Ferrari 360 Modena, fully open

My last build was pretty much glue and paint, so in the spirit of learning, this one will be a little bit more ambitious with some mods, scratch building and PE work. No lathe yet :grinyes: So here is my attempt at the Tamiya Ferrari 360 Modena + Crazy Modeler PE with some detailing and open doors and trunk (is trunk the right name given it's at the front of the car?). This is the kit that got me into this insanity in the first place. For that story, as told in intro to my previous build, see here (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=767138).

You will recognise some familiar ideas from other builds on AF. Much kudos to those guys (MPWR, gionc, 360spider, etc), and to everyone here for the superb artistry and entertainment you give to all of us.

This is my first WIP, so please let me know if it's boring, too detailed, not enough detail, needs more jokes, etc :licka: Oh, and um, I've already made a lot of progress on this build, so I will be playing catch up for a little while...

This was going to be a simple build, but in examining this brilliant Tamiya kit carefully I realised that the doors can be cut out and reassambled outside the body with some scratch built frames for both the doors and the body shell.

Here I am checking the feasibility of cutting out the doors. I was mainly concerned with how I would put the window in and how it would all fit back into the chassis, hinging details, etc.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010024.jpg

Here's a close up showing how the interior and exterior panels match up. There is a nice place in there where the window can be attached.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010019.jpg

This one shows the area at the front of the interior panel - it will need to be reconstructed/filled in to complete the door.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010025.jpg

The interior door panel, beautifully detailed. It's pretty easy to cut this out of the tub.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010008.jpg

So I've decided to go ahead. But I need something to hold the body together when I cut the doors out. Turns out there is a very neat solution to this problem :naughty:

Firstly, as Gio pointed out, the lower rear intakes look like total crap on this kit - this absolutely must be fixed. I started by removing the rear wheel wells, which will actually make lots of things easier and more sensible imho (painting, scratch work, final assembly, etc).
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1011172.jpg

Wheel wells gone. Look at those lousy intake ducts...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010003.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010001.jpg

Fixed...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010042.jpg

I also added a solid door sill to the skirts. This should look good on the final model (famous last words :grinno:)
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010055.jpg

That side skirt is now extremely strong. I glued it onto the body permanently, along with an internal frame (details later). This gives the body enormous strength, allowing the doors to be cut out safely. The kit normally adds the side skirts after painting, but I prefer it this way anyway...

Cutting out the second door - the point of no return has been well and truly reached. The doorless body does not flex at all. Just as well, or those flimsy A-pillars would be snapping every second day until completion :iceslolan
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010113.jpg

The Hasegawa PE saw set includes some great small blades, but as shown above, the cut out for the door falls in a single plane (yes, it really does - this is significant...), so the larger saw is perfect for the job.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010117.jpg

And of course we'll have to cut the window in half like this:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010048.jpg

Looking good.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/P1010050.jpg



To be continued... :naughty:

Nice! We can always use more full-detail 360 builds around here.

brilliant work of a master!

fine execution & methodic approach!
for sure i'll be 'leeching' onto you on this one...
i'm a 100% ferrari freak!!!

keep posting!

marc
SGP

I don't like Ferrari much, but seems you are doing a great job! MORE!

Aren't you going to run into fitment problems with the "sills"?! Those are not part of the interior I think. I could be wrong, but place the undertray back and see where they line up. Just doesn't seem necessary. Great idea though and I will follow intently. As a complete Ferrari fan anything "prancing" on the boards is for me.

Looks really good so far. i cant wait to see more progress.

You don't see many 360s on here often. So nice when someone does any Ferrari. Keep this build going buddy. :evillol:

Thanks for showing interest and all the encouragement guys.

EnzoEnvy1, thanks for the great question. The sills serve a few purposes. They provide much needed strength; the internal frames are glued to them; and most importantly, they form the visible sill at the base of door well, just like you would see in a real 360. Hopefully these pics will make it a bit clearer. The sills sit above the lower chassis, there is no interference there.

Here's the doorless tub. It's a simple crate-like shape which the body shell will just slide onto.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010003.jpg

Here is one door frame complete - you can see the sills here. The rest of the door framing is glued to the sills and the body shell.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010109.jpg

Notice that the A pillar has a vestige of the roof gutter on it. I'll address that below...

