jaymcminn Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) After my long, challenging Trumpeter GT40 build, I wanted to try something a little less involved. I could have gone to any of the numerous kits in my stash just crying out to be built, but instead I saw this little sucker on the shelf at my LHS and decided that it was just the ticket. The first thing I noticed when I cracked open the box was that the molds were a little tired, so I set about rescribing the faint panel lines on the body as well as fixing some of the trim and body lines that seemed to have vanished over time. While I was at it I removed the molded-in windshield wipers. Some of the trim, such as the very faint vents behind the rear quarter windows and the molded-in taillights, I masked before priming and painting to preserve the detail. Here's the body before paint... After Tamiya fine white primer and Pure White were applied, I masked the white areas off and applied the Tamiya Italian Red lacquer decanted through my trusty Master pistol-grip airbrush. Next I get to re-mask and spray the under hood area in Tamiya TS-15 blue, which will also be used for the underside of the car. Then I get to mask and spray the black trim. I thought this was supposed to be a quick project... The kit's chrome parts were completely unusable... I'm starting to feel that way more and more about kit chrome lately. The plating was way too thick and the parts needed major cleanup to be usable due to the mounting locations of things like the bumpers and wheels on the chrome tree. I removed all the parts, stripped the chrome, cleaned them up and painted them with Alclad chrome... I painted the centers of the American Racing Libre wheels in Tamiya metallic grey and gave the grille a wash with The Detailer black acrylic wash. Next I'll let the body dry before polishing ( of course I painted the hood and other body panels as well!) and painting the black trim and under hood blue. In the meantime I'll start cleaning up and mounting the other parts for painting. More updates soon and as always questions and comments are welcome! Edited August 15, 2014 by jaymcminn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tompidom Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Looking good! Gotta get one of these kits to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin T Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Excellent start so far! I have a feeling this is going to be a good build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flo9mr Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 great start! love seeing these builds on here... keeping an eye on your progress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarana-X Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 You're off to a great start. Just finished the Tuner version, I had all the same concerns you mentioned. The trunk panel lines just vanish about halfway to the rear window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Looks great. I must put that kit on my need list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderbread Kustomz Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Yours is turning out nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 bad55 stan Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Great work,i like this 1! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Look great, very strong start.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridge Rider Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Nice start. I remember seeing a few 510's at the local oval track in the 70's. Mini stock class-they ruled and I've had a fondness since. It's on the shelf and in the to do list but for now this will have to do. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitforbattle Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 The BRE's are some of my favorite racecars of all time. So cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaguar man 21 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I'm not a Nissan or Datsun fan but this is a relly nice kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgbben Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 As others have mentioned, this looks great and I must get one of my own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel886 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBoyle Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Looks great so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 ooh nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanesteele240 Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 This is one of The hardest models to finish cleanly. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itchydexx Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Can not wait to see this done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duntov Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Interesting start --- keep us updated on your progress --- this is a good kit and you are doing some nice work on it so far!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 Here's a quick update. The body has had the blue under the hood painted, as well as all the black trim. I applied Bare Metal Foil to all the shiny stuff and used The Detailer to pick out the detail on the side vents. I cannot recommend strongly enough masking those vents, as well as the taillights, off before primer and paint so as not to lose the detail. The kit does provide decals for the vents but it's not the same. The taillights were foiled (they're molded into the rear pan, BTW) and painted in Tamiya clear red and orange. I applied the first white decal over the red chin spoiler to test the opacity, and they seem alright. I might try doubling up on them. Next will be the engine bay- I've decided to go with braided line instead of the kit tubing. On to the pics! The extra attention to detail deepening the panel lines and rescribing and sharpening up the trim really pays off at this point... it almost looks like a new Tamiya tool! I washed the panel lines in a medium grey mixture- they look a little dark to me, but I think they'll look a lot better with all the decals on the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DynoMight Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Looks good! Excited to see this all together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 I've been slowly but surely working on this build and am trying to get it wrapped up in time for the Table Top Nationals in Deerfield Beach next weekend. I'm closing in on final assembly, and have the engine bay finished. I went with Detail Master braided lines (not crazy about them- might try Pro Tech next time) and fittings. Wiring is from MCG, and I scratchbuilt a coil. I detailed the carbs with styrene and parts box intake trumpets. I scratchbuilt the radiator overflow tank to better match the online pics of the engine bay. Here we are before the engine installation... and after. It's pretty busy in there! Next, the interior... more pics soon. As always, questions and comments are welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderbread Kustomz Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Nice work! What size braided line is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Looking wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBoyle Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Engine bay looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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