Scale-Master

Interior bucket/pan, somewhat the same single piece set up needing a few shades of black and gray plus silver to bring up the molded in detail... (The shifter and hand brake are separate parts.)

It takes a lot of coffee to do this too...

The dash is crisply molded, but the instructions direct to paint a few somewhat tricky details. A good brush and a little patience are the best approach. Same thing for the well molded once piece intake piece on the chrome shot. I painted it in two phases with Testors Black Chrome Trim.

The suspension sub-assemblies go together well, a little time spent detail painting pays off, but I doubt much of it will be seen on the completed model, it is tough to see all the paint work even at this stage…let alone capture it in photos. But it is fun to do nonetheless… Front: Rear:

While the paint on the body is drying… The brake rotors can be supplemented with Tamiya PE parts, but my kit does not provide them (there might be a version that comes with the PE parts as I have seen with other Tamiya kits), and there is no engraved detailing on the rotor faces. However, the instructions included drawings of the PE parts so I used that as a guide to create decals for the rotor faces. Standard hand painting, shading and dry-brushing for the calipers/details…

Thanks for the kind words... Even about drybrushing Time to mask the underhood area off and shoot the body… I chose TS-49 Bright Red although the instructions call out TS-8 Italian Red. I like the look of this color better and depending on the lighting an argument can be made for both looking correct. Usually I use the airbrush and sometimes supplement the last full coats with the can, but this time I opted to try just shooting from the can. Light coats, let them flash for 5-10 minutes (maybe 15…), shot about six coats. Also did the hood, top of rear wing and front fascia at the same time… (The mirrors were shot red when I did the engine bay by airbrush.)

It is a huge compliment to hear I helped somebody with a trick, thank you! Now back to the engine… After a final round of washes and drybrushing to accentuate the molded in details, the engine bay was masked off and the underhood surrounding area was shot with a very dark gray. The rubber seal between the two areas was hand painted black. The contrast is not high, but in better light it is enough to differentiate the seal from the panels. I plan to shoot “real†pictures in daylight once it is finished, hopefully it will look better…

Thanks guys! I use lacquer thinner to cut the silver. I knocks some of the brightness down and it makes it flow better. It also makes it dry faster and harded and it stands up to light clear coating pretty well. But then I am using it for non-chrome finishs so the graying and dulling of the silver under clear works in my favor too. Now back to our show already in progress... The rear wing as cleaned up and the bottom painted first. Once it was dry it was assembled. Temporarily mounting it to the car while the cement sets assures proper fit will not be an issue during final assembly.

And now back to the build... I masked off the red and detail painted areas and sprayed the flat black. A little shading, washing and dry brushing were done to provide some depth and hopefully life. Some areas were picked out by freehand brushing with varying degrees of grays to break up the monotony of the black. And the other chassis parts were finished too… The exhaust pipes are plated so the chrome was toned down and tinted a bit. And here it is finished…

Dave, I prefer the Testors enamels for brush painting, but I do use some Tamiya acrylics. I like the Tamiya transparent colors too. You have to do your painting in only a couple brush passes with the acrylics or, as you noticed, they start to pull the earlier partially dry paint up. When it gets to that point, just let what you have done dry and then go back and put another coat on. You can use the Tamiya X-20A thinner as a reducer, but it gets runny really fast and does not like to stick to smooth surfaces sometimes, so add it sparingly, but it does work well as a retarder. The dark metallic gray on this engine is a mix of Tamiya acrylics, applied in two coats. Acarnut, As for masking, those are good suggestions that work, but I prefer to just hand paint and not mask if I don't have to. There's likely to be clean up either way, so for me it saves time.

The chassis is similar to many of Tamiya’s other offerings, much of it molded in one piece in curbside fashion, but with some patient detail painting it can be brought to life relatively easily. I sprayed the body colored parts of the chassis… Then started hand painting the details…

OK Dave, since you asked… Once the red dried (overnight) I went in by hand and painted the black, dark metallic grey, silver, gold and white details.

Thanks for enlightening me on my lack of illuminating clarity!

I had to put a long term project aside for some paint to cure, (and not being one who can just wait for paint to dry), this kit looked like it would be something that would benefit from some detail painting (which I was in the mood to do) since the engine is molded as part of the main body. I apologize for the diminished quality of the photos as almost all the work is being done while it is dark (outside) and I don’t feel like setting up a proper studio for each wild hair I get to shoot pictures of its progress. Standard body prep for finish paint was done first. I did remove the ejection pin marks from the under side of the hood. On the other side of the hood above where the hood prop boss is located a sink mark had to be filled with a little CA. Here is a shot of the body and engine molding after clean up. It has been primed with Tamiya white fine primer. Next, I sprayed the engine bay with the body color.

