Ferrari Dino 246gt by gsdpic - FINISHED - Fujimi - 1/24th scale

[gsdpic]

Inspired by @CDW's Ferrari 288 build and also by the way he immediately starts a new build after finishing the previous one, I present the start of my build log for the Fujimi Ferrari Dino 246gt.  I actually also have the 288 in my stash but did not want to be too much of a copycat so I pulled out the 246gt.

 

The Car: In the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, Ferrari had a sub-brand of cars named "Dino", after Enzo Ferrari's son Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari.  Initially they produced only race cars for some of the lesser racing series with smaller, less powerful cars and engines.  In the mid 1960s they displayed a concept car for a road car in the form of a mid-engined coupe.  That concept car was well received and became the Dino 206gt.  In those days the model number was derived from the engine size and type.  The 206 indicated a 2.0 liter engine with 6 cylinders.   Before long, they upgraded the engine to 2.4 liters, and so it became known as the 246gt.   In the late 60s, this car competed with the then current Porsche 911 in terms of price and specs.

 

The 246gt was sold from the late 60s into the early 70s, with a few minor modifications along the way.  For example, the early cars had the "clapping hands" windshield wipers while later ones have parallel wipers.   They also sold a spyder/targa version with a removable roof known as the 246gts.

 

The Kit:  The kit I acquired is the original version from 1986, according to scalemates.com.  This is from Fujimi's "Enthusiast Model" line of kits, so it is quite detailed, including the engine, chassis, and interior, with over 200 parts.  And they were not afraid to make small parts, some are literally pin head size.  This early kit had some very attractive box art, as you can see below.  You'll also note the "early type", indicating this is one of the early 246gt cars.  Fujimi reboxed this kit many times over the years, and in later versions they included parts for both the early and later versions of the car.  They also created a "curbside" version of this kit with far fewer parts but no engine detail.  This kit includes opening front bonnet, engine cover, and trunk cover, giving at least a little bit more of a view of the details included in the kit.

 

The body parts are molded in white plastic.  The engine, chassis and interior parts are all gray plastic.  There is a small fret of chrome parts, which I may or may not strip.  The wheels are a very nice satin chrome and will be left as is.

 

My Plans:  While I like the yellow on the box art, I am more likely to paint it red, with a tan interior.  As noted, the kit is already highly detailed but there may be a few more things I can add, such as spark plug wires.  At least one bank of three cylinders on the v6 should be visible when opening the engine cover.

 

 

Edited May 22 by gsdpic

[CDW]

You are going to love this kit, Gary. I built it long ago when it was offered by Testor's, and could often be found at deep discounts in big box stores such as K-Mart. I don't recall having any fit issues with it at all and it was beautiful when finished. Along with several other built models, I loaned it for display at a local hobby shop. When the owner sold the business, I lost my built models as the new owner claimed it as part of what he purchased. I do have another one in my stash. It came in two versions, one like yours and the other as a spyder with the top removed.  

[Old Collingwood]

Seen the  main guy  on tv   buying  restoring  and  selling the  real   versions   -  Wayne  Carini  (Chasing Classic Cars)

 

Looking forward  to  following this  build.

 

OC.

[gsdpic]

On 4/26/2024 at 12:18 AM, Old Collingwood said:

Seen the  main guy  on tv   buying  restoring  and  selling the  real   versions   -  Wayne  Carini  (Chasing Classic Cars)

 

Looking forward  to  following this  build.

 

OC.

I have not seen that show in quite some time.   I don't recall a Dino 246 gt episode but it certainly seems like the type of car that would appear there.

 

In a sort of related and funny note, I was googling for reference images and stumbled on a blog from a father/son team who had a company that specialized in restoring Dinos.  The company is now located in Spicewood, Tx, which is a small town/rural area about an hour west of here.  Just seems like a very unlikely location for a Dino restoration company.  But some of the blog entries spoke of a Dino 246 GT "barn find" in Llano, Tx which is another hour or two north west.

 

I've started some assembly, with the major parts of the engine.  It is a bit of an odd configuration as the engine seems to sit on top of the transmission.  The Fujimi instructions indicated all these parts should be painted silver, so I put them together and used Alclad II Aluminum.  But then looking at reference photos I see that at least in some cases the main engine block was painted black.  Oh well.  I will do some detail painting and add some darker wash and highlights to this, and then there are numerous smaller pieces, such as oil filter, distributor, fan belt, air intake, etc. to be painted and added as well.

 

I've also started some prep on the body.

