jaymcminn

Love 'em for those applications where you want something with a big flake. I use the One-Coat paints over either Duplicolor or Tamiya primers with no issues. Not for replica-stock applications, but the results can be excellent. One-Coat Fiery Orange over Tamiya white primer Root Beer Brown over Duplicolor Red Oxide Primer White Lightning and Inca Gold with airbrushed fades I also use the One-Coat clear exclusively over Testors and Tamiya lacquers. Never had a problem with compatibility.

Yup. Pre-ordered. I'm fairly (pleasantly) surprised at the price point, given what Tamiya's been charging for the Lexus LF-A and Aston DBS kits. I would have thought $70-80. That's money I can spend on CF decals!

That Bugatti pops up in my Ebay feed every time it's relisted. It does look a bit... lopsided, or something. There are other models by the same builder in the same eye-watering price range.

I'm a little surprised that they're doing the Murcielago, given that it's the last-generation Lamborghini supercar. Especially since Fujimi's version has been around for years. If it's full-detail and of the same level of quality as the Countach and Aventador I'm definitely in for one.. the only reason I didn't buy the Fujimi is because it's curbside. Aoshima is definitely proving themselves to be the company to watch when it comes to exotic car models... now if they could just give us a Veyron! (Or a Pagani Huayra!)

It's the old Protar tool. Never built that one, but I've heard it's rather fiddly and a bit crude in places. If you want to build a GTO, I'd look for the recent Fujimi kit- I just got one and man, is it nice!

Thanks, everybody! Skip, photos actually don't lie in this case. The Fiery Orange, like most of the One-Coat paints, has a LOT of flake in it. Normally I tend to stay away from them for that reason, but on this particular car I wanted that heavy metalflake effect.

Here's the WIP thread for this one... http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77115 This is a mild custom buildup of the Tamiya Lotus Europa Special kit. Paint is Testors One-Coat Fiery Orange with One-Coat clear. Carbon fiber decals are SMS High-Def. Wheels are Fujimi Minilites. Wing is an Aoshima Tuner Series wing with the uprights modified and scratchbuilt end plates. Exhaust was constructed from a parts-box muffler with styrene pipes and tailpipes from the Hasegawa Ferrari 250 TR. Blacking out most of the trim really makes the little Europa look a lot meaner. I got it to sit as low as possible given that any lower would have meant major surgery to the kit. Kit carbs were replaced with Accurate Miniatures Corvette Grand Sport units. Engine bay heat shielding is Wilton cake foil. Overall this was a fun little build... the Europa kit is pretty much par for the course as far as Tamiya's 90's releases go. It goes together great with no surprises. If I can get my hands on another cheap enough, I might have to do a widebody version! As it stands, I already have a Lotus 7 on the way... it will wind up as a companion piece for this one, but that's another thread. As always, any questions and comments are welcome!

Got this one finished, so here's the last WIP update... this is the interior/engine bay/chassis all done prior to installation of the body: ....And here's a shot of everything all finished up- more pics in Under Glass soon!

Beautiful work. Is this the version with the PE upgrade parts?

What an awesome idea. I love the seats and the changes to the body to make it look more "fiberglassy". All those kit cars had really thick A pillars compared to their steel counterparts, so the Avanti windshield mod really works. I can absolutely see this in a sparkly metalflake finish and maybe some "Miurette" decals for the rocker panels... can't wait to see where this goes!

Thanks for the responses and encouragement, everybody. It's surprising how many people have personal experience with the Europa, given the relative rarity of these cars. I've never actually seen one, but I can't imagine they're too common in Florida... given the heat and humidity down here, a car with the Europa's E-Z Bake Oven tendencies couldn't have been too popular. Progress continues on the Europa- the door cards and seats were painted in Tamiya Deck Tan, then masked off and the rest of the interior painted in dark brown and flocked with dark brown flocking. The dash and center console will be black. I also used Wilton cake foil for heat shielding on the back side of the firewall... you can get the stuff at Michaels, and a roll will provide you with a lifetime supply of in-scale heat shielding. Saves a lot of trouble bumming cigarette foil from your smoker friends. I also mocked up the chassis... the heat-stained exhaust came out pretty well! Next, it all starts coming together. More updates soon...and as always, questions and comments welcome!

Bernard, when I did my custom Stude several years back, I wrestled with the decision to do the lakes pipes... I eventually decided "for". Here's the result... Fantastic work on yours... the Leowy Coupe is a beautiful design, and subtle touches really make it come to life!

So after rigging up a custom dual exhaust for the Europa, I decided to do a minor mod to the engine. The kit's stock carbs are okay, but a bit tame looking... at first, I thought I'd cut off the stock airbox and add some trumpets in their place. While rummaging through the parts box, however, I came across a set of side-draft Webers from the AM Corvette Grand Sport kit. I tried them out on the engine, and they looked pretty mean! There are a lot of pics online of twin-cam Lotus motors running Weber side-drafts online and these actually look pretty close to scale. I cut off the intake trumpets and gave them the Alclad treatment and repainted the carbs in bright aluminum. I also drilled out the alternator pulley (a very visible part on the finished engine) to represent an aftermarket billet unit. The block is painted Tamiya Brilliant blue, and the exhaust manifold/pipe were painted in Alclad and heat-discolored with Tamiya acrylics. On to the pics! Next, I'm finishing up the interior and chassis. More pics soon!

