Ferrari 288 GTO Yellow by CDW - Fujimi Enthusiast Series - 1:24 Scale

[CDW]

Acquired as a "rescue kit" in a trade with a fellow modeler over 30 years ago is this 1:24 scale Fujimi Enthusiast Series Ferrari 288 GTO Yellow. When acquired, the car body had a horrendous black primer paint job that needed stripping. After stripping, I applied a white primer and after that, put everything back inside the box where it has resided ever since, never seeing the light of day until now. The kit is of late 1980's vintage and was cutting edge 'plasticology' back then. The level of detail and molding of it still holds its own, even today. The Fujimi Enthusiast series of kits are among my all-time favorite car model kits. With all that said, I hope to bring this old kit back to life with a decent finish and level of detail. it should make a nice shelf model and will add to the Ferrari stable.

[Canute]

I'm in. Is there any aftermarket for a kit this old?

[CDW]

29 minutes ago, Canute said:

I'm in. Is there any aftermarket for a kit this old?

Probably so but have not looked. It’s detailed enough straight from the box so it doesn’t need much.

I have some generic Ferrari photo etch scripts and badges I’ll use.

[CDW]

Alex Kustov is the Mac Daddy when it comes to Ferrari scale models. His website has been a go-to resource any time I'm building a Ferrari model. He's been around a very long time now.

www.italianhorses.net

[Old Collingwood]

This  will  be  good  -  gotta  love a  Farrari.

 

OC.

[gsdpic]

Nice, I'll be following with interest.  I have one of the fujimi "enthusiast models" in my stash (the '73 911 Carrera RS).

[CDW]

I wet sanded the old primer to smooth it all out, then applied a second levelling primer coat. Will give this time to dry and wet sand again before applying the Ferrari yellow. Want the color to thoroughly cure out before applying decals and clear lacquer.

[CDW]

For the yellow, I used Tamiya pure yellow lacquer. The paint will have plenty of time to cure while all the other model details are built and painted.

 

 

[yvesvidal]

I remember seeing quite a few of these Ferrari, when I was living on the French Riviera. The most interesting was to cross the border and go to the "wealthy" towns right behind the border. There, you could see all the rich Italian kids parading in their Ferrari's and hooting all the Bella Ragazzas in the streets.

 

One may wonder why the people were so affluent in these border towns: Simply because what they were selling was tax free and not taxed at 33% like most so called luxury products, on the French side. The greediness of the French government, made the fortune of these Italian folks.

 

Yves

Edited January 16 by yvesvidal

[CDW]

5 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

I remember seeing quite a few of these Ferrari, when I was leaving on the French Riviera. The most interesting was to cross the border and go to the "wealthy" towns right behind the border. There, you could see all the rich Italian kids parading in their Ferrari's and hooting all the Bella Ragazzas in the streets.

 

One may wonder why the people were so affluent in these border towns: Simply because what they were selling was tax free and not taxed at 33% like most so called luxury products, on the French side. The greediness of the French government, made the fortune of these Italian folks.

 

Yves

Did you ever hoot at the Bella Regazzas, Yves? I sure did when I was young. Never owned a Ferrari, though. Had to find other ways to gain their interest.

[CDW]

A cold snap can through today. I had to wear socks. Rode around looking for Bella Regazzas. 😀

Edited January 16 by CDW

[CDW]

This is the Ferrari 288 GTO V-8 twin turbocharged engine.

 

 

Began basic assembly and painting of the model engine today. Lots of detail to be added.

 

[king derelict]

Looks like this is going to be a beautiful model

Your bike has a lot mor Regazza appeal than my old BSA Bantam back in the day

Alan

[CDW]

14 hours ago, king derelict said:

Looks like this is going to be a beautiful model

Your bike has a lot mor Regazza appeal than my old BSA Bantam back in the day

Alan

I once owned a Lightning. She leaked oil all over the place and was a vibration machine at speeds. Had those weird (to me) nut and bolt sizes that weren't metric or SAE and had to grind down SAE wrenches to have a set I could work with when needed. When I owned that BSA, parts or tools from the UK were practically unobtanium in the USA. If you ordered something, it literally took months to get it. Nevertheless, I was attracted to machines from the UK, owning at different times a Triumph TR4A, an MGB as well. The TR4A was my favorite.

[yvesvidal]

17 hours ago, CDW said:

A cold snap can through today. I had to wear socks. Rode around looking for Bella Regazzas. 😀

Craig, you were not in the right place with your bike. You need to go to more exclusive locations:

 

 

Notice the  Gucci belt, bubble gum .....and the Yves Saint Laurent purse !

