Ferrari F1-75 (2022) Build Feature (Enrico Sironi) — Part 2: Unboxing & Resin Preparation

Alpha Model AM03-0009 · Build by Enrico Sironi

Unboxing

The kit looks very good straight out of the box, with the parts divided into transparent bags. The resin parts are of excellent quality and have been carefully designed; the attachment points are well defined, allowing you to work on the model without detaching the pieces from their casting blocks. The kit also includes multiple photo-etch sheets and finely printed decal sheets, which add a serious touch of realism to a modern Formula 1 car.

A little tip: this model is heavily based on aerodynamic components. The kit presents them well, but because the parts are cast in resin, some elements are welded together. With care and patience they can be opened up — this series will show how, so that your model can be as realistic as possible.

Checking Slots and Panels

The warm yellow color of the resin is perfect for this type of model and the details are finely molded — look at the engraved louvers molded into the monocoque sides. Before starting work, it is important to check the various slots and panels for any resin buildup or residue. These residues can compromise the final finish, so remove them carefully.

Opening Closed Parts

Enrico prefers to open up parts that are molded closed in order to increase the detail level of the model. He cautions that this intervention is only recommended for experienced modelers, as it could damage the structure of the piece. If you decide to open them, carefully assess your skills and proceed with caution. Recommended blades: 0.1 mm / 0.15 mm scribing blades. Use sharp, high-quality tools, take your time, and work patiently.

Degreasing

As with every resin kit, the parts arrive coated in mold-release agent and must be washed before any paint touches them. Enrico uses a mixture of products in cold water:

• Liquid dish soap
• A degreasing denture tablet

The body tub, wheels and small parts are left to soak for 24 hours. After washing, everything needs to be dried thoroughly — Enrico uses compressed air to blow water out of the crevices, which also avoids breaking the delicate part attachments.

Next: Part 3 — Photo-Etch Harness, Primer & Ferrari Red

Ferrari F1-75 (2022) Build Feature (Enrico Sironi) — Part 3: Photo-Etch Harness, Primer & Ferrari Red

Alpha Model AM03-0009 · Build by Enrico Sironi

Photo-Etch Seat Harness

One of the most eye-catching details in an open-cockpit modern F1 car is the driver's six-point harness. The kit supplies beautifully etched gold-toned metal belts with a woven texture. Photo-etching requires particular attention and care: to achieve precise bends without damaging the details, use dedicated tools such as fine tweezers, sharp cutters and photo-etch bending pliers.

Enrico's advice is to read the instructions carefully and familiarize yourself with the different parts of the fret before starting; use sharp, high-quality tools, and if possible practice on a scrap piece first. Very delicate parts can be secured with a little masking tape, and rounded-tip tweezers prevent scratching the surface. The fret itself is clearly labeled "1/20 FERRARI F1-75" and includes the belt end hardware as separate pieces.

Priming

Once all the resin parts were clean and dry, Enrico primed everything in gray. The primer coat reveals any remaining seams or imperfections that still need attention. The large monocoque tub — nose, cockpit and engine cover in one major casting — was then given a coat of glossy white. This white undercoat is the secret behind a bright, luminous red: the famous Ferrari red is a relatively translucent color, and painting it directly over gray primer would leave it looking dark and muddy.

The Ferrari Red

There are lots of different reds out there, but it is best to use the specific shade for each model year. The 2022 F1-75 wears a rich, slightly dark "Rosso F1-75" satin red, and over the glossy white base the color coats land with real depth. Enrico sprayed the red in thin, even layers, leaving the paint to cure fully between coats.

Parts destined for carbon-fiber decals received a completely different treatment: they were primed black and then given a top coat of glossy black, producing a smooth, dark surface for the carbon decals to bed onto with maximum weave contrast.

Next: Part 4 — Sponsor Decals on the Bodywork

Ferrari F1-75 (2022) Build Feature (Enrico Sironi) — Part 4: Sponsor Decals on the Bodywork

Alpha Model AM03-0009 · Build by Enrico Sironi

Laying Down the Livery

With the red fully cured, the bodywork moves to the most demanding stage of any modern F1 build: the sponsor decals. The F1-75 carries logos over almost every surface — nose, sidepods, engine cover and halo fairing — and the kit's finely printed water-slide sheet reproduces them all. Working over the glossy red base helps the decals snuggle down without silvering, and a setting solution (Mr. Mark Softer / Setter can be seen on Enrico's bench) persuades the film to conform over curves and panel lines.

Each logo is applied one at a time and given a moment to settle before the next goes down. Working from the assembly manual keeps the placement accurate — on the real car every partner logo has an exact position and size.

Reading the 2022 Livery

The 2022 livery tells the story of the F1-75 season. The long nose carries the stacked sponsor block — Shell, AWS, Palantir, Pirelli, Mahle and Santander — while the sidepods are dominated by the Shell pecten, CEVA and the Ray-Ban script. The cockpit sides carry Richard Mille and the Ferrari prancing horse, and the red airbox/engine cover is topped by Santander with the large black #16 behind the halo. A small Italian tricolore and the 75th-anniversary "75" mark appear around the cockpit, echoing the celebratory naming of the car.

Once every logo had dried in place, the red bodywork was set aside to await final assembly while attention turned to the black aerodynamic components — and the huge amount of carbon-fiber texture that defines the underside of a ground-effect Formula 1 car.

