Ferrari 250GTO Completed Gallery

Hi all,
Here is my Ferrari 250GTO, Gunze Sangyo High Tech Model with Engine, 1/24.

I had this once completed in 2003-2004 (I guess), but now I believe my skills has been upgraded since then (I guess, too) so I became feeling like restoring it.

<The conditions and features completed long years ago>
Color: Mr. Color Red & Mr. Color Monza Red (2:1), Super Clear coated
Mods: Front wheels modified to be steerable (using junk parts), Front light covers and bonnet air intake covers replaced to vacuum formed PVC sheets

<What I did in 2014: restoration>
*Wheels replaced with Model Factory Hiro's 16 inch Borrani wire wheels and Dunlop Racing tires (unfortunately it's long sold out now and it was more than $50 in or about 2000 for 4 wheels &tires set!!)
*Engine detail up: piping and battery added
*Small bolts on light covers and air intakes on front added
*Seat belt (Modellers) added

An amazing thing, the clear coat had no problems even after 10 or more years of time so I had nothing to do with it. Thanks, Gunze Sangyo (GSI Creos)!!

Well, it was a fun for me to do give a face lift to an item completed long time ago.

Ferrari 365GTB4 Competizione (1/24) completed gallery

Ferrari 365GTB4 Competizione; chassis #16367; Le mans 1973 car number #37 (North American Racing Team; NART),1/24, from Studio 27. Unfortunately the rece result was DNF, still this color design was the best looking to me.

 

 I am so happy with this centre nut :))))

Well, now it's time for fishing next project!!!

Thanks for looking!!

Ferrari 365GTB4 Competizione Work In Progress #3

Well, I hope I can finish the WIP of 365GTB4 in this post.

Since I was not happy with the look of the centre nuts, I decided to make them from 3.2mm hex rod and plastic pipes. Pipes were cut held by the motor tool. Holes were made in the centre of the hex rods. Then 2mm rods were set to the centre.

I dug a 2mm hole in the centre of wheels to set.

Then painted with enamel gloss black, then...

GSI Creos Plate Silver was airbrushed.

I airbrushed White Primer on the "Good Year" template. Some trial and errors were needed.
Wheels were painted in Silver (Creos #8). 

Vacuum window parts showed almost perfect fits. Thanks, Studio 27!!
And I learned how to fit the photo etched side window rim well. Just adhere the rim along the window vacuum part (before this, cut the vacuum part along the outline of the PE rim). The vacuum window part had perfect curve fitting to the body, so photo etched part didn't have to be adjusted in the curve of the body. The window parts were simply set with G Clear Bond.

I used "Head Right Lens Set" from Modellers (not sold now; I really want them to be sold again!! I'll buy 10 sets!!). Luckily they showed perfect fits. The lens in the box was just yellowish and I didn't want to use.

And I set black heated and stretched plastic rod on edges of the rights and right covers.

...I thought the shape of this rear wing was a little bit wrong, but still looking good. I used the G Clear Bond here again.

Finally the wiper was set. The arm seemed clearly too long so I cut it to 1/2 of the length.


Well, though I struggled to recover the trouble of clear coat, I enjoyed my first trial for a resin/multimedia kit, also a racer with lots of decals.

This is the end of WIP of my 365GTB4, thanks for coming and now it's time for posting photos of completed one!!

Ferrari 365GTB4 Competizione Work In Progress #2

Well, WIP #2.

I didn't really want to tell you, but I had my gorgeous 365GTB4 recovered from a big accident.
The accident was this.

Full of dimples on urethane clear coat. After the lacquer clear coat, I applied urethane clear and the result was shown as above. I succeeded by totally the same process on this New Beetle, and at that time there was no, never a problem.

Yes, I recovered this finally so don't worry, but at that time, I could suspect some reason on these dimples.
Well, before that, I would show you one photo.

 I airbrushed the same urethane clear and the same things happened to these spoons too.

Well, I think, maybe,
1, The moisture was captured into the clear (I am using 2 regulators to get the moisture out, and on that day it was a very clear day, so I can't say yes to this).
2, The inside of my airbrush was dirty and contained some residue into the urethane clear. This is the most reasonable factor.
3, The urethane clear was not mixed well or the mixture ratio was wrong. (I don't think so because I used the scale and saw the grams.
4, The urethane clear was a bit old. (Although some really oppose to this opinion.)

