AMT Ferrari 250 swb... going down the rabbit hole.

[Pierre Rivard]

The idea here is with MFH kits being almost impossible to find (not to mention the second mortgage), Gunze and Italeri reaching unobtainium status and AMT/ESCI pretty easy to find, maybe something can be done with it?

Thinking this would be relatively easy, provide the necessary boby massaging/modifications to make this kit respectable... well this feels more like going down the rabbit hole as I keep finding stuff that does not look right.

Anyhow, here's the result of the last 3 days. Still lots to do. The red body is an Italeri used as the muse for this project

 

[1959scudetto]

OMG - there is a lot of surgery going on, Pierre - a big motivation is needed for this !

[Hoffman]

Beautiful work, Pierre!!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Looking good so far...    

[Phildaupho]

Coincidentally just last week I had a look at my AMT 250 SWB kit. I am certainly not considering anything like your surgery but thought about maybe using Fujimi 250 Testarossa under-pinnings. Previously I did clean up the body so maybe just for kicks I might even build it semi-stock stock. Looking forward to seeing yours after you perform your magic.

[MarkJ]

Looks like another great project. Are you taking a break from the Merecedes?

[absmiami]

My chance encounter with two SWBs last month in Hobe Sound …. The gray one was parked next to that RX7 - which is actually a wider car - the SWB is a surprisingly small package …  do not know whether 22 had actual comp history - but it might have …

[absmiami]

The Gunze kit was - by the way - a hot mess - - - 

[Matt Bacon]

You might as well have all of these here:

best,

M.

[Pierre Rivard]

Thank you all for the interest in this project.

Great pictures Andy, they help... and man what a beautiful car it is. Can body lines be more elegant than that?

Mark, not taking a break from the 300 SLR... just a little diversion.

Ace, thanks for the advice, trying to absorb and apply it as best I can.

Phil, the under-pinnings on this kit are actually pretty good, but the body needs a lot of help. More so than I initially estimated.

[Hoffman]

Interesting how the gray car has the later, deeper wheels, the red car has the earlier shallower wheels, and the white car has later deep on the front and early shallow on the rear.

[1959scudetto]

The red car seems to be a late 1960 car, whereas the white and the grey ones are later versions from 1961.

The grey one features the Le Mans additions: small rear fender flares, the snaps above the left exhaust pipes and the bug deflector.

Edited February 5, 2024 by 1959scudetto

[vr1000]

Pierre, We have the actual Le Mans winning car (Class win and 3rd O/A) here in our garage, so let me know if you need images and/or measurements...

Edited February 6, 2024 by vr1000
mistake

[Pierre Rivard]

19 hours ago, vr1000 said:

Pierre, We have the actual Le Mans winning car (Class win and 3rd O/A) here in our garage, so let me know if you need images and/or measurements...

Hi Tom, please feel free to post pictures of it here. always good to have more visuals. I'm just having fun here with a basket case kit so precise measurements would be beyond what I can use.

Assuming you are talking about the original chassis 2001 GT that raced as #16?

[Pierre Rivard]

The chase continues. Now working on smaller stuff that takes... more time.

 

[absmiami]

20 hours ago, vr1000 said:

Pierre, We have the actual Le Mans winning car (Class win and 3rd O/A) here in our garage, so let me know if you need images and/or measurements...

Mr Kenney - are you referring to 2689GT ??

[Dave B]

Pierre, you have way too much spare time!!

Good luck with your mods, I cheated, cut the roof off mine and turned it into a special.

Dave B

[MarkJ]

It's great that you have the good kits body for up close comparisons to the AMT body which anyone can see is way off in so many ways from the real car. And it is also great that you are showing us what mods are needed to get the AMT body where it can be used to make a decent model of this car. My main concern is the front of the AMT models nose where the opening to the radiator looks horrible on the AMT./

 

[Pierre Rivard]

5 hours ago, Dave B said:

Pierre, you have way too much spare time!!

Good luck with your mods, I cheated, cut the roof off mine and turned it into a special.

Dave B

Yes I do. I got sucked into something more complicated than I thought it would be. At this stage pride has taken over sanity...?

[Pierre Rivard]

1 hour ago, MarkJ said:

It's great that you have the good kits body for up close comparisons to the AMT body which anyone can see is way off in so many ways from the real car. And it is also great that you are showing us what mods are needed to get the AMT body where it can be used to make a decent model of this car. My main concern is the front of the AMT models nose where the opening to the radiator looks horrible on the AMT./

 

I haven't touched the nose yet. As I kept chasing info on these I noticed the front openings were not identical on all of these. When I settle on the specific race car I want to replicate I will work the front end.

[250 Testa Rossa]

You're making really good progress on this one! Keep up the good work!

[MarkJ]

On 2/8/2024 at 7:07 AM, Pierre Rivard said:

I haven't touched the nose yet. As I kept chasing info on these I noticed the front openings were not identical on all of these. When I settle on the specific race car I want to replicate I will work the front end.

Anything would look better than the nose on the amt model left untouched. It really doesn't look Ferrari-ish at all.

[Pierre Rivard]

Thanks fellows, plucking along...

 

[1959scudetto]

Fabulous modifications, Pierre - its shape is going to look like a 1960 SWB - the amt/ESCI grille is the better choice for 1931GT (comes very close). This is going to be an excellent model!

[Ace-Garageguy]

That's one deep rabbit hole, lotsa twists and turns. It's amazing how many things you can find to correct once you embark on a project like this, but she's looking more like what she's s'posed to look like with every update.