Nacho Z

I finished this one up several weeks ago. I have provided a link to the WIP thread. Overall, I think this is a great kit and would recommend it. It is not as detailed as the Aoshima offerings. The kit provides some engine detail, but it can’t be seen once you fit the body. Instead of listing everything that I used and did to this build I would recommend checking out the WIP thread. Thanks for looking!

This will be the last update. The model is finished, but I wanted to finish out this WIP thread. I let the decals dry for a week and cleared the car with Mr. Top Coat Premium. It was too thick and too glossy for my liking. I rubbed it out with Micro Mesh cloths and then polished it with Tamiya compounds. The finish is much more realistic, IMHO. From there I used Tamiya Light Gray panel liner and detail painted some area. Next I added all of the PE mesh and fasteners. I built the doors and added the final items to the body. An unnatural shine, IMO. Here are the exterior components after rubbing out the paint and then polishing it out. The finish is much more realistic. The doors consisted of 9 pieces each. (Not pictured are the mirrors). I added a good bit of PE items to the exterior of the body. PE screw heads are a nice touch to the headlight covers. There is one inside the right hand 0. That will do it for this thread. I’ll post the finished model in the Under Glass section in the next few days. Thank you to everyone who checked out this thread and and a bigger thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment!

Sublime!

What a great looking model!

That is just fandamntastic!!

Absolutely gorgeous!

Nice GTRs!! That is quite odd about the mask reacting with the clear part. Who’s kits are these?

Mike, that thing looks great!!

I’m a sucker for Zs and that is a nice one! I think the wheels look good on it.

Very nice work so far! I’m looking forward to seeing more of your progress.

The McLaren is fully decaled. It took me several nights to do them all. I believe there were around 107 decals. I’ll post a few in progress pictures so that you can see the sequence that I did them in. A couple of notes. I noticed when I taped the doors in place that they are just a shade of white different than the body. I’m sure that I painted everything the same number of coats. My guess is that I just shot it a little heavier on the body. The good thing is that I plan to display it with the doors open. You will not be able to notice the difference. The next thing is that the decals, or the guy putting them on, are not perfect. There were gaps in some areas. Also, the decals did not completely cover the bottom of the car and the inner lips of the wheel wells. I mixed some blues together until I got a match. I am very happy with how it turned out! As always, thanks for checking in on this one. Comments, advice, and critiques are welcome.

Fantastic! Your decal work is top notch. I also appreciate your clear, uncluttered pictures. I’m looking forward to seeing your next update.

My goal for this model was not to build a super detailed model, but just to improve it beyond box stock. I have never liked using decals for racing harnesses. The Hobby Design detail up set had a funky piece of material that you had to cut into strips for the seat belt material. I made a couple of strips but I just didn’t like the looks of it. I bought a variety of 2mm wide ribbon and used that as my seat belts. I used a combination of kit PE and Hobby Design PE for the harness hardware. I didn’t take any pictures while I was making them. With the interior tub complete, I turned my attention to the body and began the decaling process. And so it begins! Thanks for checking in! Thank you to everyone who has left a comment. The next update will be decaling progress.

Thank you, Dave! I appreciate that, Anton!

Look at that interior!! Sweet!

That is a gorgeous Vette, Randy!

Work is complete on the interior. I thought I would share some WIP pictures. Here is the original kit part, it is a center console. I tried to do some detail painting, but the results were unacceptable. I bought a variety of switches from ESS Resinworks. I primed and painted them. I removed all of the molded on kit part details and installed the ESS Resinworks items. I also cut small squares from sheet styrene and painted them clear orange to simulate warning lights. It is not prototypically correct, but it looks so much better. I am always disappointed to see molded in items that would be so much better as separate pieces. I masked the fire extinguisher and shot it red.. Next were the electronic boxes. There was no way that I would be able to mask them. I cut out pieces from .010” sheet styrene and sized them to each electronic box. I then removed all molded on detail from the kit boxes. I painted my sheet styrene “covers” in three different colors for visual interest. I glued them on the appropriate electronic box and added details as needed. The decals are just random spares that I had. That is it for now. I’ll post the 6 point race harness that I made and the completed interior next time. Thanks for checking in. Comments, suggestions, and critiques are welcome.

Outstanding model, Nick! Lots of great details on it. I’m glad that you stuck with it and finished it. Thanks for sharing!

Very nice, Harold! Such a great car and such a great model.

She turned out great, Michael! Thanks for the detailed write up. I have quite a few of Hasegawa’s F3000 kits including this one. It is nice to see one built up and read about someone else’s experience with the kit.

Hang on, Greg, let me go pop some popcorn, because I’m going to be following this one!

Absolutely gorgeous!

That Olds is drop dead gorgeous!

So elegant! A beautiful model of a beautiful car!

What a pleasure it has been to follow along on this build. The final result is sublime! Congratulations!