Ferrari 458 Spider

[Kjenjak]

Since none of the known companies felt the urge the produce and offer a plastic kit of the Ferrari 458 Spider for several years now, I dared myself to try and build my own.
Mattel was at least kind enough to provide a die-cast in 1/24. The quality isn’t even close to what is possible with a good plastic kit, but it should be good enough, since only very few parts will be needed for the Spider rebuilt.

Personally I like the body form of the Fujimi kit better, but Revell provides more interiour detail in the cockpit, not unimportant for a Spider, so the Revell kit it will be. The engine lid can’t be opened in the end, at least not without robbing two Mattels, or some additional scratch build, so this one will be a curbside, without any engine, and with little extra detail for suspension.
However I will add things like a P/E set, different wheels, C/F, flocking etc., so things that can be seen right from the outside.

Off to work.

This is Revell’s base body:


Roof and B-pillars cut off:


Upper rear fenders and engine cover cut off:


Mattel’s donor body:


The new engine cover is cut out. There’s a lot of metal in the sides/doors of this die-cast!
Apart from this engine cover, only the black plastic piece, that sits right in front of the cover, will be used.


A quick mock up:


Some first work on the new A-pillars



Engine cover is freed from its paint, and all air intakes and outlets have been opened. Now I need to figure out how to best attach the metal cover to the body, and fill the gaps.



Let’s see how it will work…

[mattbacon]

Great idea, and I look forward to seeing it progress! In terms of filling the gaps, if it was me, I'd be using Milliput -- two part epoxy putty. I think it'll stick to both the plastic and the metal. Depending how much room you need underneath, you might be able to use it to mount the metal part, with a "bead" or sausage around the join underneath...

bestest,
M.

[MidMazar]

Wow suprising enough the hatch fits on nice. Great progress. I always had trouble working on diecasts. How did you cut it out, with a dremel?

[BVC500]

wow, great project and skills!

[nugundam93]

wow, nice start to this project!

[da_ashman]

Great work so far! Its sad that you have to go to these lengths to make a 458 Spider, cmon Fujimi or Revell!

[generationx]

Fortune favours the brave! Enjoying this creative build.

[gtziaf]

Great project. Maybe, I steal your idea...

[Kjenjak]

Originally Posted by MidMazar

Wow suprising enough the hatch fits on nice. Great progress. I always had trouble working on diecasts. How did you cut it out, with a dremel?

Yes, a dremel for the cuts in the rear, and about the rear half of the side cuts, where the metal is only maybe 3 mm thick, and a jig saw for the rest, where there is much more metal to cut through.

[Kjenjak]

Originally Posted by gtziaf

Great project. Maybe, I steal your idea...

Of course, be my guest!

[countach79]

Great idea!
I'm definitely one of the guys that is not happy that no one has made the 458 spider
This is going to be on my to do list

Watching with great interest!

[Kjenjak]

The engine cover is attached to the body. First I used some superglue to hold it in place, then I added 2K epoxy all around the joint on the inside of the body, backed with some pieces of sheet plastic, to strengthen the joint for things like sanding and polishing.


I've begun to fill the gaps on the outside with putty, priming to check for flaws, and reshaping the rear fenders to a nice round form. The new engine cover sits quite well on the body. Only the rear part of the lid has a slightly different angle than the plastic body, it faces down a little while the plastic is more or less horizontal, but I hope it won't be too obviously visible on the finished car.


I've also started working on the wheels. The inner parts of the Revell rims are reduced in diameter, so they will fit right into the FG rims. Also I cut off the thick edges to a sharp angle, to make the original rims less visible inside the new rims. The 5 Revell spokes should be hidden good enough in the end, when painted flat black.
Tires are still Revell kit tires, maybe if I can find some other low profile tires, I will change them.

[Kjenjak]

Some updates...
First I used metal primer, to cover both die cast metal and plastic in a nice even way.


After lots and lots of puttying and sanding and puttying and sanding and priming, the body looks decent, with no more mayor flaws to be seen.



Body with white fine primer.

We're ready to see some paint!

Since there will be quite some openings, which are 'only' closed by P/E mesh, in the end I decided to install the engine, but w/o painting the silver parts, and w/o any extra details. Just to fill the void behind the mesh.


Wheels are finished, some P/E disks added, Revell and FG rim parts adjusted to fit into each other and painted black. With some sanding on the inner side, the tires of the diecast fit and look quite well, I think. At least much better than Revells tires, which are too small for the FG rims.


Interiour is painted in a combination of TS82 rubber black + semi gloss clear and flat black, to simulate charcoal leather and black alcantara, with some added C/F accents. To adapt the kit to the Spider version, the rear parts of the door panels are filled with putty, and I built an extra panel for the back wall of the cockpit. The form is not completely accurate, but it won't really be seen behind the seats, so I won't put any more effort into this.



More after the body has been painted.

[Tompidom]

Amazing, all i can say!!!!

[da_ashman]

Its coming out great!!! What colour are you thinking for the body? The FG Black wheels look amazing!!!