Maserati 3500GT -- Monogram 1/25

[Matt Bacon]

... a "golden oldie", which I believe started life with Aurora, back in 1964. By popular vote, this is to be next on my bench. (And many thanks to Skip J, who has been awaiting this for some time.... since he sent me a TONNE of great reference)

Job #1 is to fix a significant shape issue with the kit, which changes the look significantly. The top line of the windscreen is too high. I think there's maybe one car where the roofline is like that on the kit, but most of the photos I've found show a much lower line, continuing the gutters above the doors horizontally, parallel to the ground. The kit has a "wide-eyed" look, because the windscreen top heads upward over the roof at 45 degrees to the level.

It's taken me a while to figure out how to do this!

What I decided to do is cut the top section off the windscreen and glue it to the body, and then make a new windscreen.

Here's the top part of the clear part stuck in place, and filled.

...and here it is sanded. You can see where the original roofline goes. The clear piece is backed up with Milliput just in case the sanding makes it a bit thin!

It also needs a "trim" to continue the chrome above the doors. This is just a thin strip of plastic card, applied slowly, a bit at a time, with liquid cement.

...and here it is with a bit of primer to see where the imperfections are...

Of course... this means we need a new windscreen. Apologies if this is familiar, but people often ask me what "plunge moulding is", so here we are.

The original windscreen is backed with Milliput (it cracked as I was cutting it ;-()

I cut a hole in a piece of hardboard from a chocolate box to make the outer "mould". The plastic is packaging from some Sennheiser headphones. Basically, any of those "clamshell" packs that you have to cut your way into, and avoid being cut by the packaging afterwards, make good material for this kind of thing...

... I made quite a few. This is to allow for my incompetence while I try to trim and fit them...

This one looks like it might be a long haul, but it'll be a rarity on the shelf!

bestest,

M

[Scale-Master]

Cool project, nice tutorial too!

[Rob McKee]

Thanks for the tutorial Matt. You make it look easy.

[kennb]

Great application of thermal forming clear for the glass....

[Monty]

I built this kit as a kid and loved it, despite the fact that it was molded in a hideous, eggplant-like shade of styrene that JoHan would've balked at. I wasn't aware that there were body panel discrepancies, so I'll watch to see how you handle them. I do remember wishing I could do something to make the doors fit better since I'd prefer to keep them operational.

The tiny amount of research I've done so far seems to indicate that this engine has two distributors, so spark plug wiring will take some time and effort, but the payoff should be worth it.

Matt, would you mind incorporating your refrence materials in with your WIP pics so we can use them too?

I can't wait to see how this turns out!

Edited February 24, 2013 by Monty

[Rob Hall]

Neat..never had this kit, wouldn't mind seeing it reissued.

[Monty]

Neat..never had this kit, wouldn't mind seeing it reissued.

To the best of my knowledge, the last time they released it was around 1978.

[Rob Hall]

To the best of my knowledge, the last time they released it was around 1978.

Yep...long time ago..

[MrObsessive]

I'll be watching this one as I have the '78 Monogram reissue. The roofline inaccuracy is a new one for me, and I have a number of pics for this car!

Matt, which heat source did you use to form the plastic? Heat gun, hair dryer, mini torch? I'll need to do something similar as I'll have to mold a windscreen and backlite for the '59 Chevy when I get back around to it. BTW, 2 liter soda bottle plastic would work well for this technique..........the plastic is PET which comes out optically correct for molding windows and such.

Keep up the great work!

[sjordan2]

Matt, I can't tell you how excited I am to see you build this kit!! I'll definitely go to school on it. I don't remember how much information I sent you, but I've got plenty. I'll be happy to send you my complete digital file if you PM me with your mailing address.

Great work on the roofline! As far as the body goes, it really needs a slightly longer nose and the grille should not be as oval as it is...needs sharper corners on the sides. Please let me know whatever you need. I have a complete illustrated parts catalogue. Engine needs a filter box in front of the right wheel, with a corrugated hose to the injection airbox, plus an oil filler tube on the left of the upper block. To go beyond the ordinary, couldn't hurt to add blue-tinted glass sun visors.

Sadly, Model Factory Hiro's aftermarket PE Borrani wire wheels are too big for the kit and have rear wheels with too deep a dish, since they're intended for a 1/24 GTO. Maybe Herb Deeks has something. This is an example of aftermarket parts not handling the difference between 1/24 and 1/25 scale. The kit wheels aren't bad at all, but they protrude outward a lot.

I would also add that the seat backs are about half as thick as they should be, needing a pocket in the back.

Edited February 24, 2013 by sjordan2

[sjordan2]

I built this kit as a kid and loved it, despite the fact that it was molded in a hideous, eggplant-like shade of styrene that JoHan would've balked at. I wasn't aware that there were body panel discrepancies, so I'll watch to see how you handle them. I do remember wishing I could do something to make the doors fit better since I'd prefer to keep them operational.

The tiny amount of research I've done so far seems to indicate that this engine has two distributors, so spark plug wiring will take some time and effort, but the payoff should be worth it.

Matt, would you mind incorporating your refrence materials in with your WIP pics so we can use them too?

I can't wait to see how this turns out!

It has two coils on the passenger side firewall, but one big distributor and two plugs per cylinder for cleaner gas burning, so that presents quite a challenge for wiring at this small scale -- 14 wires from the distributor. Then, there are the injector tubes to deal with.

Edited February 24, 2013 by sjordan2

[Gluhead]

I'll be watching this one as well...and thanks for the how-to.