Here's the real thing. I'll build up the shape of the sill as seen here.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/06.jpg

Now, the doors. They need framing similar to the door well frame in the body shell. Starting with some simple blocks to glue the frame onto...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010073.jpg

Then the door frame itself, from one piece (this piece has a really odd shape when laid flat because it twists as it turns the corners).
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010074.jpg
(the weird purple streaks and graininess in some of these pics is due to my camera screwing up)

This frame is glued to the internal door panel and then fitted into the body so as to get its outer shape correct...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010082.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010084.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010083.jpg

Now that the frame has the right shape, I can attach the outside of the door.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P10100351.jpg

And of course, the trunk lid is begging to be cut out. You can see that I've added in the roof gutter here. It stops where it will meet the rear window.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010005.jpg

I got a nice bonus here - the windshield is now a simple clip in fit. It's resting on the door frame. The fit is perfect and the final thing will not require any glue (amazing!!) :) The brass rod hinge is temporary, it can't stay like that because it would foul the wipers.

From below - notice where the sills sit, how they will be above the chassis. Also, note how the windshield sits on the frames.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010008x.jpg

Checking the fit of the doors:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010013.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010010x.jpg

They fit great! I swear Tamiya designed this kit for this mod.

Now for some priming. Yeh :grinyes:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P10100072.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P10100062.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P2010009.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P2010011.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P2010010.jpg

And some details of the door hinges. This was very tricky to get right :banghead:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P1010087.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP/P10100831.jpg

The hinge post you can see on the body side is modeled from the real car. However, I could not have a simple inline hinge set-up because the door would not open cleanly. I would have to shave the door and fender down to .2mm for that to work, and still there would be issues with the thickness of the hinge tubes, etc. Instead I created an articulated hinge. The tubes are separated and linked by the s-shaped wire. This allows the door to swing back slightly as it opens giving the required clearance at the fender. The little notch at the top of the body tube controls how much the hinge articulates. The result is that the doors open and close smoothly and the open and closed positions are "perfect". I'll show some better shots of the doors in the open position later.

That's it for this update. I forgot to take some important pics here, but hopefully it's clear what's going on :screwy:

Till next time :popcorn:

Excellent Work!!! As much as I love this kit OOB, it was still screaming for more detail, and you sir are doing a fine job at getting that detail done! looking forward to seeing more.

My previous question is now officially stricken from the record.

Damn this is good stuff. I want to open my CS's doors and hood now. You make it look so easy but I am betting there is a lot of time there. Looks great. Besides the Enzo, I think this is Tamiyas most well built and executed models period. Great work!!!

Damn this is good stuff.


I couldn't have said it better myself. Great work.

Woah! Interesting take on those door hinges. Probably looks great articulated, much better than the hinges I'm used to seeing. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. This is going to be awesome.

Holy holy crap...

Superb stuff!

Great mods.

Excellent work, you are doing a great job with the modifications.

Hola! I haven't been visiting the street section too much lately and now I can see that was a BIIIG mistake!

Outstanding work and an extremely informative and well written WIP :thumbsup:

Very nice work! Looks like a lot of styrene work has been done. Thanks for detailed pictures too. Btw, and this is kind of OT - have you built a black 360 Spider with red interior and similar mods sometime in the past?

Very nice work! Looks like a lot of styrene work has been done. Thanks for detailed pictures too. Btw, and this is kind of OT - have you built a black 360 Spider with red interior and similar mods sometime in the past? Thanks, yeh, it's all just basic styrene from LHS. That wasn't my Spider, but I have one in my stash :) This is my first Ferrari, but it won't be my last, they make such great models!

So let's see, where were we?...

Time to choose a color. I was louting around downtown the other day when a 430 rolled by!!! I knew what was coming just from the sound of it, then I laid eyes on it for the first time in the flesh. CCCRRRAAAPPP!!!!!! It was ridiculous! Mind-blowing! And it was this fantastic metallic grey finish. I think TS42 might come close, but I'm wary - could be too silvery, let's see...

