mrm

Thank you for sharing your build and the story of the car. I love it when a model is presented with a good side story. About your build, all I can say is wow. I have never attempted one of these kits, altho I love show cars of the era. You did an amazing job, from the perfect candy paint to the subtle details. I love the trailer and how it fits the car like a glove. Really fine work on display here.

Thank you. that pink will be tied up throughout the car. I have already done that, but just have to find the time to take pictures. As I have mentioned, everything on this build is associated with one thing or another from memories in my family. So, some 20 or so years ago we were with my wife out partying in Aspen, CO. The last bus home, affectionately nicknamed by the locals “the vomit comet” was at 2:15am. My wife had a couple drinks too many that night, just enough to make her silly. She had a pink and black sweatshirt almost as bright as this pink and was wearing it as a cape hanging on it hoodie almost covering her eyes. When getting on the bus she found it appropriate to make her case to the bus driver that she is “The Pink Dart Vader”. LOL. This has been the butt of jokes amongst friends and family ever since and it will probably never end. So, “obnoxious pink” absolutely had to be present on the car. ?

Well, I don’t know how familiar you are with these kind of paints. What you have here is a so called tri-coat paint. It is called that because you need three coats to achieve the effect. Base coat, mid coat and clear top coat. These are basically formulated candy effect paints. The base coat (your first can) is the actual color, which then gets “activated” by the mid coat (your second can) and then a top clear coat will make it “pop”. Paints like these have been used for years, but in the past they were extremely expensive, while as technology gets better they get more and more affordable. Which is why we start seeing them more and more on production vehicles. Nissan’s famous Bayside Blue is one such tri-coat, which was used back on the R34. These type of colors became super popular on Ferraris and Lambos in the 2000s with colors like Giallo Tristrati, Rosso Fuoco, Bianco Fuji, Verde Ithaca, etc., etc.. Essentially these are just exact spec candy colors over exact spec base color in order to achieve a special effect color over and over with consistency. And the clear top coat is very important as it will exagerate the effect of the previous two layers. Even if you want it matt, you should spray flat clear over your mid coat. And automotive colors like these will cover perfect every time, no matter what color primer you spray them over. As long as the primer underneath can hold up to the paint’s solvent. The reason why some colors get distorted over different primers is because the paint “melts” the primer and pigmentation from the primer gets mixed with the paint. Or because the paint does not offer quality coverage. This is why I keep repeating that if you use quality 2k primer it will allow you to use any quality automotive paint, which will save you a lot of effort money and frustration on the long run. You are experiencing exactly that with these nice quality materials you are using. It is always a pleasure watching a good job like yours go smoothly. In my personal opinion, once you experience how these paints work you’ll never go back to using hobby paint. And by the way, the lacquers you are using always dry this way, not just in the heat. That’s the beauty of it. You can paint an entire body, from primer to clear, in a day and buff it the next, of you use 2k clear. Just like real cars.

Thank you Rich, greatly appreciated. You should definitely build your kit and I hope my threads - this one and the WIP, will be of help to you. If you have any questions during your build, I'll be happy to help if I can.

Pretty cool. I like the color coded bumpers. Try to paint the inside of the body in the interior color next time. It will definitely help with the realism. Good job, keep them coming.

That is definitely NOT the case, as a concave design center would actually help the spokes clear the calipers. It is somewhat performance oriented reason. Basically manufacturers try to push their track as far out as possible. This is why if you look at most exotic super/hyper cars, their wheels are pretty shallow. But they still have a slight lip or a concave curve to their spokes and for the most part have cohesive and well thought designs that match the rest of the car. Corvette however apparently have not figured it out yet. Just like they still have not figured out that they will never compete with Ferrari, Lambo, McLaren, Porsche and the other brands like that and it has nothing to do with horsepower, acceleration, top speed or lateral Gs. So they shouldn't try to mimic them and be their own original thing, which is what people have loved Vettes for.

Yup, overlapping clear carbon decals is al sorts of difficult. I've experienced plenty of that on my Huayra. About your repairs... I run in situations everyone in a while where I need to do the same. I try to make a patch I can cut along the lines of the carbon weave. This way it is easier to line it up with your previous work and it's easier to blend it. Once you clear it it should go completely away. I think you are doing a fantastic work out of all the carbon and the other decals.

There are many great designs out there. It's easier to explain what I don't like in the stock Vette wheels. First off they are always looking almost identical front to rear. There is no concave, lip or anything to give it just a touch of aggression. And their designs are always kinda bland. Hard to explain. If you take the C6 fife star design, it just looks cheap and generic, like nobody actually put the effort to work out the details. You look at the C5 Z06 and you have pretty much the most rounded off Corvette ever, which has not one sharp edge or angle inside or out. And then you have these ugly squared off wheels that look like they were made from square chassis tubing. Now we have the most overly done exaggerated origami looking overdone angular Vette ever that has not one round element on it and we have wheels that look like they are made out of dripping snot. And what the aftermarket is showing is that some of those same wheel designs can be turned into much more attractive wheels with very minor tweaks. Like when you take the C5 Z06 wheel center, put bolts around it to imitate a 3 piece wheel and give the impression of separate lip with the rear being deeper.

