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Posted

I'm not sure what brought this to the top pf the build pile -- re-watching Chris Harris's excellent film online, maybe... Anyway, time to get on with a serious build of a serious kit:

it-begins.jpg

Being Tamiya, I know the fit and engineering will be amazing. To make life harder for myself, I've also got the Tamiya photo-etch and carbon decal sets. Gulp! I alos bought this:

wrapping%20wire.jpg

Perhaps overkill to get some orange wires, but this lot should last my entire car-modelling life! It's 30AWG, so pretty fine, and has a solid copper core, all the better for drilling tiny holes and gluing in place.

engine-first-step.jpg

The journey of a thousand miles, and all... it's quite the power plant. And don't worry, I'm not going to continue at this pace all the way along...

engine-wired.jpg

engine-from-above.jpg

Those wires are coming in handy now...

exhausts.jpg

A closer look at the exhausts... I'm quite pleased with the heat staining effect. They are sprayed with Molotow Chrome, and then AK True Metal wax in purple, brass and blue applied over the top. Subtle, but really easy to do...

top-frame-on.jpg

top-frame-on-2.jpg

Rear frame and the top pf the tub in place. Great fit, as you'd expect from Tamiya. It's not too obvious, but I've started applying the carbon decals. They are strong, thin and flexible-sh, but don't respond much to the setting solutions I have (Micro-sol and Daco Medium). I'm doing them a few at a time so as not to go mad, and hitting them with a hot damp cloth when thoroughly dry, which seems to work. I've also finally figured out that I really do need to cut the carrier film from around each one to get a good fit with the smaller pieces. It's a pain, but then so is the whole process, so it's not too much EXTRA pain...

I've got all the carbon on the main chassis now, but it's drying in the airing cupboard, so no pics yet.

best,

M.

 

Posted

Looking really good off to a great start. I just finished one. Check under glass. These kits are very fun too build. Pay close attention to the doors. They are the tricky part. 

Posted

Thanks, guys! 

@Gt fan I'm a bit nervous of the hairdryer, since the last time I tried, on the slow speed, medium heat, it STILL blew the decal in question half-way across the room and under the bed!

@Dann Tier Oh, yes, I'm a big fan of the new sprue nippers. This is the first kit I've used them on, and they go through anything like a knife through butter, with a amazingly straight cut. Tamiya has been pretty clever about the sprue attachments, and these will cut cleanly across the flat edges of the parts with minimum clean up need... just a swipe with a sanding stick. That said, the sprue attachment points on the wheel carriers are the only ones I've found so far which even the tiny pointed nippers can't get at to cut cleanly...

best,

M.

Posted (edited)

Subbed and watching!  After seeing other builds, I am going to get this kit. I also saw a detail up kit on  the BNA website out of Australia ($57.00 usd I think) in addition to the pe and carbon decals.  Here is the link: https://www.bnamodelworld.com/model-cars-motorcycles-parts-decals-hobby-design-hd02-0343

Anyway, looks great so far!

Later,

Lee

Edited by Lee Yoder
added link
Posted

Thanks, all... today I have mostly been applying carbon fibre (and there's also some I'd done earlier!)

chassis-assembled-with-CF-1.jpg

chassis-assembled-with-CF-2.jpg

chassis-assembled-with-CF-3.jpg

chassis-assembled-with-CF-4.jpg

Boy, I'm glad I've broken the back of that task now!

The last is just press fitted together... there some more detail painting to do before it's all glued. But you get an idea of what'll be visible when it's finally all together...

best,

M.

Posted

Thanks, guys... and thanks to Tim for the reference material.

A quick test fit with the roof, just to see how the engine bay frames work when complete:

test-fit-with-roof.jpg

test-fit-with-roof-2.jpg

Wiring and detailing the fenders begins:

wheelarch-spider-2.jpg

wheelarch-spider-1.jpg

This will all be tamed, honest, with the help of some heat shrink tubing...

wheelarch-tamed-1.jpg

wheelarch-tamed-2.jpg

...and end up looking like this.

Meanwhile...

crimpled-hose.jpg

There's a bigger hose running through the engine bay. After various experiments, I think solder, wrapped in wire, with heatshrink tubing overall, results in something that will go just where you tell it (unlike guitar string, which I tried) and will snug down underneath the body shell components, bending as needed.

Speaking of which, I had to try it out...

body-trial-2.jpg

body-trial-1.jpg

...brilliant engineering, as you'd expect from Tamiya... but not much room for paint!

best,

M.

 

Posted

Looking great and I have subbed to follow now.  Got this kit and the PE last month, but it is deep in the stash lineup.

Bought a spool of the same wire for $6 from Hong Kong...it will take a slow boat to get here but that is ok. I like the multicolour and can use it for detail builds and LED wiring too. Thanks for that tip.

Love those snips, but I have a few too many at the moment 

Posted

Looking great.. Glad the photos helped. I used silver as a primer. It's much thinner than primer and covers all color plastic.

Posted

Thanks folks. I think I've now done all the engine detailing I'm going to:

engine-bay-finished-1.jpg

engine-bay-finished-2.jpg

engine-bay-finished-3.jpg

And I'm glad to confirm that the engine cover will still close around all that wire:

engine-closed-up.jpg

best,

M.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

It's taken a while to make significant progress, but here we are:

dashboard-1.jpg

dashboard-3.jpg

chassis-done-1.jpg

These seat belts were a monstrous PITA, and only do-able with the help of my crafty daughter...I have no idea how you could make them with only one pair of hands!

cockpit-lid-on.jpg

chassis-with-lid-on.jpg

There's a lot of carbon fibre decal settling down in the airing cupboard, and still more to do after that!

best,

M.

Posted

Looks awesome so far, I remember the Enzo kit from tamiya and the amount carbon decaling, with the detailing though and the decals will look ace.

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