Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Ferrari Daytona- Fujimi Enthusiast Model


jaymcminn

Recommended Posts

About a month ago, I was mucking about on Ebay and came across a Fujimi Enthusiast Daytona. This was a "Holy Grail" kit from my teen years and I had been keeping an eye out for one for a while. The kit was advertised as complete and unstarted, and the price was right, so I put in a bid.

After winning the auction, I received the kit only to discover that the model was neither complete nor unstarted- the previous owner started painting the body, messed it up, tried to remove the paint, broke the cowl in the process, and finally packed it back in the box... after losing the parts tree with the body parts (save for the hood and front pan, which had been removed for painting) and the Campagnolo five-spokes. Fortunately the grey parts were still in their bag, as were the clear parts. After some back-and-forth with the seller, we came to a compromise on the price, which resulted in my getting this classic model for a total, including shipping, of twelve bucks.

The inspiration for this build came from a recent episode of Top Gear where Richard Hammond raced James May down the French Riviera. May was a passenger in a high-powered motor yacht, while Hammond was behind the wheel of an amazing blue '73 Daytona coupe. Although May won, both hosts agreed that the Daytona was by far the more civilized way to get down the Riviera. This car sold last year at auction for north of three hundred thousand dollars. This is the Top Gear car...

1973_Ferrari_365_GTB_Daytona.jpg

This is what I started with...

P1010075.jpg

After repairs to the body (stripping paint, re-scribing and sharpening panel lines, plastic reinforcements under the cowl, scratchbuilt headlight doors, new hood hinges from brass and aluminum)

P1010079.jpg

I applied Duplicolor Hot Rod Grey primer.

P1010090.jpg

The next step was to apply Tamiya Light Blue Metallic followed by Testors Wet-Look Clear.

P1010096.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Next came the various sub-assemblies, which were all primed and painted in a marathon airbrushing session...

P1010106.jpg

The headers were painted with Alclad Chrome, then airbrushed with Tamiya clears to replicate heat discoloration.

P1010110.jpg

The engine received basic wiring and detailing,

P1010118.jpg

P1010113.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, mixed emotions here. I'm happy that you were able to bag that thing for such a low price, but I'm also jealous that you've got one and I don't. My compliments on taking a less than perfect kit and turning it into such a killer build.

RE: the Top Gear thing - I felt so sorry for James May getting wave-pounded in that boat. That just looked miserable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And a few more...

P1010240.jpg

P1010249.jpg

P1010245.jpg

The metal transfers came from Ebay. The emblems are from Model Factory Hiro. The headlight buckets were scratchbuilt to fit the kit lights. I decided not to do this build as a straight-up copy of the Top Gear car, so I sourced a California blue plate and built it as a US-market car.

Overall, I really enjoyed building this beast. There are a ton of fit issues, and it took several hours worth of tweaking and adjusting to get it to sit as well as it does. I still think the track is just a hair wide, which I will address on the next Daytona I build- it's going to be a Spyder, probably in Fly Yellow, with the plexi nose and the five-spokes.

I think I'm hooked on the Enthusiast kits now. I've got this on the way...

fuj08249.jpg

...wish me luck!

Edited by jaymcminn
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, mixed emotions here. I'm happy that you were able to bag that thing for such a low price, but I'm also jealous that you've got one and I don't. My compliments on taking a less than perfect kit and turning it into such a killer build.

RE: the Top Gear thing - I felt so sorry for James May getting wave-pounded in that boat. That just looked miserable.

That was classic- they broke a camera and May.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never saw that episode. But love this car! Have huge respect for you for completing such a nice build up as that kit is not easy. A lot wrong with it and I know. I bought one back in the mid 80's when it came out. Beautiful! Just beautiful.

Too bad the 5 spokes were not in the kit tho... I have already decided that when I finally get back to mine that those will be my choice. (They are way more realistic.)

Edited by Jairus
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, that is a terrific build and the paint looks great.....not my favorite Ferrari, but you did make it all come together nicely....I was looking on HLJ at that kit because it is on sale....I thought about it....but since I'm not crazy for the Daytona shape, I held off, but seeing what you did with yours, I just may have to rethink this. Very nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, that is a terrific build and the paint looks great.....not my favorite Ferrari, but you did make it all come together nicely....I was looking on HLJ at that kit because it is on sale....I thought about it....but since I'm not crazy for the Daytona shape, I held off, but seeing what you did with yours, I just may have to rethink this. Very nice.

Curse you, Peter, for making me go on the HLJ site. Now I have a Daytona Spyder and a Dino 246GTS on the way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice save/build Jason. I have one built, must post it one day, and a spyder to build. You'll love the Lambo, have also built that but when I went to tidy it up to take some pics to post it I noticed the drivers door hinge is broken so be careful with yours

Dave B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a stunning build, I have a couple of these in my stash, I just hope they come out as good or close to it as yours, I also have a can of the same paint, which I was planning on doing mine in, and I don't think you need any luck with the Lamborghini, as you've done such a great job on the Daytona ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's absolutely lovely, and you really can't tell where you started from! Personally, I think it's good to see a Ferrari in such an unusual colour! I hear what Skip's saying, but I think the Daytona, being from the decade that style forgot, is probably the one Ferrari you're allowed (perhaps even encouraged!) to have in metallic blue or bronze brown! I have an Italeri one waiting in the pile, but I love these Enthusiast kits as well. You have to do the Dino in yellow, obviously... and don't be tempted to put any Scuderia shields or Ferrari badges on it! ;-P

bestest,

M.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Matt, I'm REALLY going to ruffle some feathers with the Dino. I have a color picked out...

color027.jpg

And no Ferrari shields or badges. I already have the RMCoM etched Dino scripts, and the Hiro badge sheet has Dino badges on it!

Edited by jaymcminn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a stunning build, I have a couple of these in my stash, I just hope they come out as good or close to it as yours, I also have a can of the same paint, which I was planning on doing mine in, and I don't think you need any luck with the Lamborghini, as you've done such a great job on the Daytona ...

Thanks, Geoff. This color worked out great- it's a pretty good match for the color on the Top Gear car. One tip for when you build yours- you might want to take about 1/16 inch off the wheel hub pieces, which will tuck the wheels up under the bodywork a little better. I'm going to try it on my Spyder.

Jason, beautiful paint and build. Another gorgeous addition to your collection of fabulous models. Congrats.

Thanks, Doc!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I just did a search on this Model (kit) and behold your beauty of a build sure got my attention..

I just bought this kit at the NNL-West Model Car Show held in Santa Clara, Ca last Saturday to go with my other Ferrari Model kits.. while i almost always paint my Ferrari's Red / Yellow...But after seeing how nice yours looks with the Blue color on it....I am indeed going to paint this Ferrari 356GTB/4 "Blue"

Question: how was the part's fit...any issues?...

Thanks and Cheers Don aka XJ6

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...