 

Yves

[CDW]

Been reading modelers rave about pink primer under red paint to get a thorough red coverage. Trying it out for the 1st time. Mr Surfacer 1500 pink. 

 

Yeah, that's red alright.😄

 

Fits in the chassis just like it's supposed to do.

 

[CDW]

The Ferrari 288 GTO yellow body was set aside for paint drying/curing time. Yesterday I wet sanded it with 4000 grit. As I kept looking at it, it just seemed to me the yellow was not the correct shade for Ferrari. I would have sworn the Mr Color yellow I used was the same as the paint on my Enzo Ferrari I built a couple of years ago, and that color seemed perfect to me. So, I put the two models side by side for a close examination and sure enough, the Enzo Ferrari shade of yellow was a tad darker than what was on the 288 GTO. My instinct was right, the current project was NOT the same color as the former one. So, I went back and found my build thread for the Enzo, and sure enough, the paint brand and color I used for the Enzo was Splash paint, Giallo Modena color. Lucky for me, I had the remainder of the unused portion from the Enzo project. However, the paint was far too thick, I suppose that much of the reducer evaporated out over the past two years. I took a chance and reduced it to a viscosity I felt was appropriate using Mr Color Levelling Thinner. I wasn't certain the two would be compatible even though both are lacquer paints. To my delight, it seems all will be fine. I sprayed on the Splash Giallo Modena shade of yellow and am MUCH more satisfied with the results. The shade of yellow looks perfect to me. Splash paints dry flat and require subsequent clear coats to give a deep shine. I will give the model at least a week drying time before applying a clear coat.

 

 

Edited January 21 by CDW

[king derelict]

Great recovery Craig. Skill to obtain a deep gloss on a car intimidates me 

alan

[Danstream]

11 hours ago, CDW said:

The Ferrari 288 GTO yellow body was set aside for paint drying/curing time. Yesterday I wet sanded it with 4000 grit. As I kept looking at it, it just seemed to me the yellow was not the correct shade for Ferrari.

Indeed, I refrained to comment earlier, but the earlier yellow was too 'cold', now it is much better. To many, red is the color for a Ferrari, but, personally, I think the nothing can beat a yellow Ferrari.

 

Coming back to the color, I read that the best substrate for yellow is actually pink. I am surprised and I never tried it, just mentioning as a curiosity. 

 

Very nice work on your Ferrari, curious to see more.

Dan

[Canute]

Craig, I thought your original yellow was looking more like a Corvette. This shade seems better for a Ferrari, although I'm of the Ferrari red school. 😉😁 Don't rush this finish. I expect another jewel. 😄

 

Dan, I've read that about a pink undercoat for yellow. Several builders of model railroad refrigerator cars espouse this idea. And it work well for them. Badger makes a pink primer in their Stynylrez line and Ammo by Mig sells it also. Mig's line is rebottled Badger paint.

[CDW]

4 hours ago, Danstream said:

 

Coming back to the color, I read that the best substrate for yellow is actually pink. I am surprised and I never tried it, just mentioning as a curiosity. 

 

Dan

Thanks for the comments Dan, Ken. Pink primer makes sense and will give it a try next yellow paint job i do.

 

Yellow is always one of the more difficult colors to get right for 

me.

10 minutes ago, Canute said:

Craig, . 😄

 

Dan, I've read that about a pink undercoat for yellow. Several builders of model railroad refrigerator cars espouse this idea. And it work well for them. Badger makes a pink primer in their Stynylrez line and Ammo by Mig sells it also. Mig's line is rebottled Badger paint

Edited January 21 by CDW

[Landlubber Mike]

Mr Surfacer makes a pink primer.  I haven't used it yet, but did use a Tamiya pink rattle can primer to prime a bright red Triumph build that I've been working on here and there.  I didn't test the red on a white prime coat so can't tell you what the difference was, but the red with the pink primer was nice and vibrant.

[CDW]

Getting back to my Ferrari 288 GTO Yellow...starting up where I left off...

Ignition wiring and turbochargers will be going on next.

 

 

[CDW]

I'm having a difficult time with the turbocharger assemblies. There are many parts to each side of the assemblies and the challenging part is finding a correct way to assemble so as all line up properly in the end.

At this point, I need to disassemble what I've done and start over again, without destroying critical parts in the process. I'll even need to disassemble the headers as well as the covers that sit atop the injectors.

 

The areas I highlighted in yellow on pages 3, 4, and 6, give an idea of the complexity of the turbocharger pieces and how they must align. 

