Cobrawannabe

It's not too often you see brightwork that perfect. Stunning build of one of my all-time favorites.

Thanks for the tips! What do you mean by body breaks?

Thanks! I'm looking forward to it as well!

Any input is, of course, welcomed. I'm still new to the extreme body work thing, so any tips or tricks would be very helpful.

I got one of the front flares started tonight. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how everything is coming along.

I sanded down the putty, taped the tail panel into place, and took some pics that showcased the change in width.

I decided that I wasn't going to call it quits until I had one corner at least in rough putty tonight. Mission accomplished with a test fit.

And filing. And sanding: This is where I wound up:

Well, the Fujimi wheels showed up today. Uh, I had absolutely no idea how gigantic they'd be, so I guess things got a bit real. I've decided to hack the car up and box flare it to accommodate a full set of the front wheels, I'll be ordering a second set of complete it. Here are the pics: Before I decided to flare the car, I tried stretching the stock Revell tires over the Fujimis just for kicks. There was way too much stretch, and the rears poked so far I didn't even bother taking pictures. So, I started hacking: And gluing: And trimming: And gluing some more:

Ride height, weathering, wheels, pretty much everything: PERFECT.

Thanks! I've always loved the EXP, such an awesome little oddball! I really should do something, but I'm crashing at my parents' place for a short while until I get back on my feet after an apartment fire, so I'm probably just going to keep being EXTREMELY careful for the time being hahaha. Not a huge amount of progress was made today, but I did lay down the color! This one's taking shape rather quickly. Five coats of Tamiya TS-1, which I did not realize was flat until I sprayed it. Will a lot of color sanding and glossy clear change that? Also, I'd like to maybe find a tinted clear to darken it a touch, any suggestions?

Mocking it all up and checking ride height. I'd like to get it lower.

Took care of a bunch of progress tonight, got about three hours of work in. Lowering the car has been greatly expedited by the purchase of a file set, I can't believe I did anything without them! Here's what I got done: -Finished painting and assembling drivetrain. -Finished painting the interior, sans the front seats and steering wheel, which are being ordered from The Parts Bin. -Set rear ride height -Installed rear subframe and control arms. -Set front ride height -Mocked up overall ride height, may consider lowering the front more, but that depends on the tire size of the Fujimi wheels, which STILL haven't shown up. -Detail painted engine bay with the exception of the tank and reservoir caps, which will be painted copper. -Mocked up front and rear bumpers/valances, finalized fitment. The pics! Paint: Dialing in ride height, it wound up going lower. Interior: Seats are flat brown, trim is copper, all else is flat black or the molded black plastic color because that matches the factory finish so well. Engine bay Engine and transmission together, detailing done. A better interior shot Rear suspension glued in

Yeah, the rear end was cake, and I don't think the front end will be too bad, either. It will be a tad tedious, though. Oh well, that'll keep me occupied while the wheels and resin trickle in. I'm going to order a pair of Recaro Trophy seats from TPB in the next couple of days, along with some turbo accessories and possibly a new exhaust exit/resonator. The wheels I'm using in mock-up are stockers from an R34 GTR X-Mod, they're just there for fender clearance and suspension height reference. I'll be using 15" Fujimi Techno Racing TV-Rs for the final build. Polished lips with copper centers.

I'm flabbergasted, this build is a work of art. You've really made me fall in love with an example of a car I'm not particularly fond of at all, and that takes a lot of doing.

Picked up the paint today, decided on Tamiya's "Red Brown". I also got a jar of copper enamel for the wheel centers, interior accents, and engine details. Finally, I replenished my gloss/flat black stocks, and added some white and a jar of thinner to the mix. I'm getting excited! I am still waiting on my wheels, though

This is absolutely insane. An inspiration!

I'm not a man who is short on words, but I am speechless.

Here are some progress pics... I got the lump most of the way together, and will start detail painting it once I pick up another jar of thinner for my brushes and some more paint. I also started body work, which involved the numerous but minor mold lines, and trimming the fenders to allow tighter wheel/tire fitment. Then I began lowering the rear of the car, a proposition that is proving much easier than I anticipated.

Little known fact, though I'm sure you were aware of this: The graphics (stripes) on these cars were painted on by brush!

It really does, one of the best 1:18 builds I've ever seen! I'm probably going to buy the kit of the stock XR-3 so I can use the grille and hood from it to tone down the nose a bit. I'm not 100% sold on the "rhinoplasty" done on this kit. I'll post pics once I've got some painting done and the wheels are in. I'm trying to figure out how to lower it right now hahaha. Most people tend to find my taste in cars a bit... Odd.

Spectacular!

Thanks so much for the invite, but I will unfortunately be unable to make it. I'm in Southeast Connecticut, in the corner of Marlborough and Colchester.

I appreciate your reply! Thanks so much for the tips.

Got a tiny bit done tonight. Got all the flash off of the engine parts and glued the block halves together. I also looked at mocking up the SVTF Zetec in the bay, but it was one helluva squeeze, I'll probably stock with the 1.6. Since that's the case, i'm contemplating picking up and intercooler and larger turbo from the parts box, then attempting to build my own turbo system.