Testors/Fujimi Ferrari Dino 246GT

This time I'll be doing this classic and historic car that Enzo did to honor his only late son, and the only one didn't wear the Ferrari badge. The kit I'll be using is a Fujimi Kit that Testors re-boxed in the late 80's with 200+ parts. As an interesting addition, I 'll be using also the awesome detailing kit from Model Factory Hiro with around 125+ more parts. As always, Hiro standars bring us a quality multimedia kit with lots of parts in white metal, vacuuformed glass, turned parts, an exquisite photo-etch set, etc. To add for a little push, parts from Hobby Design and Top Studio will also in this build....So, let's start...


Here's the great Model Factory Hiro Super Detaling kit with lots and lots of parts.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0065.jpg


close view:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0068.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0073-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0078.jpg


Some more aftermarket help:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0064-1.jpg


I'll be starting with the nice casted white metal valve covers. The one at the left had already received the dremel's wire brush treatment:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0084.jpg


The other parts will do the combo for the clinder heads:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0085.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0090.jpg


Something its has been already polished and glued:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0093.jpg


Now is the turn for the transmission...5 parts will do the completed part:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0098.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0103.jpg


All the components of the engine..cilinder heads, transmission, engine block, distributor, weber carburators.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0106.jpg


The exhaust headers also made of with metal, the ones at the right were already polished, the ones in the left still waiting:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0107-1.jpg


Some more parts like the air cleaner, oil filter, engine mounts, starter, rear axles are already cleaned and mounted for painting. Here we can see all the parts together:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0114.jpg


Some parts already painted with some different kinds of metalizers paints:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0119-2.jpg


As an interesting add-on, the rust dust on the thinner can will also be added to the party..nothing looks more real like the real thing:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0120-1.jpg


Finally everything painted and glued together:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0121.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0123-1.jpg


This is something will enhance the engine but, will give me a little of hard time of work. For the spark plugs boots I will place a .6mm stainless steel tube inside another .9mm one. The stainless steel tubing is so hard that any knive or cutter can do the job. I used a diamond dust disc with my Dremel and it could be done...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0128-1.jpg


After some hours, the tubing is cutted off and ready. At the top we can see the spark boot sample and at its right the boot I will use fot the distributor caps.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0130-2.jpg


All the parts together and ready to be painted:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0135.jpg


Here more components for the suspension, exhaust system, chassis, gas tanks, etc.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0140.jpg


Everything inside the dehydrator already painted:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0142-1.jpg


The engine over the chassis...remember what I told you about the real look or real rust dust?...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0147-2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0152.jpg


More of the chassis parts and some plumbing were added:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0156.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0159-2.jpg


This is it..for now.

Wow! Very impressive work on an impressive lot of parts! I'll be following :)

impressive work! the real rust sure beats any painted-on effect anytime :)

that looks great so far, how did you apply the real rust?

Thanks for all your kind comments, buys..I used a tiny cotton swab from Gunze Sangyo and then rubbed it a little bit, spreading it all over the parts.


that looks great so far, how did you apply the real rust?

Wow looks fantastic so far. Looking forward to more updates as you go along!

After some days working on the model, here are some updated pictures...


Here we can see different shots of the engine now with some hoses and the bands:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0206.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0216.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0208.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0213.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0211.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0217.jpg


The bottom of the chassis plus the engine:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0244-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0253-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0256.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0258-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0222-2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0226-1.jpg


For the front compartment, I added some plumbing for the brake master cylinder and scratchbuilt the battery connectors out of plastic...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0229.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0259.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0235-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0237-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0240.jpg


Here I started to take advantage of the great Model Factory Hiro detailing kit, I started shaving the radio buttons and placing the radio photo-etch face. I save the buttons and glued them over. Some of the switches algo gone to replaced latter with the photo etches ones:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0173.jpg


How it looks after being completed:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0187.jpg


The turn signal, hi-low beam and wiper selectors also suffered a transformation. I shaved the knobs and used pins as the rod:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0177.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0179.jpg

Completed:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0193.jpg


I used the white metal steering wheel plus the photo etch wheel center for the combo. The base of the steering wheel its the plastic part:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0197.jpg


For the seats head rest, I also shaved the plastic rod and again used a pin for the metal part:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0166-1.jpg


Some tape was wraped over the emargency lever in order to get a more real leather look:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0181.jpg


A good amount of parts ready to be painted:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0182-1.jpg


Dash already painted plus the steering wheel assembly. I used a product named Dr Toffano Synthaglass Vetero Syntetico that I got from Italy Ebay. This product is used to make plastic glass and gives you a cleaner glass look than white glue or other products around in my opinion. The only problem was that I had to wait wo months to arrive here to Puerto Rico!:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0186.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0191.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0199.jpg


The interior tub after completed:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0199.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0264-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0268-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0269.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0272-3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0276-1.jpg


Both chassis and interior tub meet for the first time:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0278.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0280-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0282.jpg

Great work! I'd like to try that glass product. I can't really tell from the photos...

