I opened up the cooling vents of the rear spoiler (strang that the 1/8 Pocher has them close and the 1/18 Bburago has them open) :

 

1_IMAG0655.jpg

 

The piece in the middle was removed, the large hole will be closed up with plasticard :

 

1_IMAG0656.jpg

 

1_IMAG0657.jpg

 

1_IMAG0660.jpg

 

The Beurlys has a large diffuser fitted to the underside of the spoiler :

 

1_20081003160246DSC01190.jpg

 

Did some work on the dashboard. Like most race F-40's the right part of the dashboard holds the fuses :

 

1_IMAG0658.jpg

 

1_IMAG0659.jpg

 

1_F40_SPIDER_IMG_9782.jpg
From caradisiac.com, for reference purpose only

 

The roof was cut off, more zamac needs to be removed to get the correct shape :

 

1_IMAG0661.jpg

 

1_IMAG0662.jpg

 

1_IMAG0663.jpg

 

The top of the body was also removed :

 

1_IMAG0664.jpg

 

So I could start to build the rear part of the Beurlys :

 

These pictures show that the top of the doors was also widened :

 

1_web10tu5.jpg

 

Glued some styrene to the doors to get an idea of the shapes :

 

1_IMAG0667.jpg

 

1_IMAG0665.jpg

 

1_IMAG0666.jpg

 

Sincerely

 

Pascal

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The 3 piece BBS magnesium wheels were made by a modeller that has a CNC machine. Pocher wheels :

 

1_IMAG0668.jpg

 

Inserts made with the CNC machine :

 

1_IMAG0670.jpg

 

Dryfit, the spokes of the Pocher wheels will be removed :

 

1_IMAG0669.jpg

 

1_IMAG0671.jpg

 

Reference pic :

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__1_.jpg

 

One of the reference pics that I had before I found the real car and took my own pics :

1_F40_Jean_Blaton_1_22.jpg

 

First try to rebuild the firewall :

 

1_IMAG0673.jpg

 

Some work on the "humps" behind the seats :

1_IMAG0682.jpg

 

1_IMAG0684.jpg

 

1_IMAG0686.jpg

 

Dryfit with the new center console (tunnel) :

 

1_IMAG0702.jpg

 

Reference pic :

1_F40_Jean_Blaton_1_23.jpg

 

Door widened, sanded and primed :

 

1_IMAG0706.jpg

 

First attempt at widening the cockpit sidewalls :

 

IMAG0709.jpg

 

The Pocher dashboard looks like this :

 

1_IMAG0745.jpg

 

But the Beurlys has a different cover over the dials :

 

1_F40_SPIDER_IMG_9791.jpg

 

1_F40_SPIDER_IMG_9790.jpg

 

It's shorter, so I cut it to size :

 

1_IMAG0746.jpg

 

1_IMAG0747.jpg

 

And made the plastic cover a little thinner :

 

1_IMAG0750.jpg

 

1_IMAG0751.jpg

 

1_IMAG0752.jpg

 

All this work was done with the reference pics that I found on the internet. When I finally found the real car, I took some 200 pictures. Here's a few of them :

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__38_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__37_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__35_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__30_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__31_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__32_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__33_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__34_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__22_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__23_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__24_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__27_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__18_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__16_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__14_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__20_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__8_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__9_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__11_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__3_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__2_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__1_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__5_.jpg

 

1_F-40_Beurlys__6_.jpg

 

With these pictures things got serious. I then decided to finish this model with a complete suspension, gearbox and engine. (Originally I planned to build it as a curbside model).

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Pascal,

Although I'll be honest and say I am not in favor of the real car's appearance, it is obviously a staggering engineering accomplishment and I respect it greatly.

 

Your wise accumulation of reference personally is invaluable because your fabrication skills will be challenged to the limit. Especially recreating the brake and suspension systems.

 

I encourage you and wish you best luck, you're off to a great start. I look forward to a long and highly instructional thread. A lot will be learned here.

Edited by Codger
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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks for the replies. I'm defnitely not highly skilled. But I like a challenge and this project gives me a chance to learn as much as possible.

 

An unofficial story / rumour about this car is that Jean Blaton wanted Ferrari to start a limited production run of the "super" F-40. Sadly Ferrari would have none of it and gave the order to remove all Ferrari badges and logos from this prototype.

