Midlantic Models 1/43 Ferrari 612P, previewed by Scott Van Aken

Ferrari's participation in the CanAm series was one of insufficient preparation and lack of understanding of how the series worked. This was never more true than with the 612P series of cars and the less successful 712P of the year that followed. The series required good preseason sorting, upgrades as the season progressed and a ton of horsepower.

It has to be taken into consideration that Ferrari of the late 1960's was basically concentrating on Formula One and the world sports car championship. CanAm was an afterthought and little preparation time was put into the cars they fielded. Initially, they used what were basically 312P chassis and put in larger engines. For 1969, that meant a 6 liter V-12. Well, face it. When up against nearly 8 liter Chevrolet V-8s, that was giving away a considerable amount of horsepower.

Thanks to the lack of pre-race testing, most of the sorting out of the chassis was done in the days prior to the event. Not exactly the best way to do things as problems continued to crop up with the car. Each event, for instance, saw more and more in terms of aerodynamic aids popping up on the car in order to help the handling. By the time the car reached Elkhart Lake, about mid-way through the series, it had sprouted a large wing int he back as well as an enlarged radiator intake to help engine cooling, a scabbed on oil cooler on the left side and small winglets on either side of the nose. Not at all the sleek sports racer that started the year.

Despite all of this the car, driven by Chris Amon, was tantalizingly close in several of 1969's events, scoring a second at Watkins Glen, a third at Edmonton, and a third at Mid-Ohio during the early races of that year. In the rest of the races where the car was entered, it failed due to some sort of mechanical malfunction and never really had a chance to be properly sorted out. Still, it is a Ferrari and has earned a place in the company's history.

I purchased this kit back in 2005 or so and just found it the other day when cleaning behind some shelving. Guess it had fallen back behind it and been forgotten.

These kits all seem to come in a standard sized cardboard box that is quite sturdy. This one is a true multi-media kit with the body, wing, and engine block made of resin while the rest of the kit, save the tires, is some sort of metal. Two photo etch frets are included with the attachment points so small that I had parts depart the fret during handling. The rest is basically cast metal and very nicely cast it is as well. Same for the resin. No pits, runs or errors that I could find. A single vacuformed windscreen is included with the kit.

As you can see from the parts layout, there are a lot of small bits. Most of these pieces are for the wing support and for the rear suspension pieces. One does have to build up the rear suspension and it includes half shafts, brake assemblies and uprights as well as the cast metal control arms and brake ducting. The engine has 12 separate velocity stacks (those bits in with the tires) and separate exhaust as well. The interior is a large cast metal part with most of the inside bits being photo etch. This is also true of the various radiator grilles and small aero devices. If you are getting the idea that this kit may be a tad fiddly, you would be correct. Most of the well done 1/43 car kits today are quite fiddly and so you do need patience and experience to do a credible job. Despite that, I like doing these every once in a while.

The kit's instructions have three color photos of the build up on one side and the other has several drawings of where the bits fit. There is also a list of the parts and the color they are to be painted. The kit includes a pair of decal sheets, though only one is shown. This is probably to help prevent the red color from bleeding through the white numbers.

Overall, a very nice kit of an important, though rather unsuccessful Ferrari racer. It is one that I think most who like doing CanAm models will want to add to their collection, assuming it is still available as models like these often don't last very long on the market.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

KIT #:	MID 46
PRICE:	around $60 or so
DECALS:	One option
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	Resin, cast metal, rubber and vacuformed plastic