Technics

In a pre shade attempt I used three metallic colours haphazardly with brushes and sponges, once fully dry I continued with drybrushing a bright aluminium colour. I plan to dust on the exterior colour leaving some areas more transparent then others and trying to match my reference of a regularly driven car.

@DJMar Totally it screams 90s! I had a chance to test spray two paints on unprimed styrene scraps. On the left it´s pre mixed lacquer, no surprises, colour is even nicer then the bottle appears. On the right, I over thinned it causing some extra pooling and moving before drying. Second layer was out of the bottle with one drop of thinner. I believe I will go with the right sample. Iridescent Turquoise by Hobbnox / Createx. I’ve had this paint since 2020 when I went ahead and acquired all the necessary airbrush tools, paint and accessories… took a few years to gather the courage to learn and try tobecome proficient with new tools. I could always picture a number of 90´s American and Japanese cars in either of these colours but never having the tamiya paint to match. So I´m really excited what these samples show . Soon I will see how the water based paint reacts to clear once it´s had ample time to dry. I do not expect issues if the layers are patiently built up once it’s sealed. Looking at under the bonnet and under car photos it crossed my mind the idea of modulating the finish by spraying both paints! It would be another first for me. The clear coat peeling devil is taping my shoulder as well, so many options and things to learn. We´ll see what happens and what I have courage for.

Great colour and paint job.

Incredible skill. Love to see. Did you scan the body first ?

Some initial inspiration colour swatches with Vallejo paint and one Hobbynox lexan paint which is the closest to my inspiration photo. The turquoise is very correct for the period.

A modest stock notchback Foxbody Mustang.. One of my favourites! This was a cheap get as the box was damaged it will serve as an opportunity to get in those “topcoat” finish hours in. Like all projects I’m back and forth on the colour… and if I want to experiment with aging. I realised I can do this to the underside of each build the chassis before I am proficient in another type of workflow to go full hog on the exterior body.

Thank you everyone ! Very nice read ☺️ I surprised myself with the outcome to be honest. Mr hobby clear is a contributor as is lacquer paints via airbrush.. so fine and controlled to use compared to rattle can! I will return on the subject again after a little bit of distance as I have a narrow body turbo version still…. And a 1:10 pecan for a full rc build for those interested ! ☺️ https://www.instagram.com/scale_technics

@Rescued customs oh wow, that’s awesome . Sure please feel free to share a google drive or Dropbox link with references, PM me. Your project looks awesome, much more accurate already. And you’re right mine is not 1:1 I’m completely new to modifying kits to any degree. I’m not even sure if I’ll enjoy doing it as much as building out of box, so it’s an inspired build instead ☺️.

I fused the makeshift firewall to the main body, interior onto chassis and worked on all the parts for fitment. The motor is sitting loosely in place for photos, too tilted of course. The front clamshell still has some way to go to clear the firewall I’ll try my best. I will work the firewall as much as I find inspiring to do so. I mister on some black primer to have a look what the project actually looks like. To shift to focus onto something else entirely I did some tests of the blasphemi decal. First I made a few size tests with paper referencing the model to photos, I landed on 50mm in width and tried a few fonts I had with additional edits to them. I went with something more modern then the traditional looking ones on Mike’s car. To get the exact one I would redraw it completely from photo reference.. I have been putting off learning a new tool purchase as there’s always a learning curve but I was pleasantly suprised how well the Cricut plotter worked. Within a few minutes I was already cutting. These are just tests below, the scale is a bit extreme for this plotter I initially bought it for 1:10 decals but had to try as this is a rather large 1:24 decal. I cut two different vinyl materials and did a quick masking test with one. I feel it has promise and can see making the logo with a multi layer mask stencil, simply cutting out the decal out or a combination of both. Been wanting to try this for years!

Thanks everyone ! @Rescued customs it’s a fella here in Sweden you can find him on Facebook if you search Ghostman 3D parts. He’s easy to reach and chat with.