[gsdpic]

I have now finished the engine.  As is often the case, the exhaust was a bit of a struggle and who knows if the ends of the headers are in the right place.  I guess I'll find out later in the build.   For the "enthusiast models", Fujimi includes a stand for the engine if you wish to display it outside the car.  I used that stand for the photos but I intend to install the engine in the car.   I will likely add more hoses and such when I do that.  In the pictures you can see that I added spark plug wires.  Yea, maybe they should have been red instead of blue but that is what I had.

 

And yes that exhaust wraps around the front of the engine.  The engine is transverse mounted and there are additional pipes to connect to mufflers that will be to the left of the engine as viewed in the first picture.

 

I've also done more prep work on the body and various loose body panels.  I first primed the "inside" with the alclad black primer/microfiller.  That leaves a nice semi gloss black that I may not even paint over.  I taped down the body panels to protect the black; for the body I did not bother taping over the black as most of it will not be visible, and then sprayed Splash paints light grey surfacer.  I'll use Splash paints Rossa Corsa...I think I have enough left over for this car after using it on the Ferrari 330 P4 I built.

 

The panel that is third from the left will be tricky as it spans the interior and exterior of the car.  It is the frame around the engine compartment opening.  If I glue it in first, I think it will be difficult to get coverage of the interior parts.  But if I glue it in after painting, there will be an ugly visible seam.  I think I will have to paint the interior part (to the right in the photo) first then glue the part in and user filler on the seam, then paint the rest of the body.  I will also glue on the front underside (far right piece) before painting the body.  But even before all of that, I plan to paint the interior headliner area and then mask the entire inner part of the body before spraying the red paint.

 

[gsdpic]

Thanks as always for taking a look and hitting the like button.

 

I forgot to mention when I discussed painting the body that I also have the Splash Paints "Pink Base".  So, I'll put a coat or two of that on top of the light gray primer, and then proceed with the Rossa Corsa red.  That is the same sequence I followed for the Ferrari 330P4 that I built but did not log here.

 

Prior to painting the outside of the body, I wanted to spray the headliner area.  And since I was doing interior colors I decided to just go ahead and build the entire interior.  For the interior, I used Vallejo Model Air beige, followed by a light mist of Tamiya "Dark Yellow" to tone down the beige a bit.  I tried to apply a bit more of the dark yellow to the carpet and headliner areas.  Then I also applied some microscale clear satin finish to the seats, doors, and back panel...basically anything that is leather instead of textiles...to try to show that difference.

 

I bought the Vallejo paint for some other project a while back and never used it, so this was the first time using any vallejo paint.  I liked it pretty well, though it did form a glob of partially dried paint in the built-in dropper and since I was lazy and dripped the paint directly into the airbrush, I ended up with that partially dried glob clogging the airbrush a bit, which was annoying but not not a big deal.

 

Anyway, here are the pictures of the assembled interior.   As usual I did not bother taking an in-process pictures.

 

[CDW]

I like the colors you chose for the interior, Gary. Should be a good color combination with the red body.

I like Vallejo paints except for the mess they make in my airbrush. They are more difficult to clean out of the airbrush than Tamiya or Mr. Color paints. I use a dedicated airbrush for Vallejo and similar acrylics such as Ammo-Mig paints. Where I find those two acrylics most useful are for small, brush painted items.

[chadwijm6]

Classic interior colour, looks great. 

 

I started only recently making models and got going with Vallejo paints and now I have quite a collection, amazing how quickly they build up, although I'm sure it's not a lot compared to others who have been modelling for years. On the whole I find them easy enough to use, occasional clogging but not very often. And they are pretty reasonable cost wise. I always use about 40% paint thinner, 10% flow improved and 50% paint and use their 'Air' brand in the airbrush, I have an H&S Evolution, and then their model paints with a brush. That said I've bought Chrome for Lexan Lacquer from AMMO to try on my B25 which will be interesting to try. 

 

 

[gsdpic]

Thanks for the comments and for sharing experience with vallejo paints.   I just used the "air" brand straight out of the bottle with no thinner or flow improver.  And yes the colors are based on internet pictures of actual cars, showing the tan interior with the black dash and other accents.

 

Now, perhaps mostly for comedic value, is the Dino with a few coats of pink base.  I guess I could leave it like this and say it is a Barbie car.

[gsdpic]

Thanks to everyone for looking in and laughing at my lame Barbie joke.  Hope I at least brought a smile to a few faces.