.... Anyway, I can tell, so far I'll try to create better result with my good old method; lacquer clear coat. I'll tell sorry to the fans of urethane clear, but it's just too much for me. Why don't I choose my good old method, if I succeeded with it. I myself might be wrong (not the urethane clear), but I can't take too much risk if I only want to have fun.

To recover, I just very carefully and gradually sand the urethane clear and tried to make it shine.

It was a very delicate job not to damage a decal. Now I think I can clean very precious fossil completely.

But unfortunately, I found some cut through to the lacquer clear layer, like peeled onion (can't see on the picture).

So I over covered Tamiya's Acrylic clear X-22 after applying Bare Metal Foil onto the window rims. Acrylic clear was my only option (It doesn't harm urethane clear, and stronger than enamel colors so I can paint and wipe on that clear).

You can see I had succeeded, but more than 1 month needed to start the polishing with compounds. It was very slow to dry... But still if I touch and press hard, finger mark would be left. I can't really use X-22 Acrylic clear on car model again. Just using lacquer clear is simple and the surface is strong.

Well, I had so long time to do something to the interior and others.
The white metal parts can be easily painted if the metal primer was applied. I used "GSI Creos Plate Silver on Tamiya enamel black" method on right parts and so on.

I used after market seat belt, because photo etching seat belt's size was just small.

Aqua-linker was applied on meters.

The panel inside the door had nothing, so I made holes and added those details.

So simple so good!!

Well, again this post became so long, so I'll post another one for the next.

Thanks for coming today!!

Ferrari 365GTB4 Competizione Work In Progress #1

Hi all,

Just quickly post the WIP on 365GTB4 Competizione. And After this, I'll post completed photos.

This was the one I started. Studio 27, Ferrari 365GTB4 Competizione. This car was the one from Le Mans 24 hours race in 1973 (North American Racing Team; NART). Unfortunately the result was DNF, still this color design was the best looking to me.
And this was my first trial for Resin/ Multimedia kit.

These are the photos of the real one.

Good old days... these types of the cars sometimes came in to top10 (overall) at Le Mans race!! 

The first thing I did was the same as always, the height check. This looked cool but rear was too low compared with the real one.

So needed this engraving on the rear to set the shaft. The resin was easier to do these works, I reckon.

Well, it's better now.

This was one of the hardest part, but don't worry, applying putty or CA glue and after sand, somehow it came with smooth surface.

The biggest difference from injection plastic kit was rougher surface of the body. So I took time for spraying surfacer (#1000) and sanding (#800 paper) 3-4 times.

My biggest concern was how the paint goes on the resin. As you know resin's surface never melt by applying lacquer paint, so the paint would come off easier than when applied on plastic. But washing the resin with neutral detergent and rinsing, drying, then spraying this primer didn't make any problems. My fear on resin body was disappeared.

I selected GSI Creos GX4 Chiara Yellow this time. (After base white was applied)

Masked, and Gaia Notes Premium Red was airbrushed. I chose this color for my experience. I guess the red on real one was a bit darker, but I wanted to give it a try.

The mask line was on the decal's white & green line.

Then GSI Creos Super Clear Ⅲ was airbrushed to make smooth surface for decaling.
 

 Well, using steamed cloth, tips with hot water and decal softer,  it took about 5-6 hours to finish these decals. This was the first time for me to make a racer with lots of decals as well!! 2 big challenges at once!

And I needed to manage these silvering; the air contained in the clear part of the decals causes these problems.

So I used this combination; the mixture of Tamiya Mark Fit and Micro Scale's Micro tape. The Microtape (white when wet) disappeared when it dried. Small pinholes on decal was made using needle and the mixture was applied from the surface and the side of the decals to fulfill the air pockets.

And this was the result. Yet more to do, but so far so good!!

The stripe decal was short; only up to the front air intake. So I just add enamel paint (red, yellow and green) on the lower part. I would apply the clear coat (lacquer) gently so it'd be just fine even if these were enamel paints.

Then GSI Creos Super Clear Ⅲ was airbrushed from distance, to gently cover the decals to avoid  cracks. I did 2-3 more layers in the same way to secure the decals.

Then thicker clear coat was applied. The quality of decals were just fine! I couldn't find any clacks:)) ... Or maybe I was gentle enough.

Sand (#1500 paper) - clear coat - sand (#1500 paper again), and do the same thing again and again (3-4 times) to make smooth surface (especially taking care of the gap between decals and the body).


....Well, it's becoming too long now, so I'll post the about the interior and wheels for the next one.

Thanks for coming today!!