Maserati A6GCS/53 Barchetta - 1954 Mille Miglia - Completed

[Bernard Kron]

I just “won” this on eBay and received it. My first scale “Etceterini” – a 1953 Maserati A6GCS Fantuzzi roadster, a 3 liter 6 cylinder road racing car from the dawn of post war racing. First produced in 1947 the A6 was Maserati’s first production road car with a twin-plug DOHC straight six designed by Gioacchino Colombo who had designed the Type 158 supercharged straight 8 1500cc Alfetta motor for Alfa Romeo before WWII and the legendary 2 liter V12 for Ferrari which often bears his name. The A6GCS/53 is iconic in sports car lore because it is one of the earliest and prettiest examples of the Italian style of curvaceous full-fendered sports-racing car bodies synonymous with high performance automobiles of the era. The body was created by Medardo Fantuzzi whose small Modenese shop’s handiwork graced most postwar Maserati race cars including the 450S and the Tipo 61 Birdcage, as well as such icons as the Ferrari Testa Rossa/59, the “shark nose” Ferrari Tipo 250 61 sports racing car and many custom and show cars for the smaller Italian sports car specialists such as De Tomaso, Abarth and OSCA. The Fantuzzi A6GCS/53 was the car that set the trend and I have always admired it for its purposeful simplicity and well-proportioned elegance for such a small car.

The A6GCS/53 is commonly available as a die cast but I had rarely seen it in kit form, necer mind in the 1/24th scale which I favor. This popped up on eBay and I suspect it was being sold by the maker of the kit although I can’t be certain. It’s an ultra-simple curbside with a heavy, thick resin body, a rudimentary chassis which screws to the body, simple but credible interior detail, and even came with a clear windshield cut in the correct shape. It will require a fair amount of detailing and clean up but it is very far from terrible and I’m delighted to have gotten it and plan to get on it ASAP. It has the potential build up very nicely indeed and I hope I can do it justice.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[tatocorvette]

That looks cool! Looking forward to see it done.

[arcticwolf]

So am I. I like it.

[Chris K. Hale]

Is it a F. Pinto kit? Looks great!

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks everyone!

Jun 8, 2021 18:13:45 GMT -8 Chris K. Hale said:

Is it a F. Pinto kit? Looks great!

No it's not. Pinto kits all have his fabulous hand laced wire wheels and he would never accept how rough this kit is.

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Such a simple project and so much filling and sanding. But I knew that when I started. I’ve set myself the goal of making as good a model as my skills and self-discipline will allow while using basically only the materials that came in the resin kit, only allowing myself to add detail where it’s appropriate using common modeling materials. The actual model is somewhat inaccurate. The basic shape and stance are pretty good but, as I mentioned above, the grill opening and detail are incorrect. I suspect they were lifted from a 3500 GT and molded into the basic shape. The true A6GCS Fantuzzi barchetta grill opening is more simple, larger and lacks the raised rim and cast trident included in this model. But this grill looks nice, and correcting it would be an epic undertaking and far beyond the scope of this project.

Using the kit pieces means making the wheels and tires looking realistic. The actual wheel casting is fairly nice and 3-dimensional so I decided to try painting the whole assembly flat black, then masking the rubber tire area and detailing the wheels by dry brushing the spokes with Testors Aluminum Plate metalizer and picking out the rim edge and knockoff hubcap in Molotow chrome. It came out surprisingly well to my eyes. It was either that or spend $60+ for a set of FPP Modelo wires. As I said – beyond the scope of this project.

The outer surface of the resin plug was fairly smooth and the contours even and continuous in most areas. But there were numerous pinholes to attend to and once I began applying primer coats any irregularities became all too obvious. Also, most Fantuzzi barchettas had a panel behind the seats hiding the fuel tank. I fabricated a panel from sheet styrene and molded it in place. All photos of these cars from the 1950s that I found are of pure race cars with no upholstery other than the seats, and with open, uncovered door and fender surfaces inside the cockpit. This model, on the other hand, comes with a quilted covering for the kick panels and the transmission cover. This was a common adaptation during the era to make race cars more usable for the street, providing some sort of sound and heat insulation. Perhaps the source car for the model had this but I have never seen pictures from the era with it. Even modern restorations tend to be as race cars with stripped out interiors. On the other hand I’ve seen plenty of 50’s era photos of these A6GCS barchettas with rudimentary mufflers added, whereas the model has open pipes. So this little kit is full of contradictions… Once again, the spirit of this project is to work with I have been give so I made inner door panels to go with the quilted insulation in the correct style for this sort of car.