Into the booth (aka carboard box) we go...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010130.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010131.jpg

Starting out very slow - I'm very unsure about this color. The gravity feed Badger is magnificent. I love this brush, let's see what it's got for us tonight.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010132.jpg

Hmm, nothing offensive so far.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010134.jpg

Aha, aha...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010135.jpg

Oh yeh, come to daddy... :licka:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010136.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010140.jpg

It is a bit too silvery to be honest, but hey, I think it's a keeper.

After the initial clear.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010013.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010012.jpg

The gun metal is actually purple! Seriously - have a close look at it, they're using purple dye to tone down all that silver. You can catch it in strong light (as above).

After full clear, not polished.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010057.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010055.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010072.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010060.jpg
(purple!!)

Now, let's get down to business - the doors...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/355girls.jpg

Oops, sorry about that :eek: Where was I? Oh yeh...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010089.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010080.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010079.jpg

Recapping - the hinges have two pivots. The main action is around the door pivot of course. But the panel gaps are very tight, not all the dimensions are scaled down, mainly the panel thicknesses. So the internal hinge post allows the door to fall back slightly (.25 mm or so), limited by that little notch at the top of the tube.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010096.jpg

Closer...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P10100961.jpg

The brass wire is strong enough that the doors don't bounce around when open thankfully.

Here's the real thing.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/1387857_33.jpg

Something like this (sorry didn't get the exact same angle shot here...)
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010094.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010093.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010083.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010082.jpg

Then some easy painting...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010141.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010109.jpg

Followed by disaster!!!!!!! :banghead::banghead::banghead:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010142.jpg

I dinged the roof horribly, no choice but to strip it down :frown:

But the good news (!) is that the lacquer paint can be blended, though it's a bit more difficult with the clear on. I painted the roof with a mask...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010145.jpg

Then blended down the pillars by hand (over the clear).
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010146.jpg

Then TS13 all over the roof and the blend, which sort of melted it all together. The result was pretty good, no way you could tell if it wasn't pointed out. Phew!!!! Got of jail there I think :banghead:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010152.jpg

Sorry for all the pics, but hey, why not.

Here's the real thing again...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/girlwithferrari.jpg

Damn it! Sorry!!! I meant...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/1467201_4.jpg

And...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010178.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010182.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010183.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010186.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010187.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010188.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P1010191.jpg

Yeh, I know - too many boring body pics really. Hopefully it'll get more interesting from now on:screwy:

To be honest I like these body shots all over. Very entertaining thread you´re handing us. And your paint job is awesome...very nice. Great job and the color choice is fantatsic.
I see a lot of "fully open"-jobs lately and your way to make the door hinges as well as the styrene works is great, keep it up!

:rofl:

Great save, great work, great thread, great photography ;)

Very enjoyable all round :thumbsup:

Boring Body Pics?!

actually,wich body are you talking about again...?

Ahh,forget that! :icon16:

This is looking soo neat! I love it to bits!
I guess I may copy yours...Can I?! Make a full open Ferrari!? (I'm actually thinking about a F430,but i'm just thinking...)

In the starting of the thread,I'm curious to know how you cutted that door...
I know,you cutted with a hasegawa hobby saw,but,how did you make it go around the door lines? I just can't make mine go around them!


Keep up the awesome progress! :smokin:

I guess I may copy yours...Can I?!

Exactly my thoughts :) Right now I'm playing around with a Modena-Body I had in my Sparebox. First time cutting a model in peaces. Trunk was done two weeks ago but I wasn't brave enough for the doors.

I think I will try after getting all these hints in this wip! Thanks a lot for this.

A great colour that you choosed! I love black swimwear... Ooops!

I tried to tell you that I love the colour of your ferrari!

Excellent job. I like the way you made the hinges for the doors.

Excellent! I really like your hinge design - very clever. I may use something similar in the future - thanks for all the pics - body(es) looks terrific. LOL

Door hinge is brilliant! You got the roof blended perfectly...that's pretty much how it's done 1:1. Good luck with the rest of this!

Great work! I painted my 360 Spider the exact same color. Everything looks great!

