FINISHED - Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder by CDW - Italeri 1:24 Scale

[CDW]

My next project is going to be this 1:24 scale Italeri Ferrari 250 GT California kit. 

The Italeri kit is rather long in the tooth and has been around for quite some time, though they are rare to find anymore. Don't know when the last time they were produced, but I've owned my copies for more than 10 years and it had been at least 10 years since they were produced back then. So probably the kit is more than 20 years old. 

The kit pictured above it is the very well detailed Fujimi Ferrari Daytona Speciale, a more modern kit though it's out of production as well to the best of my knowledge. I am going to use the Fujimi kit to add better detail to the Italeri kit. The engine, carbs, and brake systems are light years better than Italeri ones. When I bought the Fujimi kit many years ago, I received it with a front windshield that was cracked in half, and the windshield frame molded to the car body was crushed/cracked. I decided back then this would be a donor kit.

Will go through a bunch of changes to accurize the Italeri kit using the Fujimi kit and aftermarket items in the process. I plan to finish it in a very smooth and glossy black lacquer paint job. we shall see how it goes, and keeping my fingers crossed for no major snafu's along the way. I may try my hand at recreating a real leather upholstery.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by CDW

[mtaylor]

Pulling up a chair... looks like front row!

[CDW]

4 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Pulling up a chair... looks like front row!

As always, glad to have you aboard, Mark.

 

[Old Collingwood]

If you also ever get round to building one of these I would be open eyed and glary visioned  as I nearly owned one  - A real one.

 

OC.

Edited June 14, 2019 by Old Collingwood

[popeye the sailor]

ahhh....necromancy.......my favorite flavor!  looks like fun to me.......I'm here  

[CDW]

24 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

ahhh....necromancy.......my favorite flavor!  looks like fun to me.......I'm here  

Necromancy indeed. Last night while I was perusing through the kit box (Italeri Ferrari) at the various parts inside, I came across the original receipt where the owner had purchased the kit....December of 1990. He paid $8.25 for it back then. 🙂

Glad you're aboard, Denis.

 

Looking carefully at all the parts, I decided I will not be using much of anything from the Fujimi kit as a donor. For one thing, the engines are FAR different. The 250 GT California Spyder has the iconic Ferrari V-12 as was found in the 250 GTO's, while the Daytona Speciale (1969) has the more modern dual overhead cam Ferrari V-12. I think maybe I may try to patch the clear windshield in the Fujimi kit, then use it as a mold for a vac-u-form replacement windscreen. I think I can perhaps repair the windshield frame.

 

The Italeri engine is going to need a little TLC and some custom detailing, but it's salvageable for sure. Overall, the kit is fairly well engineered. There are a few nagging issues to be sorted out, but that's all part of the fun of this hobby....as long as I don't get too bogged down in the process, in which case am likely to lose my interest and pack it all back inside the boxes.

[CDW]

With this kit, I plan to start with the body first.

The Ferrari body is pretty good for it's age. It's shape and proportions are just about spot on. Regardless, it's the only plastic kit out there of the GT 250 California Spyder, so we'll have to play the cards we're dealt if we want a model of it.

There are panels that have to be glued in place in the front and rear of the body. In the 90's, slide mold technology was not yet employed in plastic models, so car bodies often came in multiple pieces like this. I glued the panels in place with Tamiya liquid cement, then masked and used Tamiya white putty on the joints. I like to use masking tape on either side of where i want the putty placed, this way I don't create a bunch of extra work sanding and blending putty that's not needed. This comes in real handy when your puttying seams that have adjacent details you don't wish to obliterate. 

The chrome bumpers have some nasty nasty sink marks. Will have to strip the bumpers of the chrome with a bath in Super Clean, then putty the sink marks, sand, prime, and paint with Alclad 2 chrome. Hate to go to all that trouble, but no better alternatives really.

 

[CDW]

Here is my Ferrari body after putty and sanding.

Next is an old set of Ferrari photo etch I dug out of my stash. Will use the Ferrari scripts (can be seen against the black background) on the body once it's painted and polished. I sanded away the molded on scripts as they look rather clumsy. There may be a few other photo etch parts I will use from these sheets, though they were designed for the Testarossa.