Work progresses on the little Lotus- I tend to build in fits and starts around my work/gym/fishing/beer drinking schedule, which is why I tend not to update at regular intervals. Also, the cat ate my homework. I went with Testors One-Coat Fiery Orange for the paint on the Europa... usually I tend to stay away from the One-Coat line due to the out-of-scale metalflake effect, but on a 70s car like the Europa the metalflake effect works. The Fiery Orange isn't a bright orange- it's more of a 70s burnt orange, which also suits the subject matter. Here's the paint pre clear-coat... Then after polishing and mocked up on the frame... And as it stands now, with the wing in place on the rear deck. The wing is a modified Aoshima tuner series unit... I scratchbuilt the side plates and modified the struts to work better on the Lotus. The wing itself is covered in Scale Motorsports High-Def Carbon Fiber decals, as are the sill covers (pics later) front spoiler, and licence plate area on the rear of the car. I know that the CF goes against the whole retro vibe of the car but, hey, I like how it looks. The bumpers will be stripped of chrome and blacked out, as will the door handles. I'm going to leave some chrome on the car, however... the headlight surrounds, fuel filler caps, and rear view mirrors will remain chrome, as will the metal-transfer badges. Interior will be tan seats and door cards with chocolate-brown carpet. The engine is just about finished... more pics coming soon!

I will probably go with the HD photoetched set next time... I've had nothing but good luck with their PE sets in the past. I like the idea of the yellow and green... sort of like the 0738 car's color scheme, but with the green continuing as a stripe? Sounds cool!

I quit for the last time about five years ago. You'll get to the point where you can't even believe how much your life revolved around smoking, and how much better off you are without cigarettes in your life. Stay strong and look for positive behaviors and habits to replace the negative one you're dropping. For me it's working out... do what feels right for you. Good luck!

Man, that is some clean work. Nice!

I received a set of tuner-style wings from Aoshima and mocked one up on the rear deck. It looks pretty aggressive. Since these pics, I scratchbuilt new end plates for the wing. I also adjusted the rear ride height up a bit... it was sitting too low before. It looks meaner now. The wheel centers were also painted gunmetal. I removed the molded-in fuel filler necks on the rear deck to assist in blending in the separate rear window surround. I added them back in from sprue later. The bodywork was done in Bondo two-part glazing putty. Next up, I'll probably continue with the mechanical work on the engine and chassis.

So I had a little spare time today and decided to tackle a custom dual exhaust for the Lotus. I had some exhaust trumpets left over from my Hasegawa Ferrari 250TR build (I used a set of aftermarket turned aluminum trumpets)and thought they'd look pretty cool on the Lotus. The stock exhaust looks pretty lame, so I started playing. This is my first time building up an exhaust like this. I started with a parts box muffler which I mounted temporarily on the frame with Kristal-Klear. I then bent some styrene rod to shape over a candle flame... These were the best two. I mounted them to the muffler... and bent a pipe to connect the header to the muffler. Here's everything all mocked up. Finally, I cut the second hole in the body and reshaped the original one for the new exhaust and pinned and glued the trumpets to the exhaust. Here it is all mocked up- I like it!

Austin, that looks great... especially for a third model! I got the wheel centers painted today before work.. I'll get pics up tomorrow. I was thinking about the black-and-gold scheme, but wanted something a little more wild... and yeah, the body on the kit is probably thicker than the body on the actual car. Power windows in a Europa sounds a little incongruous...

Never used the templated sets, but I had really good luck with the SMS decals on one of my latest projects- the Revell 599 GTO. The trick seems to be following the directions SMS provides- make sure you use plenty of setting solution and a blow dryer to shrink the decals to the surface. This was my first time using these decals, and here are the results... On the rear diffuser- I made templates from Tamiya tape. I think this wound up being about 12 pieces of CF decal. The engine bay- three pieces. It's almost like magic when you hit the decals with the blow dryer and they conform to the surface. After trying some other decals (Hobby Design) that were too thick and wouldn't conform to any curves, these were a revelation.

I've been thinking about building a Lotus Europa for a while and finally scored the Tamiya kit on Ebay for a reasonable price. I've always rather liked the Europa- it looks sort of like a Miura that was hit with an ugly stick!The initial plan was to go with a factory-stock build, but online pics of lowered and modded Europas started me thinking about something a little cooler. I have a set of Fujimi Minilite wheels that have been in search of a project for a while that seemed perfect for the build I'm going for, but I needed to get the stance right for them to work. I actually cut the front frame box off the backbone to move it up a little and repositioned the rear trailing arms a little higher. After several hours work, here is where it sits... Plans are for pearl orange paint with rockers and wheel centers in gunmetal. Interior will probably be various shades of grey. There will be mild engine/exhaust work done as well, and the chrome exterior trim will probably be blacked out. I've ordered some Aoshima tuner-style wings and one of them will probably find its way, in modified form, onto the rear deck. I don't plan on doing Chip Foose-style bodywork here, because I like the Europa's quirky shape just the way it is... As always, questions/suggestions welcome!

I'm sure that urethane clears offer some advantages over the hobby lacquer clears I use now, but I just don't feel any urge to explore that route. Shiny is shiny, and going through a significant amount more hassle to get to shiny doesn't appeal to me. But then I like Key Lime Pie ice cream, so what do I know?

I'd love to see one of these in person...every year in Naples we have a fantastic car show downtown where a lot of amazing exotics show up. Things like C-type Jaguars, Birdcage Maseratis, and Ferrari 250SWBs. I keep hoping for a 250TR, but no such luck yet!

Thanks, Curtis. Your blue and white car was an inspiration for me to get off my butt and start building this one. I was actually going to do the scallop in Italian Red, but got talked out of it... fortunately, because the French Blue looks really good. As far as the photoetch goes, I actually screwed up there... it's not the KA models set, but the Studio 27 set. The S27 set includes the seat belts, but, oddly enough, no steering wheel spokes. I modified the original post to correct this error.