Ferrari F348Toughbeard (60th Ann. Group Build)

[Toughbeard]

Well I love this car because it fits my nick names initials "TB"

For some odd reason I always liked this car. but especially the GTC version. It always seemed elegant to me with flowing lines. They smoothed the lines with 355 but 348's rough lines opposing the curvature of its body always appealed to me more.

I was building this car box stock originally for a competition at home but I learned that I can modify the car for that class with upgrade parts so I decided to go ahead and build the gtc road car version that I would love to have.

Please remember that there is no direct reference to the car I will build as it is imaginery but I will use the real gtc as a reference.

The kit is Hasegawa 1/24 348tb. It has very crisp casting with brittle plastic. The casting has many sink holes so be prepared to do alot of filling and sanding.

Some fiting issues plague this otherwise beautiful kit. Especially the rear wheel wells didnt fit on dry fit testing leaving a 3 mm gap

I started with the sink marks on the body.





I glued ( I used Evobond ultra thin mega zapping power super glue) sanding paper to Tamiyas paint mixer





and sanded the body sink marks.



I primed the body with Tamiya gray primer for error checking.



I then sanded the body and corrected mistakes.



I opened the front grill while at it.



Fixed the engine cover.



then started converting the side air intakes. I removed the fins with side cutters



then sanded down the remaining with 120 grit sand paper glued to Starbucks stirring sticks.

[Toughbeard]

Here is the look of the car....







I glued the front end and the rear shock tower ends

[PatRedmond]

BIG job on those side intakes.
Very well done.

[freakmech]

Really like those side intakes, great idea. But was gluing the front end in a wise decision? Doent you need to fitin the suspension first or are you planning to have the front end fixed in position? This perplexes me. Ironically im working on the 355 GT3 at the moment but using the SP TK and resin body is giving me a putty work out, nice tip with gluing the sand paper to a paint stirrer, might be just the trick i need at the moment. Keep it up, i see a nice concept with this build so far.

Chad

[Toughbeard]

Originally Posted by freakmech

Really like those side intakes, great idea. But was gluing the front end in a wise decision? Doent you need to fitin the suspension first or are you planning to have the front end fixed in position? This perplexes me. Ironically im working on the 355 GT3 at the moment but using the SP TK and resin body is giving me a putty work out, nice tip with gluing the sand paper to a paint stirrer, might be just the trick i need at the moment. Keep it up, i see a nice concept with this build so far.

Chad

Hey Chad,

I will lower the model so I need to make it make it fixed. But as you can see ther is a great gap between the chassis and the front end. so I wanted to fix this before installing the brakes.

If you are going to do alot of putty work I suggest you try humbrol model filler (putty) ıt is consistend fairly thin and dries very fast. I did the air intakes includidn putty work in one hour.

Glueing on the the tamiya stir thingy is handy. You need to cut the sanding paper and clean the metal every time though. So I only use it when I need very stiff sanding block. I usually use the coffee stirring sticks Starbucks gives out. they are thin and long. Just glue the paper on them and just throw it away when it is dead

PM me you thread so I can follow your build Chad

[mikemechanic]

Cool start TB. I prefer the 355 over the 348 myself but I will be watching this build.

Mike.

[auw12]

Hi TB! That's cool so far! This is going to be a great TB! Keep it up!

[tonioseven]

I like this!

[bvia]

I've never really liked the 348...Just doesn't say "Enzo" to me...;-)>

Bill

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by bvia

I've never really liked the 348...Just doesn't say "Enzo" to me...;-)>

Bill

Looking to be a very interesting build
(I use McDo coffee stirrers myself )

[Toughbeard]

Originally Posted by bvia

I've never really liked the 348...Just doesn't say "Enzo" to me...;-)>

Bill

hey Bill,

I am dedicating this little work update for you

Since I am making the road version of the GTC I decided to use a different seat.

So I looked in to my box of why did I buy this stuff and found a pair of SAS Recaro SP-GII Seats.

I think the molds were getting old when I bought these Left one is the one I cleaned with my trusty 120+500 grit sandpaper combo





I looked at the recent forum threads for a method to cover the seats. But I decided I will use a different method.

[anopanjo]

Looks very nice so far! is this kit rare now? how much do they go for and also i want your razor diamondback! lol

[Toughbeard]

Originally Posted by anopanjo

Looks very nice so far! is this kit rare now? how much do they go for and also i want your razor diamondback! lol

I bought the kit when they were not rare I really dont know the market on these babies now.

No you can not have my copperhead....

[anopanjo]

Lol that is my dream mouse! Im going check on how mush these go for these days! Ferrari btw

[auw12]

Wow that flocking(?) is cool!