Last, these are the wheels I intend to use. They are an out of production set of wire wheels that were produced by Detail Master more than a decade ago. Period correct tires would be Dunlops, but I have none. Will use whatever I have on hand that are the closest match I can find. The big and little American Satco tires would look good on the model, but I don't think they are going to fit my wheels. In any event, the Satco's are Pirelli's (but who cares, right?).

 

Going to give the body it's first coat of Tamiya primer before I hit the sack tonight.

 

[lmagna]

You finally decide to build a car that I know a little about, and I am late to the party and end up in the rafters again in able to even see what is going on! You kind of threw me on the engine swap at first but you appear to have straightened it out pretty quickly.

 

Looking forward to how you end up building it. To bad you were not doing a Dino 246. Then you could do some weathering 

https://jalopnik.com/the-true-story-of-how-a-ferrari-ended-up-buried-in-some-5872514

and

https://jalopnik.com/we-solve-the-mystery-of-how-a-ferrari-ended-up-buried-i-5933077

 

I really like the "After" picture but outside of David Piper, who ever heard of a green Ferrari?

 

I will email you on a couple of ideas for the 365 GTB rather than clutter up your build log.

[CDW]

3 minutes ago, lmagna said:

You finally decide to build a car that I know a little about, and I am late to the party and end up in the rafters again in able to even see what is going on! You kind of threw me on the engine swap at first but you appear to have straightened it out pretty quickly.

 

Looking forward to how you end up building it. To bad you were not doing a Dino 246. Then you could do some weathering 

https://jalopnik.com/the-true-story-of-how-a-ferrari-ended-up-buried-in-some-5872514

and

https://jalopnik.com/we-solve-the-mystery-of-how-a-ferrari-ended-up-buried-i-5933077

 

I really like the "After" picture but outside of David Piper, who ever heard of a green Ferrari?

 

I will email you on a couple of ideas for the 365 GTB rather than clutter up your build log.

Glad you're here, Lou.

I built a beautiful Fujimi Dino 246 about 25 years ago, maybe more. That thing was black, shined like a dime, and was super detailed. You would have loved it. I left that and several other show quality model cars at a local hobby shop to display. When I went back to the shop, it had changed ownership. The new owners claimed my models were 'theirs', and I could not get them back. I said screw it, and just left well enough alone. I didn't want to get handcuffed and booked for slapping somebody around, which I would have done if I were to have words with the guy.

[mtaylor]

Wonderful references, Lou.   It would be easy to do a model of that. Just put some dirt in a box, cover it with fake grass and put a tombstone with "RIP my Dino 246" on it.   

[CDW]

It wasn't a Ferrari, but when we first moved back to Florida, I found a 1957 Chevy Nomad, all original, for sale on a used car lot for $600. I scraped up the money to buy it and towed it to my house. The car was complete, but inoperable. Needed a rebuild of the engine, brakes, and a paint job. it had the 265 V-8 and a powerglide tranny. I got it up on blocks and intended to rebuild it, but 1st things had to come 1st, and ended up spending our money to buy our house. Ended up practically giving away the car when we moved. Kinda broke my heart. Later, I did acquire a '57 Chevy 2-door hardtop, but it was never the same as that Nomad. Man, that would have been one sharp car had I been able to fix it up as I planned.

 

[lmagna]

I have two Dino 246's in my stash, a GT and a GTS but they are the cheaper quality Testors kits. I got them as a set at a VERY low price or I probably would not have bothered. Kind of not my normal kind of car. But I must admit they have some character even if they were not really competition cars.

 

Too bad you didn't put your name and info in the bottom of the cars. I would like to see what the new owner would have said then. I only left a model in a shop for display once and to be honest I would not have done it if I ever had really wanted to get it back. I am pretty certain that from your explanation of the owner in your case I would have not been doing much business in his store after that.

 

You are not modeling a back yard Mark! You have to dig the hole and put the model in it! Actually I think your idea might be a better idea for some of the cars I have built!