Yes, I also thougt this was the same guy that did that black 360 spyder w/red interior until I noticed the door hinge construction was a bit different. I am also usually intimidated with the idea of cutting doors but the more I see it done, the more I want to try it. I love the way your project is coming along. You make it look like a real Ferrari being assembled. Keep it going. :rofl:

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP3/P10100961.jpg

Excellent! excellent...this is exactly what i've been looking for!
a simple to understand & build door hinges for my fleet!!!

yes! wonderful thinking & you're my saviour for sure!!!
boring pictures!? not a moment! as a matter of fact..your pics set my heart thumping faster!!! hehe...

well done & thankx a million for the tip!!!

cheers!

marc
SGP

Impressive Work!

Great work! Great color for this car, too. Surprised you didn't paint all the body panels at once, I'd be afraid that they doors and hood didn't match the rest, but after seeing you blend the roof, there's no doubt that you're skilled enough to make it work. Sexy work so far....

This is looking soo neat! I love it to bits!
I guess I may copy yours...Can I?! Make a full open Ferrari!? (I'm actually thinking about a F430,but i'm just thinking...)

In the starting of the thread,I'm curious to know how you cutted that door...
I know,you cutted with a hasegawa hobby saw,but,how did you make it go around the door lines? I just can't make mine go around them!
Of course, copy away, but you owe it to all of us to try and improve it at the same time. Honestly, I didn't want to do that two tube thing, but it has a few advatages that make up for that notch nonsense. Namely, the doors are easy to remove (great for assembly, painting, etc); the wires can be tweaked to precisely position the doors; no glue/solder required for the wire; easier to get it right than a double hinge; etc. Main disadvantages are the weirdness factor, and messing with the notch. Depending on your car some of these issues may not be viable or may not apply at all.

Now, for cutting the door, I forgot to mention a minor detail...

Here we see a tab on the bottom of the door.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIPmisc/P1010036.jpg

And here's the notch that it glues into.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIPmisc/P1010038.jpg

Now, I wasn't going to glue this obviously, so I simply cut off the tab (with very sharp fine knife) and glued it into the notch like this:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIPmisc/P1010039.jpg

Look carefully - the tab has been glued into the notch. (actually, I'm not sure if it was at this stage! but you get the idea)

So... When I glued the side skirt to the body, it wasn't glued to the door. And again, look at the first pic here, and my earlier comments, you're only cutting the back and front part of the door. As I previously mentioned, this cut is in a single plane and can be done with a straight saw!!

Well, ok, not quite........ The cut on the front of the door is on too much of an angle, even though it also falls in a plane - so, you have to cut around the curve at the front, just to avoid a slanted edge on the panels. You could cut it stright and then clean up the panel edge, but that would require filling the gap somewhat. I used back of knife, pick, etc, to make this cut. Same for cutting out the hood. I just ran the pic over the panel line nice and softly until it was starting to form a cut, then completed the cut with the back of the hobby knife, ie, the tip of knife turned upside down.

The Hasegawa saws are fine, but I'm guessing there are better ones. The teeth are not very sharp, which has its pros and cons. I quite like them, but they're the only ones I've tried.

Aren't you glad you asked? :grinyes:

Willimo, you caught me there. I'm a newbie, and I agree it was a big mistake not to paint the panels all together. I will never make that mistake again! Thanks for the tip (obvious to everyone reading this, but it just didn't occur to me... :grinno:)

Merry Xmas everyone!! :popcorn:

And I better get a move on 'cause I'm off to the land down under for a break in a week. So little time, so much to do :banghead:

As I mentioned, I'm using the Crazy Modeler PE set for this build. To be honest, the only bits I care about are the brake rotors and the engine hood surround, but it has some other goodies (and baddies) too.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P2170003.jpg

I'll start with a seriously dumb bit of PE - the dash vents. They are too big to even fit the kit properly :shakehead However, they look like fun to slap together, so let's practice a bit and see what's involved.

