mrmike Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Another dirty rotten filthy subject for my model shelves. An original Magnum PI Ferrari 308 GTSi that I disassembled and will be getting cleaned and repainted, especially the body. Due for a good cleaning and a rebuild. There is only one Magnum PI for me and that was played by Tom Selleck! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIaXl7SqkBw More Magnum to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Eric Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 The 308, Testarossa, and F40 will forever be my favorite era of Ferrari. Great looking cars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 41 minutes ago, mrmike said: Another dirty rotten filthy subject for my model shelves. An original Magnum PI Ferrari 308 GTSi that I disassembled and will be getting cleaned and repainted, especially the body. Due for a good cleaning and a rebuild. There is only one Magnum PI for me and that was played by Tom Selleck! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIaXl7SqkBw More Magnum to come... I have one of those in my stash to build one day. If I could get the decals, I'd do a Hughes 500 to match TC's bird. That one is no longer with us. The original owner of the 500 was doing a job for the power company. I think it had a generator hung from a cable underneath, it had a failure banked sharply and he let the cable go and it went down. The pilot and one of the ground crew were both vets from Nam. The 500 crashed into a creek and was deep enough that the pinned pilot was drowning. This huge Nam vet grabbed the frame around the nose of the 500 and picked up up out of the water. They found out the pilots arm was trapped under that frame anyways. They got him and he survived, but the 500 did not. You can find a news story on you tube about it if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Thanks D.W.! The more I handle this model, the more it just falls apart! I went to drill out the cylinder heads for plug wires and the heads come off! Plus, I need to make a distributor for each head. That should be easy enough to make. I drilled out one of the wheels for a new mounting pin which I ended up making from scratch. More Magnum to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 I got the engine wired with Radio Shack blue wrapping wire. I got the front suspension fixed with a new wheel pin and I detail painted the dash. More Magnum to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dann Tier Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 COOL!!!, i remember this kit being pretty fun, other than the hood not fitting, and the plastic? rear axle.....looking forward to more of this one!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 (edited) I am reminding myself of the many little things about this kit as I go along rebuilding it. The plastic rear axle was one of those things. At the time I was originally building this kit, I noticed the plastic rear axle and I thought, must be a foreign car thing and built as it was told to in the instructions. This was at a time when American car models used metal axles and was going away from metal screws to plastic pins molded to the chassis, if there was any at all. I have been looking over the instruction sheet over at DPMCC wondering if I had forgotten anything, but the model was put together and painted per the instructions. I'm going to rebuild the model per the current status of my skill set. Edited October 23, 2020 by mrmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 I went and checked on the body and parts that I am stripping with Easy-Off Oven Cleaner. Not bad. Pretty much ready for a bath and some scrubbing in the kitchen sink. The chassis is up on 4 wheels after I made a new rear axle using some 1/16th inch styrene rod. More Magnum to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 The chassis is now fairly complete. I'm still thinking about the exhaust tips since this 308 came with a single exhaust pipe and I want duals like the Magnum 308. I got the interior rebuilt and the rear cover installed. More Magnum to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted November 29, 2020 Author Share Posted November 29, 2020 The body got a bath in Easy-Off Oven Cleaner and as I was rinsing the parts, the hood bent in my hand rather easily. Then the mounting ears for the hood lid fell off and it reminded me that the plastic has become brittle. I must be extra careful with this body so I don't break anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted November 30, 2020 Author Share Posted November 30, 2020 The plastic in this kit is definitely brittle! I broke the cowl for the Ferrari. I decided to add a piece of .020 styrene about 2 inches long and glued the whole thing together. I'll use my Dremel to grind the excess away when all has dried. I added the broken pieces of the engine cover and glued those back on with plenty of glue. A little sanding is required later when this has had a chance to dry. Magnum PI will return... