1/24 The building of the Ferrari LWB 250GT nembo spyder 1777GT.

Hi all!

i've decided to continue the buildup of this rare spyder after completing the basic bodyworks. I must admit that i've fell in love with the overall shape of this mod...LWB in spyder form, possibly the best looking ferrari spyders ever created!

For those who's a first time visit here, i've modified the body from a spare revell 275 nart. both the length & width of the original 275 nart body has been increased by 8.34mm long & 0.5mm front / back wide. the center portion width remains as the nart has a narrower front & rear width as compared to any 250 series (IMO).

i must declare that this build will not be a 100% accurate build but more importantly, i wanna see if i can think out of the box & mod / build a decent ferrari of my dream. work has been started & here's a first look...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work1.jpg
as usual, the work top is so ever untidy & messy! but this may well lies the first ever plastic nembo spyder in 1/24 scale!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work2.jpg
to date i've started to modify the chassis to fit into the new longer & wider nembo body. as such, the frame is also widen & lengthen. these 2 parts have to be done concurrently as any slight misjudgement will render the fitting faliure. so it's all about fitting, sanding, fitting puttying...etc

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work3.jpg
a better look at just where the locations of the extra lengths & breadths i've added in. the rear wheel arches are from the same kit, abeit cut-up to fit the tail of the nembo. the rear deck of the nembo was a scratchbuild affair, noting the differences between the nembo & the nart in the real car pics...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work4.jpg
i've made a mistake on the shape of the rear bottom lip of the nembo, and also the need to clear those exhaust pins on the chassis. a reworking is underway now.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work5.jpg
ah! the front lip...i accidentally drop the body & cracked the front part. this is a rework being done after removing the under lip & putty up again. this time more putty in used underneath the skin! also, the nart front lip is too thick (IMO) so i reinforced the botton lip & start sanding like mad to make it look just thin enough like a nembo.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work6.jpg
here's another look at the profile of the nembo sides & the front lip...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work7.jpg
another look at the rear deck on those cut-out wheel arches glued to the body. it has to be done this way as every now & then, i need to test the chassis & the body for alignment checking during buildup...ALL THE TIME!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work8.jpg
finally, the chassis by itself. note those areas styrene are added. i have to build in such a way that the styrene add-ons will not affect with the continuous testing process.

that's all for 29 june...12hours to the EURO 2008 finals!
more updates will follow, now that i've decided to see it in completion & see if i make the cut of doing such massive mods on modeling in the future.

please feel free to ask / comment / criticize anything if you need. i joined AF for get improvements ideas for my modeling. this is consider my first build in over 6 years now...so i don't expect smooth sailing at the first attempt.

thankx for watching & VIVA ESPANA!:runaround:
cheers!

marc
SGP

ok...too much spare time here while waiting for the Euro finals!!!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work11.jpg
yes, the rear lip got some putty & waiting to dry before i reshape the lip (again X 3!)

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work9.jpg
todays' menu is to integrate the firewall into the chassis then into the body...zzzzzzzz
also, some cosmetic mods are done to the chassis. the floorpan size is exactly the same as the stock chassis but the tunnel & radio section is different.


http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/work10.jpg
Oops! the stock 250GT firewall is too thick to get into. gee, gotta thin it down by @ 0.5mm...

i glued the side wheel walls to get a better idea how this part's gonna fit into the slim sexy nembo body...hehe!

OH NO! did i mentioned this build is purely from some spare 250GT / 275 nart parts but not complete!?
i just found out that i don't have a 250GT dashboard here! sigh...headache man!
gotta scratchbuild one & that means TIME is lost!

sometimes i wonder if i've making myself a hard life enjoying this hobby...why not just build it fast & forget it altogether? in my 30+ years of modeling, i know such fast pull-off won't stay in my display for long...the kick is just not there.

more to come!:naughty:

marc
SGP

Great progress. You must be a hell of a patient body-builder! Patience is the key to stuning models....and yes: they do last longer in the showcase :iceslolan

Cheers and keep up the great work!

