Fujimi F355 Spider - in progress + a few comment

Kit: Fujimi 1/24 Ferrari F355 Spider

After Fujimi released F355 GTB/GTS in 1995, they recently recast the body and release this long-awaited F355 Spider. I did a little comparison with the old F355 GTB...
http://geocities.com/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-01.jpg
The overall panel lines are deeper and sharper.

http://geocities.com/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-02.jpg

http://geocities.com/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-03.jpg
The rear engine hood looks more accurate in shape.

http://geocities.com/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-04.jpg
No need to glue an additional part near the rear spoiler. It's now moulded to the body.

http://geocities.com/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-06.jpg
The most challenging work is still the door panel... :mad:

After 2 hours work, I did a little progress...
http://geocities.com/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-07.jpg

Great work! I ll be watching this thread with big eyes, and great interest, and thanks for the comparison pics!

Olivier

Ooh, it's ou already... How is the interior, have they updated the side panels?

-Mikko

I'll be watching this thread with interest. Kit looks nice.

Nice progress. keep up the good job! :)

I'm doing the same model at the moment. The door panels are definitely a challenge. I'm doing the side panels in the interior as well, as they look absolutely terrible. It's just flat! This kit needs a lot of improvements, but it is quiet a good one for a regular Fujimi one. Keep up the good work!

Very nice, your doing a great job. The only only drawback with this kit (not the spider) is the windows as they dont seem to fit properly, especially the side windows, otherwise its a decent kit to build.

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to more progress.

Mike :sunglasse

Mind telling/showing us how you cleared out the rear deck vents? That will add a great deal of realism and your technique looks very good.


thanks

Tom

Thanks all for your comments. CADguy and kunta, hope you don't mind that I'm using your F355 as reference. :biggrin:

Ooh, it's ou already... How is the interior, have they updated the side panels?

-Mikko
Fujimi simply reused the interior of the F355... :mad:

Mind telling/showing us how you cleared out the rear deck vents? That will add a great deal of realism and your technique looks very good.


thanks

Tom
I used the similar method posted by Chris at http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61545
(I must say Automotive Forums is very resourceful!)
I drilled 2 small holes at the end of each vent. Then cut along the edges with the knife blade (and its back) many times. That's why the residue are stripped. :)

Hi AC

It is impressive work so far and keep it up.

Besides, would it be further modification on engine bay?

Mikusen

Nice work so far! :bigthumb:

Great review!

Hi AC

It is impressive work so far and keep it up.

Besides, would it be further modification on engine bay?

Mikusen
Thanks Mikusen. Maybe I'll put "something" beneath the engine hood. Will update later... :naughty:

Grea t work on cut outs. mre progress please.

Good job AC !!

Thanks for the comments.

A little update... after a lot of putty and sanding works...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-09.jpg

The door panel's getting shape...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-10.jpg

Sprayed the whole body with Tamiya white surfacer...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-13.jpg

A little surprise... this GTS was my 2 year old dropped project. It's time to bring it out...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355gts-10.jpg

Will they both be white? Please wait for the next update... :iceslolan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-11.jpg

Both cars look great! Even in primer. :iceslolan Excellent job you're doing there. Damn! I totally forgot to put the 355 Spider into my "To Purchase" list :rolleyes:

Looks like good putty work on the dreaded door panels. Looking forward to seeing how they both come out! The F355 GTS is probably my favorite Ferrari of all (excepting maybe the F40), and it's always nice to see a good build made of Fujimi's kit. Someday, I'll have to build mine (maybe if I ever get sick of building kits that fit...).

They changed more on the Spider than I expected, I figured the windshield area/A pillar would have been directly from the GTS; it's obvious that's not the case. Looking forward to seeing these done!

nice progress, keep us posted.

Thanks for the comments. :)

Very slow progress. A little update on the spider first... body sprayed with TS-16...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-15.jpg

Then clear coated and polished, some painting jobs done...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-16.jpg

The windscreen seems to be dropped a little bit... :(
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-17.jpg

So I trimmed the edges of the windscreen a little bit, trying to push it out...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-18.jpg

Painted the windscreen's border with black to examine the fitness...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-19.jpg

Looking awesome, very nice color ;)

Thanks Alfa_147.

A few pics about struggling with the wheels...
Smoothed the edges, painted & decal placed...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-23.jpg

A sudden idea came out - how about changing the screws... replaced them with straight pin heads, so they looks more shiny...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-24.jpg

But it seems they were too big. Besides, the central area was wrongly shaped... so start all over again... some putty work, took out the pins and trim them smaller... repaint & re-decal... :banghead:
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-25.jpg

And finally...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-26.jpg

Time for the door panels. A little bit shame on Fujimi...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-27.jpg

Worked with some styrene sheets and epoxy putty...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-29.jpg

Looks better now?
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-28.jpg

Test fitting with the body...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-30.jpg

Awesome progress. Like the doors a lot. Great work all around.

Looking great, love the yellow :sunglasse The door panels are awesome, great work ;)

great idea on the door panels!!!

Great idea on the door panels. It improves the overall presentation of the model. :biggrin:

OMG! Those door panels look tight. Mine are still in progress and not even close!!! Great work.

Looks much better!!

superb work - the door panels are amazing!
looking so nice

Thanks guys for the comments.

Punch of updates...
Adding a air bag to the steering wheel...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-32.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-33.jpg

Drilled a small hole in the centre, then pasted a small circular PE... ready for the horse sitting there...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-34.jpg

Extended the width of the cover of the rear wheel; added some plastic sheets beneath the cockpit so that the door panel will sit with a proper level with the body...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-35.jpg

Added the missing parts - pedals, from various styrene sheets...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-36.jpg

Added some details to both seats...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-37.jpg

Extended the length of the cover of the roof with styrene sheet...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-38.jpg

Trying to replace the exhaust pipes with the radio antenna...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-39.jpg

Very nice progress. I like the detail that your making to this. Keep up the good work.

Great progress, keep it up!

WOW cant believe i missed this thread, progress is looking awsome, i am very pleased to see you making a quality build out of an otherwise bland one. Keep on it lookn great :)

Grear lokking project! Can´t wait to the "finishline":)

Very nice ferrari!

Laid down the carpet, which was a adhesive cloth by Model Factory Hiro (http://www.hlj.com/product/MFHP912). Besides, I'm preparing the gear shift by sticking a straight pin with a ball bearing...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-40.jpg

The undertray is almost done. The red arrow is pointing a gap which was made to move the front wheels a little bit forward...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-41.jpg

To low down the car, I used a simpler way this time. Replaced the rear-end slot with styrene sheet and moved about 1mm downward...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-42.jpg

This is probably the last update of this thread, so I would like to take this chance to thank you guys for your compliments came along this thread. Hopefully, a finished thread will come out within few days. :)

lovely job!
A great deal of excellent detail added. Very impressive.

Great idea for lowering the car. But will the interior not push against the window? (Hope you know what I mean. My English is to bad to explain it better....)

Great idea for lowering the car. But will the interior not push against the window? (Hope you know what I mean. My English is to bad to explain it better....)
Yes, it will. But that's what I need because originally there was a big gap...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-43.jpg

after pushing...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355spider-44.jpg

Just taken a few pics, but the sun has almost gone... :(
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355Spider-50.jpg
Will take some photos again...

looks shiny, speedy and sweet!

Wow - an inspiration

looks great!

Damn that looks nice, is it finished?

Damn that looks nice, is it finished?
It's almost finished, still missing some small parts...
http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/ac8dl/F355/F355Spider-51.jpg