This is my part of the three way that
Klutz_100,
Gionc and I are having.
(And you thought I was going to say "joint venture"). Be sure to check out their threads, also. We'll update the joint thread (there I said it) too, as we work on other subassemblies.
No, I can't say I really needed to start another full engine Ferrari- but they ganged up on me and made me do it! 
The Mythos and F40 are both still underway, and sooner or later I'll update them, I promise.
But, as Klutz_100 and
Gionc were sooo persuasive- may as well make the best of it, right?
Tamiya's 360 Spyder is not so uncommon a build around here as either the Mythos or the F40. I expect it's perhaps second only to the Enzo as the most seen Ferrari on AF. This is in part due to the fact that it's a lovely kit, one of Tamiya's very best efforts. This is fortunate for me, as it doesn't require much to make it a rather spectacular model. So I will try to keep additional superdetailing on this one to a relative minimum, to 'relax' and 'enjoy' it, and try to finish it this year (or even this summer?). We'll see how well I do. On the other hand, it will of course be displayed in the complany of the F50, F40, and Mythos so I really
can't slack off that much, can I?
And no, it's not going to be red, or yellow. I'm going to delve yet again into the more obscure areas of Ferrari's color pallette....
But enough talking, on to building!
The 360's V8 is very well molded, as you would expect from Tamiya. But that doesn't mean they weren't above a shortcut or two. After studying the engine, I decided that the oil line running into the sump under the engine was going to bother me if I didn't fix it.
Notice the otherwise rectangular hole for the oil pan has a cut in? The oil line on the actual engine is separate from the pan. So, time for a little surgery.
Original kit part on the left, new and improved on the right. It fits the shape of the underside of the engine block now.
Next, the oil line will need to be replaced.
DetailMaster braided line. I
hate working with this stuff
, but if you can get it to behave, it can look great. The fittings on the ends were turned on the lathe.
Installed. Better, I think. But, it's really only going to be visible from below. Oh well.
Next, the intakes.
Ferrari went to a bit of effort to make the intake manifold spider and plenums visible on the actual 360, so the kit parts worth a bit of effort to make them presentable. The Ferrari emblems on the red cracle finish plenums are particularly eyecatching.
The kit parts are of course well molded, but I was a bit disappointed to find that the logos were not engraved on the plenums, but included as self adhesive PE parts. While I like SE PE for mirrors and body logos, it's not a particularly accurate way of representing them here. The logos are cast as part of the plenums, which are then painted red. The logos are them revealed by grinding the red finish off of them, showing the alloy color undernieth.
To replicate that look, I applied the logos onto the bare plastic, then masked off the inlets to the air filters.
The texture of the crackle finish was then applied by spraying the part with laquer primer- I used CobraColors Moon Mud. Moon mud is terrific stuff, but it really needs to be thinned. Sprayed straight, it bumps up nicely.
Here are the results. The logos were revealed by gently scraping the primer off of them with a sharp toothpick soaked in 99% isopropyl alcohol. Notice the nice contrast in textures versus the bare unmasked plastic?
Everything gets oversprayed with thinned flat red (I used MM Acryl insignia red), and the logos again get scraped clean.
Time to detail it. Tamiya includes the Cavalino logo between the plenums with the chromed parts.
In reality, this part has a very cast, grainy appearence to it- so, off comes the chrome. Tamiya flat aluminum looks about right.
Detailed.
The hose clamps are of course BMF (what else?!).
Ready for the engine.
Still needs work, but it's a start. Next I'll need to add an oil filter, and wire up the ignition coils.
Thanks for watching!