Project was concluded. Thank you everyone 😊 Final post is below

Model - Lotus Esprit 300 Details added - Carpet, new oem emblems Modifications - Alot of the body and chassis needed removal of material to fit together. As individual assemblies they were nice otherwise. Stance is hard-set with CA glue and hot glue as best as I could manage. 2024 marked my return to 1:24 from a 20 year hiatus, feeling inspired and motivated! Paint Street Blisters Arden Green Mr Surfacer Black Primer Mr Super Clear Pros A tidy paint and clear finish Really happy with result! Best I have done so far Cons Kit Part fitment could be better Finish could still be better in with a polishing process to get a true glass / gloss finish. A advanced build due to number of parts which were unfortunately difficult to assemble together as sub assemblies in the end. Manual is good, part count and detail of the parts is very good. Build Thread -

Main engine assembled, few tricky bits. Isn’t perfect but it should look great as a whole. Chiseled away at the firewall whenever I had the inspiration, nothing pretty but most won’t be seen or drawn attention to hopefully. Mocked up the motor to chassis to body. Took a bit of trimming, and working the chassis to get the motor to sit at the angle I wanted. Looks absolutely mental 😃 ! I will work to have the motor sit further forward but I’m starting to see promise. I will be able to pull this off. A huge undertaking as this is the second kit I’ve ever cut outside of the instructions ( Stratos the first ) . It was about time I dared to Again, not perfect but a inspired build. I also got these wheels as I love the look of them. Well see if they’ll work on this project or not.

Four coats of clear, last two were wet sanded with 3000 grit. If I applied a bit more pressure it would have been perfect. This is by far the best finish I’ve managed it’s significantly more “Mirror” reflective gloss like then the Espirt :) . I guess a fine grit cut and polish would make it completely glass. Very pleased!! I had to remove finger prints from the second layer and small dust speckles from all layers but the last. I will let it rest for a few weeks to a month+ before I dare to tape the next stage. I have let it dry 4-6 hours before handling it for these photos.

Sharing some more inspiration images which I am using as a reference for dirt accumulation and body colours. I made a test of a few colours for the lower half as I am now not 100% certain which one to go for. I will give it a bit more time before I make a lower body colour pass. Now I’m leaning towards rubber black. I feel It will contrast nicely with the green.

@MarkJ That’s some very kind and encouraging words thanks for that! I often see only flaws, but try to see the big pictrue and just enjoy the process regardless of the result. I outlined and brush painted the first layer of two of black on the inside of the clamshells that will be seen when the model is complete. Not 100% decided if I’ll leave it at that or elaborate on the fibreglass. I started to plan out the interior and began applying some PE parts. Super rewarding process it is.

Lovely subject and progress so far. Inspiring to watch the scratch building / hinges.

I fused the clear lenses onto the rear. Happy with the result. Here is how it looks unfinished underneath so far. Some examples of how the clamshells are finished or not finished rather. I am going to aim for a faded beige yellowish half dirty look which will probably be mainly paint maybe putty, the feel grass like flocking is a bit overkill for now at the least way I’ve tried. Black was the plan initially but it’s a but more interesting with a modulated warm colour for the inner clamshell.

Surge of inspiration came so I opened up the remaining resin parts of the kit that I haven’t touched since summer. I primed the next batch of small parts. Rear struts mounted. The motor has been painted and washed a few times over and has been sealed once. Plenty left to do on it, the exhaust I mocked up briefly and decided I want to make it white. I tried to modulate the colour and make it all look realistic / interesting. I will continue to matte down and dust it in white it should turn out ok. I’m out of realm here but am inspired and there’s no lack of images available online. Technically this could apply more towards my other build(s) as I will not go this heavy on the Lancia but I’ll post it here. I experimented with dirt and with rust. The left is pigments applied, and removed and matte clear coated. The right is rust by applying 4-5 colours with a spounge and slouched about. I am super surprised how well both sides turned out. I am very happy. I would do it much more stubble with a top layer exposing only fractions of the rust is the idea. Small bits on the exhaust maybe well see how it feels. Finally I had the idea of trying to mimick fibreglass. It could be simply colour or Tamiya diluted puddy applied to the Desired surface but I thought I’d take it a bit further and try to get the fiber hairs / strands. I applied wood glue and sprinkled on household spices at first. I was being careful as it smelled delicious immediately. I went out and bought some railroad grass strands which fitted the scale more. I applied them and am now experimenting of how to seal and paint them a yellowish pale brown tint / shade. Clear coat did not do much to my liking but get absorbed so what you see here is layers of different types of clear gel / resin / micro klear etc. The airbox will be in this raw fiberglass as well as the inner of the entire rear clamshell. Just because I haven’t done it before and to get over the hump of doing high gloss only.

