Ferrari 250 GTO at 1963 Nurburgring

[Gramps46]

1963 Ferrari 250 GTO 3909GT

In 1962 Ferrari introduced the 250 GTO which became one of the most iconic Ferraris ever.  The Swiss racing team Scuderia Filipinetti bought GTO 3909GT and quickly put it on the track including the Nurburgring in Germany where it wore #54 1n 1963.

 

The model:

This model is an older Italian made 1/24 BBurago before the move to China.  The main change was to replace the BBurago wheels and tires with a PE set of wheels from a long forgotten source painted aluminum to reduce the bright chrome finish, not appropriate for a racing Ferrari. The number decals were printed using MS Word on a white decal sheet and the Scuderia Filipinetti lettering and logo sourced from Lemans Decals in Spain via eBay.  Sliding door windows were also added and the PE headlamp surrounds are from Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland.  The one thing I did not do was to place covers over the 3 vents in the nose because of the fear of not matching the body paint.  (where did Tamiya Italian Red TS08 go?)

 

 

 

[cobraman]

Very nice, the wire wheels make a big difference in that piece.

[vamach1]

Very nice Gramps.  The extra touches really make it stand out.

[Rich Chernosky]

Pretty sweet Gary,  those wheels and tires really make this model pop.  And of course, I am always a sucker for a pretty face....Especially if her name is Ferrari   250 GTO.

[1959scudetto]

Very nice, Gary - those wire wheels are a big refinement, really upgrading the toylike GTO to a fine model  - this makes a huge difference !

(I always thought the old - Italian made - BBurago GTO has better proportions than their new - Chinese made- GTO, though it may be a bit out of scale - too large for 1/24?) The newer version has the more realistic looking wire wheels, but the older one looks better to me.

[Gramps46]

I agree with Helmut's assessment of the different versions of the BBurago GTO.

Here is a side by side look:  Revell Slot Body - Old Italian BBurago, Italian BBurago, and made in China BBurago.

You can see the Italian made GTOs are larger and there are minor differences between them.  The made in China GTO is closer to scale but I do not like the windshield treatment.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Beautiful models, especially the first one.

I could easily fall down the rabbit-hole of collecting diecasts. Really need to keep myself on a short leash.   

[keyser]

Too late for a few of us. Finished or easier to tweak a big plus. Nice work as always Gary. 

[mrm]

19 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

I agree with Helmut's assessment of the different versions of the BBurago GTO.

Here is a side by side look:  Revell Slot Body - Old Italian BBurago, Italian BBurago, and made in China BBurago.

You can see the Italian made GTOs are larger and there are minor differences between them.  The made in China GTO is closer to scale but I do not like the windshield treatment.

Very nice conversions. The new wheels definitely make a huge difference. I like it, altho in 1/18 there are way better options and in 1/24 I would just build a plastic one if I wanted a good model. 

 

21 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

Very nice, Gary - those wire wheels are a big refinement, really upgrading the toylike GTO to a fine model  - this makes a huge difference !

(I always thought the old - Italian made - BBurago GTO has better proportions than their new - Chinese made- GTO, though it may be a bit out of scale - too large for 1/24?) The newer version has the more realistic looking wire wheels, but the older one looks better to me.

Altho I definitely love the results and it is unquestionable that the wheel swap makes all the difference in the world, mentioning BBurago and "a fine model" in the same sentence (especially in 1/24) is just an oxymoron.  

[1959scudetto]

1 hour ago, mrm said:

Very nice conversions. The new wheels definitely make a huge difference. I like it, altho in 1/18 there are way better options and in 1/24 I would just build a plastic one if I wanted a good model. 

 

Altho I definitely love the results and it is unquestionable that the wheel swap makes all the difference in the world, mentioning BBurago and "a fine model" in the same sentence (especially in 1/24) is just an oxymoron.  

Oxymoron: not necessarily - nice model I would say: relatively speaking: yes (especially when you consider the initial starting product) - of course, you can't compare a reworked cheap die-cast with an outstanding high-end 1/18 top-class model (which is in another price range, too), but sometimes it is rewarding to pimp up and detail a cheap die-cast - and it brings quick results (Of course, we all have several 1/24 plastic kits in our stash (in my case: 3 Italeri, 1 Gunze-Sangyo, 1 Protar, 2 Fujimi) waiting to be built.

But even 1/18 CMC and the like have their flaws and weak points here and there...

[Hoffman]

Very, very nice, Gary!