Juha Ristimaa has been one of Europe’s top names as a builder of impressive trucks for a long time, and he has had a lot of success in European truck shows. However, this new truck is something very special in its implementation and style, even by Juha Ristimaa’s standards. Customization of the truck began as early as the end of 2019. Due to Corona, several exhibitions in the truck -scene were cancelled last year, so it was decided to continue the project by one year. This gave even more time to build a real sample of a customisation talent of Ristimaa. The main emphasis in the construction was first focused on the tractor, which provided opportunities for meticulous work in modifying the trucks bodyparts, as well as for the trucks special painting. So far, well over 2,500 man-hours have been spent building the truck! Later in the autumn, the truck will also have a semi-trailer suitable for the theme.
The idea for the theme came in 2018 when Juha saw for the first time a Formula 1 race live in Monza, Italy. Impressed by the experience, Juha became an even bigger fan of Kimi Räikkönen, and the idea of a Kimi-themed truck began to creep in to his mind. Juha shared his idea with Perttu Papunen, who was enthusiastic about the theme. – I have done pictures and painting designs for several of Juha’s trucks, but this time it was agreed that I would also take more responsibility in planning the body modifications myself and made a few concept drawings of the truck’s structural changes, Perttu says. -I wanted the race-themed graphics of the truck to be visible in the modifications as well, so the shapes were streamlined and an attempt was made to get rid of the “usual” truck tuning style. At the same time, I wanted to get rid of all the glossy stainless steel parts and add a carbon fiber surfaces, Perttu adds. The truck has shapes that have been inspired by Lamborghines, Muscle Shelby Mustang, as well as Ferrari’s concept car. Perttu’s design can also be seen in the shapes of the back wall of the interior.
In all his projects, Juha has trusted in the quality of Custom Parts from Härmä Finland, and the trust was again strong that they would make the necessary changes to the truck. Perttu took the concept drawings with him and went to meet Juha Sillanpää and Veijo Rintala at Custom Parts together with Juha Ristimaa. Perttu presented his drawings and his own ideas from the practical implementation to the manufacture of parts. -When Perttu first came to the hall with plans, I wondered if it was even possible to build the parts, Veijo chuckles! But one part at a time, the modifications started to get their shape. -The bull bar was the first part I did. It was challenging to make each part easy to disassemble and an additional challenge was that the structures are a combination of aluminum, stainless steel and even carbon fiber, Veijo adds. However, the project was motivated by the fact that Veijo was a big F1 and Kimi fan. A few parts have used laser cutting as an aid, but most of the parts have been made entirely by hand.
Juha Ristimaa has his own truck paintshop, and customization shop called Ristimaa Customs, which in cooperation with Veli Laitila also modifies, paints and upholsters truck interiors. Veli is a modest man who often likes to stay in the background, but his handprint attracts even more attention and the proffessional result shines trough. -Veli has a high-quality vision in his work, whatever the style of interior design is, Perttu Papunen praises and Juha composes. Veli, Juha and Perttu held a meeting inside the dismantled cabin, where the style trends of the future interior were literally drawn on the walls with a marker. The same spirit was wanted in the interior as in the outer shell and the ideas were gone through together. A carbon fiber surface and a red main color were also used in the interior. The impressive interior is crowned by the magnificent lighting, which makes the rear wall structure come to life. Veli was assisted in designing the complex layer structure by Perttu, who made the cutting patterns for the parts of the structure.
Perttu Papunen of PP Design & Art is a familiar name to many who go to truck shows, and his handprint has also been seen in Ristimaa’s trucks for more than 15 years. Perttu designed the new truck with a style of which has never been seen on the truck scene before. -The subject was very pleasing to me and I learned everything I found online about Kimi, Perttu laughs! I often spend a considerable amount of time researching backgrounds in my work, and they often contain details that are not even noticeable at first glance. -I got influences for the trucks graphics from the graphics seen in the helmets of Formula 1 drivers. The main color had to be Candy red, but otherwise Juha gave me free hands, Perttu says. -The graphics had to have speed and race spirit. I made areas with a pattern imitating a carbon fiber braid, as well as a Paisley pattern that Kimi had on his helmet some years. On the sides there are pictures of Kimi from different eras, as well as his most famous quotes. -The back wall is dedicated to Kimi’s 21 wins, as well as the championship year 2007. The wall has pictures from 2007, as well as track profiles of the racetracks where Kimi has won one or more times. The color scheme of the truck consists of the colors of the teams in which Kimi has driven, Perttu explains. The truck’s basic painting and special painting for the stripes has been carried out in Juha’s own paint shop in Ristimaa Customs, where the head painter Teemu Sarvela has done a huge amount of work with the painting of the stripes. Perttu designed the graphics and did the painting stencils to be used to paint the stripes. -This has been a challenging but very important and interesting topic for me as a Formula 1 and Kimi fan. The various stages have led to the limits of one’s own abilities and the successes have fueled the enthusiasm to keep on building, Teemu states. Teemu has been involved in almost every stage of the trucks construction. Ristimaa Customs other painter Tiitu Peltoniemi also helped to finish the truck. After the basic colours of graphics were painted, Perttu came to finish the stripes with shadows to add more depth. After this, Perttu started painting Kimi’s portraits. The incrediple detailed pictures took a couple of months to complete.
source: reddit.com/user/T1nzu
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