I will be following this. I sold my ’68 Vista Cruiser about a year ago, (fortunately to a friend who I am seeing today). It was bought new by my Dad. Great car, but with all that glass it looked a bear to replicate correctly in model form. Best of luck and keep up the very nice work.

I’m with you on that, except I’m not sure I WANT to see what is being claimed.

I take pride in the fact that I finish most, if not all of what I start posting in the WIP section. (I can’t recall any unfinished builds at the moment… at least ones I shared online…) That said, I have been working on the same model for over a year and posting its progress here for that time frame. For a significant period of time I posted no updates. Does it sit for periods of time without any work being done to it? Not really. Should I post every little thing I do to it? Not my style. When will it be done? No clue. But as mentioned earlier in this thread, every time I post an update, it pops back up to the top for anyone who cares to see what has been done. So it shouldn’t matter if I am not making quick progress. I have intended to post an update for over a week, ( I was hoping to get a lot more accomplished, the model apparently does not share my view at this time…) but even with as much work as I have invested into this project lately, nothing really worth showing has been accomplished yet, so what would be the point? I do see how some may get frustrated with so many WIPs posted are in their infancy only to never get finished. A body with some wheels accompanied by the “What color should I paint this?†seems to be a common start to unfinished WIPs. So what? They slide to the bottom of the board. But there is no direct correlation between the “inaction†and the ability of the builder. As for creating a log to include once the model is done, well, that would negate the need for a WIP section wouldn’t it? And look how many bits of info would be lost if said projects never got finished. Just because it does not get finished does not mean someone won't benefit from what was done. I use the WIP as a real time recording of what I did for later reference; a log if you will. Why not share while it is fresh in your mind? I personally appreciate it when a link to the WIP is included in the finished post. It helps answer many questions that often come to mind while viewing it. Now I’m off to try to make some progress worth sharing.

I have to agree with the R/M Testarossa and the Renwal 275 as being poor fitting, in fact I was just discussing the TR’s fit the other day even though I built it when it was new, it was that frustrating. But I think I’ll stay away from complaining about Super 7’s… All of mine fit quite well. (But for the record, I never said they were good looking…)

Looks like he is off to great start, you both should be proud!

If you opt to use the BMF “before†painting method, I have found removing each layer of paint (or primer) from the foil after each coat makes for a better outcome. You can use a little thinner or compound, whichever is your preference, just be sure to get all the compound out of the crevices before applying your next coat of paint.

More progress on the tub and front suspension...

Mostly finished the cockpit/seat. Once it is installed into the monocoque, the rest of the interior parts will be installed.

I have used a few different brands. Sally Hansen was on sale at the 99 cent store and had some good colors so I have used more of it than other brands. Revlon is another I have used several times. Most are reducible with lacquer thinner, my personal preference. But test with a small amount first, some require acetone or they gel up into a snotty-globby-goop. You will know it within a minute if it is not compatible with lacquer thinner. Even if it thins with mineral spirits (enamels) lacquer thinner works better. I start by reducing 100%; that is equal parts paint and thinner. Then adjust with more thinner as needed. Sometimes as much as another 50% more thinner. Priming helps with adhesion since I spray it a bit on the dry side to lessen the chance of it attacking the substrate. I always clear over it; urethanes work well, as do enamels. Lacquer clears can be too hot for some brands. Let it dry for several days before clearing. Some nail polishes shrink and do funky things before they fully cure. They all dry fast, but the added reducers change the cure times. They also seem to dry from the outside in. So don’t be fooled by it being dry to the touch. Be very careful when masking on top of it, it does not adhere as well as most “regular†model paints and can peel off easier than expected, especially when painted on raw plastic or metal.

It’s very tough to pull off customizing an iconic custom and keeping the soul of the original alive. I think you succeeded. I also favor the more natural “raw†metal treatments over the chrome. It has a bit more attitude now…

More work to show on the McLaren... Wow, five months since I posted anything on this? Sure is nice to get some building accomplished on it... The chassis pan is pretty much done. Opted to go with paint instead of decals... I used the Tamiya kit provided foil for the internal heat shield. I also painted most of the cockpit exterior, but will accent it with some C/F decals. Seat is ready for the harnesses...