Mr Obsessive gets small!

[MrObsessive]

Whaaa??

You thought this was about weight loss?? Surely you jest!

No, I've been in sort of modeling slump of late............happens from time to time! A while ago when I was moving stuff out of the basement, I ran across this little gem of a kit I almost forgot I had------a resin BBR 1/43 scale kit of the '56 Ferrari 250 GT LWB.

I thought why not try to build this little bugger..........I know I've had it for at least 5 or 6 years now!

One of the things I remember about why I didn't build this sooner is BBR jokingly gives you a flat piece of acetate to make the windows. While the front window would have been no problem, this compound curve rear window was another story-----especially in this scale.

Nevertheless, I wanted something to kick start my building, so I cleaned up the body and soaked 'er in Easy Off to get rid of the oils, and started to paint.

I started with Plasticote Gray as a primer, let it dry thoroughly and then sanded it out with a 600 grit sandpaper. This was followed up by several coats of Krylon Banner Red, and put in the dehydrator for about 8 hours. This was then rubbed out and waxed as the following pics will show...................

Another nit I have with the kit is there is no window trim molded onto the body. BBR has a PE set for the front and rear window trim, but it was so cantankerous to get to shape, not to mention the contours were not quite correct, so I freehanded the BMF around the window openings.

Now about those windows------This was a first time trying this so now was a good time as any. I made window bucks out of Balsa wood, clear coated the heck out of 'em and "molded" plastic over them. The clear was polished out as well as I could get it.

The "glass" was formed using Squadron Thermoform-------it only took six tries to get the rear glass the way I wanted it. The front only a couple times.................

The rear glass has a couple tiny "waves" in it, but I'm satisfied with it.

Still need to get the interior and chassis together, I have the interior tub in primer right now, and I may try to get working on it again before it's off to bed to go to work tonight.

More later..........

Edited December 26, 2008 by MrObsessive

[Peter Lombardo]

Bill, there is no way you can do this car; your fingers are just too big!!! Kidding, of course, it looks your usual “greatâ€. Making the window for this is very impressive. I did a similar molding process for a GT40 roadster (1/24th)I built, but I was very “crude†in the way I did it…I formed a buck out of bass wood and used a heat gun to soften the clear acetone and “darn†near melted my fingers off. But it worked. You are right, sometimes something completely different will act like Drano and clear out your blocked up pipes. I am sure it will be impressive when complete….looks great now.

[Harry P.]

What's amazing to me is that you can build so cleanly and precisely at such a small scale. I have trouble doing that well at 1/24 scale... that's why I build mostly 1/8!

[Jairus]

I suspect that Bill could do very well at whatever he sets his mind to do regardless of scale or project. It is a mental mindset and personality trait.

Like the project so far!

[John Goschke]

Terrific work so far, Bill! Great looking subject too.

[Raul_Perez]

What...no opening doors on brass hinges with roll-down windows on a crank???

The paint looks GREAT, Bill!!

Later,

[george 53]

Yeeesh, Bill, after shakin hands with you, and seein first hand(pun intended)how big yer mitts are, I'm surprised you can handle sompthin that small.But after thinkin, "Heck he makes ROLL DOWN windows" I know now, NOT to underestimate your powers!I mean, your not called Mr.Obsessive for nothin!!! Now just keep us posted on this build!

[CAL]

I got small once, but it didn't turn out anything like that.

Looks great!

[rollover]

How clever of you to paint a sewer lid to look like a penny!

Seriously I looks great so far. I like the windows, I have want to try do do it but have not been brave enough to pull the trigger yet.

[Nick F40]

Wow, I like this...alot. I love this model. The paint is flawless.

Of how big your hands are, it futher amazes me... Your thumbs the size of the windshield for crying out loud

[Barbo]

Wow...MrObsessive...Looks kool. I like the paint job..........Barbo

[randx0]

Great job so far .Now just how are you going to get the side windows to roll up and down?

[bigphoto]

Welcome to the DARK SIDE my friend!!!

Nice work.

[mikelo]

Wow, it looks like your hand has gotten huge! Very nice job so far on a smaller scale. Like Jarius said, it is a mind set, and I think personality comes into play also.

Mike

[David Thibodeau]

Great work thus far Bill.... Good to see you back even if you did go small!!

DaveT

[simonr]

Hey billy, a big guy in the little leagues...quite interesting!....great job so far, as always!

Simón P. Rivera Torres

Edited December 17, 2008 by simonr

[charlie]

looking real good so far BILL

[MrObsessive]

Since I was off all this week, I might as well get this little one done before it's back to work Sunday night!

Here's some of the other parts that the BBR kit gives you------thank goodness the Borrani's were already put together, it makes my life easier not having to assemble 'em.

In the above pic, one of the spinners was among the missing! ..............Thank goodness I was able to find it later.

Here's the steering wheel with a PE overlay, along with the dash and kit supplied decal...........

In my zeal to get this done, I forgot to take pics of the interior------it was basically just two white metal seats and a shift lever I scratchbuilt. The seats were painted flat dark blue while the interior is a basic black.

Here's a sneak peek now that she's all built up-------

Whoops! It looks like I have to touch up the lower wheel well lip with some paint!

Just give a click here to take a look.