[Chillyb1]

This is one of my all-time top-ten favorite cars. And that Monogram 1978 reissue of it is the last model I built before giving up the hobby way back when (1985ish). I can't wait to see more of this project. And, of course, the reference pictures too.

I know a guy who owns, and has owned, lots and lots of really cool European sports cars. One day I was looking at a picture on a wall in one of his garages when I spotted a Maserati 3500GT. He told me it was his uncle's car and that it was one of the few bodied by Allemano. Very cool.

[sjordan2]

This is one of my all-time top-ten favorite cars. And that Monogram 1978 reissue of it is the last model I built before giving up the hobby way back when (1985ish). I can't wait to see more of this project. And, of course, the reference pictures too.

I know a guy who owns, and has owned, lots and lots of really cool European sports cars. One day I was looking at a picture on a wall in one of his garages when I spotted a Maserati 3500GT. He told me it was his uncle's car and that it was one of the few bodied by Allemano. Very cool.

Don't know about that one, but the Allemano was a 5000GT commissioned by the Shah of Iran. Only about 30+ built over a few years. Gorgeous car.

http://fantasyjunction.com/cars/778-Maserati-5000%20GT-DOHC%20Injected%20V8

[hjracing]

Wow a maseratti! Cool project and nice tutorial, I'm sure it help me a lot for a future project I have in my mind!

[simonr]

Like I did with my Aston Martin DB4, You should use the Renaissance Borrani set that is in scale a 15 inches set.

Simón P. Rivera Torres

Sadly, Model Factory Hiro's aftermarket PE Borrani wire wheels are too big for the kit and have rear wheels with too deep a dish, since they're intended for a 1/24 GTO. Maybe Herb Deeks has something. This is an example of aftermarket parts not handling the difference between 1/24 and 1/25 scale. The kit wheels aren't bad at all, but they protrude outward a lot.

I would also add that the seat backs are about half as thick as they should be, needing a pocket in the back.

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, guys. Skip... I think I have your full set... that's what started this madness! I can't afford expensive aftermarket wheels, so I'm looking to the spares box. Aoshima 1/24 MGB wires look good at the moment...

The last major cosmetic change is to reshape the grille.

The kit grille is pretty much oval, whereas you can see that the real thing is more like a round-cornered rectangle. The "snout" also sticks out further than the kit's effort. I started by filing out the corners and reshaping the hole in the kit, and then adding a band of plastic card around the inside of the reshaped hole.

I sanded the plastic strip to an even 1.5mm or so outside the hole in the body, and then I built up the surround with Milliput (two-part epoxy putty). When it's set good and hard, there'll be a fair bit of sanding and shaping to do... I'm aiming to sand it back until the plastic core is just showing through, and blend the snout smoothly in, in a slightly squarer shape than the original curve.

Of course, it means building a new grille, because the kit part no longer fits, but I'll take the emblem from the original and use mesh for the grille itself.

Wish me luck!

bestest,

M.

[Bennyg]

Wow. A lot of bodywork. Nice subject. Ben

[sjordan2]

Like I did with my Aston Martin DB4, You should use the Renaissance Borrani set that is in scale a 15 inches set.

Simón P. Rivera Torres

Ooohhh...thanks. Do you have a link?

I also wonder if the kit wheels might work a bit better simply by sanding down the hubs a bit, if the spinners will work with that. But I've seen the MGB wheels and they look quite nice.

Matt, the nose is looking brilliant! What color scheme do you have in mind? Here's how I want to do mine -- sort of a dark gray pearl (not metallic), but I haven't had any luck finding it. I have a smoke gray pearl that I want to try out.

Edited February 25, 2013 by sjordan2

[Paul H]

Great stuff! I started one of these recently, but it ground to a halt as I'm still deciding on whether to sort out the windscreen issue, and if so, how..... Your tutorial is thus of great interest! Btw, it's more than just the top profile of the windscreen that is incorrect - pretty much the whole aperture shape on this kit is wrong. A great pity, as in comparison, the rear screen shape is pretty good. If it's of interest, PM me your email address, & I will send you some reference pics that show this more clearly.

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, Skip, Paul!

Skip.... it's going to be Ferrari Rosso Rubino, which has a very light, fine gold flake. It's not quite a Maserati colour, but close enough to their version for, and available on my shelf in a Hiroboy paint! Tan interior, I think. For your one, how about getting a pearl white, and adding drops of black (and maybe a drop or two of dark blue) until you get the grey you want? It worked very well for the "Silver Birch" on my James Bond DB6...

Paul... thanks.... I think. I think I'm committed now, since I'm not reworking the windscreen master! However, it'd be interesting to know what I'm missing!

bestest,

M.

[sjordan2]

Alas, I have to rely on aerosol spray cans.

To be totally anal about this, there should be a thin strip of body color between the vertical part of the windshield chrome and the door window chrome.

[Matt Bacon]

You're right, of course. I need to have a look at how the chrome on the door parts work, but it looks to me as though I need to scribe down the pillar (that thin, fragile pillar), and also carve the windscreen lower corner trim up into a curve to meet the vertical. And I can see, now Paul mentions it, that the base of the windscreen is too rectangular, But I'me really not going to try to fix that!

bestest,

M.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Matt Bacon

[blunc]

perhaps they used the windscreen specs from this 3500

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rexgray/4637648604/

[Erik Smith]

Cool project. I have wanted to see one of these go together. Nice work so far.