 

Update :

 

I made the hole for the headlights bigger :

 

1_Beurl__2_.jpg

 

And started work on the louvres. First I drilled some holes :

 

1_beurlf.jpg

 

Use my dremel and some files to shape the holes :

 

1_beurlf__4_.jpg

 

1_B1.jpg

 

1_FBe__1_.jpg

 

Then I discovered that they were to wide, so I filled them with plasticard :

 

1_F4__1_.jpg

 

1_40Fb__2_.jpg

 

1_CllC__1_.jpg

 

Cleaned up the edges of the large hole in the middle :

 

1_I01__1_.jpg

 

Added a plastic strip :

1_06fb__1_.jpg

 

After putty, sanding and primer it looks like this :

 

1_1110b__1_.jpg

 

Added a few aluminium pieces :

 

1_1210b__2_.jpg

 

Reference pic :

 

1_1110b1.jpg

 

Then I found out that the holes for the louvres were not in the right place, so I started modifying them a third time :

 

1_1510a__3_.jpg

 

1_1510a__5_.jpg

 

1_1610a.jpg

 

Reference pic :

 

1_1410f.jpg

 

Yep, now the're fine :

 

1_1610a__2_.jpg

 

Sincerely

 

Pascal

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  • 4 months later...

Thx guys, it's been way to long.

 

Then it was time to look at the doors. A little plasticard here and there :

 

1_1810a__2_.jpg

Reference pic :

 

1_1810a__1_.jpg

 

Removed some metal from the inside of the doors :

 

1_1910a.jpg

 

Modified the plastic inserts :

 

1_1910a__1_.jpg

 

Then I took my dremel and things got serious.

Before :

1_2210a__1_.jpg

 

After :

1_2210f__1_.jpg

 

Modified the door hinges :

 

1_3110a__1_.jpg

 

And the dashboard :

 

1_3110a__3_.jpg

 

Back to the doors. Kevlar stickers with a coat of Tamiya smoke to give the stickers a "used look" :

 

1_0912a.jpg

 

Even 1/8 scale needs some tiny details :

 

1_1112.jpg

 

More stickers :

 

1_030210__2_.jpg

 

Inserts glued to the doors :

 

1_030210__2_.jpg

 

I filled the gaps with plasticard, needs a lot of sanding :

 

2803a_1_.jpg

 

2803a_2_.jpg

 

The holes are for the doors locks, these will be made from aluminium sheet :

 

030410.jpg

 

Sincerely

Pascal

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Thx guys.

 

The sidewalls of the Pocher interior are to narrow. Here's how I made them wider. Cardboard templates :

 

050410_2_.jpg

 

050410.jpg

 

Used the template to cut a piece of acrylic :

 

050410_1_.jpg

 

Temporary firewall :

 

050410_4_.jpg

 

Acrylic part as a dryfit :

 

050410_3_.jpg


050410_5_.jpg

 

Edited by Pascal
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Glued the acrylic pieces in place, used a few pieces of Lego as spacers :

 

132010_1_.jpg

 

132010_2_.jpg

 

132010_3_.jpg

 

Two pieces cut from plasticard :

 

132010.jpg

 

Will complete the widening of the interior :

 

132010_4_.jpg

 

2504_3_.jpg

 

2504_2_.jpg

 

2504.jpg

 

More plasticard to box in the new sidewalls :

 

2504_1_.jpg

 

I used a metal rod to hold the side pods of the body together (without the roof and dashboard the pods have become 2 pieces) :

 

040510_2_.jpg

 

040510_1_.jpg

 

040510.jpg

 

More plasticard and a dryfit of the modified dashboard :

 

110510_1_.jpg

 

110510_2_.jpg

 

110510_3_.jpg

 

110510_4_.jpg

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I really like the way you're fabricating the interior and the variety of things that you're using to achieve the results! I was looking pretty closely at the pictures of the vents that you cut out in the fenders and then the amount of work that you had to do to get the correct vent look by adding the plastic card on the angle. When I made the cuts in the rear valance of my F40 I tried to make sure that I didn't cut any of these out. Today, when I was looking at the rear clam shell I noticed that the entire top vents have the same angle and that, about the only thing to cut out would be nothing more than a slit toward the front on each of the vents; does that sound about right?

 

 

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