Maserati Bora, Revell, 1/24

[Matt Bacon]

Interesting kit, interesting car. I've decided I'll document this build in reasonable detail, since I couldn't find a single other build up online. This is a Revell 1/24 kit, from an, I guess, 80s series. I think it is genuinely 1/24, not 1/25. without one to compare, I don't know if it is in any way derived from the Japanese (Eidei?) motorised kit that Airfix has also released. What I do know about that one is that it has no engine detail at all, whereas this is fully detailed kit, with engine and suspension detail, interior etc.

I decided I'd like a few more Maseratis after the 3500GT, but it turns out the choice is remarkably limited. Having decided on this one, and picked up the kit for a very reasonable £15, I read up on the car a bit more. Turns out that the real thing, like possibly this kit, is being re-assessed. It wasn't so popular back in the day... As far as I can see, Maserati made the mistake of building a classic Maserati GT car in the layout of  the Countach, Dino, 308GTB and 365/512BB. People expected a serious sports car rather than a comfortable GT... and of course the layout makes for not so much boot space -- although the Bora had a carefully crafted 3-piece luggage set shaped to fit the front storage area, much like the Mclaren F1. People may have though it looked a bit a "sturdy" compared to the competition, but I think the years have treated it well, and personally, I think it's a really good-looking car.

Anyway, on with the work in progress...

We shan't be using those decals (the sill panels below should be black, anyway), and one of the standout features of the Bora is that it has stainless steel A-pillars and roof panel, which will be fun... I'm not sure what the "parcel shelf" over the engine is, since the photo I have show the engine visible through the real clamshell glass.

You can see the chassis, subframes, some engine parts and interior details. These certainly aren't in the Eidei kit. The seats, more or less in the middle, are BIZARRELY narrow. I can't see any reason looking at the tub that they need to be so emaciated: it's like they are no wider than the mounting slots, whereas there's a few mm on each side. I'll have to bulk them out somehow.

A few parts, but the beginnings of a nice Maserati V-8, a rarity in kit form in itself.

The rear clam was pretty badly "squished" -- I think packed when it was still soft rather than mechanically stressed. There'll be some cycles of re-work yet, with the final attachment of the stiff internal glass pulling it precisely into shape... right. As you can see, quite a few sink marks to be filled. The doors came moulded into the body. If they'd been attached as nicely all around as they were in some places, with very fine gaps bridged by tiny pins, I'd probably have left them in situ, but sadly the upper edge was heavily flashed over and rough, so they had to some off. Anyway, opening doors are a classic 70s working feature, aren't they?

Quite a sleek looking car, I reckon. As you can see, this door needs a bit of bulking out to reduce the panel gaps. Not so the other side, but both sides needed some extra plastic at the base of the A-pillar where the combination of mould separation lines and removing the doors left a dangerously small cross section remaining. Following my previous experience with the Monogram Maserati 3500 GT, I'll spend a good while test fitting and fettling these opening doors before committing to primer and paint. Plenty of time to decide what colour it's going to be!

Tally ho!

best,

M.

[absmiami]

oh good ...  hoping someone would build this online before I built mine .

consider replacing those lumps on top of the engine with some parts that actually look like carbs !

after-market carbs - perhaps from Replicas and Miniatures ...

have fun

and by the way - there are some super Maserati kits in resin - but they are hard to find and cost more

but they are out there ...

 

 

 

 

[absmiami]

by the way - the cars did all have that parcel shelf - usually carpeted -  really !

[Can-Con]

I also have one of those, built when it was new. One of my cousins had the MPC curbside kit, which was also supposed to be 1/24, it was noticably larger than the Revell kit. 

The real cars had a wheelbase of 102.4 inches. If the kit wheelbase is approximately 104 mm, it's 1/25 ,, if it's approximately 108 mm, it's 1/24.

When I re-do mine it'll be similar to the incredible jade green one I seen on the net a few months ago ,, any colour choice for yours yet?

