v3biker

How did you deal with painting the engine bay? That's my main concern about this kit. I'm still a newb to model building and that engine bay just seems like a pain in the ass to paint. I thought about not even touching it and just let it be, but then it'd bother the hell out of me knowing that the kit was not fully painted. V3

It's been almost 3-4 years since I've built a car kit so a few months ago, I finally decided to pick up the hobby again since I had some free time. I'm still a newb when it comes to model building and the part about model building that I totally freak out on is the application of decals. I'm a fan of Tamiya's 1/24 JGTC car kits and of course, they're full of decals. Before, what I used to do was your basic decal application: soak in warm water, apply, use wet q-tip to position, and dry off decal with q-tip. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn't. When a decal went over a panel line, I basically just used a hobby knife to slice the decal over the line but the decal wouldn't fully submerge into the panel line. Decals that had to go onto a bend or curve....those were BRUTAL. I couldn't bend them in anyway. So I've developed a fear of applying decals since then. I felt that I'd work so hard on a kit, and when it comes to decal application, if you mess up the decals, no matter how well you finished your model, the decals can mess up the overall look of the car. So I finally decided to do some research as to how to apply decals over panel lines because after slicing the decal over the panel lines, I couldn't find ways to make the decal submerge into the line. After doing some research, a lot of you suggested to use Microsol. So I went to the LHS, picked up a bottle of Microsol (thank gosh they carry them) and started using it as suggested by some of the users here and WOW, what a different it makes! To be honest, ever since I started using Microsol, I've gained more confidence in applying my decals. That stuff works wonders around bends and curved places. Sometimes, the decals would stick out of a particular place due to the decal being larger than the applied area but at least I know I can bend the decal with this stuff. But I'm still getting used to the product though since I've made some mistakes with it (my decals teared in a few places, and some were ruffled). Like all things, I guess it takes practice. I just thought I'd share my experience with you all! Thanks guys!

Cool. Thanks for the info. Sounds like a nice kit. I'm definitely going to go pick it up since it's on sale for 23$ at my LHS. I guess I was just worried about the fitting issue. I've built one Revell kit in the past where the fitting was so maddening that I was going to quit (I don't remember how many times I cursed at that car). But I calmed down and tried to figure out some solutions and the end result wasn't all too bad. In regards to the molding, is it pretty cleanly casted? or are there a lot of flash on the parts where it will require a bit of sanding to make it clean? Thanks.

So for the peeps who have the Revell R8 kit, how's the build so far? Are you pretty satisfied with the molding? Do the parts fit well? Thanks.

Yeah, I was also checking out the Aoshima kit as well. What I love about the Aoshima kit is that it actually comes with real springs for the suspension, which is pretty cool. I also like the idea of how Aoshima and Fujimi have moving rotors (unlike Tamiya's one piece rotor and caliper). I thought it's a cool little concept.

Yeah, I know what you guys mean. I'm a Tamiya person and I've only built kits by Tamiya but the increased costs have been brutal. The only thing I don't get is, the GT-R is 50 something bucks but yet the engine bay is a one piece with the chassis. I still consider myself a newb when it comes to building models but man, that is one PAIN in the ass to paint. Esp if it requires 3-4 different colours in there. At least give us a separate full engine for 50$. I've never really built any Fujimi kits before but I'm thinking of trying them out since they are a bit cheaper where I'm from.