1:24 16 inch Alfa Romeo GTAm Maxilite

The stance of the car is born under the fender

The GTAm abbreviation belonged to the machine with which Autodelta set out in 1970 against the Ford Escorts and the coupes from Munich in the European Touring Car Championship. The engine capacity grew toward two liters, the fenders received angular flares, and under them appeared tires substantially wider than any a civilian Giulia ever wore. The letter m at the end is most often read as maggiorata, that is enlarged, and that is exactly what can be seen on the car at first glance.

This set holds the discs alone, without tires. It makes sense wherever you already have tires from a kit or from another set and only the right face of the wheel is missing. The face is what decides: a shadow forms between the fender lip and the face of the disc, and the deeper the face is recessed, the longer the shadow and the more squat the car sits. A model is read subconsciously from the top down, and that narrow band of shade does more for the overall impression than a few tenths of a millimeter of ride height.

When building, pay attention to how the disc seats in the tire, and above all to having all four wheels standing vertically and in the same plane. A wheel fitted crooked spoils the impression as reliably as fogged glazing. Polish the face to a mirror only if the model is headed for a display case; on a car with a hint of use a muted metal is more rewarding, as the edges of the spokes stand out on it. Degreasing before painting is a quick safeguard on resin parts against the paint peeling later. A few extra minutes thus give you a surface that holds and does not stain even after years in a display case.