Excellent progress there. I'm impressed with your scratchbuilding speed and accuracy!

I'll keep an eye on this one! (The other one is waiting for your Fantuzzi build! ;))

Excellent progress there. I'm impressed with your scratchbuilding speed and accuracy!

I'll keep an eye on this one! (The other one is waiting for your Fantuzzi build! ;))

thankyou very much jano!

thankx for your support all this while...
for speed!? hehe...when you steal time during work hours doing your own models, you'll get the speed you want! hehe...

ah for accuracy, i don't dare to boast here. it's all pure common sense, hours looking at whatever available pics & logic reasoning...to have help me come this far.

but the real challenge is now...how to put everything together is the hardest of all. no promises but i'll try my best to complete this build. please give any comments good & bad along the way...i want the do my best here so help me along!

cheers!:rofl:

marc
SGP

That looks very time consuming what you are trying to achieve. Very interesting project, you have there. I will keep an eye on your progress!

Robert

That looks very time consuming what you are trying to achieve. Very interesting project, you have there. I will keep an eye on your progress!

Robert

thankx robert!

yes, it is time very consuming.
so much so that when i looked at the audience-ship this thread have garnered so far, i can conclude that quanitity does prevail over quality here...seems no one wants to read such weird & long builds, too time consuming reading it i guess?

as such, i will just show pics progress & no more talking from now onwards...

here's the latest updates;
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb5.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb6.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb7.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb8.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb4.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb1.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb2.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb3.jpg

i apologise for being such a let-down to those who follow me all this while (sorry, no inspiration) but i will still respond to you if you have any queries or feedbacks prior to this build.

those what when where why how just never came...guess i'm just not in the same league here.
so long AF contains this thread of a nembo build ever been attempted before, my objective here is nevertheless accomplished.

thankx once more

marc
SGP

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. I'm assuming you're just going to post pictures without telling everyone what you did? I like reading your long-windedness though :icon16:

I have been following all of your builds (My particular favorite is "His majesty's F50", despite the fact that I can only find one picture of it online), but I'm kind of a lurker. Unlike you, who I swear has posted in my WIP more than I have. :grinno:

Keep going though. You have the courage and inspiration to build all of these one-of-a-kind Ferraris (And the insanity to do them all at the same time). Don't let the appearance of disinterest discourage you!

-Zach

Very impressive!

Hey, don´t let a small amount of responses make yu unhappy. That happens quite often with unusual subjects. If you post one of these new R-35´s you would get a hell amount of questions and remarks. But I´m more interested in getting the story on this never seen work.

Robert

Hey, you're off to a fantastic start so don't get discouraged by the lack of responses! You do terrific work so keep up with the good stuff!! :sunglasse

Hey, don´t let a small amount of responses make yu unhappy. That happens quite often with unusual subjects. If you post one of these new R-35´s you would get a hell amount of questions and remarks. But I´m more interested in getting the story on this never seen work.

Robert

+1

Ioan

Well, I like reading your WIP. It really conveys the amount of effort put into this build. Keep going.

Well, I like reading your WIP. It really conveys the amount of effort put into this build. Keep going.

well, that's precisely what i wanted to do all along...take a plunge to do something new & share my data (or pain) so that the next person doing the same feat has a easier life...

say, are we suppose to share our whatever modeling talks here!?
i'm sorry if i've got a little too emotional, maybe the stratch building has proven a little too much for me...but i'm not giving up just yet!:banghead:

marc
SGP

Very impressive!
If Alex thinks it's impressive, you won't get any better kudos.

ok! i'm back again...