This last update will start with some minor, but, important goodies added to the engine.


I added the dry sump oil tank hose:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_06372.jpg


The expansion tank for the radiator:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_06352.jpg


The DINO lettering for the cylinder heads, they are really tiny, you guys can see how small it is placed on the top of a penny:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/IMG01106-20120331-0202.jpg


How it looks in place:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0636.jpg


With the engine completed, then I moved to the body. Besides the plastic main body and the rear panel that holds the trunk, I will use the white metal’s trunk, engine cover, and the hood.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0295-1.jpg


Test fit:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0312.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0308.jpg


I will start working the front lower panel, which has plastic and thick bars.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0321.jpg


The bars has to go:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0323-1.jpg


The panel was aligned and glued in place.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0326-1.jpg



It glued nicely, but, some care has to be taken. I has a deep seam that has to be corrected with some putty:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0355-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0349.jpg

Instead of putty I will use a better method, at least to me. I will do a mix of micro ballons with super glue. The result is a plastic hard paste that doesn’t shrink and sands smooth with almost no trace of what was here before:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0381-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0383.jpg

It was applied all over:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0396.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0388-1.jpg


For the rear panel these sanding sticks from micro mark are a great help for the hard shape of these panel:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0374.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0402-1.jpg


Here you guys can see how it looks after dry, it almost invisible were it was a seal before:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0366.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0364.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0368.jpg

Going back to the front panel were I removed the plastic grill, I will use the photo etch one from the detail set. I was built from 10 parts:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0332.jpg

This how it looks in place in this mock up, big difference, isn’t?:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0337.jpg


To help to a more strength union, I added a line of Gunze Sangyo’s Mr Surfacer 500 liquid primer:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0408.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0405-1.jpg


In this area I even used some white putty:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0419-2.jpg


Now it looks much better, specially at the rear where I had to re-srcribe and putty the window moulding. Some Gunze Mr Surfacer 1000 thinn primer sealed everything:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0441.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0439.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0437.jpg


After I added the metal primer to the white metal parts, the same surfacer 1000 primer prepared the parts for the white and final primer, since I planned to paint the model in yellow:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0435.jpg


This is a great primer with almost no trace of sanding:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0446.jpg


Some white primer was shoot direct from the can:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0455-2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0452-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0450.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0448.jpg

These are the colors I planned to use; Gunze pure yellow, Ferrari Yellow from the Gunze Auto Color line(hard to find), Finisher’s Pure Yellow, and Lemon Yellow.

To me they all looks great, but, the Ferrari yellow looks to “creamie”(correct Ferrari shade) that I didn’t like, and the Finisher’s Pure Yellow its to deep. So I have to decided among Gunze pure yellow and Finisher’s Lemon Yellow…My selection…I will use both!


The Finisher’s lemon is at the top with a glossier look and the Gunze yellow at the bottom with a typical lacquer semi gloss look. The Finisher’s lemon will give a crispier-vivid look while the Gunze will give a solid shine yellow base:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0432.jpg


Let’s start the fun…Some color was added first to the recessed areas that will covered when I tape together the doors for an even color:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0457.jpg

As a result, I got an even beautiful “supermarket” fresh lemon look:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0483-3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0486-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0489-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0504.jpg


Giving the body a final light sanding to prepare it for the clear, I discovered something typical of lacquers, the seams at the front and at the rear panels where not hide. I always resolve this using some Dupont Variprime primer as a sealer.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0469.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0467.jpg

I brushed some Future at the seal but it didn’t work. Then, I could managed the situation, I airbrush a little bit of clear as a sealer, then, airbrushed more clear and finally got the result I was looking for.

Everything looked fine and I airbrushed some Finisher’s Urethane GP-1 Clear, but, again…another surprise, the airbrush spitted some remains of black paint over the left quarter panel…:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0516.jpg


I though a light sanding will fix it, but…
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0546.jpg

I give it a general deeper sanding and could fixed it, then another shoot of paint and finally we were ready to go:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0549.jpg

Here you can see the results after I used Finisher’s Urethane GP-1 Clear:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0561-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0567.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0571.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0574.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0577.jpg


What a great glossy clear…:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/IMG01096-20120330-0913.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/IMG01095-20120330-0913.jpg


After I polished the body, I started to add the details to the body. First I added this photo etch disc that will serve as the base to the plastic lens for the front turn signal. Actually, you guys can notice there’s no trace of the panels seal:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0582.jpg


