Technics

I had the nerve to mask the body and shoot two coats of XF-69 Nato Black thinned with MLT. I was on and done in one sitting, tape went off after 15 minutes without a hiccup. I’m happy with the finish, the masking and the colour. I spent a good hour or two masking. Fresh tape out if the package. Shot two light layers of vallejo game air. Carefully removed the masks almost directly after. This was the first time I airbrushed the black trim. I guess I will never go back to rattle can for this as I had no flaws, a first for me! Very inspiring. Interior will black over light tan / beige. I look forward to adding carpets to the front and rear compartments. Will feel very oem and period correct. Realized I overlooked the front grill when masking the other day and had it now black. Unless it was heavily modded it doesn’t fit for me so I cleaned off the Vallejo Black with 91% isopropyl on a Q-tip in a matter seconds. I brushed on the BMW green to enhance the colour as it felt a bit faded now. I will likely brush paint mr hobby super clear just to the raised green grill area. It is incredibly smooth even when brushed on. Complete game changer this new to me brand. Side mirrors and door handles on. Thinned the forever self thickening Tamiya X/XF jar paint and brushed on the headlamp/taillamp faces. I am not in love with how ordinary the tires look. But this is to be a simple OOB for meditation purposes.. I brushed on some paint, cleaned off the face of it afterwards. And did a quick pin wash. I think it looks super box art ! I’m pleased with this didn’t think of how I’d do it prior . I will weather and soot the imperfections away toning it all down a bit.

Cool camo scheme! Original

@DJMar Ah ok! good input. I am certainly no expert on the model or genre. Yes the LED´s are completely functional 1:10 RC lights which one day I spontanously found them in a drawer and gave me the inspiration to build this truck which I´ve had for years half assembled. However I have yet to apply any current to them to see it lit, but I will do that eventually! Thanks everyone! It was liberating build for me stepping away from trying to achieve showroom clear coat

Great project - wow that’s from a retailer? How did they respond if you’ve contacted them?

Model - Revell '78 GMC Big Country Details - Square LED lamps Modifications - Scratch built fuel tank, rollcage Paint - Mr Surfacer 1500 Black Pigments diluted and airbrushed Enamel Washes Brush “chip” stippling Pros It´s complete! Cons It could have always been more real, create dents, more weathering. But I rather be done and keep the inspiration flame burning with a new project I´m calling it complete. From what started out as a 2020 rc scx24 crawling body that lived in primer for 5 years to a model that served as a canvas to kick start the first years of my weathering and surface manipulation journey I´m really happy with the result! It´s not overly accurate or precise but its a big stepping stone for me forward.

@SpeedAndViolence It was like a bit for me. I fell in love and re discovered the Stratos via the current day tribute replica cars being built by Hawk and LB specialists. I will build a 1/12 as a road car in the future. I had complete tunnel vision the past few days and did not let off the modelling throttle. A milestone moment I have been wanting to experience since opening the box back in June 2024. The amount of work it took to get here is more then any kit I’ve built in my hobby career so I am really proud. I permanently fused the motor assembly into the frame! Neither kits used in this project come with wiring / plumbing or any multimedia so I am piecing it together from an array of off the shelf material. Most ends of each cable I double or triple up on the tube diameter creating a boot, very rewarding process. I am cross referencing photos, the newly developed ? Italeri 1/12 kit / Doyusha? and the references the transkit did provide. Still have a way to go but it´s never been more complete. Components missing, final placement of wiring incomplete. It´s not a replica from a certain rally stage, or an example of engineering so there will be inconsistencies and that´s fine. It´s a model and not my goal 4-6 hours of wiring easily. Getting the motor into the chassis took a good 20 minutes if gentle fiddling trying not to get too many causalities. The 6 air funnels are Molotow paint. Indistinguishable from actual metal in person.

@espo Yes after I did it I realised I overcooked it a bit in comparison to my reference photos. Ultimately it’s about having fun for me which this was too fun to stop. I’m a complete novice to any sort of modulation and ageing so it’ll be a learning curve 🙂

Short but sweet. I fused in some spark plug rubber bases onto the motor and distributor assembly.

Body was painted and cleared. Createx/Hobbynox Iridescent Turquoise paint straight out of the bottle, Mr Hobby Super clear rattle can. Wet sand between all layers. I Love the colour and finish! Attempted some weathering on the chassis with multiple Vallejo paints

Love the subject. Awesome car and build.

Simple OOB build

Windscreen dusted in matte clear. Wing Mirrors on Dry brushed the instrument panel for a scuffed look. Added kit decals and detailed it with drops of transparent paint to simulate various lamps. I flocked the inner pockets of the door cards and fused it all into the main body / front clamshell. Very satisfying to see it in this condition as I’ve been building this monster since June. My biggest learning from this build will be patience, and to take breaks. It’s a struggle don’t let some of you the images fool you

Experiencing progress is rewarding and addicting which lead me to finish the majority of the interior not including door cards and the instrument panel. Electrical and braided lines, extinguishers, harnesses and both seats are in. I feel I’ve achieved a balanced look. By far the most detail I’ve endured doing. .

- I glued in the firewall lexan / window which I outlined in a black permanent marker first and applied a self adhesive smoke tint vinyl to add a bit of character. - Began painting the center console controls. - I wanted a splash of colour so I went with a deep wine red flock for the seats. It’s hard to capture on photos as the colour is changing but it feels mature and a bit different.. A bit of art instead of a historian 😃 - Made one of many harness belts which I aim to sling naturally onto the seats once it’s all in place. The exact placement is not final.

I dove into the first plumbing details. Duel fuel tanks to a center ventilation outlet from what I gather. The motor will be permanently fused into the frame soon allowing more auxiliary items to go onto the frame rendering any detail work impossible so it was time for this. I detailed combining fittings, silicon tubes, and zip tie clamps. Pretty rewarding when looking back at it. A small tear formed in the gold firewall, it’ll be touched up and conceiled by the motor. Things appear a but over saturated on photos I’ll dust the motor later toning it down. Last photo with the blade is a reminder of the scale.

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!