work goes on & more headaches surface!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne1.jpg
i've forgtotten totally that this mod was from a SWB into a LWB (2400mm vs 2600mm), so merrily i test fitted the rear suspension for any faults. i realised i've forgotten that the stock suspension, after the 'stretch' will not fit in!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne2.jpg
after scratching my head nearly bald, i modified the rear setup by erecting another set of suspension pins & moved the whole part back by @0.5mm. the bodywork here shown is contoured to allow the new access for the pins (in metal) to sit nicely...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne3.jpg
another problem is this new positioning of the suspension means the boot area will be even narrower than before. the fuel tank can't even fit in al all! so, i have to re-do the whole boot area once again...the same goes to the radiator in the front, just look at the space upfront there!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne4.jpg
pics shows the boot area cleared again for re-calculation on the area AFTER the new suspension sits in. i thought this is the time to open up the filler cap as well, since the refuelling pipe is going to obstruct the boot area even more. best part is this, because this mod is built on incomplete kit, now i realised i don't have the dashboard! so gotta scratchbuild one & more scratching head!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne5.jpg
i must salute those guys back in the 60's for doing such a mod on the real car! just how on earth are they gonna construct a boot so small & yet can put a spare borrani wheel in as well!!! here's a peek also on the bonnet as well. the bulge on the bonnet looks decent to me.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne6.jpg
the doors...my achilles heels! door shape looks okay for the time being but the opening was too big prior to dry testing. i must say i use very crude cutting tools here, & this is the result for not investing in those thin p/e cutters...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne7.jpg
i'll have to re-trim those door openings yet again, to fit the doors nicely...so more putty, sanding & cutting !!!!


that's all for now!

marc:banghead:
SGP

If Alex thinks it's impressive, you won't get any better kudos.

oh yes! alex is my idol in modeling!!!
hehe...a look at his work in his website can make me drool all day!!!

hehe....

marc:grinyes:
SGP

updates...more updates!?
humm...i don't know if this should be call an update.

read on...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nee1.jpg
these are the leftovers from that incomplete kit box which i based the nembo on.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nee2.jpg
the problem is, i've reach the end of what can be done now. i've yet to scratchbuild the dashboard, which to me is a very troublesome step. that's on top of all the missing parts not in the kit...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nee4.jpg
the engine...because the nembo bonnet line is so low, i have much difficulties fitting the engine with the bonnet on. it's just too tall for the bonnet even after i sanded the bonnet bulge so thin on the inside that i can see the putty on the topside.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nee6.jpg
the front suspension...i've managed to 'free' up the fixed position front wheels (as in all italeri / revell AG) kits) so they can turn to pose. the styrene i used to act as the steering rod is thick i know, but sorry i can't see the drilling hole if i used a thinner one! bad eyes...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nee3.jpg
so that's it for the 'updates'. i have to find a way to thin down the engine even more or buldge the bonnet more...etc. i have to strengthen the steering mechanism to ensure the suspension won't collapse after a few turns...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nee5.jpg
i may resort to using the wire pin idea for the front suspension pins too.

so, i must think, must think, think...

marc:confused:
SGP

Can't you lower the engine's position on the chassis instead of playing russian roulette with the engine bonnet?

Looking good so far! :thumbsup:

Looking real good.

Can't you lower the engine's position on the chassis instead of playing russian roulette with the engine bonnet?


i can try but the allowance is not much to salvage...also the height / positioning of the stock engine / front suspension setup will be out. that means even more scratchbuilding & testing times.

i'll & must think of a better way to go around this...

it's nearly 4am in the morning local time...a little updates of what's done tonite.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/zz1.jpg
after numerous attempts of setting up the front suspension, i've finally found a simple way that allows the posing of wheels. i even utilized the flexibility of a styrene strip here to act as a 'spring' to grip the movable hub with some careful gluing!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/zz2.jpg
as mentioned, the rear suspension has been moved backwards in order to set the rear wheels correctly to the center of the wheel bay. here it's a straight mod, using brass & aluminium rods for strength...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/zz3.jpg
doors...the doors, my achilles heels! the inner 'lining' of the doors are done here. while trying hard to adjust the doors into the body for a tight fit, i discovered the whole body was out of shape. hence, more time wasted to correct the mistake. the brass rod size i'm using can slide into the aluminium rods easily, so this will be the door hinges parts. i'm trying this method to see if it works...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/zz4.jpg
another look at the door sills being putty to correct the inaccuracies, the borranis here are of size 15". i intend to use these along with slightly lower profile tires. because the front wheels are posable, i have to smaller the wheel sizes so as to be able to clear the wheels when turing.

that's all for tonite, gotta catch some sleep now!
bye!!:redface:

Nice update Marc, looks good! :)

Can't wait to see some primer and paint on this! Great work so far.