I ma not a fan of the design, but I just ordered a kit too and can't wait to build it. Since there is not much visible from the engine and detailing it would be pretty much pointless, this kit makes a perfect box stock subject. Altho I am not sure if I'm going to go that route just because of the wheels. I don't know what's up with the Corvette designers, but there has not been a Corvette with decent looking stock wheels since the '80s. I don't know if it's on purpose to make people customize them or what, but I am pretty sure GM has the resources and talent to make a wheel that does not look like an afterthought, designed by a high-schooler.

This looks cool and I may actually get one of these in the future. What I am most thrilled about is that it is a new kit and not yet another repop of some obsolete kit.

Thank you Bill. I think this is the most carbon I have done on a 1/24 scale model. I've done the Tamiya Enzo and LaFerrari and they had a lot of carbon, but nothing like this. Besides the carbon I used on them was precut templates ready to use, which made a world of difference. The hardest thing here was the blue carbon, which was actually clear decal. What is not seen on the pictures here is that everything is covered in carbon, including all the undersides of the roof, just like on the real one, but it was finished in flat clear. If you are interested to see, the WIP it's here:

Thank you Justin. I have few of those Fuji kits and I have started some in the past, but I never finished one. The last was their Ferrari Daytona, but from as far as I got with it, it was a pleasure working on it without any issues. The Huayra is definitely challenging and frustrating in a completely different way than their Zondas, which just make me scratch my head and ask "what were they planing to do here?"

Thank you Sonny. The carbon definitely took a long time. It actually posted one of the biggest challenges to the fitment of the model as a side effect. This model theoretically fits like a glove. When you first start it and mock everything up, it all fits and lines up perfect. But as you start assembling it things start shifting. I guess they did not account absolutely any room for paint. And with carbon decals you need to first prime everything, then paint it gloss for the decals to stick, then decal it and then apply a good coat of clear over the decals in order for the the carbon to look realistic. These layers automatically throw fitment off on most models, let alone on this one. So I had to kinda reverse engineer it to account for that. That's a lot of sanding and dry fitting over and over, which is where most of the time was spent. I am sorry if I have discouraged you building one. My intentions were the exact opposite. I am saying that it is possible to make it work and I would love to see more people take the challenge and do even better, because there is definitely room for improvement.

Thank you Harry. I wouldn't call it a nightmare, but it was definitely challenging. I had to walk away from it several times for prolonged periods of time, not to lose my mind, which is why it took so long to complete. But it was worth it at the end. I am currently building the Pagani Zonda S by Aoshima, which I have absolutely never seen at a contest table. While this Huayra has door hinges and pieces that would glue in place to hold the hoods open, their Zondas have none of that even. Not even a suggestion how to open a hood or door. So that's what I'm dealing with. Then I plan on building a Zonda F. After that I am converting another Zonda F into a Cinque. After them three, if I have any energy for another kit like that, I might build the Huayra with Tempesta aero bits, which Aoshima has also released. You can find the Zonda WIP here:

Thank you Stuart. I appreciate your kind words. We need to challenge ourselves in order to get better, so don't be afraid to grab the proverbial bull by the horns and try something outside your comfort zone. The worst that could happen is you would learn something new. If you want to try a similar kit, which would be still challenging, but without the fitment issues of this one, try the Tamiya Enzo. It's engineered beautifully and comes together really nice.

Superb!

I love it. It has that just right look to it. Years back, some contests at the model shows used to have a "Gotcha Factor" class. I wish shows brought it back. This model is acing exactly that "Gotcha Factor" look.

Very nice flame job. This kit is indeed a pleasure to build. That is if you don't get one with a warped frame, which has happened to me twice already. Now you have to build the '30 Coupe to keep your roadster company. It builds pretty much the same as this one, so I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.

Pretty cool. I definitely find the silver better suiting the car. I love your interior/exterior color combo. Very classy.

Thank you. I just ordered one too.

If you don't mind sharing where you got it from it would be helpful, as I would like to get one too.

As someone who has owned six different Corvettes, raced one, almost died in one, used to sell them and have customized far more than I owned, I really think the C8 is not what a Corvette stands for or should look like. Having said that, I can not wait to build a model of it as soon as I can get my hands on one. So I am going to follow this thread up close and can't wait to see how it turns out.

Wow, some really cool stuff going on. What color is it going to be?

Thank you guys.

Thank you. I have a couple Huayras local to me that show up from time to time to the Cars and Coffee meetings. They always cause a stir more than any other car. The best description I’ve heard of them is that it is the closest experience to sitting inside a fine swiss watch. I wanted my model to show the excess these cars are associated with, while keeping it within spec of something I wouldn’t mind driving if I ever had the money to afford it. Altho if that is the case, I would take a Zonda over a Huayra any day.