1 hour ago, CDW said:

Man, that would have been one sharp car had I been able to fix it up as I planned.

I know what you mean. I owned a MGTF at one point. It even ran, some of the time! and I had visions of restoring it to prime condition. But I also needed to use it as a car to get around in and pretty much spent all my spare money keeping it running right rather than improving on it. I finally had to get rid of it when I went into the Army. Still miss it today and wonder what it would have been like "if". Today I have to settle for my Mini (BMW style not the classic) and while it's fun to drive, and ultra reliable, is just not the same as a 1950s T style MG.

[CDW]

Hey Lou,

You know those Testors Dino Ferrari kits are the Fujimi kits in a Testors box, right? Testors made some kind of deal with Fujimi way back then and Testors marketed the kits in the USA in their own Testors boxes. For a long time, modelers didn't seem to know that and paid premium prices for the Fujimi box while you could buy the exact same thing in a Testors box for half as much. 

[lmagna]

3 hours ago, CDW said:

You know those Testors Dino Ferrari kits are the Fujimi kits in a Testors box, right?

Just goes to show what I know. In fact my wife would confirm that I really know very little! I had no idea!

 

Now that you make it obvious to me I wonder about some of my other Testors kits. In addition to the two 246 Dino's, I have a 512S/Porsche 917K combo kit that could also be Fujimi. I have a cast metal and plastic 250LM kit that I always suspected was a kit version of some other company's cast model, and a Ford GT MKIV that is in 1/25th so I suspect it is possibly a MPC rebox.

 

In the future I will look more closely at any Testors kit I may see that I consider of interest. Thanks.

[CDW]

3 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Just goes to show what I know. In fact my wife would confirm that I really know very little! I had no idea!

 

Now that you make it obvious to me I wonder about some of my other Testors kits. In addition to the two 246 Dino's, I have a 512S/Porsche 917K combo kit that could also be Fujimi. I have a cast metal and plastic 250LM kit that I always suspected was a kit version of some other company's cast model, and a Ford GT MKIV that is in 1/25th so I suspect it is possibly a MPC rebox.

 

In the future I will look more closely at any Testors kit I may see that I consider of interest. Thanks.

Indeed, some of the Porsche kits that Testors marketed were Fujimi's. I can't recall exactly which ones were and were not Fujimi, if I saw the box art I would remember/know. With Testors, it was a mixed bag. Some of their offerings were great (Fujimi) and some were not. They sold Italeri products in their box under their label as well. This California Spyder I am building right now is an example of that. My kit is in an Italeri box, but you could also find the exact same kit in a Testors box as well. 

[CDW]

Originally, a company named ICM did a run of several versions of the Ford GT's. Then MPC picked them up when ICM went under, then Testors boxed them too. ICM also did a very well detailed model of a '48 Ford that was way ahead of it's time in engineering and complexity. I've built all of those kits in the past. They were fiddly and not easy to build straight. Back in those days, I didn't even own an XActo knife, so it was not so smooth sailing for me. 😄

[lmagna]

I was wrong the 512S and 917K kits are separate kits. My combo kit is a Porsche 907/Ferrari P4 by AMT, Which could also be made by someone else as far as I know. Just like all of the older ship re-box kits, the car kits seem to have been passed around pretty well.

[lmagna]

By far and away, the worst model car I ever built for fit was the 1/24th MPC McLaren MK 8A! I think there is possibly no way to build that car without having to leave the body sections open! I was not able to close it all up and make it look like anything other than a LEGO car. SUPER detailed kit but horrible body fit! I do have a second kit that I bought with the intention that I could possibly do better the second time around.

 

A couple of close follow up kits could be the IMC Chevrolet Chaparral 2E, the Union models 1/25th Lola T-70, and the Heller Ferrari 330 P4. All nicely detailed cars but a bear to make the body look solid when closed up. I ended up getting #2s for all of these kits with the idea that I would try again for better results at some point.

[CDW]

23 minutes ago, lmagna said:

By far and away, the worst model car I ever built for fit was the 1/24th MPC McLaren MK 8A! I think there is possibly no way to build that car without having to leave the body sections open! I was not able to close it all up and make it look like anything other than a LEGO car. SUPER detailed kit but horrible body fit! I do have a second kit that I bought with the intention that I could possibly do better the second time around.