 

Oh, and I agree about the carburetors ,,, they're shite.

[da_ashman]

Cool subject!!! Will definitely follow along! Didn't one of the Top Gear crew use this in one of their challenges?

[SSNJim]

Very cool. One of my favorite Italian supercars - just gorgeous. I didn't know about the Revell kit; I only knew about the MPC and Airfix. I've got an MPC in progress. It's almost to the final assembly stage, but there are some body flaws I need to fix - some self-inflicted, some built in that I missed. What are you going to do about the stainless steel roof? I haven't decided how to deal with it yet. 

Here's a pretty good site mainly concerned with Maseratis:

http://www.thecarnut.com/maseratimanuals.html

There's lots of documentation, including paint chips and various manuals.

I'll be following along on your build.

[jaymcminn]

Thanks for tackling this one Matt! I bought mine a few years ago. Once in a while I take out the box, fiddle with the parts, and put it back. That clamshell is warped on mine too and I'm anxious to see how yours turns out. Can't wait!

[Modelbuilder Mark]

looking forward to this. My dream car as a kid in the 70s

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, all... there are a few challenges to overcome, but I am kinda surprised this kit isn't better known or re-popped. Revell Germany could easily release it in the same "classic" (read: older kit) series as they've already done with the XK120, Healey 3000 and BMW 508...

There seem to be plenty of pics both with and without the "parcel shelf" (aka "filler panel") in place. It just clips into a could of holes in the rear structure, so I can leave it removable. The books make much of the effort Maserati went to to ensure good sound insulation for the occupants (eg double glazed panel between the cabin an engine space) and I guess the filler panel is part of that. So I can also understand why thems as wants to drive their Bora like a sports car instead of a GT might leave it out.

As for colour, I didn't want to go out and buy yet another Zero colour matched colour, so my thoughts are tending towards this

Starting with BMW Sienna Brown lightly dosed with red...

best,

M.

[Rob Hall]

It's a neat kit....built as a kid back around 1980, along  w/ the companion Ferrari 308GTB kit. 

Edited June 27, 2017 by Rob Hall

[Exotics_Builder]

It's a neat kid..built as a kid back around 1980, along  w/ the companion Ferrari 308GTB kit. 

There were four kits in that series as far as I recollect.  The 308GTB, Maserati Bora, Ferrari 365 GTB and Lancia Stratos rally car.

[David G.]

I had this kit in 1976 or 77 I believe. I really enjoyed building it and did a fairly good job with it as I remember.

Thanks for posting this, I'll be watching with interest.

David G.

[Bugatti Fan]

Had a feeling that Airfix produced a 1/32nd scale kerbside kit of this back in the 80's.

Not aware of it ever being repopped since.

[Matt Bacon]

The Airfix 1/32 was an Indy -- more the equivalent of a Ferrari Daytona. There was a brief glorious few months last year when Airfix announced it was going to be re-popped, but it foundered on licensing issues in the autumn...

best,

M.

 

[Dann Tier]

This is gonna be SWEEET!!!!

[SSNJim]

Airfix did release a 1/24 Bora also. I'm not sure who released it initially, but it is supposed to be a reissue of another manufacturer's kit.

[NYLIBUD]

Hey that's weird,I just saw a black Bora tonight,at a car show,for the first time...Wow,What a sexy car,,damm.And,I love the stainless steel roof.One hell of a Hot car,indeed.It was absolutely immaculate.And that front grill was so nasty & mean looking.Does anyone know what one of these might sell for?Just curious..I heard some people standing around the car throwing out numbers for around $150-$200K.Well whatever it is,it was cool to just see one in person.

[Matt Bacon]

Very nice... Thanks for the photo.

