Pierre Rivard Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 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 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1959scudetto Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 OMG - there is a lot of surgery going on, Pierre - a big motivation is needed for this ! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoffman Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Beautiful work, Pierre!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Looking good so far... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildaupho Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkJ Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Looks like another great project. Are you taking a break from the Merecedes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 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 … 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 The Gunze kit was - by the way - a hot mess - - - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bacon Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 You might as well have all of these here: best, M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoffman Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1959scudetto Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 (edited) 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 by 1959scudetto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vr1000 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) 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 by vr1000 mistake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 The chase continues. Now working on smaller stuff that takes... more time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absmiami Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 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 ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave B Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkJ Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 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./ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 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...🤪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250 Testa Rossa Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 You're making really good progress on this one! Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkJ Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Rivard Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 Thanks fellows, plucking along... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1959scudetto Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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