Tameo 1/43 Ferrari 312PB

The Ferrari 312 PB was a Group 6 Prototype-Sports Car introduced in 1971 by Italian carmaker Ferrari. It was officially designated the 312 P, but often known as the 312 PB to avoid confusion with a previous car of the same name. It was part of the Ferrari P series of Prototype-Sports Cars but was redesignated as a Group 5 Sports Car for 1972.

The car was dominant in the 1972 season and won the championship that year, though there wasn't very much in the way of serious competition. 1973 was different and it had major competition from Matra. After the 1973 season, Ferrari abandon sports car racing to concentrate on a faltering Formula 1 car. For more information, visit the reference link. 

This is one of a few Tameo kits that I purchased some 20 years ago. I don't know if they have changed the way they do kits as they are now pretty pricey, but this one is typical of the few I've bought in that these are pretty much all metal kits. There are rubber tires and the tail lights are plastic, but everything else is cast metal. Unlike some other brands of the time, the casting it top notch with crisp detail and only a tiny bit of mold seam to file away.

As you can see by the instructions that I've provided, this is not a complex kit as these things go. There is a photo etch fret for some of the flatter pieces, and you have vacuformed windscreen and headlight covers. It is a curbside so though there is an engine, it it basically something designed to be viewed from the underside.

Couple of neat things is that there are springs for the rear suspension as that is something you will see and you can build either the long tail or short tail version with optional bits for the latter. Doing the long tail means removing part of the fins, but it appears to be pretty straight forward.

Instructions are basically exploded views with detail images. A nice touch is that the sheet offers the races where the various options raced. The kit provides decals for three cars. Decals not shown as they are sealed in a bag with the tiny tail and head lights. One is the #11 car you see in the head image that was driven by Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx to win at Brands Hatch in 1972. Another option is the Bueno Sires winning care of Peterson and Schenken while third is the Monza winning car of Ickx and Regazzoni. From what I can see in the bag, the decals look quite usable. Of course all three options are red with different accent colors.

Assuming I don't totally botch things, this should make into a superb little model of this important racer. I've a considerable number of these cars in my slot car collection, so I am familiar with how the end product will look.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_312_PB

May 2025

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