122969-21-instructions highlighted turbo chargers.pdf

Edited April 7 by CDW

[gsdpic]

12 hours ago, CDW said:

I'm having a difficult time with the turbocharger assemblies. There are many parts to each side of the assemblies and the challenging part is finding a correct way to assemble so as all line up properly in the end.

At this point, I need to disassemble what I've done and start over again, without destroying critical parts in the process. I'll even need to disassemble the headers as well as the covers that sit atop the injectors.

 

The areas I highlighted in yellow on pages 3, 4, and 6, give an idea of the complexity of the turbocharger pieces and how they must align. 

122969-21-instructions highlighted turbo chargers.pdf 12.58 MB · 3 downloads

That's unfortunate, but thanks for the heads up.  I actually bought my own copy of this kit off of ebay a few weeks back.  Not sure when I'll start on it, I've got way too many things in my stash and really want to wrap up the Sopwith Camel before doing another car.  But yes, that engine looks pretty tricky.  What you've done so far looks excellent; hope you can recover with out too much grief.

 

[CDW]

10 hours ago, gsdpic said:

That's unfortunate, but thanks for the heads up.  I actually bought my own copy of this kit off of ebay a few weeks back.  Not sure when I'll start on it, I've got way too many things in my stash and really want to wrap up the Sopwith Camel before doing another car.  But yes, that engine looks pretty tricky.  What you've done so far looks excellent; hope you can recover with out too much grief.

 

Thanks Gary.

Glad you are seeing/reading this before you start your model. Hopefully we can learn from each other's mistakes and solutions to problem areas. I should have known I was likely to run into issues without careful planning on these particular assemblies. The first clue is when you realize there are no aides built in for correct alignment of the pieces. Even now, it's going to take some guesswork to find the correct approach. I'll try to photograph the steps I take so I can share what works (hopefully). I plan to work on this conundrum for a couple of hours today to try and straighten it all out. 

[gsdpic]

I wonder about first sticking at least some of the pieces together with plain white glue until you get things aligned, so that it is easier to undo.  Then once it is together use regular plastic cement.  Though that might be hard to do without messing up the paint so may require touch up.

 

[CDW]

25 minutes ago, gsdpic said:

I wonder about first sticking at least some of the pieces together with plain white glue until you get things aligned, so that it is easier to undo.  Then once it is together use regular plastic cement.  Though that might be hard to do without messing up the paint so may require touch up.

 

First of all, I recommend all the individual pieces be painted first, before any assembly. In retrospect, I don't see a benefit in temporary gluing. I'm working out the correct assembly steps as I write this and keeping my fingers crossed because I believe I have found the best sequence to follow. I'll write some more on this and provide some photos of the steps I took later on tonight or tomorrow.

[Egilman]

How I would go about it?

 

Tube glue, Good old Testors tube glue...  Yep... Don't ever forget where you came from.... {chuckle}

 

The reason? Tube glue takes time to harden up allowing you to shift the parts around a bit before it sets... but it will not glue paint... so I would paint in sub-assemblys as I go along... 

 

I always keep a couple of tubes around exactly for this type of application...

[CDW]

Mea Culpa: I erred when I followed the instructions sequentially rather than looking further ahead in the instructions first, then looking at photo references of the 1:1 car.

 

The kit offers the option of displaying the engine separately on an engine stand. If I had intended to do that, following sequentially would not have been a problem, but that's not what I wanted. I wanted to display my engine inside the chassis, inside the car. Again, looking at photos of the 1:1 car is essential to getting this complicated turbocharger assembly right. The instructions do a poor job of pointing this out, but it may be a language barrier problem. I can't read Japanese so I have no idea what the instructions may or may not say about sequence, but the photos in the instructions certainly don't point it all out clearly.

 

Here are 1:1 photos of how the complete engine and turbocharger assemblies would look.

 

Here are photos of the 1:1 car/chassis with the engine and turbochargers inside the chassis/car.

 

 

I found that I first needed to glue the headers to the parts labeled E36 and E37 in the instructions. Next I attached parts E53 and E57 to the turbochargers and then attached those to the collector box D7. Last, attach parts E29 and D36 to the turbocharger and header assemblies as seen here.

 

The chassis and components shown here are assembled and painted before installing the engine assembly. The remainder of the turbocharger parts, the air breather boxes as well as the injector covers are only installed after the engine is in place inside the chassis.

 

My engine and breather boxes are dry-fitted here in the chassis for purpose of explanations of the sequence to follow. Do not assemble all the turbocharger parts as one assembly. The only way that could possibly work out okay is if you intend to display the engine on a stand rather than inside the car.