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89AKurt Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 May you persevere into a worthy restoration. Which won't happen to the estate the show was filmed at, it was torn down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 Mike really nice work so far and I agree there is only one Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted December 1, 2020 Author Share Posted December 1, 2020 8 hours ago, 89AKurt said: May you persevere into a worthy restoration. Which won't happen to the estate the show was filmed at, it was torn down. Yes, the Estate known as "Robin's Nest" was torn down. The Estate was sold for $8.7 Million. Thanks Kurt and Carl! Yes, there is only one Magnum PI and that is Tom Selleck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 I finally got the Ferrari into a coat of Tamiya Light Grey Primer. I'll sand this out when the primer is nice and dry. I will have to fix the front panel since the plastic cracked due to it being so brittle. More Magnum to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWT Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 MIKE! Nice job on the Ferrari so far. One of my favorite shows when I was a kid... And now on the "oldies channels" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 Watching this with interest, gave up my Magnum Ferrari to an owner for a ride in his but that never happened. Attended several "events" at the estate, beautiful property and to bad the former owner couldn't stay on her property as the inheritance taxes were to great. Tom Selleck was the best and also good in the "Jessie Stone" series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 Thanks Jeremy and John! I have all the Jesse Stone movies on DVD and I watch them every once in a great while. I watched the pilot for the new Magnum PI until they destroyed the 308 GTSi and I just couldn't bear to watch anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 I finally got the Ferrari 308 GTSi into a coat of Tamiya Pure Red. Magnum will return... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olskoolrodder Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 It's looking great, Mike! We watch the new (Magnum PI) series, but it's just not the same (though Higgins is a lot better looking, LOL 😜🤣), I'm glad to see someone restoring one of these, I haven't seen one in a long (LONG) time. I hope you're well, ol friend! 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 Thanks Stephen! I probably have one of the few remaining Magnum PI 308 Ferraris in existance! It wasn't a hugely popular issued kit and it hasn't been reissued that I know of. I have tried to watch the new Magnum PI, but when they destoyed the 308 Ferrari, I stopped watching. I am doing well and staying safe. I hope that you and yours are safe and well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill J Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Nice save on the Ferrari. Yes, there is only one Magnum and I cannot believe that the current version lasted more than a few episodes. Sick! When my son was about 12 or so I gave him one of these kits. He is very meticulus and spent many hours painting and assembling the little 308. He left it at his Grand Mother's house and one day his 3 year old Nephew was over and Grand Ma grabbed the little red Ferrari and handed it to the 3 year old. Within a few minutes the car was in pieces and crushed. My son was very mad and said words to Grand Ma that she was surprised he knew. My boy never built another model, can't blame him. As far as Ferrari's go, the 308 is a classic. I always liked the 328 more, a little cleaner and more power with the same lines as the 308. One of my work associates has a 328 GTSi and brought it to the office occasionally. Red, of course. Hasagawa made very nice 328 GT and GTS kits, still have a GTS to build one day. Maybe I will put it in a nice display case and give it to my son, he is 48 now and remembers his Ferrari model well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olskoolrodder Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 18 hours ago, mrmike said: Thanks Stephen! I probably have one of the few remaining Magnum PI 308 Ferraris in existance! It wasn't a hugely popular issued kit and it hasn't been reissued that I know of. I have tried to watch the new Magnum PI, but when they destoyed the 308 Ferrari, I stopped watching. I am doing well and staying safe. I hope that you and yours are safe and well! LOL, yeah that was a...time froze for a minute scene (when they destroyed it) for sure, LOL! We...fairly well, (at least for the most part). I had that C-19 that the whole world's terrified of (it was as sick as I've ever been in my 47 years, but it was like just a really bad pneumonia, I declined to be admitted to the horsepital and came home and basically just literally walked it off for 4-5 weeks and suffered through it) and the wife and I have both had/have some recent semi-serious health issues come up (not c19 related, just normal getting older stuff I guess)--BUT that's not a complaint, LOL, that simply means (at least so far, LOL) that we have the privilege that so many do not have, growing older (so I'm thankful for those issues too) 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 It is good to hear from you, Stephen! So far, I have not had the pleasure of Covid-19. I am staying at home unless I have to go out food shopping or to run errands or go to appointments. At the ripe old age of 68 years young, I have been working on staying hea;thy enough for my age. I could do more, but my bad knees limit me substancially. Like you, I'm not complaining about my health, just trying to deal with what old age is giving me! Stay safe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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