Next: Part 5 — Carbon Fiber: Front Wing & Floor

Ferrari F1-75 (2022) Build Feature (Enrico Sironi) — Part 5: Carbon Fiber — Front Wing & Floor

Alpha Model AM03-0009 · Build by Enrico Sironi

Adding the Carbon Weave

A modern Formula 1 car is almost entirely black below its waistline — not painted black, but raw carbon fiber. To enhance visual dynamics and overall realism, Enrico applied a variety of carbon textures to the decals, and every piece was applied meticulously to prevent air trapping and silvering. The black-gloss base coat from the painting stage is what makes the weave read with real depth.

Numerous components are involved, and the kit does not provide all carbon-fiber components out of the box. Consequently, Enrico fabricated custom masks using lightweight masking tape and supplemented them with commercially available aftermarket decals, which offer exceptional performance with diverse weave textures. Proper orientation and grain alignment are crucial for achieving an accurate replication: on the real car, adjacent panels deliberately run their weave in different directions.

The Front Wing

The multi-element front wing is one of the most complex decal jobs in the kit. Each flap is a thin, double-curved blade, so the carbon decal film must be cut into narrow strips and coaxed over the leading and trailing edges with setting solution. Once the weave was dry, the white Shell V-Power and Kaspersky logos were added to the flaps and endplates, with the thin red pinstipe along the endplate edge.

The Floor & Its Fasteners

The floor is the heart of the 2022 ground-effect regulations, and on the F1-75 it is a long carbon plank edged with dozens of tiny fasteners and the titanium sliding block at the very bottom. Enrico covered the floor panels in carbon decals, paying attention to weave direction changes between the center channel and the outer edge. A highlight detail: rows of tiny photo-etch metal clips — the floor fasteners — were fitted along the floor edge, each one individually bent and glued.

With the front wing and floor wearing their carbon weave, the remaining aerodynamic structures — suspension, exhaust and the big rear wing — were prepared for the assembly phase.

Next: Part 6 — Aero Assembly, Suspension & Rear Wing

Ferrari F1-75 (2022) Build Feature (Enrico Sironi) — Part 6: Aero Assembly, Suspension & Rear Wing

Alpha Model AM03-0009 · Build by Enrico Sironi

Aerodynamic Assembly Phase

In this phase, the last of the aerodynamic parts are joined before being fixed to the bottom of the model. It is important to work with delicacy and precision to avoid damaging the delicate components. Before definitively fixing the parts, check their position and alignment — make sure all components are correctly assembled and that there is no interference between them. The aero parts are then carefully fixed to the underside using the appropriate connectors; excessive force at this stage can easily crack a thin carbon-finished flap.

Suspension & Brake Ducts

The F1-75's push-rod suspension is fully exposed at both axles, and the model reproduces the wishbones and push-rods as slender black carbon-textured members meeting at black wheel hubs with blue axle fasteners. The front brake ducts carry the little red-white-green Sairus-style marker decals, while the nose cone at this stage is fully dressed: VELAS, the big black #16, Shell, AWS, Palantir, Pirelli and Mahle run in a precise stack down to the prancing-horse-tipped nose tip.

The Rear Wing

The 2022 rear wing is a simpler, two-element beam-and-flap arrangement on twin swan-neck pylons, with the VELAS logo running across the main plane and Shell V-Power and VELAS on the endplates. Every face of the wing is carbon-finished, so the decals had to wrap cleanly around the curved flap ends. The wing is supported on the gearbox cluster above the single central exhaust outlet, with the LED rain light and the perforated crash structure modeled behind it.

With every sub-assembly finished and test-fitted, the car was ready for its wheels and the final gallery session.

Next: Part 7 — Wheels, Final Assembly & Finished Showcase

Ferrari F1-75 (2022) Build Feature (Enrico Sironi) — Part 7: Wheels, Final Assembly & Finished Showcase

Alpha Model AM03-0009 · Build by Enrico Sironi

Wheels & Final Assembly

The last major components are the wheels. The 2022 regulation switch to 18-inch rims gives the F1-75 its distinctive low-profile tire silhouette; the model's satin-black wheel covers carry the Pirelli lettering on the sidewalls with the red tire-stripe detail and a tiny blue axle fastener at the center. The complete car now sits on its black display plinth — the red bodywork, carbon floor and black aero components finally meeting as one machine.

Finished Model Showcase

The completed Ferrari F1-75 in 1/20 scale. From directly overhead the symmetry of the 2022 ground-effect design is on full display: the sculpted red engine cover and sidepods framed by the black carbon floor, front wing and the white "Santander" rear wing, with all four Pirelli-shod wheels at the corners. Presented on its plinth with the engraved "Scuderia Ferrari F1-75 2022" metal nameplate, it is a faithful miniature of the car that brought Ferrari back to winning ways.

A huge thanks to Enrico Sironi (esmodel_bgm) for documenting this first Ferrari F1 build so thoroughly — from opening the welded resin aero parts, through the gray primer, white base and Ferrari red, the dense sponsor decal work and the hand-aligned carbon weave, to the finished #16 on its display plinth. If this feature inspires your own 1/20 F1-75 build, share it with the Alpha Model community!

End of series — thank you for reading. Alpha Model AM03-0009, Ferrari F1-75 (2022) · 1/20 Scale Full Detail Kit · Build by Enrico Sironi.