 

A couple of close follow up kits could be the IMC Chevrolet Chaparral 2E, the Union models 1/25th Lola T-70, and the Heller Ferrari 330 P4. All nicely detailed cars but a bear to make the body look solid when closed up. I ended up getting #2s for all of these kits with the idea that I would try again for better results at some point.

All three of the cars you mentioned in the 2nd paragraph were boxed and sold by Testors.

Remember the Indy cars, the Willard Battery Special and the Jim Clark Lotus? I have both waiting in the wings for a future build. Some decent after market decals for them, too.

[lmagna]

There very few of the Offenhauser front engine cars that really reached out to me but there is no question that they dominated Indianapolis for years. But the Lotus/Ford drew my attention from the very beginning. It seemed to be such a leap forward in technology back in the 60s. I was also drawn to the Micky Thompson Harvey Aluminum Special in 63 and 65. The "Skateboard" car. Didn't do all that well but sure looked cool doing it! 

[CDW]

She's beginning to shape up under 2 coats of white primer. Going to give her a good rub down with some 1500 grit paper, then see if she needs a 3rd coat before the color coats start. I guess in the meantime, I'd better start checking to make sure all the various body hardware will fit without any filing or sanding issues on the body as well. Those places on the nose where the signal lights attach look a little dubious to me, but it may be all well and fine. Can't take anything for granted on these 30+ year old models. They just didn't have a complete measure of accuracy or technology to produce the more perfect kits we have grown accustomed to today.

[CDW]

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads at MSW. Hope you had a great one!

 

Once my primer was finished, I got on the rest of the top coats. The base is 3 coats of a deep, dark blue lacquer. On top of that are 2 coats of urethane clear with a hardener.

I believe once the model has all it's chrome attached and is assembled, it will really pop with this color. The photos almost make it look black, very glossy.

 

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

it looks black to me.........but the body looks very  good!  nice job!   

[CDW]

2 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

it looks black to me.........but the body looks very  good!  nice job!   

Thanks Denis.

The nuance of dark blue vs black is something my camera and lighting just can't pick up. You can see by eye it's a dark blue, but with the camera, it just looks black. 

[lmagna]

Good! I am glad it is your camera and not my computer, or even worse, my eyes!

 

It looked black on my screen as well. A VERY nice and shiny black, but black none-the-less.

[Old Collingwood]

The dark colour  really enhanses the curves  -  lovely work mate.

 

OC.

[CDW]

I looked around and realized, it's almost been a month since I last updated this thread, so now it's time to get with it.

I started putting the V-12 together, giving the whole thing a coat of gloss black acrylic primer (Tamiya), then a coat or two of AK White Aluminum Metal paint. The valve covers got a coat of Tamiya satin black. I'll be adding ignition wiring, fuel lines, custom made velocity stacks, and some detail painting to round out the engine.

I didn't like the finish on the body, so I wet sanded it with 2,000 grit paper, then decanted the Tamiya rattle can Dark Blue lacquer, then repainted the body using my airbrush. Much more satisfied with it now. Before it's all done, will give it a good polish with Tamiya compound and some Carnuba wax.

The chassis/floorboards was full of really bad sink marks on the floorboards and nasty parting lines on all the tube portions of the chassis. I've dealt with those issues and now the chassis is ready for paint.

Still need to address those bumpers with the big sink marks. Will strip off the chrome, fill in the sink marks, sand it all down and prime then paint with Alclad Chrome.

[popeye the sailor]

plastic is too hot going into the molds.......the quick cool is what creates the sink holes.  I used to work in injection molding......made Chrysler window transmission grommets,  Caterpillar hydraulic wiper rings,  and various neoprene seals.   very nice work none the less    the body looks really good...I do believe I see a hint of blue   

[CDW]

1 hour ago, popeye the sailor said:

I do believe I see a hint of blue   

I turned on the camera flash. Now you can see the blue.

You can see every speck of dust, too. 😮