VanSpence

This kit looks great and while there is a ton of controversy about the car, I still think it is a good looking car overall. I will be following this one close to see the end results.

OK, so my camera is not awesome for pictures, and I am finding this out as I go along. Pretty much finished except for some clear orange for the signal lights that I am waiting for delivery which should happen next week I am hoping. Once I have the orange I will finish it off completely and set it aside. Did mess up a little with glue while trying to put on the wipers but it is not too bad. I am probably 90% OK with this and as my first one back after so long, I am content with it. I will see what I can do about doing some good photos once I have the clear orange and then post it in the under glass next week sometime. I appreciate the encouragement that this form provides and will continue to use it to pursue further and more complex projects.

The phone dials look pretty good on the CVCC, I have to say. Actually, what I am looking for is the Honda steels. Both of the CRX kits from Tamiya and the Fujimi Gen 2 kits come with the higher model wheels but the original CRX base models came with the regular base Honda steel rims with the trim rings. This is my previous Si with the 16b swap which I did originally have the phone dials on it but changed to the steel rims as I liked the all black look better. Trying to find a set of Honda steels has not been an easy task. The Hassagawa CVCC kit does have the original steel wheels in it but the kit I bought for the CVCC does not have the steels in it but 2 different sets of rims. I was considering also buying the CVCC kit you have there but just not sure I want to buy a whole kit just to get the wheels out of it......but I am considering. Both of your Honda kits there are stunning. The CRX convertible is pretty impressive and I am pretty sure I have seen a 1:1 version very similar looking in the past. I have also owned an 86 hatch with the b16 swap like what you have there but not with the flip front. I like what you have done there. That integra kit is amazing. It is too bad Fujimi does not do the engine for their kit as they have tons of variations of the integra and it looks like Revell has only done 2 of this integra? Too bad I didn't buy a case of them when they were $10 each back in the day. I would love to get my hands on a few of those now but not looking to pay $40 or more for one.

So I thought I would try something different and something I have never done before. I wanted a cloth look to the seats and so I thought it might work if I used bathroom tissue as I have heard of military guys using it as canvas covers and other things like that. Turns out TP is pretty hard to work with. First off, I learned that I need very good scissors to cut to desired shapes. TP does not cut very easily at all. I also learned that TP, since it is made to dissolve in water, it will also break down when using paint as well. Anyway, learned a lot and I think if done right, it could actually work and since this project was about learning new things, it was a step in the right direction. Not going to strip and try again but just tidy things up a bit and keep it as it is. I am pretty disappointed in my taping skills as well. Could be partly because I used a rattle can and it was just too heavy in the paint but either way, the paint turned out to be quite a mess. As I say, I will tidy it up a bit and call it a day. For the body I used Tamiya canned primer which does go on thick but was not too bad. Did three coats in flat yellow which did cover it quite well and then proceeded to do some clear. I have been watching a lot of the Scalemodeling Channel on youtube and it has been a great learning experience. Just to see things in action can make all the difference. From watching these videos I have learned a few things about my own painting. 1 - my needle is quite small and so it can be a little more difficult to get good coats and 2 - I have not been thinning my paints enough at all. I wanted to try something again with this one and so when I went to do the clear, I used clear yellow instead of just clear, to see what kind of finish it gave the car and because my paint was not thin enough, it gave me very distinctive lines on the roof and hood of the car. Once I thinned the paint and gave it a second and a third coat, it did some evening out of the color but it is still not quite where I want it to be. I was going to try maybe one more coat of yellow clear to see if it will even it out completely and if it does not then maybe I will just spray the roof and hood in black and call it a day. Otherwise, looking pretty good. I do like the color choices so far and I would consider doing something maybe different with the interior if I were to do it again. Even in yellow a lot of the pics on line show the interior with red seats and trim and carpeting which looks pretty sharp.

That civic is great. I love the missing molding on the fender and that antenna is perfect. Looks like this was a very interesting build. That Miata is unbelievable. What an outrageous amount of detail. Turned out as one impressive looking kit.

Thanks for the tip, I will keep it in mind. I am currently on Entrance Island, you can google maps it. It is a very tiny island with a lighthouse on it. I am one of the 2 keepers who is currently living here. The arrow is my house. lol

I love Magic Box and go there when I can. Problem is I live on an island and am not allowed to leave except for once a year. It makes going to the store pretty tough. I have to get my stuff online when I 'need' it. I have used Sunward in Toronto for paints and supplies and have Hobby Wholesale in my favorites as well and they are both ok but I find their sites actually kind of suck for online browsing. Not that well laid out. Now what I would really like to find is a site like scale modeler or hirohobby that is in Canada!

Oh man, the Celica and the Honda look like they are going to be amazing. Really looking forward to those two. If you are by chance not going to use the seats or wheels in that there Honda kit, I would be super willing to trade something....anything for them! I grabbed a honda kit as well, the race version which comes with all the stock parts of the kit you have here except for the seats and wheels. I would love to get my hands on a set of honda stock rims for a CRX project that I have. The Honda race version comes with 2 sets of wheels which make for pretty good rims.

Hiroboy is an online shop? Guess I could just google it myself and check......lol Thanks for the input and the kind words! After looking online at some photos I found that I actually liked the bumpers without the corner bump pads so figured I would get rid of them on this one. Did some sanding and some filling and then redid the primer on it. it is very very very clear to me now that prep is everything. EVERYTHING!! I am not quite 100% on this and I think I will need to do a little more sanding and clean up to get it so I am content with it. I have never done a lot of body modifications before so this is kind of new territory for me. Will have to see how this plays out.

