Nacho Z

Man, Dann, this thing is too cool! I love it!

Terry, you may already know this but you can download Google translator on your phone. I use it all of the time. Have fun with the Lambo! I’ve seen some very nice models built from this kit.

As promised, this will be my last update before posting in the Under Glass section. I want to discuss the decals and the fit of the body to the chassis in this post. I will not overdo it with multiple pictures of my in-progress decaling. As can be seen in this photo and some of the others I have already posted, the decals with the red and green are a little thicker and lay done with a definite texture to them. This is not uncommon and I've experienced it with Tamiya's decals as well. After getting her all decaled, I did something I have not done before, I clear coated the decals. I had to walk a fine line between too much and not enough clear. I did my best at striking a compromise between the two. I polished out the clear to a level that I thought was appropriate for a 1977 rally car. I then masked it off and painted the rubber trim around the windows and windshield. Another big deal for me, I airbrushed a second thing on this car!! On the rear there is a small panel that is black. I airbrushed Tamiya semi-gloss black bottle paint. It came out nice. I had just a little bit of clean up to do but considering this is only the second thing I've really airbrushed, I was super happy! But it was all going too well when a small disaster struck. All you have to do is Google a review of this kit and they almost all mention how hard it is to spread the body out far enough to get the chassis into it. I think I made 4 attempts and had something break off of the interior each time. I finally resorted to cutting the sides of the chassis down. The following picture is not staged. This is what happened when I finally got the chassis in the body but had to take it back out because another dang piece came off. Admittedly, I lost my cool a little and as it was all coming apart as I tried to take it out, I just gave it a good hard pull. Later that night. You can see where I cut the sides of the chassis down.

Thanks, Bruce! It has been a labor of love...lol.

She is coming along nicely, Chris!

Rich, I’m sorry to see this. I completely understand your trepidation about your upcoming procedure. I know it is of little comfort but it is a good thing that you appear to have a skilled physician performing your bypass. Much better that you are nervous and not him!! ?. You will be in my thoughts and prayers, Rich. I will see you at the next Pittsburgh show!

Time for another update. To start off with I will describe the whole hood decal ordeal...lol. Honestly, it was more time consuming than anything. I started by just getting the big ol' thing laid down and centered. When I had it positioned and all of the excess water and setting solutions squeegeed out I started cutting slits in the decal. If anyone has used decals with these thicker, opaque colors you know that they are a little harder to work with. The decal didn't cut in a nice straight line but rather in a more jagged fashion, (and yes, I used new surgical scalpel for this). I then took a micro brush loaded up with Tamiya's decal solution and worked each individual vent. Now don't be too alarmed at how absolutely ugly this looks right now. This picture is zoomed in a lot and a bit over exposed. What I was trying to capture was how the decal cannot cover the entire inner surfaces of the vents. You can see a lot of white area in each vent. I am generally a lazy and impatient modeler so I have to pat myself on the back a little bit. I took my time and after several attempts I was able to mix some green paint to be dead-on balls accurate match when it dried! I then took a tiny paint brush and painted the inside of each vent. I took small breaks from the hood decal madness and worked on the interior and chassis. My last update will be covering the overall quality of the decals and the nightmare that was putting the chassis and body together. Stay tuned!

That is such a cool model! You did a great job on this. Nice!!

Tim, I appreciate the input! That is (almost) exactly what I did. Truth is, this thing is built and in a display case. I tend to do these workbench threads so that others can see what is In the kit, what to look out for and what I may have done to overcome a problem. I have been very fortunate to have mentors and I am more than happy to pass along anything that I can. I think it is just great that you basically gave me step by step instructions on how to do the hood decal. That is all I am hoping to do in this thread, pass along some helpful tips.

Bruce, thanks Buddy, I appreciate the comments!

As I said in my last post, I am going to do something new for me. I am going to clear coat over my decals. The paint has cured and I am going to do what I always do, I'm going to polish out my paint. I always get a little flutter in the pit of my gut when I start polishing out a nice paint job...lol. I did not go for a show rod shine but rather a decent paint job for a purpose built rally car. Here she is with the paint knocked down. And here she is with the shine brought back. Again, not a show rod shine but a race car shine. With the paint work done it is time to start laying the decals. Where to start??? Might as well start on the top. The ROME decal is a separate decal and I wanted to make sure that I got it centered. Thanks to the NNL East crew, I was able to do just that. Laying flat decals onto compound curves is a bit nerve-racking but these old decals behaved fairly well. The red triangle is a separate decal and took a bit of work to get snuggled into place while keeping it centered. Coming up next is probably the most time consuming part of the entire build......

Peter, I've checked your post on my phone and my laptop. I'm not seeing any pictures, just a gray circle with a dash in it, (I can't for the life of me think of what that symbol is!)

Awesome looking model, Bruce! Great looking livery.

She’s a beauty, Scott!

I have recently decided to clear over decals. In the past I didn’t do this, (I’m primarily a race car builder), and I have read that Tamiya clear TS-13 is a little hot and can eat decals. I had read that Testors Extreme Lacquer was safe so I tried it and have had no problems with my decals and the shine is decent.

Bill, I’m not sure if you are on Facebook but if you are there are a ton of tips pinned to the group -14th Annual 24 Hour Model Build.

Man, Mike, that sucks! I’m sorry to read that your paint job was ruined. John, have you tried Testors Extreme Lacquer clear? I’m assuming what you are talking about is different from the Extreme Lacquer clear?

Thanks, Bruce! It has been a fun kit so far. I ran into a little snag which I will share with everyone soon.

That looks soooo good!! Is the stance right out of the box or did you have to adjust it? You really nailed it, Steve!

I am going to do something new, at least to me, on this model. I plan on clear coating the decals. I've built more than a few race cars and I have never clear coated them after decaling. I set the body aside to let the paint cure and worked on some chassis and interior items. As a reminder, she is a box stock build. The seats are nothing more than primer gray. I masked the seats and shot the backs black. I put the kit decal seatbelts on and then hand brushed flat clear over the top of them to knock down the shine of the decals. The dash has 11 separate decals and a bit of detail painting. I also worked on the suspension components. Worked on headlights and taillights.

Thanks so much for the kind words, guys! Much appreciated. Gerry, I didn't get the Studio 27 wheels, I used the kit wheels. I'm keeping this one box stock.

I think it looks great, Dustin!! Top notch build, Bud. Love all of the details you put into this.

Sorry for my rambling earlier, I just am getting excited about jumping into the airbrushing aspect of this hobby! I really, really appreciate your answering my questions. And again, can't wait to see your next update and am looking forward to seeing that body under paint. That color is gorgeous!

"Yes, so would I".....I chuckled at that one...lol. That just struck me as funny and true at the same time. I see other people's work and think to myself, man, I need to build mine! I do this about a hundred times a week ?.

The body is pretty much ready for paint. I rescribed all of the panel lines before paint. I shot it with Tamiya white primer and then Tamiya TS-26 Pure White. Now I have to tell you, I'm pretty stoked about this next part. This may not be a big deal to some of you but to me it is HUGE! This car has very distinctive yellow wheels. I didn't think I could achieve a decent finish with a rattle can. I worked up the courage to pull out my airbrush for basically the first time, (I had played with it once a year or so ago), and figure out how to shoot Tamiya Lemon Yellow bottle paint. I was fortunate to get it figured out fairly quickly and was able to paint the backs/insides and spokes of the wheels! This is a big step for me! Anyhow, here are the finished items.