Zagato

As lovely as the Zagato was, there was one aspect of it that just did'nt look right. I tend to take a lot of photographs as a shape progresses and in the case of the Zagato, i've probably taken more. I guess as i'm not so familiar with the shape as I am with the Touring bodied cars, that it would take longer. Add the fact that all nineteen Zagato DB4 GTs were different in detail then I suppose problems would crop up.

After gazing at it for hours it became obvious that something major was wrong. But I could'nt put my finger on it. The only way to suss it was to take measurements and check that all the reference points were in the right positions. Out came the trusty calipers and I measured everything again. And there it was. For some reason the length had gained 3mm from somewhere. And it was all at the rear of the car. The boot was just too big, too long, which did'nt allow the roofline to terminate where it should.

So after some fairly brutal treatment using 120 grade wet and dry, the majority of the material was removed. But it really was'nt a simple case of taking off balsa/filler and refinishing. If the rearward point of the model was 3mm too far back, that would mean the rear window was also too far back. So the lower edge of the rear window was moved forward by 1.5mm along with the boot shutline. Phew!

The results can be seen in the photographs. It's noticeably shorter. The roofline now drops away the way it should, giving that overall stubby shape. There's nothing sleek or aerodynamic about a Zagato!

In addtion to the shortening of the body as a whole, the windscreen lower line was moved forward around 1.5mm and the profile altered to suit. This has resulted in the screen being at a lower rake and improving the shape further. A little more work in this area will have it looking pretty much spot on. The only decision left to make now is whether or not to add the flares to the rear wheel arches. Personally I prefer it without. I think it spoils the shape of the rear wing, but this would indicate that it would be a road car as it appears only the competition cars had this feature. Decisions, decisions.

Graham.