Lastly the kit omits any way to mount the correct and nicely formed windscreen that is included. So I fashioned a windshield base from soft wire and epoxied it to the cowl.

The silver paint you see will be the color of the visible interior surfaces. The exterior color will be Tamiya TS-8 Italian Red. I painted the exterior the same Duplicolor Silver Metallic lacquer because it makes an excellent guide coat to show any irregularities remaining to be taken care of. The upholstery is LifeColor Matt Raw Siena acrylic.

Thanx for lookin’.
B.

[tatocorvette]

Nice progress. Looking good!

[Joel_W]

Bernard,
just came across your build blog. Many thanks for your intro history of the 1953 Maserati A6GCS Fantuzzi roadster. I know next to nothing about the early 1950 sports/race cars generally, and even less about those numerous small shops of Italian car makers. Having the history behind the car makes it that much more interesting of a build to follow.

Your progress really is quite outstanding. Those one pc cast wheels turned out looking like real rubber type kit wheels and AM wire wheels.

joel

[clowncar]

"it is very far from terrible and I’m delighted to have gotten it"

I understand completely. What an impossible little treasure. I'm beaming, here.

You're already doing it justice.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks everyone!

Got the Tamiya Italian Red laid down, cured and polished. The headlight rims are hyper-fragile and the right one is currently undergoing repair after fracturing while removing the BMF I used for masking it. Working around the paint should be fun. Next up are the interior details and parts and the biggest challenge (other than the headlight rim) which wil be fabrication a correct and convincing windscreen flange. I have plain Mille Miglia style white number decals coming from Patto’s Place in Australia which will most likely be the only graphics on the car.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[Joel_W]

Bernard,
Outstanding paint job for sure.

joel

[arcticwolf]

Looks great!

Did you put the Tamiya paint directly over the Duplicolor? I'm curious, as I never trust what kind of reaction I get applying Tamiya over anything?

cheers

Paul

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks guys!

Jun 28, 2021 11:34:14 GMT -8 arcticwolf said:

...Did you put the Tamiya paint directly over the Duplicolor? I'm curious, as I never trust what kind of reaction I get applying Tamiya over anything?

Yes I did. I've never had any problems spraying Tamiya over Duplicolor. This is Duplicolor's generic Silver Metallic that comes in the big can. It lays down extremely well and makes a terrific base coat.

[Joel_W]

Paul,
I've also never had any issues with the Tamiya tapes, but regular Big Box tape has always been a problem. I'm old school so I detack even the Tamiya tape. Doesn't take very much sticky stuff to make a decent enough seal.

joel

[Bernard Kron]

I got quite a number of details done. The basics of the interior are now completed and glued in place, with the exception of the seats and steering wheel. The nose is detailed out. I found I got better results working with Molotow chrome than foil, especially in the interior of the grill. Pre-painting everything in silver and then masking this area before applying the red also helped enormously. The side pipes, which had been the under color silver, were dry brushed with Testors Metalizer Exhaust to achieve the dark color seen in the period race photos of these cars, given that the model has no exhaust muffling. Not shown in the summary photo is the windscreen, where I was able to fabricate a credible mounting flange. I’ll get more in to that with my next update. It will need some very careful mounting!

For now I’m waiting for the number decals to arrive from Australia, and for a flip-style gas cap which goes behind the passenger’s left shoulder inboard of the right side of the rear deck. These details will likely have a pretty strong effect on the overall look of the car. For now, with its smooth lines and minimal trim, especially with the dark exhaust pipes, it looks somewhat like a red blob.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[Joel_W]

Bernard,
Just outstanding progress. The exterior is really looking quite good.

joel