Porsche 550 Spyder

[Steve Keck]

Thanks everyone!

Harry and Mark, I took your advice and black washed the wheels - looks nice. Thanks!

Skip and Dave, here's a link to the manufacturer's website: http://vintagespyders.com/turnkey.html

[Scale-Master]

Nice... It's not that I don't trust you... But I want to see it now!

[Lownslow]

man that cane out nice

[Dominik]

clean build! very nice

[Ace-Garageguy]

Beautiful job on a not-too-great little kit.  

I know this is an ancient thread, but I just received the Flintstone kit as a gift. It is typically lacking in some areas of symmetry...as are many Flintstone products...and it's a slush-cast job, kinda rough.

SOME of the proportions and lines are fairly good, and some things are just flat wrong, like the tail tapering to a too-narrow dimension...instantly noticeable.

The kit also has some details molded in that I've NEVER seen on a 1:1 real OR kitcar version.

As I do have a 1:1 Beck 550 Spyder, I'll be beginning to correct this thing to match the real car over time.

Lotsa work, and time probably better spent working on the real one.   

        

 

Edited October 28, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[sjordan2]

I'll be watching. Wish I had a Beck Spyder. How's yours coming?

Beautiful job on a not-too-great little kit.  

I know this is an ancient thread, but I just received the Flintstone kit as a gift. It is typically lacking in some areas of symmetry...as are many Flintstone products...and it's a slush-cast job, kinda rough.

SOME of the proportions and lines are fairly good, and some things are just flat wrong, like the tail tapering to a too-narrow dimension...instantly noticeable.

The kit also has some details molded in that I've NEVER seen on a 1:1 real OR kitcar version.

As I do have a 1:1 Beck 550 Spyder, I'll be beginning to correct this thing to match the real car over time.

Lotsa work, and time probably better spent working on the real one.   

        

 

What upgrades will you make? The first thing I'd do is to accurize the nose air intake.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'll be watching. Wish I had a Beck Spyder. How's yours coming?

What upgrades will you make? The first thing I'd do is to accurize the nose air intake.

My own Beck has been waiting for me to get some indoor shop space to get moving forward again. This should be a reality by the end of the year. (The place I live now has only a carport and an indoor shop large enough for a few bikes and all my tools. My last place had a 2-car garage and a drive-in basement). Long story. 

Yes, the nose air intake, definitely. (The Beck has molded-in fake louvers...which I hate...and I've already made a blanking cover for them, as appears on some cars lacking a forward oil cooler.) The Flintstone kit tail is also way too narrow. Then there is a pregnant bulge on the rear of the model I've NEVER seen on any 1:1 (and I've seen a lot). The mirror fairings are typically the same size...though they do vary from car to car. Besides the Flintstone nose air-intake being different from any 1:1 I've ever seen, the shape of the underside of the nose is wrong. The tops of the rear of the front fender profiles also seem to be slightly wrong at first glance, giving the model a swaybacked "warped promo" look the real cars lack. The cooling grilles on the rear deck are, I believe, in the wrong place. The undertray, though it includes seats and some "frame tubes" needs to be replaced entirely. Etc.

BUT...it's a lot easier to start with something that really isn't TOO bad than starting with a block of wood. The model, as-is, looks a lot more like a 550 Spyder than Palmer kits looked like their subjects. And judging from some of the other builds of the kit I've seen, the headlights from the Fujimi 356 fit it very well. 

[Dann Tier]

Very nice!!, and extremely clean, and well built!!

[ChrisR]

Awesome. Could only wish mine would look that good when I get around building it.

Edited October 29, 2016 by ChrisR

[oldcarfan]

I can't see the pictures, but I'm sure it looks great. Just curious. I am wanting to order one of these from Flintstone, but I don't want to spend all the extra for the Fujimi donor. Any thoughts as to whether one of the currently available VW kits might serve as a donor? I have several TeeVee Buggies. It wouldn't have the wheels, but I'm thinking of doing it as a kit car Spyder in Magnus Walker style or something like that so it wouldn't matter so much.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I can't see the pictures, but I'm sure it looks great. Just curious. I am wanting to order one of these from Flintstone, but I don't want to spend all the extra for the Fujimi donor. Any thoughts as to whether one of the currently available VW kits might serve as a donor? I have several TeeVee Buggies. It wouldn't have the wheels, but I'm thinking of doing it as a kit car Spyder in Magnus Walker style or something like that so it wouldn't matter so much.

No reason not to Bug-engine it. My Beck has a built Bug motor and goes like stink. The only reason to get the Fujimi kit really is for the correct 4-cam Porsche engine, wheels and tires.

A lot of the full-size kits got built with the later-model VW 4-bolt wheels, and there are some running around with aftermarket Minilites and Centerlines too. I don't know what you have, but that's an option. Early Bug wheels look rather like the Porsche wheels also, as do the wide-fives in the AMT '36 Fords.