Begun to brush paint details on the body, masking touch ups with paint, lamp housings & lenses. Fused the lamps to the body. I’m releved the magnet and hinge work as they should. As it’s all CA glued in its final place.. permanently ideally! I started to appreciate how small the model is when handling the clear parts, tiny as the car itself! They can be mistaken for scrap trimmings when they’re off the sprue. The wheels sit vibrant now, some reference photos show a much more lemon yellow but I went with a more orangey reference photo / colour . I’m not replicating an exact stage or race. It’s a kit car for all we know Fused on painted and backed front and side clear lenses. Began inspecting the photo etch detail up set I have. I don´t know how much I´ll be using from the PE sheet but I will use as much as I see fit! I removed and began to shape the front grill. So precise and accurate it seemed at first glance. I bent the mesh around a exacto blade handle to match the curvature of the front of the body.

Looks awesome !

I made a colour choice, I went with the Iceland BMW Green. I will have bumpers and running boards in this nice satin Porsche colour I found. It’s warmer and less Arden Green then it appears on photos. Unintentionally it ended up being sort of box art vibe haha. Actually thought about going full box art and finish it off with a finely painted gold stripe of tape. Feels very OEM anyway I am debating attempting a weathered peeling clear coat in areas. I do plan on having a light road use feel. It’s a parked runner / survivor. I have not airbrushed for a while so I made the mistake of shooting in a bit too low psi, and I had not cleaned it properly so it resulted in needing to wet sand after a few base coats. But with newly cleaned disassembled hardware and psi 25-30 it shot beautifully. So inspiring to use, I’m on my 8th or 9th. “Full pot” of paint. I will let it rest and gas out now.

@NOBLNG I’m with you, I love a lifted off roader, crawler, pre runner etc…. I just need some really simple OOB builds in parallel to offset my nerves of challenging builds and setbacks of other projects 😃 I have the Lindenberg Cherokee in 1:20 which I will build one day, caged and on my 1:24 crawler chassis with knobby tires and all the things. @Mattilacken oo sounds awesome! i wish the first gen existed in scale form. It’s such a nice body. Black primer on. Worked on removing seams and blemishes I could find. I love the feeling of Mr Surfacer.

I won’t be ready to shoot until midweek if I’m lucky but right now my first choice as boring as it may seem the Aston Martin Arden Green again with a silver bottom half . The colour is very appropriate for the maturity of an OEM Jeep and will look realistic I feel. straight out of a dealer catalogue. My second choice is the BMW Iceland Green.

Jeep Cherokee I need some OOB builds that aren’t fussy to offset the difficult Airfix and Monogram kits I am wrapping up. A golden era Tamiya Jeep is the ticket. I’ve had this in the stash a good while. A era of SUV’s that are kinda special if you look back at them now. Manual gearboxes, V8s, and lots of character! I will definitely take the opportunity to go with a two tone paint job on this exterior. I have the urge to use my newly acquired paint. I feel a metallic red would feel believable. Otherwise a black or dark metallic shade of grey is a no brainier but that works so well on anything I am willing to go outside of my comfort zone to make something unique ( maybe ) . I love the extra rugged look of modified ones but I want to keep the rabbit hole shallow in the name of progress and ultimately completion. It gets out of hand quickly otherwise 😃.