 

I've now pretty much completed the chassis as supplied by the kit with the addition of the spark plug wires.  I hope to add a few more wires and hoses around the engine based on pictures of the real thing, just to make it look a bit more realistic and a bit busier.  The one remaining part of what I'll call the chassis is a sort of shelf unit in the back.  The mufflers hang off of the underside of that shelf and then there are additional exhaust pipes to connect the headers to the muffler and then pipes out the back of the car.   The kit also has a fully detailed compartment under the front bonnet, including spare tire, and that is next.

 

[shipman]

Coming along nicely.

 

The 'Dino' has always struck me as the best looking Ferrari roadster.

 

Watched Roger Moore and Tony Curtis as the Persuaders.

The lump of a car (Aston Martin) simply emphasised how pretty the 'Dino' was.

[gsdpic]

Thanks all for the likes, and for the comment, shipman.  I agree the Dino is a sharp looking car.

 

I've managed to get the exhaust and mufflers on, though did not take pictures of that yet.  It was a bit of a struggle to get the stuff to all line up and while coercing things into place, one of the header pipes from the engine to the collector came loose.  That was quite a pain to get it glued back in.

 

I've also worked on painting the body, as seen below.  I did a mist coat then a bit of a heavier coat on everything, then I glued in that piece that surrounds the engine compartment and worked on hiding the very obvious seam using some filler and sanding and priming.  It is much better than it was but still partially visible.  After that I put another coat of paint on the body but forgot to do the hood, trunk, and engine cover panels.   When I placed them on the body for these pictures, there was a noticeable but slight color difference so obviously I need to go back and give those panels another coat as well.

 

There is one issue that I have not figured out yet.  There are two little tubular pieces that fit behind that vent just behind the door.  Unfortunately on my kit, those pieces appear to be a bit malformed as if there was not quite enough plastic injected into the mold.  Once I finish painting the body and remove all the tape from the inside, I will need to address that issue somehow.

 

As mentioned, I am using Splash paints Rosso Corsa, which dries to a sort of satin finish.  I'll gloss it all up with some Tamiya X-22.

[gsdpic]

Two more quick shots of the chassis.  First, I've added a few more hoses and tubes to the engine area, loosely based on pictures of the real thing.  Though I must say that the kit supplied air box appears to be a bit undersized.  Next picture is the underside showing the exhaust and mufflers.  There are two more pipes to add that go from the front muffler out the back of the car but I will put those on after the body is in place to ensure they are lined up correctly.

 

With that, the chassis is done.  Next is the area under the front bonnet while continuing to work on the body paint and finish.

[gsdpic]

Thanks as always for the likes.

 

I've finished the details under the front bonnet, shown in the first photo.  I did not bother with any attempt to add detail, as most of the stuff is covered up by a plastic cover and the spare tire, as shown in the slightly blurry second photo.

 

I just need to put the interior on the chassis and proceed with the body.

[CDW]

On 5/9/2024 at 2:27 PM, gsdpic said:

There is one issue that I have not figured out yet.  There are two little tubular pieces that fit behind that vent just behind the door.  Unfortunately on my kit, those pieces appear to be a bit malformed as if there was not quite enough plastic injected into the mold. 

 

Are you talking about the air vents at the top side/rear of the doors? The 288 GTO has some vents almost identical to those. The main thing is, you want those "tubes" that fit on the back side of the body to give the appearance of being an intake tube when viewed from outside the body. You could probably use some short pieces of Plastruct tube to make a pair if you must. You just need something that hides any view of daylight beyond the opening. You won't see them from the bottom when it's all together.

[gsdpic]

33 minutes ago, CDW said:

Are you talking about the air vents at the top side/rear of the doors?

 

Yep, those are the ones.   Right now it is tough to tell just how misshapen the little tubes are.  I painted the inside of the body with black primer and then taped it up while painting the outside, and still have that tape on so I cannot do a test fit.  With luck I'll be able to just file them down a bit and maybe use some filler.   I have a variety of strip styrene but nothing that is tube shaped.   I'll remove the tape after the gloss coat and can tackle this then.

[Nirvana]

The Dino has always been one of my few sport car favorites.

Very nice build!

[CDW]

8 hours ago, Nirvana said:

The Dino has always been one of my few sport car favorites.

Very nice build!

To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been a Ferrari I didn't like. Ever. I've only known one person who was a Ferrari owner and he owned two. He had a job and a salary very similar to my own, so I was very curious as how the heck he did it. According to him, from time-to-time, you can buy a Ferrari that needs work for a reasonable price. On top of that, he had learned to do all his own work making repairs. I had always assumed (incorrectly I suppose) all Ferraris cost a small fortune.

