Technics

@Mattilacken Beautifully done! I love the subject car in itself and the twist of the JUN livery is a bonus! The livery was it DIY or sourced? I did not follow the build so I am not certain if it is the classic Tamiya kit or another one.

@MarkJ Straight out of the bottle, apart from a small drop of retarder to help aid tip drying. I am too amazed in the experience of how thin paint can go on. Definitely very rewarding. Very nice experience using both paints. @1959scudetto Thank you. I find all the Citroens to be really nice looking rally cars. I have the DS3 kit as well in the backed up pipeline. ?

Tested quickly one thin coat of 3 different colours doubling as airbrush practice.

Everything is in Mr Surfacer Black now. I’m tempted to keep things simple and throw on the logos and start the clearcoat process.

Quick build, filled in a few gaps on the exterior ( tricky rear badges that would never look good ) Made holes for the jack points on the side skirts. And worked on the overall stance. Interior is all black with a few decals. Depending on the result on the exterior might do belts but I find everything is secondary to a nicely done exterior. It’s the largest room for improvement to my skillset I aim to develop.

A neat little hatch. Can’t say I’ve seen many of these on the street. I never lived in a country that they were sold in. Especially a dual cam / hot version.

Citroen Xsara WRC 2001 Rally A budget auction purchase in order to accumulate hours of airbrush use. This is my first Airfix kit…. It’s no Tamiya! But the subject is obscure and I’m attracted to it. A simpler era that I look fondly back on so it’s an exciting topic. Quick colour tests to get used to pulling the trigger back. A Tamiya XF yellow and a Game Air red. Tamiya was thinned with lacquer thinner and the Game Air got served a dollop of retarder to slow down the needle tip drying and flow improver. Both went on beautifully.

Couldn’t help but mockup the body to interior to see how the rear compartment will look. I’m leaning towards an exterior colour of black with a yellow UK plate.

@jaymcminn stunning build yours in the red! And I can see what you mean directly with part fit at mocking up most … ? Overall however I am impressed at the quality and detail of the kit considering it is from 1994. Both the part count and scale accuracy to photo references is very high. The "drop in" ease as Tamiya kits is definitely not here. I primered everything but the Motor in Mr.Surfacer black 1500. For the interior cabin and rear engine compartment / storage I added flocking by using a base of Revel enamel as a glue. I am no hyper detailer or weathering master but I get excited to learn when I get to see and touch such nice pieces that make up the motor.

Alternate blasphemi route

@stitchdup Hi! Thank you very much. It’s no Tamiya but it’s a very nice build. The entire rear wing and rear wide fender areas are tricky to align when fusing all together. Some of the instructions aren’t clear and completely ignore some decals, parts and details all of which are included in the kit. But are shown on box art or in references. Generally just a bit more attention needs to be kept during building. A lot of reference photos of cars you want to simulate is a good practice for inspiration and build choices. I would buy and recommend NuNu kits for their continuous interesting subjects. Looking forward to seeing yours!

Most components are now fused onto the motor and it has been primed in Tamiya light grey. The motor needs to be final mounted into the frame to have more details and auxiliary items attached. I will begin painting on layers and doing details I can manage using some of the bottom photos as inspiration.

Lotus Esprit This will be a dual build of a special car and era. When I purchased this kit I was pleasantly surprised it actually contained two complete kits of the same year Esprit which the previous owner packed together in one box. I will start by building the 300 Sport version which is slightly wider and meaner to the narrow body original Esprit. It will be painted in a dark colour which I am not yet set on, but am getting there. I am aiming for a clean build with a touch of ‘been driven’ characteristics.

Thank you for all your kind words! Very inspiring!

I went ahead acquired Mr Surfacer in Black. First time using Mr Surfacer I absolutely love it. Just as good or better then Tamiya primer, it´s a nice option of if you want a black base. I have begun the process of gently wet sanding 320 - to finer. Laying down primer to see progress and adjusting where necessary. It´s not perfect by any means yet but I will keep cutting and priming until it is... or Good enough

@W-409 Very detailed and informative post, thank you for that! Like I said I am no expert, I do not know these cars or genre. The difference for me is negligible. I did notice after some time the roofline to be a bit lower but I thought it was the manufacturing quality of kit itself. The sedan looks even better agree. I went with this kit as it was a gasser already. I won’t be doing a rivet counting mechanically sound replica no. A light hearted eye squint tribute based on my skills at this time. If I can remove majority of signs of the exterior trim the build will be a success already from my perspective. A stepping stone on my learning curve.

I patiently cut away with a sharp hobby blade the unwanted trim followed by filling down the remaining volume trying not to attack the surfaces they sit on. Proven difficult to do so, I feel it went ok for a first attempt. If I was to do it again to limit affecting the surrounding areas further I would try a chisel type tool which I don’t have currently or a small dremel bit which I forgot I had amongst the excitement.

@MarkJ I used the smallest I could find, I believe they are used for table top gaming figures like warhammer and board games, dioramas etc. N52 being the strongest magnet rating, 2x1mm. https://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/neodymium-magnets-n52/2568-neodymium-magnets-2x1mm-100-units-n52.html @absmiami Love it! Thanks for sharing. @Brudda Thank you!

I went ahead and built the entire kit so it can stand upright with it´s body on. I will adjust the rear wheel offset accordingly and use the extra set of wheels the kit came with as it will match the reference more. The tires will need to be bored out slightly to have the wheels fit. I will most definitely fuse the hood to the fenders and cut it out as a clamshell. Bodyside trim removal will be first.

A few weekends ago I attended a national model competition / exhibition at which they announced next years theme. Tri - Five Chevy. The all business no fuss inspiration vehicle which immediately entered my mind when next year´s theme was announced was a sure thing. I know nothing about Gassers or Chevy´s but I love this car and enjoyed it´s development on Motor Trend over the years. All of roadkill’s content for that matter! I am undertaking something I am not comfortable or proficient at doing which is removing unwanted trim from a vehicle. I have been stocking up on materials and information online.

@MarkJ @Pierre Rivard @absmiami Thank you! I can’t take complete credit as the kit instructs you to hinge it, but still it is my very first hinge, clamshell and magnet use ?? I just felt it was neat if it was absolutely “locked” into place ? via magnet.

Model - NuNu Porsche 935 k3 Details - Aftermarket hood pins, tow hook, DIY interior cabling, brake bias, IP lamps, flocking, dual rear diffusers on exterior LED - DIY lamps using a CR2032 battery with switch soldered to 0402 SMD LEDs Pros First completed build in 21 years Highly motivated and inspired First time weathering First time using airbrush First time removing items off a body First time adding LED’s Cons Multiple paint mistakes, Sanding mistakes Dropped it once Importantly it’s finished and documented. I am very content and have multiple started which will be the next!

The rear clamshell is now both functioning on a hinge and stays shut via magnets.

I went onto drilling 1.8mm wide holes for the strong but tiny 2x1mm N52 gaming magnets I decided I want to have holding the rear clamshell together. I placed them into the recently filled gaps that were created from the large rear fenders which I filled. It all worked out fine, I will need some help closing the gap along the roofline. It might get solved when I mount the hinge wire and permanently fix the clamshell hinges which will limit the movement. I never done any of these processes as removing bonnet pins, separating body panels, using magnets ( in this scale ) but always admired those that could / willed to. It is very exciting to do, 20 years later!

@1959scudetto Thank you. Yes I have a unbuilt fujimi kit as well. I think this kit is more accurate on the exterior but lacks the motor. A 1:12 doyusha kit awaits for a future build one day, that thing is a monster!