The wipers from the photo etch set...great pair, by the way:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0584.jpg


I used the rear lights turned base and the plastic lens, the white metal bumpers were polished to a high shine with the Dremel and some blue magic polishing paste, then were masked for the flat black paint that will double as the rubber, photo etch Ferrari script from the set and the horse one from a Ferrari photo etch set from Crazy Modeler and the license plate complete the rear:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0630.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0631-1.jpg

At the hood area I masked everything to paint the rubber seal:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0588.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0590.jpg

Great results...Can be seen that I gave the same treatment to the front bumpers, I added the Dino emblem, front signals, wipers, foil, rear mirrors and the washers for the wipers that are Model Factory Hiro rivets :
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/IMG01121-20120402-1938.jpg


A close up to the wipers and washers area:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/IMG01122-20120402-2024.jpg


The rear mirrors could been polished to a high gloss polished look. Here you can see the un-polished white metal part from were I start, the final polished part, and the plastic part:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0526.jpg


For the doors stand bars, I scratchbuilt them using some plastic and metal rod:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0603.jpg


The parts already glued in place:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0624-1.jpg


The results:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0628-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/IMG01137-20120408-0208.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/IMG01128-20120407-1827.jpg

General views:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0608.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0613.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0620-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/CSC_0615.jpg

The tires received the valve stems from RB Motion:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/IMG01109-20120331-0254.jpg





Finally, the chassis met the body...This a picture from the local IPMS where it took for my surprise a second place...Surprise because the model had the best finish and the best detail in European class, at least to my opinion…judge by yourself… To me the best part is that I was able to finish this great model with over 200+ parts and with a piece of history on its shape!
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0687-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_0747.jpg

Excellent job. Congratulations.

very nice work!

Beautiful model!!!!!!!!

Absolutely fantastic! Grats.

what a stunner, absolutely gorgeous!

congrats on this great work!

I hope this thread is still alive!

I owned a 1973 Dino 246GT and sold it to get a back seat for the baby seat for our first child. I had bought it new, and sold it after 18 months ownership and made $2000. Twenty years later, it resold for more than $300k more than I paid for it!

So, I bought a Testors 1/24 kit and my son and I assembled it. We were bot very happy with the result. However, over the years, time was not kind to the model, and parts of it were broken. I've always thought it would be proper to build another.

We're in the process of moving, and to my amazement today, I found a complete, unassembled Dino 246GT model kit that had long been forgotten. My question is, how can I find a detail kit such as has been described in the thread. I'm not thinking that I've got the skills or time to duplicate this excellent project, but I'd sure like to give it a try.

Any suggestions on how to get the detail kit, and how to proceed with this project?

Hi, as you can see the model was finished, although now I will have to do the trunk and hood's hinges. You can get the Model Factory Hiro detail set in a couple of places.Here is an example of where:


http://www.stradasportsstore.com/shop-bin/sc/productsearch.cgi?search_field=dino&storeid=*1cfc54f591ad8ed1916b462a9bad60f3&%2Fbuttons%2Fgradient1_dark_blue%2Fsearch-button.gif.x=11&%2Fbuttons%2Fgradient1_dark_blue%2Fsearch-button.gif.y=6



I hope this thread is still alive!

I owned a 1973 Dino 246GT and sold it to get a back seat for the baby seat for our first child. I had bought it new, and sold it after 18 months ownership and made $2000. Twenty years later, it resold for more than $300k more than I paid for it!

So, I bought a Testors 1/24 kit and my son and I assembled it. We were bot very happy with the result. However, over the years, time was not kind to the model, and parts of it were broken. I've always thought it would be proper to build another.

We're in the process of moving, and to my amazement today, I found a complete, unassembled Dino 246GT model kit that had long been forgotten. My question is, how can I find a detail kit such as has been described in the thread. I'm not thinking that I've got the skills or time to duplicate this excellent project, but I'd sure like to give it a try.

Any suggestions on how to get the detail kit, and how to proceed with this project?

Hi JD4JC-

Welcome to AF, and welcome back to the hobby.

Must have been a terrific car to enjoy while you had it!

If the 246 will be your first build in a few years, I strongly recommend that you skip the detail set. It would add greatly to the expense, complication and effort to the build- but likely will not make the results better in the end. A better plan would be to do a couple other kits of other cars first, and come back to the 246 when you are more confident in your abilities. But even then I'd be hesitant to go with a multimedia detail kit. They're good fun if you're into complexity for the sake of complexity (and many of us are)- but it also adds a lot of unnecessary difficulty.

(If the kit you found does not have an engine, you could find the Fujimi Enthusiast version which does have an engine on Ebay- and likely spend a good bit less money.)