I think they're definitely due a revival. Sleek, refined, powerful... and practical (there's a good sized trunk under the hood...).Black's timeless, but I'm not sure it does justice to the 70s cool factor, although the cream seats definitely add to that vibe. This side of the water you're talking £150-200K to buy one, so I guess the people throwing numbers around were on the money. Mind you, supercool as it is, if you have that kind of money you can buy a brand new McLaren 720s, which I'm afraid is where my money would go...

Looks like I don't need to be overly concerned about getting the shut lines around the doors precise and even, mind you...

best,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

OK. so my plan to have operating doors is not going to pan out. Just way too flaky fit and hinging. I'll stick with getting the rear clamshell to work. So, time to put the doors back in place.

The door edges are built back up with plastic strip, and then spacers inserted between the doors and sills/frame to sit it in the aperture. If you're doing one, I recommend NOT separating the doors, but just trying to clean up and reduce the joining pins so they sink back into the shut line a bit further. The white "tailpipes" are sprue filling the locating pin holes for the rather weedy plastic exhausts. I have a better plan.

A bit of "gizmology" on the carbs -- there's not a lot of room between the heads, so some of the initial detail had to come off again... ;-( The heads are "crackled" with "Suede" paint from Plastikote, which I also used to texture the parcel shelf.

best,

M.

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2017 by Matt Bacon

[aurfalien]

Hi,

Very nice, I've also this kit seems, very very cool.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

One of my favorite cars of all time. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Beautiful cars, and the engine sounds really sweet. Some odd engineering choices though, like hydraulic headlight motors, and a hydraulic steering column (or maybe pedals...it's been 28 years since I've worked on one) adjuster mechanism that pees on your leg when the seals inevitably fail.

One of my ex-clients shipped an in-progress resto of one out west, and used some "professionals" to prep the car for transit on an open trailer.

They failed to notice that the stainless roof panel, normally pop-riveted to the structure, was no longer riveted and was only held in place by the anti-squeaker and sealing goo.

The roof panel blew off on the interstate somewhere between here and there, and got flattened by a semi. 

Expensive.

[wmobie]

The  Bora was a joint project between Citroen and Maserati, they may have owned Maserati t the time. The odd bits of a Bora are normal for a Citroen, classic French engineering. Add classic Italian engine(ering) and voila the BORA. 

A little more to think about. Walt O'Brien

[SSNJim]

The  Bora was a joint project between Citroen and Maserati, they may have owned Maserati t the time. The odd bits of a Bora are normal for a Citroen, classic French engineering. Add classic Italian engine(ering) and voila the BORA. 

A little more to think about. Walt O'Brien

I believe Citroen did at the time. There was a "little brother" to the Bora called the Merak which had more Citroen influence. It had a Citroen V-6 and a flat rear hood with flying buttresses instead of the Bora configuration. I think the Citroen pieces were out of one of the large SM cars. Testors released curbside 1/24 Merak and Merak SS kits.

[Matt Bacon]

Slow but steady progress...

The seats are 4mm narrower than the space in the tub. As it happens I had some 3mm thick strip that I could use, so, I sliced them top to bottom and glued it in...

Tub masked and sprayed with Plastikote "Velvet" to give some texture to the carpets.

These are "ferrules" for finishing wires. Originally bought to make intake trumpets, the wrong way round they make good hollow exhausts. Not stuck in yet.

Wheels more of a pain than you'd like -- there are several "slots" in each wheel that didn't mould cleanly. Not flashed over but just not there, so I guess the mould broke somewhere down the line. Sprayed with Humbrol Metalcote "Polished Aluminium" with BMF "hubcaps"...

Primered with Tamiya fine grey primer and the stainless steel roof masked off.

Zero 2K basecoat applied, BMW Sienna Brown with a very light transparent glaze coat form the 2-part Rosso Fuoco that I had in the stash.

Diamond 2K clear coat applied. A few spots to clean up and polish, but it's pretty shiny now! Baking in the airing cupboard for 24 hours before cleaning up.

best,

M.