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Post by Bernard Kron on Oct 8, 2017 1:12:39 GMT -5
1959 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Corto PassoThis is my first Ferrari build since my return to car modeling 9 years ago. Even though I know a fair amount about sports cars and road racing, up to now I’ve focused entirely on hot rods, dry lakes and drag racing subjects, and customs. To get started in this area I thought it would be advisable to avoid building a high dollar kit and was fortunate to be able to obtain a copy of the much-maligned ESCI/AMT/ERTL version of the iconic Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta quite cheaply on eBay. It’s an odd kit, criticized for its inaccurate body shape and sometimes poor detail. Certainly the body is not accurate, and the wheels and tires are just plain horrible, but the chassis and motor are quite nicely detailed and with some TLC can be made to look quite presentable. But, despite the full detail motor you need to cut open the hood which is molded in place and the kit is missing some odd details like a battery, despite the full detail motor, and coolant hoses. The intake stacks on the carbs are pitifully small and out of scale, and some parts that you thought would be chromed, like the knockoff spinners (despite the fact that the wheels are chromed), fender mirror and the exhaust tips, are bare plastic. But overall parts fit is excellent, instructions quite clear with only a few minor errors and, with some attention to detail, can be built into a pretty fair version of this famous classic. My approach was to stick to the instructions wherever possible and keep the project as straightforward as I could with minimal modifications to the kit. But correcting the more glaring faults, like the terrible rolling stock, the un-chromed trim parts, and, with the hood cut open, doing something about those wimpy intake trumpets, required some extra work. The wheels and tires were replaced with a set of exquisite hand-laced Borranni wire wheels and correct tires from Fernando Pinto, a Portuguese master modeler who sells his wares on eBay under the name crazycar19. They were expensive but the improvement to the look of the model is well worth it IMHO. The intake stacks were replaced with a set of aluminum Weber stacks from Detail Master. I wired the motor using a pair of Morgan Auto Detail pre-wired magneto caps to represent the Marelli distributor caps, and I made my own ignition wire guides from plastic rod. Unfortunately all that work is hidden under the big aluminum cold air box on top of the carbs! Paint is Duplicolor Silver Acrylic Lacquer sealed under three coats of Duplicolor clear. The Italian tre-colore racing stripe, the Cavalino shields on the fenders, and the Modena license plates were all done with homemade decals. The chroming chores were handled using Molotow Liquid Chrome, which I must say is quite impressive stuff. Overall it came out better than I had thought it would and was sufficiently satisfying to convince me to try my hand at some other classic Ferraris in the not too distant future. I hope you all like it. Thanx for lookin’, B.
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Post by fordrodnkustom on Oct 8, 2017 10:10:32 GMT -5
Very nice work Bernard! The silver paint looks great on it. Well done.
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Post by harron68 on Oct 8, 2017 14:36:30 GMT -5
Always outstanding work! An unusual Ferrari, one you did fantastic work on. That design is an important step in Ferrari's body design evolution. The slightly heavy look of the rear curved almost humpy look flattened out by the 275 Kammback, along with more carbs! Wonderful job, many thanx!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2017 21:01:02 GMT -5
Excellent work Bernard !!
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Post by spex84 on Oct 9, 2017 22:12:48 GMT -5
She's a beaut, Bernard! I know nothing about these cars whatsoever, so the shape looks fine to me (no, I'm not going to Google the real car and ruin my illusion ). The intake stacks and wire wheels do a lot of heavy lifting; I'd say they're essential additions. Those Italians sure knew how to design some gorgeous machines; nice work getting those stripes and silver paint dialed in. I like that eggcrate grille too. Thanks for the invite to view this thread; I don't spend enough time here and often forget that I should drop by from time to time!
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Post by Bernard Kron on Oct 9, 2017 23:10:27 GMT -5
Thanx to you all for the kind words. She's a beaut, Bernard! I know nothing about these cars whatsoever, so the shape looks fine to me (no, I'm not going to Google the real car and ruin my illusion ). The intake stacks and wire wheels do a lot of heavy lifting; I'd say they're essential additions. Those Italians sure knew how to design some gorgeous machines; nice work getting those stripes and silver paint dialed in. I like that eggcrate grille too. Thanks for the invite to view this thread; I don't spend enough time here and often forget that I should drop by from time to time! Yeah, the stacks and the rolling stock in the kit are really bad jokes and ruin an otherwise decent model. As far as the Italian designers were considered, during that era they had no equal. During the period from 1948 to 1970 or so they were doing things that other designers could barely conceive of. If you haven't explored them you should. I'm sure you would enjoy it tremendously. As far as the homely AMT vs. the real thing I'll Google it for you Chris. The problems are primarily with the green house and the sail panels behind the side windows. The AMT model is more bulbous than the 1:1 and lacks its grace. Also the grill area is too boxy and flat nosed. Here are some pics of the 1:1.
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Post by spex84 on Oct 12, 2017 13:51:17 GMT -5
Oh...yes, I see it. Interesting...close but not quite, eh? The model version looks like a tribute rather than a replica, or like one of the many good-looking kit cars and fiberglass sportsters that were attempting to emulate Ferrari good looks without being exact copies. Even production cars borrowed as much as they could...To me, the best parts of the AC Cobra and early Corvette designs were lifted straight from Ferraris like this one.
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Post by Bernard Kron on Oct 12, 2017 15:23:12 GMT -5
Oh...yes, I see it. Interesting...close but not quite, eh? The model version looks like a tribute rather than a replica, or like one of the many good-looking kit cars and fiberglass sportsters that were attempting to emulate Ferrari good looks without being exact copies. Even production cars borrowed as much as they could...To me, the best parts of the AC Cobra and early Corvette designs were lifted straight from Ferraris like this one. The remarkable thing about truly great automobile body design is that there are no bad angles from which a car can be viewed. I thinks it's that's what ESCI missed when they did their version. The front 3/4 view above is the tell - it's breathtaking and flawless, whereas the model presents an awkward grill opening and lacks the aggressive squat haunches of the 1:1. The interesting thing about cars like this has to do with who actually designed it. Attributed to Battista "Pinin" Farina whose design house, the eponymous Pininfarina, was the dominant, although not the sole, supplier of body design and fabrication services to Ferrari, lightweight versions of bodies, generally for competition use, were farmed out to smaller houses, notably Scaglietti who built virtually all competition bodies, and a great many of the initial prototype bodies, for Ferrari during this era. It's known that Sergio Scaglietti, who designed bodies himself, and indeed the craftsmen who worked for him, frequently took liberties with the designs they were given, often adding a certain grace and flare missing from the original drawings. It's quite likely that the final "certain something" on this design was as much the result of an Italian metal-pounder's last minute judgment as he formed the grill area for the first aluminum prototype as anything Pininfarina might have contributed. The most widely recognized of designs known to have been done exclusively by Sergio Scaglietti is the 250 Testa Rossa sports racing car introduced in late 1957. I have the Fujimi kit of this car and now that I've cut my teeth on this one I will do the Testa Rossa at some point in the not too distant future:
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Post by harron68 on Oct 20, 2017 14:45:32 GMT -5
Absolutely true. It puzzles builder why model companies decide to do a project and get bodies "not quite right." The Ferraris of the era were always stunning. It was the era of both mechanical improvements and artful body styles. Thanx for one sweet project!
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Post by fordrodnkustom on Oct 20, 2017 20:02:44 GMT -5
Absolutely true. It puzzles builder why model companies decide to do a project and get bodies "not quite right." Exactly. Kind of like some of the current Revell offerings...
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