[gsdpic]

Thanks as always for the likes and comments.  I generally agree that there is no unattractive Ferrari, though I do think that the Testarossa has not aged well.   There's a guy in my neighborhood who has a Ferrari 360.  I've chatted with him a couple times.  He works for one of the big tech companies whose stock has done very, very well.  He's had quite a menagerie of interesting cars over the last 7 or 8 years, in addition to that Ferrari.

 

I put several coats of Tamiya X-22 clear thinned with mr color leveling thinner over the weekend.  Trying to let it sit and cure for another day or two before I handle it, especially since it has been a bit humid and rainy here of late.  The finish is not perfect but it is about as good as I have achieved.   I have some detail painting to do, such as chrome trim around the windows, panel lines, etc.  I'll use the molotow chrome marker for the chrome trim.

[CDW]

Photo of your clear coat looks very good. 

[gsdpic]

Thanks, CDW, and to the others for the likes.

 

Have not had as much time the last week or so for this build, and I've been doing a lot of small but time consuming things on the build.  So I'll just show a couple more pictures of the body which now has some detail paint....chrome trim around windows, flat black around the openings for the bonnet, trunk, engine cover.  Oh, and I also fitted those bits on the vents.  It went ok with some sanding down and some filler, but I really should have done that before painting the body.

[gsdpic]

Well I've done all the body detail painting and added all the little bits, and made it through some tricky steps without too much damage.  I am calling this one done.  I'll take a few more pictures tomorrow and write more about the tricky bits, but here is one of the finished car.

[CDW]

Wow, Gary. That came out great, and fast, too!

[Old Collingwood]

That looks  Superb  Gary.

 

OC.

[Nirvana]

Wonderful!

[gsdpic]

Thanks for the comments and the likes.   As mentioned, I've taken a bunch more photos and added some of them below.  I've joked before that I really only build models to have something else to take pictures of.

 

The final construction did have some hurdles.  First, getting the chassis into the body was a bit tricky.  At first I was not even sure it was going to be possible but I found the right sequence of actions and twists and turns to get it together.  Unfortunately, one of the small pins in the hinge for the rear trunk lid broke in the process.  There was not anything in the trunk anyway, so I just glued it shut.   Also, the hinge for the engine cover did not work well....I am not sure if I got the part that attaches to the cover too far from the edge or just what happened, but the engine cover only opens about a quarter inch.  So, the extra detailing I did on the engine will never be seen.   The front bonnet hinge works well though I now realize I forget to take any pictures with it propped open.   Finally, the last dicey operation was attaching the wheels.  They were attached with screws and it took some effort to screw them in (effectively tapping the hub with the screw as you screwed it in) and the wheels were just barely big enough to fit over the suspension bits.  I was quite concerned that I'd break something just screwing the wheels on, but did not.  However, you can see in one of the pictures that I have a lot of camber on the right rear wheel, and in fact the right front tire does not touch the ground.  Oh well.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this build and thought the kit was decent, especially considering it is nearly 40 years old.  The decals were rather thin and fragile but there were very few of them to deal with.  I feel like each time I get a little bit better with the finish on the body, though still far from perfect.  I tend to get a decent finish and then I am afraid of doing any more sanding or polishing or whatever, concerned that I'll make things worse instead of better, so I say "good enough".

 

Here are more pictures of the finished model.  Thanks, as always for following along.

 

 

Edited May 22 by gsdpic

[CDW]

Those photos look amazing, Gary. Very well done. I like your models and admire your photography skills. 

[Old Collingwood]

That is an  Absolute  Beauty.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

A beautiful model; the finish is great and the photography is superb. The shots with teh reflections are especially nice.

Alan

[gsdpic]

15 hours ago, CDW said:

Those photos look amazing, Gary. Very well done. I like your models and admire your photography skills. 

 

15 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

That is an  Absolute  Beauty.

 

OC.

 

1 hour ago, king derelict said:

A beautiful model; the finish is great and the photography is superb. The shots with teh reflections are especially nice.

Alan

 

Thanks for the comments and to all the others for the likes and wows.   Photography has been another hobby of mine for the last 20+ years, more integral to my life than model building most of that time.  The reflections are just from sitting the model on a 8" x 12" piece of white or black glossy acrylic that I bought online specifically for that purpose.