Top.Secret

I've had the same bottle of 'The Detailer' blackwash for the past 15 years haha. The results I got weren't that good but I never thought to look for something else because I thought it was just me lacking in skill lol. I assumed it was something everyone used like BMF and you just had to get better with it. After seeing all the bad opinions here about this product I guess it partly had to do with the product heh.

Really appreciate the photos man, I wanna kick my own head for not seeing the solution for the rear as you've done here heh.

Nicely done man, nice paint and you've got the ride height done nicely. May I ask how you went about lowering this? I just completed this version of the Monogram Kit I built this to familiarize myself with the kit as I also bought the Sport 300 version. The chassis is essentially the same but it was a serious nightmare for me to lower this thing, and after the lowering was completed, the rear wheels would not sit center. The method I tried was to make the chassis 'spine' sit deeper into the interior bucket but that created all sorts of problems. So many parts had to be trimmed or adjusted when I tried doing it this way. I don't know how I will go about it when I build the 300. Edit: As you can see on the stock build on the box art, the stock stance (atleast on this version of the kit) has the stance of a monster truck lol.

Thank you Lee

So I was browsing a Japanese scale modelling site, I can't understand Japanese but the pictures I think are worth looking through anyway. I came across this thing and I was wondering if you guys are familiar with what this is. I wish I had some as it would be useful to me. What I'm asking about is in the link below. The guy puts something that looks green unto the car body prior to applying putty. It seems to allow him to remove the epoxy putty from the body after it dries so he can form it. http://www.mokeden.jp/kousaku/fairlady240zg/fairlady240zg-3.htm

I don't find the car itself interesting, but you've put it all together so well I took a good long look at the photos. The paint came out nice, and the panel lines look perfect. Very clean.

I like everything you've done here, most of all the engine installation.

Nicely done, looks like your enjoying your return to the hobby. 2 kits completed already. Lookin forward to seeing more.

You didn't have any fitment issues? I built up the Monogram 512 tr recently, and although there are slight differences in the engine and chassis to this kit, by the looks of it they seem share more similarities. I thought the fitment of the suspension was a nightmare until I tried to fit the body unto the chassis. I tried so many things to get the car body to sit flat unto the chassis and it just refused to. After searching on the internet for awhile I realized I wasn't the only one. Out of rage I delivered several hammerfists to the whole car . Yea I have a bad temper. After my head cleared I felt bad afterwards because I saw someone who had the same problem remedy it by cutting off the sideskirts, which are strangely molded unto the chassis, and instead fixing them unto the body. Ah well... live and learn

I'll be following this one.

@ShawnS I wasn't sure whether to ask this question here or in your WIP thread. After seeing this and the amazing work in your WIP thread I can't help but ask how did you approach making the details onto sections of parts that are hard to find pictures of such as the work you did on the engine or undercarriage. We're there times you went up to the real car too or had to refer to real life manuals?

This is really amazing. I love seeing scratchbuilt-type projects, especially ones as involved as yours, reach completion. One last point I wanted to touch on, During a time when 3D printing is an option people are turning to for these kind of projects, seeing someone scratch build a car like this is really special. I don't think I'll ever have the same appreciation for custom 3d printed projects as I do for scatchbuilt projects like what you've done here.

Looks great and it's an interesting subject as I've never seen a model kit of this before. Welcome back to the hobby!

Don't think I've ever seen a buildup of this one, lookin forward to it.

Hello, I just signed up to this forum recently and this is my first thread here and I'm happy to have found this place as it seems to be the last car modelling forum with a healthy amount of active users. I look forward to learning some tips and tricks from you guys and hopefully contributing something back. I've been working on this Supra for the past 2 weeks. I spotted this article, during the past Christmas Holidays, written about the car I fell in love with when I was around 12 years old. Aoshima has released multiple 'Top Secret' cars, but for some reason they have never done the original Top Secret Supra. I got the itch and had to jump back into the hobby and scour the internet for reference pictures. I think this is something you guys can relate with. The need to build a model of your favorite cars from your childhood. Here's 2 images of the real car: Start of the Journey (Supra body from the Tamiya kit) shaping the nose. Added 2 pillars cut, shaped, and filled with milliput A lot of styrene and milliput later, we have the basic shape. Since milliput takes forever to dry, I work on the hood. Hood ready for the vents. Or not, oops....... It's ok we can fix it with superglue and milliput After letting the hood dry, and a lot of filing and sanding to the body. (Clearly a lot more work ahead.) With that face in mind, I thought it's time to work on that lamp housing. I thought this method would work and it actually seemed fine, the only problem was the area was so small I couldn't sand it lol. Making body kits isn't really my thing, so this just a big giant learning process for me. Well, when you fail, try something else right? My second attempt involves the use of a stuffed condom. Yea buddy. Stuffed with milliput, get your head outta the gutter. Here's a pic checking fitment. Filed down. Drilled out, so I can make cuts and shape the inside. Got the basic shape, but needs a lot more work. Pretty annoying since it's so small. Throw on some primer, check for flaws. And yea, flaws everywhere. Here some pics of problem areas that needed / still need fixing Off center nose Shaping surfacing issues More shaping and surfacing issues Oh yea I forgot to show how I completed the front fenders: More sanding, filing, and primer this is the state the body is in now. Just minor surface issues now and I need to draw two panel lines. After fixing those I'll be on to making the side skirts. I'd be surprised if you read this far. Sorry if there's a lot of pictures but I kind of wanted to show as much of the steps as I could. Thanks for reading