WIP Hasegawa Ferrari 328 GTS

...and another dusted off for completion.

Originally started off as part of a series of V8 Ferrari cars and also as a test for different paints and/or versions of the Ferrari/Italian/Rosso Corsa.

I don't remember much about this one except that had a bit of problem with the paint being very fragile and chipping very easily. I last left it with a fresh coat that was applied on top of a not very good base and was a bit orange peely and I really couldn't be bother to deal with it then.

One of the few shots of the body from back then.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R3FdBQ0YOHk/U0NBx1V6DOI/AAAAAAAADFo/01uPPeu1-3o/s900/101.JPG

and taken today.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_MuereA3TKs/U0NBw2-Yz3I/AAAAAAAADFc/oAs4cWn7tA8/s900/102.JPG

(please excuse the poor lighting; I've shifted my building space and i don't get much direct sunlight onto my worktop and I seriously need to get a better table light)

A little polish later.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Qm2eIgQXxOs/U0NBx1OeVsI/AAAAAAAADFs/-GQ8GGehuMs/s900/103.JPG

and after a good night's rest, another go and I think I'm quite happy with this considering the poor starting point.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tuuEVXtbHuY/U0NB17DKLzI/AAAAAAAADF8/HGwdxvPjSnk/s900/105.JPG


As with many Ferrari of this period there was a lot of black bits both on the interior and exterior so I snipped off everything and mounted for spray.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gzNKZZiEIA8/U0NB6-5tSMI/AAAAAAAADGU/qHtKXAnSUQg/s900/110.JPG

I did the same with the engine parts (for a aluminium spray) and ended up with a pile of bits, ready to make into bigger bits...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KIL29WnuBhE/U0NB9ITepSI/AAAAAAAADGc/UYZVGJ7HQtE/s900/111.JPG

As you can see I made a start on the interior and given the engine a test fit.
Engine first.

This kit has a very nice engine, much nicer than the old rubbish thing you found in the 1970s Revell kits of the 308. The 328 does of course, run on "modern" injectors so it's not identical but I do keep wanting to build a 308 using 328 GTB kit parts.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-H9-jvNkbxF8/U0NB-jPg5DI/AAAAAAAADGk/Ya1VA0Iv8D8/s900/112.JPG

Exhaust parts are known to be very fiddly here and have next to no positive mounting points. Whatever locating pins are there are very shallow and not very good so I drilled and prepared them pinned them for security.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--RKTH5rLg-g/U0NCCkSKleI/AAAAAAAADG0/JGncbBWPehI/s900/115.JPG

The air intake filter box came chromed.
TO get the polished text, I masked off the top portion of the box before spraying aluminium directly onto the chrome finish. Once the paint had dried, I then removed the masking tape and filled the area with a mix of Tamiya Red and Flat Red acrylic.

Then with a little careful buffing with the edge of a piece of cardboard, the text is revealed and can be read.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9b2Gy3LSvM0/U0NCF5HOOtI/AAAAAAAADHE/KoFQ5ryslRo/s900/119.JPG
Needs to be given a final clean with a little acrylic thinner applied to the edge of a bit of cardboard again later.

Back to the interior.

Most of the parts that make up the interior
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uS8jLg0Qn1E/U0NB3E1w5rI/AAAAAAAADGE/19HoU5dVh_c/s900/106.JPG

Tub is a nice representation of the real car; not 100% accurate but good enough.
Here, I've already masked off the centre tunnel and rear engine bay surround and given a spray of Plasti-Kote Suede Touch to simulate carpet (yes, I use this stuff a lot).
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dA2G3DVBFbA/U0NBzRF1a_I/AAAAAAAADF0/4neC_ugPpKE/s900/104.JPG

Once that had dried, it was masked in turn for the engine surround to painted a semi-gloss black and the centre tunnel Tamiya Wooden Deck Tan for the classic 1980s Ferrari interior.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7NjJBqm7Qp4/U0NCAdSlhpI/AAAAAAAADGs/H9Uz1tEQEy8/s900/114.JPG

The doors took a little more time.
As this was a GTS kit (actually I oremember I ordered a GTB kit which this was but on opening, the contents were GTS...) the interior could be seen with the roof off so I decided to add a little more attention to these.
The original kit doors had solid moulded grab handles so I opened these up and while I was at it, I deepened the too shallow panel separation lines too.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FsyLy98DGGY/U0NIPF3PgfI/AAAAAAAADHs/EjBBgwlHTXM/s900/107.JPG

As with the tub, I masked each section in turn to give me the combination of black leather, tan leather and carpet on the different sections.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-okcVkT38pt4/U0NIQVXDAbI/AAAAAAAADH4/tHN5KGUpzqk/s900/109.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nmhbyC6CFjA/U0NIQt1qAoI/AAAAAAAADH8/snmVn5y7W5o/s900/113.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B6oUg4PEKVY/U0NISkM-0SI/AAAAAAAADIE/sP0p-AklxqY/s900/118.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-63GYRGYI-rA/U0NIUpHABQI/AAAAAAAADIM/qxTZ10Jo394/s900/120.JPG

There's a little paint seepage that needs tidying up...

