zak78

Thank you! I can't wait to get the rest of this thing together. I want some oval-tipped motorcycle mufflers. I'll settle for Supertrapps if I have to. Thanks Dave! The BBS will have aluminum-painted centers so they don't look so...plastic. The front ones were from a set I got from you, and the rear ones are from a Fujimi 345-series model.

Hey Everyone I found this in the "bargain basement" of a hobby shop near Philly, for $3.95, with the lower lights gouged out and the wheels missing. The body was painted in what appeared to be red house paint. I'm slowly reviving it. Let me know what you think so far, and thanks for looking --Nick Better pics to come. The taillights have been fixed since I took these. Edit: Something went terribly wrong with my Fotki, I ended up with some Russian girl displayed on the page, instead of my five pics of the car!

Looks great! Some more pics would be cool I have this kit in my stash and hadn't attempted it because I figured, there's no way all those parts could possibly fit together...good to see that all that stuff DOES actually fit.

Thanks guys! I had the same reaction to the real car when I first saw it. I snuck into the factory on an owners' tour, and got to see some guys with hammers who were pounding the body panels into shape. Probably drooling, I hung back from the crew of unimpressed rich snobs, which eventually got me kicked out

The kit itself is shaped right, but very frustrating. I have enough spare parts to make at least one more Z8, so if you're serious about building one, I can pack together a kit and send it to you for free. The suspension is too high, the seats are uneven (which is why I used racing seats), the body has to be bent crazily to fit the interior tub inside, and so on. It's definitely a challenge. Thanks for the tips I don't have an airbrush or spraygun yet, so I'm still messing with rattle-cans.

Smooth!

Haha exactly Great looking Alfa!

Thanks everyone! Haha, Dave probably thought I'd never finish this thing. Hey Monty, I discovered this board just a few months ago, but the people on here have been incredibly helpful. The real challenge, getting the paint to look right, was a lot of trial and error. What's the "Norbie method?" The paint is Tamiya rattle-can, 3 coats of color...first coat of clear sprayed when the black was still wet. Baked it for 24 hours in the dehydrator, then cut it down with 4k grit. Leveled it out with 8k, then brought out the shine with the three levels of Tamiya polish.

Hey everyone, So I just finished this and haven't totally cleaned it yet. Just wanted to post some pics, finally! The whole thing was a learning experience. Prior to this, I couldn't lay down a decent paint job, couldn't flock, couldn't use BMF or photoetch...well you get the picture. Basically, I didn't know how to build a model car! This thing took long to build because I kept having to redo what I'd already done. Oops, cat fur. I could smack Revell for not making a symmetrical front plate. That's ok though...First time I ever used decals anyway. Just a curbside, nothing special. Lots of home-made parts though. Thanks for looking. Comments and criticisms welcome :wave: Nick

Very smooth. The wheels aren't to my taste but I love the rest. Nice FMIC.

Fantastic! Very clean build. I'm surprised the doors fit so well.

WOW! Great concept and execution.

I think it looks great. You can only do so much with those little gauges, since they're molded in. The sharp contrast between the colors is strong enough to steal the show, and looks very cleanly executed.

This has me baffled. After mist-coating a Revell Z8 body in TS-13 and giving it 24 hours of drying time in the dehydrator at 105 degrees, I rinsed it to get rid of the dust in preparation for some more clear...And got unexpected white water spots, which are unfortunately in the clear itself. Did the paint need more time to cure? Or do I have some sort of problem with the water in my house? It has been suggested to me that the dehydrator speeds up drying time by a factor of approximately 8, which would mean I'd given the clear "8 days" to dry before I rinsed it. The color coat is TS-6 black, which dried in the dehydrator for a solid week before I clearcoated it. Thanks for your input : ) Nick

That's deranged, but great workmanship!

Looks good. I'll probably make one of my own in the near future. Also, thanks for the advice, Jimmy.

Good job, especially on that grille. When I saw the first pic, I thought it was the real car

Thanks man. Tiny update: I'd gotten bored with the center console, so I replaced the conventional head unit with a touch-screen computer, which is actually my girlfriend's HTC phone/MP3/navigation/video device. It's under very shiny clear plastic, so getting a good shot of it is next to impossible, hence the low lighting .

Interesting old school flavor with the lower graphics Looking forward to more.

Thanks Fred, I can picture how to do that now I think they look great they way they are too. To make the rings thinner, I would drill them, to widen the inside diameter, before cutting them from the tubing. They would be more fragile that way, however. Nick

This is off-the-wall, off-the-hook incredible I'm not sure where to start! I'm assuming your gauge bezels are plastic tubing cut *very* short. Can you tell me how you were able to create them? When I saw the first pic, while sitting on the front porch with my laptop, I blurting out "WHAT THE-- HOW THE--" ...and woke up my neighbors Nick

Some pics of the dashboard so far: I thought the factory air vents were boring, so I made these PE and plastic eyeball vents to spruce up the center console. I'm going to do something unusual with the lower portion, where the ashtray is. Maybe a recessed iPod holder (with iPod) or something. I may also replace the head unit with something more interesting. Taking pics of it is challenging because the clear plastic over the gauges tends to create a lot of glare. Thanks for looking Nick

Looking good. Is this the Revell Kamei reissue of the ESCI kit? If so, you have to be the only other person I've ever seen who has one too *hint* 1JZ swap, or grab the engine from a Tamiya 500SL (which is what I'm doing).

Hey, thanks for posting my pic for me I'd forgotten it was even supposed to be there! This kit it nowhere close to completion though. I have to scratch numerous interior widgets, a set of mirrors, and straighten out that godawful wing, etc. Lol yeah, I got some strange looks at work later that day, when I arrived with a metallic red hand It looked like I'd been involved in some sort of industrial accident at a cosmetics factory. Thanks again for all the encouragement guys. More updates to follow soon after I get home from vacation. Nick