Great job! Opening doors on my models terrifies me; I feel your pain

well, i have to be brought back to reality here...

i've tried & failed upteen times on the door hinges, guess i just have to give up opening doors.

i did tried...sigh:crying:

Can't you lower the engine's position on the chassis instead of playing russian roulette with the engine bonnet?


hey bro, thankx for the tip...i saw off some depth from the engine mountings & voila! the engine block + trumpets cleared the bonnet nicely!

thankx, at least this is one good news for me...

hey bro, thankx for the tip...i saw off some depth from the engine mountings & voila! the engine block + trumpets cleared the bonnet nicely!

thankx, at least this is one good news for me...

:)

I'm glad I could help you, if only I could have some inspiration for hinging the doors on my Alfa 2000 GTAm! :D

woo...so quiet here, where's everybody gone to!?!?
hello!?!?!?

urgh, just post the latest updates...business is bad here, deserted town.
by the way, how to get those yellow stars in a post? and what does they mean?

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb1-1.jpg
all dirty & dusty work has been completed, all openings has been painfully mod. by the way, at the background stands the fantuzzi & next on the chopping board...250GT LWB Interim!!!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb2-1.jpg
look from another angle...the next thing to do is to scratchbuilt the interior tub, inner doors & the canvas area, the boot with a spare wheels in, the raked windscreen, the engine & most of all...paint it. i'll follow the same car's specs as close as i can, which is red.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb3-1.jpg
the hinges at work. now look at the wheels...YES! they can finally turn to pose! is this is the first turning wheels on a classic ferrari made by italeri / revell seen here? i've to re-do a new front suspension again just to make the wheels sit nicely INSIDE the wheel well when turning.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb4-1.jpg
take a look at what i've done underneath that make a stock 2400mm chassis accepting a 2600mm one. also, the front suspension mod...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb5-1.jpg
this is the result after @100hrs dirty & dusty work i've managed to do during my working hours...i'll take the weight of the finished model to see just how much of putty, styrene, glue & metal i've used here!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nemb6-1.jpg
ok, one last look at the raw form of this nembo...yes, i'm very happy now.

til the next update...

excellent progress.
looking fwd to more.

the boards have been having issues over the last few days. everytime i get a post in i get a double post warning. (!)

Really superb, I also can't wait to see the primer effect.

Don't care about yellow stars: them meant nothing and more if someone cast you 5 stars your fun is finished and the mere perfection's search start.... better w/out ;)

Looks excellent!
Give it a light coat of primer now it will make it look better and you'll have an easier job in seeing the areas where you need to correct it a bit (if there are such areas!).
looking forward to see it primed! :)

As for the boards, it's quiet as it is that time of the year when people go in holiday, me included (I still take a look in using my mobile internet connection).

Looks excellent!

well you're right bro...it looks excellent, but it's NOT!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/250NEMBO8.jpg
ok, this is a pic of the real nembo spyder...you notice that the rear wheels seem 'squating' poise as compare to the front?