Wow, that is amazing. Thanks for all the different points of view and it is awesome to see I am not totally alone on this one. Currently all of mine are in storage but I will one day go and actually count how many I have done over the years. Would be interesting to know. I would love to keep boxes and everything but I have never lived in one spot for too long and so being mobile is always important. I keep my bulk of them in storage but even when I lived in Hong Kong or in the Philippines, I kept all my instructions and added them to the pile when I got back to Canada. Always thought I was a little odd on this but good to see I am not the only one out there. Thanks for all the input guys!

I have been modeling since I was quite young, like 10 or so and I have this one thing that I do and that is I keep all my instructions for the kits that I do. I have many instructions going as far back as the early 80's of kits that I have done over the years, including cars, planes, boats, spaceships, gundam, tanks and even just oddball stuff. I have them all set up in folders by company brands and I have a whole file box full of them that I have been carting around with me right from the beginning. Wondering if this is weird or if there is anyone else out there who is similar? Find it kind of odd that I have been carting this box of instructions around for 40 years!

Tell me about it! My wish list is huge on Hobby Search but I am not going to allow myself to go overboard. I do need to find a good proper domestic site that gives me more access to AMT and Revell stuff at a semi decent price....but then again, maybe it is best I don't know that yet.

It is funny, I have never been a fan of the Stealth, even tho they share the same bodies. The odd wing on the rear always felt so out of place and the lack of vents just made the car look a little odd, in my opinion of course. I am glad to be back at it and have already begun buying new kits to start. Just waiting for the kits to arrive from Japan!

I bought this kit about 10 years ago because I wanted the seats for a CRX project that I was doing. I took the seats and then just left the kit sitting around gathering dust. Since I am getting back into building and building takes some practice, I thought this would be a great kit to see if I can still do some airbrushing skills. I plan on doing this one in yellow just to see what I can do with a difficult color to work with. The interior is pretty basic and the tub has very little detail. The back seats are a joke and the door panels have zilch for details to them. Going to give the interior a yellow and black as well to go with the exterior. Going to go with a pretty low stance on this one I think. Not going to fully redo the suspension and maybe just do this one scalemoddeler style and glue the wheels in place at the more approperiate stance. Mock up just to get an idea of what it will look like. Going for a pretty OOTB build on this one, just to get the model building skills back up to where they should be. Testing out some new tools as I go along before I get into some more serious builds......well serious for me anyway. If anyone has a set of seats they would consider passing my way or know where I can buy seats, please feel free to let me know.

So I have been out of the car model game for quite some time but figure it is time to get back into the swing of things. It has been about 6 or 7 years since I have done anything car related. Figured I would start out simple with an OOTB build and I am a pretty big fan of the VR4 so I figured - go for it. I started a while back but did not take any photos right from the beginning but here is where I am at Interior and bottom are pretty much done. I have a thing for matte cars so doing this one in a flat white as I like the contrast of the white and black. Just finishing off some detailing and should have it all together in a few days. I have enjoyed putting this one together and it feels good to get back into things. I am still waiting for some paints and tools to arrive but hope to have them within a few weeks. I have a few others builds that I will begin right quick here as well.

This is a great looking kit and I have one in my want list on Hobby Search. Love the fact that it actually has full on 4 wheel steering but you may have some difficulty using the 4WS with those monster wheels. They do look awesome tho, no question. I will be following your progress for certain.

It is so awesome that you are using jack stands to hold your rear axle up here. What an amazing build. Following this with huge anticipation.

This kit is on my to-do list. I will be watching close to see how yours turns out. Looks awesome so far.

That escort is awesome. The flares are huge! love it.

I grabbed one of the race versions of this civic and can't wait to start it. The awesome thing about the race one is that is comes with all the stock parts as well as the race parts except for the wheels and the seats. It even includes both full suspensions so you can choose a lowered stance or a stock height. I plan on building a street version using a combo of the race and the stock parts. This build is amazing and super inspiring. Can't wait to get started.

Hey guys, thought I would introduce myself here as I hope to get a little more into the online community again and back into the automotive modeling aspect of things. Been building kits since I was 10 or so and have never really stopped but have gone more hard core in years previous and slowed down from time to time. I spent 4 years living in Hong Kong where I had access to an amazing amount of kits at any time in stores but have moved back to Canada recently and have to start everything all over again including buying all new kits and supplies. I love to build many types of kits including some armor, some planes and a lot of Gundam. I find each branch of the hobby does have something that can be contributed to others depending on how you want to apply it. I tend to like import cars from the 70's, 80's and 90's so I am a pretty big fan of Tamiya, Aoshima, Hasagawa and Fujimi kits with a few other odd balls thrown in here and there. As I no longer have a stash or collection of kits, I need to start all over again building a closet full. I have recently secured a job as a Lighthouse keeper and so will have a lot of time to spend alone with no disturbances and I intend to fill that time with kits and building whenever possible. There is some amazing work done here and I hope to keep eyes on everyone's work and hope to gleam even the smallest bit of tips and techniques wherever possible. I am hoping this place turns out as exciting as it seems to be. Pictures are some of my older work. As you can see, it is a lot of different mediums. MVI_6919.AVI