Trumpeter GT40 MkII 1966 LeMans 3rd Place

[JHDrew]

Well, after warming up with a couple of shake & bake kits its time to get down to a little more challenging work.

I have decided to tackle the Trumpeter 1/12th scale GT40 MkII kit with use of the KA Models full detail set. My plan is to do the gold number 5, third place finisher, at the 1966 LeMans 24 hour race. I see that there is another gentleman on the board that started his a while back, but Im going to post my build up too.

I wanted to get the most tedious portion of the project out of the way first. The seats.

KA Models provide some resin cast seats that have far too many bumps and wrinkles to represent a fairly new seat the GT40. The first thing I did was take down all the high ridges with small Dremel cutting tool. I still left some in but the seat doesnt look 50 years old anymore. Next I drilled the small location holes a little deeper for all 228 grommets. After that I used the Dremel and a 3/16 inch ball cutter to add a recess to each grommet location. Then I drew a line vertically between each hole with a 3/32 inch ball cutter to give it more depth. Finished it all up with sanding sticks and then shot them with Tamiya Matt Black spray. Dont forget to remove any mold release agents.

The installation of the grommets started out to be very cumbersome so I had to figure out a way to do it a bit faster. The grommets come mounted on a sheet and are all self adhesive. The following is a little tutorial for anyone who plans on using the KA Models detail set.

Here are the seats after the rework, clean up and paint.

First, you will need a sharp toothpick, pointed tweezers and another blunt ended toothpick.

Start by peeling back enough of the thick clear film to expose three rows of grommets and cut that portion of protective sheet away with scissors. Bend the coated sheet with the grommets on, in order to lift the edge of one off the sheet. Use the tweezers to remove that grommet. Keep cutting portions of the protective film away to expose three more rows as you finish.

You can transfer the grommet down to the seat with the tweezers and use the pointed end of the toothpick in the grommet hole to align it in place. After its aligned, use the tweezers again to hold down the grommet and lift the toothpick away.

Tamp down the grommet with the blunt ended toothpick. After all the grommets are in place I shot the entire seat with Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear. This seals in the grommets and cuts down on the ultra bright chrome look they have.

Well after about four total hours, and the help of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club playing in the background to keep me motivated, heres the results.

Its really not that bad once you find a rhythm.

I hope the car looks a little like this when it's done.

Edited March 4, 2011 by JHDrew

[djway3474]

I will be watching with interest. I plan on doing the red car.