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem111.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem112.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem113.jpg
now take a look at my mod, you see anything funny!? the front & back wheels seems riding on equal height...no squating poise at all.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem114.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem115.jpg
i begin to check which part of the mod went wrong, there i found that my body shape is okay...the front end is mod-ded deeper & the rear end narrower. so it could only be the suspension setup!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem116.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem117.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem118.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem119.jpg
i managed to lower the rear suspension a little to produce that 'squat' stance. i'm happier now that the car look a little better the the first pics after some simple corrections!

here's the bad news...my compressor has died on me! it just would move at all. seems things aren't going smooth here, more corrections & now the $$$ compressor gone. i'm sorry guys, i wanted as much as you all do to have a peek on how it will look like after primed. guess i have to find another source of air supply as i couldn't afford to buy a new compressor now....

sorry...

here's the bad news...my compressor has died on me! it just would move at all. seems things aren't going smooth here, more corrections & now the $$$ compressor gone. i'm sorry guys, i wanted as much as you all do to have a peek on how it will look like after primed. guess i have to find another source of air supply as i couldn't afford to buy a new compressor now....

sorry...

Nice save with the rear suspension. :thumbsup:

Now just go buy yourself a can of Tamiya grey primer (or any other spray primer for that matter), it's self propelled, no need for for a compressor. :D

Updates!? no...alteration is more appropriate word.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne1-1.jpg
please take a look at the doors here.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne5-1.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne6-1.jpg
i failed to observed just how long the doors were when i mod the doors, so now it's been re-mod & the doors lengthened. also, the side vents were scrapped as they don't look quite the same as the pic indicated (remember, i tried to used all the 275 nart parts for this)

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne2-1.jpg
now comes the most important part (i believe), the stance. it will be a failure project altogether if i can't address the same stance the real car possess, into my mod model. take a look...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne3-1.jpg
similar angle as the real pic, does it look okay to you? it looks like a smiling 'frog face' to me though...
to make the smile more smiley, i even widen the front arches for the wide smile look.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne4-1.jpg
another angle for stance checking...how do you see it?

i must say that this nembo spyder IS indeed the most beautiful 250's i've seen...it's just pure sexy, long wheelbase, low & wide & that frog smiling face!!!

cheers!

Still no primer?! :(

Just kidding! Nice to see that you picked up those side vents.

:eek:

Yes, I'm indeed very impressed. I would have given up long time ago! Your perseverance is commendable! It looks a lot better with the suspension mods and longer doors. You are making great progress, and it looks super. Keep at it!

Thankx master alex!

your encouragement will push me to the limit, once again...
i'm nothing compared to your jaw-dropping GTO 64. so i take this as the 'backdoor' to join you elites out there! hehe...

Well...

1. loose those wheelarch extensions, the real car does not have them.

2. How wide is the body now? 1:1 1777GT was based on Pininfarina Coupe that is 71 mm wide in scale, and i seriously doubt that they would have widened the track any considerable amount, so your nembo spyder should be quite close to 71mm wide

3. The front part... Well i did look your pics for quite a long time. For me it seems that your grille opening is in a bit too low position. look at these two pics:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne2-1.jpg

The lower edge of headlight cover's chrome trim is on level with the grille openings top edge on 1:1 car

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/nem118.jpg

On your model it seems that those have atleast a 1mm difference. That 1mm is almost an inch in a real world so it really is considerable.

-Niko

Thankx niko, i appreciate you take the time to observe & spot these flaws.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne11.jpg
1) oh, while i was widening the front tracks, the width of the front section was accidentally narrowed too. also, the front humps are not curvy enough so i putty up the area again.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne10.jpg
2) the measurement is 72mm. it will be sand flushed after i add the side vents.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne13.jpg
3) yes, the headlight metal trims are level with the upper lips, my mistake here. this mistake also found me another one...the chin of the car is too shallow, which explains why the grille looked too low. i've glued a couple of styrene to broaden the chin & putty it up later.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z217/sbc3133r/ne12.jpg
also, i've thinned down the frnt bonnet area as close to the grille as possible.

keep it coming niko, i rather spot problems now than regret after completion.
all critics welcome.

Have you though about casting few bodies for close friends :-) when you are done with it? j/k

Is gio close enough? :D

I certainly hope he will do it! Let's let him do his magic and enjoy it for now. :cool: