1959scudetto

Nice to see another one of these - did you use the Michelin TRX tires from Monogram's Ferrari 308 GTB (has been reissued from Revell AG a few years ago)?

Very nice models, Anders - as I get used to see coming from your work bench! Ibuilt one of those almost 30 years ago for a workmate, who retired.

Excellent model, Michael - it has the typical '50s look to it - looks like the old logging trucks in some of my trucking books!

Thanks, Dave ! Thank you Carl !

Thank you. Larry ! Thanks, Richard - I don't think that you have missed much of you sold this one off ! Imagine my disappointment when opening the kit boxes! If I only had known that Italeri would release their own version only a fwew years later, I had not bought them - the ugly wheels and the upper side window line - these were the minimum alterations you had to make to let it look a little more acceptable. I certainly will model on, but not with kits like that - for the same reason I sold ESCI's Lamborghini Miura off too (presently reissued in Italeri packaging) and am glad to have the Hasegawa version in my stash. Sometimes you have only one choice: take it or let it be, but sometimes better things are coming along. Hard to believ, but kits like that are demanding outrageous price on ebay!

Thank you - on some parts of the cab (especially in the back) you can see - at least on the real model, maybe not in the pics - that I just brushed directly over the medium grey plastic without any primer.

From the 2015 Italian series "Le grandi Ferrari" (= the great Ferraris) - made by Burago, only available for a very short time: hoods are shut, doors open, look a bit toylike, but are surely workable with a little de-chroming and detail painting... Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta (1948) - will be turned into the famous 1949 LeMans winning car from Luigi Chinetti - here is it fresh from the factory (It also looks a bit too large for 1/24 scale, but I haven't checked dimensions yet): and here the 1958 GT 250 LWB Berlinetta ("Tour de France") - mislabelled as a 1956 model - one will be turned into the silver 1958 Tour de France winning racecar of Olivier Gendebien (I have two) needs also some de-chroming and detailing (the upper edge of the windshield should have been pulled down a little bit and the door window frames are a bit on the heavy side: here is it as it comes from the factory:

Very nice rendition of this legendary Group C racer, Thomas !

x 2: has the right amount of street machine look to it!

Looks very good with these fat wheels and tires - aggressive, racy look !

Mike, the ESCI kits were new molds in 1983 when they were first released - some reissues were from Esci with different decals and one from amt (which owned ESCI at the time) in their own line with added chrome parts. Thanks, Eric!

Hi, Bill - I would say the Italeri SWB is rather good detailed, although not always correct because it shares most engine and chassis parts with their 250 GTO. But the greenhouse looks very good! In 2015/16 in Italy the 1/24 Ferrari "Le grandi Ferrari" diecast series was released, unfortunately mostly relatively new models, but a few classics in between, here is a link: http://diecast24.blogspot.com/2016/03/le-grandi-ferrari-2015-coleccion.html (# 25 is the mislabelled 1959 SWB - it is indeed a dark metallic blue 1961 model!) All these models were made by Burago, and some of them (the 250 SWB !) were avaliable for a short time for about € 17,00 in their regular program.

Brian, you are absolutely right - amt reissued the ESCI kit little later under its own brand and chromed the tree with wheels and bumpers. Thanks, Ray - over the course of time, the putty has shrunk so you can see the contours of the antenna and fuel cap holes on the overhead view of the silver version. Thanks, Trevor - I wanted to show that the kit has indeed issues - with the original kit wheels and side window line it looks really awful.

Thank you Rich - beware of the Esci's, if you want a SWB (back then this was the only option!)

And this is the one to look for if you want to build a good SWB – I still have 3 of these in my stash waiting to be built. (I cannot comment on the Gunze because I have never seen one in reality) Also good proportions has the Burago 1/24 diecast (this is in the works at present and needs some TLC and detailing but the proportions are pretty good:

Here is the rest:

Modelers beware: Here are 2 models built from ESCI’s infamous Ferrari GT 250 SWB. In 1985 or 86 I bought all 3 versions of the kit, built 2 with several modifications and sold off the 3rd: The only difference were the decals! While the detailing is not too bad (full engine!), the hood is molded shut, in the original ESCI versions is NO chrome tree, the glass is too thick and distorted, the wheels are totally useless – very ugly, too small diameter, heavy spokes and tires that would fit probably as mud and gravel tires on a rally car. But most of all: the body is totally misproportioned: clumsy and hunchbacked, it is truly missing the aggressive elegance of the original - the best is the artwork on the box ! Nevertheless, as this was before Italeri released its own version of this classic, I decided to build 2 in different versions - the builts are from 1986, the pictures from last week: Stock version (strada, 1961) : headlights are pirated from another kit (don’t remember which one), side window line is slightly altered, bumpers have been covered with bare metal foil, and wheels/tires are from the Italeri 250 GTO – Paint is Ferrari “Giallo Fly” from the can. Race version (corsa, 1960): should represent 2021 GT, the silver/blue car which took 6 th place in Le Mans 1960 (3rd in class): once again, wheels from the Italeri GTO, stripe is masked, # 22 is from Revell GTO (Italeri reissue). Modifications are: no bumpers front and rear, additional indicator on the right front fender, brake ducts made from drinking straws, hood cut open, scratch-built bug deflector, altered side window line without vent windows (1960!), rear fender flares, repositioned fuel cap and new rescribed trunk line and a deflector plate to prevent overflowing fuel to flow onto the left exhaust snaps. I’m not quite sure if I have made all the necessary modifications… (my only reference material have been 2 pictures in Jess Pourret's book "250 GT Competition Berlinettas") Here are the 1:1 comparison pics:

Thanks, Guido !

x 2: I don't want to see this one in my rearview mirror !

Thank you, Gareth - this kit was great to build back then (after a bunch of amt's) - the decals snug down very well without wrinkles (No setting solution here!), but they showed some yellowing directly out of the box - and the kit was brand new at the time (!) - you can see this between the seperate color stripes....

Thank you, Larry !

Thank you Patrick - I mostly use automotive lacquer rattle cans for my models. Thanks, Larry ! Thanks, Michal !

Thank you, Michal !

Hey, Kerry, just happened to come upon this : Have you ever built an SWB? I have bought myself all 3 different versions from ESCI back in 1985, built 2 of them with some modifications and sold off the 3rd. Maybe I will post pics this weekend.

Though I would prefer the 66/67 Toronado body style, you have built a superb model, Chris,d awesome paint and interior detailing