Magnum PI 1:18 Ferrari 308 GTS

Prefect42 said:

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Glad to see you finally found a 1:18th scale Ferrari that's at least "close" to the MPI car.

Looking forward to your build. This one has always been my favorite Ferrari.

Ted.
Prefect42.

Thanks. I've got most of the mods done already, and it looks great. My hold off on doing the right side mirror and the windscreen frame though.

Looks great. Can't wait to see your completed photos! Also my fav Ferrari of all time...

Really nice.

I had heard that, like the Miami Vice Crockett's Daytona, the Magnum car was a fake : a polyester bodywork on a Corvette chassis and engine...true or not ?

If they did use a real ferrari the car was most likely a rental and may be different in some episodes..

Anyway this looks like a pretty cool project to follow

IFA said:

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Really nice.

I had heard that, like the Miami Vice Crockett's Daytona, the Magnum car was a fake : a polyester bodywork on a Corvette chassis and engine...true or not ?

From what I've read, there was a 'glass car built on a Fiero chasis, used primarlily for stunt driving. But they also used genuine Ferraris as hero cars.

OK PH, thanks for your answer.

I remember that at the end of a Miami Vice episode, in the closing credits, we could read "Crockett's car furnished by Ferrari North America".....did something similar was on Magnum closing credits ? I don't think so.....don't remember but I guess at that time, sponsorship was different

PHArchivist said:

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From what I've read, there was a 'glass car built on a Fiero chasis, used primarlily for stunt driving. But they also used genuine Ferraris as hero cars.

Some "Before & Afters"...

Cool project! I can hear the theme song in my head right now!

Re: Miami Vice F-cars:

IFA said:

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...in the closing credits, we could read "Crockett's car furnished by Ferrari North America".....did something similar was on Magnum closing credits?

IFA said:

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I had heard that, like the Miami Vice Crockett's Daytona, the Magnum car was a fake : a polyester bodywork on a Corvette chassis and engine...true or not?

From what little I know, Miami Vice started with fakes and Ferrari went on a litigation rampage among kit car makers as a result. The fake F-car lasted three seasons by the time Ferrari North America stepped in. After that, the (authentic) white Testarossas started gaining notoriety with the show.

SingleSeat said:

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Cool project! I can hear the theme song in my head right now!

Thanks! Its been fun...

Looking good. I'd never noticed that the Hot Wheels version had red rocker panels, looks much better now! I still plan to remake the wheels for mine and I'll be sure to post an update when I do.

Dean O said:

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Looking good. I'd never noticed that the Hot Wheels version had red rocker panels, looks much better now! I still plan to remake the wheels for mine and I'll be sure to post an update when I do.

Yeah - as closeout as this is to the show car, (out-of-the-box, and even more so with mods), the wheels still seem to represent the 14" wheels, not the 16". And that is one mod I don't think I'm going to tackle (unless you devise a good replacement that you can cast/copy).

Each individual mod adds a small degree of acuracy. One element alone (be it the rockers, the hood louvers, the front grill - whatever) makes justa small difference, but they add up. Gestalt - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts!

I will do the mirror. I think that will make a big difference. And quite possibly the windscreen frame. But that's about it...

Beeeautiful. Loving the upgrades.

What paint did you use for the black upgrades? Did you simply paint the new / adjusted areas or did you redo everything? And any idea what "red" you will use for the windscreen?

Darn it. Looks like I'm going to have to track one of these down now.

Ted.
Prefect42.

Prefect42 said:

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Beeeautiful. Loving the upgrades.

What paint did you use for the black upgrades? Did you simply paint the new / adjusted areas or did you redo everything? And any idea what "red" you will use for the windscreen?

Darn it. Looks like I'm going to have to track one of these down now.

Ted.
Prefect42.

Thanks for the compliments.

The black was Tamiya Flat Black, brushed on. I'll have to check on the red. Its not an exact match. Nor is the original paint on the model an exact match for Italian Red or Ferrari Red (as you can see in the comparisons to the show car).

Thanks for the compliments. The seller I used still offers this model. Twice the original retail, but had it to me in one day (of course we're both in SoCal).

What diameter are the wheels on the hot wheels model? I'm curious if they are smaller or the same size as the Kyosho wheels. That will help me figure out the best way to make them when I get to that point. I will be making mine out of aluminum so I'm sure they would be easy enough to cast. Well easy enough for someone else, I've never done that before.

15/16" Don't have the metric at hand but will measure in mm later.

Google is taking over the world...

Just type "15/16 inches in mm" ...23.8125mm Click for Answer

The wheels on the Kyosho model are .960" , the hot wheels at 15/16" would be .937" Do you have a way to measure them more accurately? Maybe a caliper by chance?

I was thinking of increasing the diameter of the wheels to about 1.000" to make them appear closer to the 16" wheels in real life, but most opinions were that the Kyosho wheels appear the correct size, just the wrong style. I did some comparison photos with the correct style wheels in various sizes in my thread, see what you think looks right to you.

One other thing I noticed the rear side window "louvers" on the model are silver but on the screen shots appear to be semi-gloss black... going by your first post screen shots. It does look really nice, if you could only match that red/orange ferrari red it's be darn near perfect

Jedi Dade

Jedi Dade said:

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One other thing I noticed the rear side window "louvers" on the model are silver but on the screen shots appear to be semi-gloss black... going by your first post screen shots. It does look really nice, if you could only match that red/orange ferrari red it's be darn near perfect

Jedi Dade

I'l have to take a second look - I hadn't paid attention to that...

Dean O said:

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The wheels on the Kyosho model are .960" , the hot wheels at 15/16" would be .937" Do you have a way to measure them more accurately? Maybe a caliper by chance?

I was thinking of increasing the diameter of the wheels to about 1.000" to make them appear closer to the 16" wheels in real life, but most opinions were that the Kyosho wheels appear the correct size, just the wrong style. I did some comparison photos with the correct style wheels in various sizes in my thread, see what you think looks right to you.

Sadly, no calipers...

Tough call. Hard to tell if the alternating louvers on the real car are a different color (the definitely are on the model) or just light reflecting the louvers as a lighter shade of black.

PHArchivist said:

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PHArchivist,

Would you mind posting the seller you used? Feel free to PM me if you'd rather not post publicly. I'm in SoCal as well so shipping would also be quick. Best price I've found was about $80 if your guy can beat that price, excellent.

I was coming down Laurel Canyon this morning, listening to RED BARCHETTA by RUSH and heading up the hill (North) was a gorgeous red 308. Couldn't tell the exact model as we were headed opposite directions but the top was off. Made me think of this thread.

Oh, what a car.

Ted.