As you can see here, the vents need to be bent up within the surround ring. Well it turns out that this is not so easy to do because that little ring wants like all hell to twist and wriggle and distort, and the vents themselves want to break, twist, bend unevenly, etc. The first two gave me grief but as you can see, I found a trick.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3090069.jpg

I used some circle guides to clamp the ring in place. The effect is dramatic! Bending the vents is now extremely easy, no more twisting or squirming, they bent up easily, solidly, and very accurately.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3090083.jpg

And here they are...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3100097.jpg

It's as good as I can do, but as I said, they don't fit (not even close). So that was my introduction to PE. Yikes!! I thought CM was supposed to be good stuff, but hey, hopefully it will get better.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3100102.jpg

Her's a trivial little item. The rear chassis vent. The instructions are very fuzzy as to how this is installed. I wasn't just going to just glue it on top of the plastic one, so I made a slot to fit it into. Worked out ok, but it was tough love really... I'll clean it up of course.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3110111.jpg

The set includes PE wipers, but they are rubbish imho. However, I believe the Ferrari does indeed use a cage-like wiper frame, as opposed to the solid/smooth things in the kit, like you would see on a Bimmer for example. So I salvaged the blade part of the wiper, and modified it so the upper PE frame is centered above the lower PE blade part. It's normally just folded over, so it's not centered - completely unacceptable. I also modified the plastic kit wiper part somewhat to simulate the wind vane. Kit oob on left, hybrid PE/kit on right...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P2260009.jpg

The PE set has some pretty sexy looking fans. They're not very accurate, eg, they put the fan inside the radiator :screwy: But they look kinda hot!!
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P2180007.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P2180006.jpg

Now this little gem is more like it. The engine hood surround. This is some superb PE. It's made of many sandwiched layers. Very tricky to glue it all together cleanly and accurately, but it can be done with excellent results.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P2210006.jpg

I replaced the dismal PE hinges with a soldered brass rod. This is a class PE item, trust me - I seriously like this engine hood now.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010175.jpg

Now here's the other bit I wanted the PE set for, the brakes...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P2180013.jpg

This piece is clever - lots of bending though.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P2180003.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010132.jpg

Bling bling!! :licka:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010125.jpg
(yes, I see the damned finger print... :banghead:)

The calipers are from the original kit of course...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010167.jpg

Open seat backs are just not an option.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010152.jpg

Now, what's a Ferrari without that ENGINE?!?!?!?!
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/drivetrain-02.jpg

How hot is that? Where's the straight-jacket guy, he definitely needs to get stuck into one of these :grinyes:

Here's my first shot at it, Alclad dark aluminium:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010223alcladdkalu.jpg

It looks pretty sharp, but let's face it, it's crap compared to the original. So I set about trying to reproduce that finish.

Here's Alclad aluminium:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010206alcladalu.jpg

Not bad, but still no cigar.

I think that engine has some sort of roughness or even a coating from the mold, so I tried over-spraying some 'texturizing materials' :) This is getting close imho. It's Alclad dark aluminium with a texturizer...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010257.jpg

It looks a bit rough, but I'll weather it down to the right finish.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010010.jpg

I'm pretty happy with it. Don't worry about the edges where the Alclad has rubbed off (note to self - don't let that happen next time). I'll dry brush that out, it'll actually look quite good I hope.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3080058.jpg

I might be imagining it, but there seems to be a color difference b/w the lower and upper parts of the engine (see ref pic) - you can see how I simulated that here...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3080034.jpg
(sorry for all the dust and crap on the pics)

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3080031.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P3080022.jpg

I made a start on the exhaust system. I got rid of all the mold lines, then applied Alclad chrome over Testors black enamel.

Smooooooooth...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010137.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP4/P1010154.jpg

That's it for this episode. Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel :screwy:

(edit: corrected engine pic label to alclad dark aluminium)

Excellent job :thumbsup:

It all looks just great.

Darn fine work, sir. I can't wait to see more. :naughty:

Work, progress, photos, techniques, explanation... all excellent !

Robi :)

Awesome!

oh wow, just incredible! i really like it!


oli

Work, progress, photos, techniques, explanation... all excellent !


:iagree:

awesome work, thanks for sharing!

Once again, thanks for showing us your work. Interesting bit is that I never thought they had so many PE-sets out there. How does the enginecover window fit into your PE-frame. I think it might be too thick??

Work, progress, photos, techniques, explanation... all excellent !

Robi :)

Can't agree more: great.

... How does the enginecover window fit into your PE-frame. I think it might be too thick??
It fits very well. You can see from the PE set it has several layers in the frame to build up the correct thickness. I'll post some pics as soon as I can, but no worries on this front. I did have to shave a bit off the (painted!) body cut out to fit it properly though, it's just a bit too tight. I've learnt my lesson - next time I do anything involving mods, etc, I will paint the body last.

