A few questions about the Ferrari 250 GT SWB (for a weathered build)

[SDC]

My apologies in advance if I offend any of you Ferrari historians with a few silly questions from a Jeep guy...

I received a partially completed, somewhat cracked and busted, missing a few parts, AMT Ferrari 250 GT SWB as a throw-in with a few kits I bought last year.  I've started working it over as part of a barn find style build and I had a few questions about the car before I went too far with it.

1. This may be on the box or somewhere obvious that I've failed to see, but is the AMT version supposed to be a specific year model? 1959 maybe?
2. I've searched off and on for a few hours and looked at quite a few crashed and trashed 250's online.  Am I correct in thinking that this model was built in both steel and aluminum bodies?  I assume, for the steel versions, the body rust tends to happen much the same way as any typical steel bodied vehicle I see rusting in my local junk yard today?  Any reason the AMT version should be treated as one vs the other?
3. Next, what is the carb tray made of?  I assume aluminum, but since this will be an open hood, rained in, nested in, weathered and corroded style build, I want to try and make the corrosion realistic based on the material the parts would've made of.
4. Finally, I've already cracked and weathered the dash before verifying what it was made of.  Hopefully it's vinyl or something prone to cracking when left in the sun, because I've already treated it like it was.

I'll continue to seek out answers with my own searches, but I'll certainly appreciate any answers from those of you that already know!

[Ace-Garageguy]

1) You'd be safe saying it's any of those years, as it's not a particularly accurate rendition of the body, and could easily represent a car that was heavily wrecked and rebodied by a different coachbuilder anyway.

2) Yes, some were bodied in steel. Rust is rust.

3) You mean this?    

I'm not 100% certain, but I'd bet it was steel. It's supposed to seal against the underside of the hood-scoop area, and an aluminum part would be too easily warped to be much good at sealing after the hood was closed a few times. They were finished in "crackle" paint like the cam covers, and it's pretty tough stuff, so some would most likely remain even after long exposure to the elements.

EDIT: Though this one is bare aluminum.

4) Dash tops in high-end Italian cars of the period were typically covered in hand-stitched leather. It dries out and cracks, and splits if not cared for.

EDIT 2: In case you missed it, here's a serious effort to get the AMT kit to more look more like the real cars...

 

Edited February 20, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[SDC]

11 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I'm not 100% certain, but I'd bet it was steel. It's supposed to seal against the underside of the hood-scoop area, and an aluminum part would be too easily warped to be much good at sealing after the hood was closed a few times. They were finished in "crackle" paint like the cam covers, and it's pretty tough stuff, so some would most likely remain even after long exposure to the elements.

EDIT: Though this one is bare aluminum.

Thank you for the information Bill, it certainly helps, and supports the direction I was already leaning in regards to those questions. 

Also, I already had that 2nd image saved in my reference folder and was committed to it likely being aluminum, but then I saw some others with a different looking coating, which prompted me to ask that question.

Finally, that post by Pierre is great, though I'm not sure I quite have the eye for some of the differences yet since I am just getting my modeling feet wet.  Hopefully, with time, I'll be able to more easily spot the differences in kits and how they compare to the 1:1 versions. 

Thanks again for your help!  

[Ace-Garageguy]

One thing you can pretty much take to the bank...most competition cars, no two are ever exactly alike (especially after a season or two racing) and this goes double for Ferrari.  

Point being that if you do some research, which obviously you have, and you can reasonably back up the build-decisions you make, you're going to be fine.

The guys who build a particular car at a particular race, and do tons of research to get every that-day-detail right have my respect, but if you're building a generic whatever, particularly something abandoned or found in a barn, you can cut yourself a little slack and still be "correct".  

[Pierre Rivard]

Shawn, I really look forward to seeing your build and hope you will post pictures on the forum. I've done a fair bit of research on these and there is no definite answer since they were hand built with infinite variation in specs or panel fabrication.

A total 165 to 175 units were built, about 50-60 aluminium bodied (Competition model) and the rest (Touring) steel bodied with aluminium openings. The AMT model has features most resembling a late 60 or after Touring model (steel body) with the wind up side glass with quarter lights, body venting in the rear of roof, fuel filler on quarter panel and 3 carb engine. The kit has pretty good chassis, engine and interior components but the body is way off, particularly the rear section. At a minimum, for a barn find kind of project I would cut out the trunk opening to hide the bulbous rear end a bit.

Good luck, should be a fabulous project. I love barn find weathered cars!

[SDC]

2 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

At a minimum, for a barn find kind of project I would cut out the trunk opening to hide the bulbous rear end a bit.

I must've been reading your mind Pierre, I cut the trunk a few days ago so I can have it set in a partially open position.  Also, the view of the car when I place it on the platform will be from the front passenger side corner looking back and across.  I chose this because I read the rear end is one of it's weaker points, as well as my kit having some damage to the driver side rear, a missing gas cap, etc.  So, the build seems to be working out well for viewing the more attractive parts of that AMT body.

Thanks for the input and your excellent comparison of the AMT kit!