Quick dirty shot of the door panels with the grab handles opened on the left vs closed on the right.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eTYztTP5Lbc/U0NB4mhdvWI/AAAAAAAADGM/_D61pHRFXkw/s900/108.JPG

And an even poorer test fit of the base painted interior.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tG8ZR6o4R5E/U0NCHBi6p4I/AAAAAAAADHM/2plId3GNSwo/s900/121.JPG


as a side note:
as with my tradition with Ferrari Kits, I think I have once again, lost the gear lever.

Nice WIP so far. Tanks for posting.

Looks great so far!

Old School shock remodelling:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f-i2WlTLq68/U0X6Y_h4API/AAAAAAAADKA/u14JjwfvRu8/s900/s01.jpg

1) As usual moulded in springs are removed leaving the end joints.
Discs are stamped out using a punch set and different diameter rods are cut and glued to more accurately replicate the real shock/damper.

2) to make my coils, I wrap two pieces of wire in parallel, around a rod.

3) you then remove the coils and carefully "un-screw" one coil from the other

4) which can then be cut to size and fitted into the plastic damper.

Once painted and fitted into the front suspension, it looks much better even though it is one of those things that get's hidden once the body and rather solid rims are fitted.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-krO_7czkdvI/U0X6YMfWXBI/AAAAAAAADKE/UtYc_aPRLbQ/s900/s02.JPG


While I was waiting for various bits of styrene-gluing to set, I went about exploring how to fill the engine bay a little more.
It's not 100% accurate as I can't fully understand the wiring and plumbing diagrams but this is maybe 80% of the larger main lines, the most noticeable being the oil cooling circuit.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v-98MjsHJCA/U0X6YXcWG_I/AAAAAAAADJ8/GTEo6XkVmFk/s900/s03.JPG

And once painted, it isn't half bad for a rough job...
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-GLAVdBBrYFo/U0X6agx4IpI/AAAAAAAADKM/MhDHgTee6to/s900/s04.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QRJMt1rZgjw/U0X6cK3YmmI/AAAAAAAADKU/1weXUUoJc3A/s900/s05.JPG

bits of yellow tape need to be "set" with some superglue (that I don't have) before being painted semi-gloss black and finished with a little strip of bmf "clamping".

There's a couple more hoses that can be fitted in there and then it'll be the bit I'm dreading the most here.
The 328 came with fuel injectors that are very visible...

I hate .015 wire.

Ferrari Kits, I think I have once again, lost the gear lever.
Good :D Gear levers are always horribly out of scale IMHO. They look waaaay too chunky and are easy to replace.

Nice job on the pull handles. The final effect was really worth the effort.

another quick update.

been busy working in the garden but managed to re-make the rear shocks as well.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-JcO-G0C44yg/U2E90VhGsEI/AAAAAAAADLQ/3w4TxIOPoMs/s900/401.jpg

finally went and got myself some more superglue too so it's back to the engine then a quick glance towards the finish line.

Very nice rear shocks. Well done!

and shockingly, a little more.

I made mention of the fuel injection.
Now this isn't up to the same standards as MPWR's crazy milling that he did with his Ferrari but it's all I could manage in two hours with some 0.15 wire and a couple pairs of pliers.

The spider begins.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-avQAsTLBzJE/U2LY5euuduI/AAAAAAAADLg/Gumyj_MGwjI/s900/201.JPG

After wrestling with the wires that would bend and curl out of position everytime I breathed, I managed to get them into the (sort-of) right locations. Alas, keeping them straight and pretty was nigh impossible.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fQomm7sXYqk/U2LY6vdib0I/AAAAAAAADLw/4gO-E5Cp_vo/s900/202.jpg

And a test fit onto the engine in chassis.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1ZramlOSUlM/U2LY6U8p1mI/AAAAAAAADLs/S50jBi6VWeY/s900/203.JPG


after I finally got that done I took a quite break for dinner but when I got back, I tried my best to finish the rest of the small details on the engine such as spark plug wiring, taping up the hose connections and adding foil "clips" and adding the missing oil filter using one rescued from an old Italeri Daytona kit that didn't make the grade (test fit here, the filter needs to be stripped and re-painted)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7OniHrxCKIU/U2LY8kck7aI/AAAAAAAADL4/JKknjZih7PM/s900/204.JPG


so so close.

You'll spot the shocks shown earlier mounted onto the hub already and this in turn gets mounted onto the rear subframe. None of that though, can happen until the engine is in place then it's one final engine plumbing check before dealing with the body details.

Good :D Gear levers are always horribly out of scale IMHO. They look waaaay too chunky and are easy to replace.

Nice job on the pull handles. The final effect was really worth the effort.


actually, the one in the Hasegawa Ferrari kits are quite nicely sized.
I think I found it too.
except I found it on the floor so really it could be from any number of kits.

while I was down there, I also found a wing mirror that doesn't seem to match any kit....