:thumbsup:

This is great. Spectacular work on the doors, especially the sills/surrounds. Pretty sharp engineering on those hinges. Skillfull paint job. I have this kit also and although I won't be trying any risky [for me] door surgery, I will definitely keep your other tricks in mind. Thanks for contributing!

Alex

this is awesome!
congratulations!

very nice detailing!!

Ro

That PE radiator and disc brakes look friggin nice!!! This build is comming along nicely!

Very nice project ! Great styrene work !
Somehow I have completley missed this thread until today..

Very nice, I'm looking fwd to more progress.

Looks good so far!!
Nice detailing, aaand i'm looking forward this work...

That is some great work. I am currently working on the same project... Im doing mine stock outta the box... I was gonna do a WIP with mine, but i don't have a good camera... and cell phone pics are lame-o

Needless to say i was starting to hate mine after i saw you open the doors... But then i saw the motor and was like hey! mine looks almost like that! Awesome! I love the finish you put on that its looking amazing!

Ill try and get a camera and get some pics up before i finish mine...

I Wanna See More!!!

Well, back from a great vacation in Melbourne (did you see that women's tennis final?!?!?). Loved HobbyPlace in the CBD, great store. This is a somewhat limited update, but I'll try to make up for it with lots of almost duplicate pics :evillol:

First off is the suspension and brake parts.

They look something like this, just have to choose a color...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/suspension016.jpg

I used aluminium tube, brass wire, plain wire, junk box plastic, etc, to make these. Here's a closer look at the pieces. (naturally I chose red :naughty:)
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/003.jpg

The yellow piece was "turned" on my Dremel. It centers the spring, but more importantly, it looks kinda flashy :cool:

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/015.jpg

The brass wire runs all the way through and is CA'd into holes drilled at each end. The whole thing is nice and strong. The spring is just sitting there of course - no glue.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/019.jpg

Lots of pieces but once you choose how to do them, it's pretty easy to make them all up.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/suspension008.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/suspension007.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/001.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/003-1.jpg

Now, for something a bit more intriguing. As you know, I opened the trunk on this build, so now I have to stick something in there:uhoh: The 360's trunk lining looks like this:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/trk.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/trk-r.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/frtl.jpg

This was a tough ask, but I finally dived into it. I took measurements from pics of the real car, had to make a lot of guesses. Also, there are issues with fitting around the radiators and the front suspension mounts in the model - these both required some modifications (later).

Styrene, hand-knurled foil, masking tape, flocking, turned pin-heads for rivets, etc...
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0376.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0377.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0378.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0379.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0380.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0382.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0383.jpg

Here's a not so serious attempt at the tire repair kit. Just a roll of toilet paper - purely experimental you understand :iceslolan
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0361.jpg

Here's a close-up of the belt. The buckle is just a single piece of light wire.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0344.jpg

Check out my slot scimitar:naughty: It was proving rather difficult to make the belt slots without this. It's tip is much finer than the smallest fret saw blade I could find. I start with a very small drill (#75 or whatever) and work it into a slot with the scimitar. The handle is masking tape dipped in thick CA.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0082.jpg

So after all that messing with masking tape for the belts, and contemplating the horror of painting same, it dawned on me that it would be a lot easier to just go with leather. And indeed it was - quite easy to work with and looks much better. The tire repair kit is air-brushed coffee filter paper.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0411.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0011.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x97/mrmodels/Ferrari%20360%20Modena/WIP5/IMGP0421.jpg


That's it for now. :popcorn:

(edit - tool bag -> tire repair kit)

Looking awesome! :D
Fully open=Lots of detail??!

That front trunk detail is awesome!

Simply fantastic :eek2:

I would love to see more progress pics of the trunk construction. Terrific work. One more time proves that if you set your mind on something - you can do anything. Shocks and brakes look great too. Keep up excellent work.

Excellent work.

Very nicely done, Sir! :thumbsup:

Jaw dropping :eek2: :eek2: what can i say? everything is excellent, you can see the time and patience all the way through. for a first open detailed model you certainly nailed it! keep it commin! :thumbsup: