1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 - Bayside Blue Godzilla

[Rider]

Impressive work and detailing going on here. I really like the colour you picked for the body. 

[Belugawrx]

Interior is really looking good..

That is one area I need to spend more time at.

Thanks for sharing, Cheers

 

 

[Italianhorses]

9 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

There is a lot of good stuff going on here, Alex!!  -First off, I think the carpet kolor works VERY well!!…..did you mix it yourself?!, and secondly, if you are referring to our chatt about the unnecessary/unrealistic use of PE stuff, Seat buckle sets are obviously fine, and realistic. My main example was those horribly flat, and totally unrealistic DM battery clamps. The seatbelt hardware you SB looks awesome!!, I always loved checking out how you made things on your interweb page!!

Thanks! No, the flocking is detail master grey. Had is for years. Its a bit darker in person than'd like, but ok overall.

As far as buckles- I just couldn't find 4 of the same ones in my spares box - so had to improvise!

[Italianhorses]

3 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

Interior is really looking good..

That is one area I need to spend more time at.

Thanks for sharing, Cheers

 

 

Thanks you all!

[Dann Tier]

2 hours ago, Italianhorses said:

Thanks! No, the flocking is detail master grey. Had is for years. Its a bit darker in person than'd like, but ok overall.

As far as buckles- I just couldn't find 4 of the same ones in my spares box - so had to improvise!

Well, true to form, you adapted, and made it look great!!

[Italianhorses]

5 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

Well, true to form, you adapted, and made it look great!!

Haha, thanks. 

[Dann Tier]

12 hours ago, Italianhorses said:

Haha, thanks. 

Do you still have those two BEAUTIFUL MFH Ferrari F40 twins?!!

[Italianhorses]

7 minutes ago, Dann Tier said:

Do you still have those two BEAUTIFUL MFH Ferrari F40 twins?!!

I still have one of them. The other one was built for a collector in Canada. I was building a lot of models for collectors and museums back then. 

[Dann Tier]

Just now, Italianhorses said:

I still have one of them. The other one was built for a collector in Canada. I was building a lot of models for collectors and museums back then. 

I loved those builds!, I tried to build for others, but couldn't do it....wasn't getting any of my own done, which was bumming me out. To me, modelling is ART, and I cant force it, or which car to build, and people NEVER wanted me to build them something that I liked, so it was horrible for me......so I stopped. Tommy was saying that he prefers dark blue Ferrari 250 California Spyders, as opposed to my Champeign colored one, so I told him to check yours out!

 

[Nacho Z]

Your models never fail to impress!  It is the cleanliness of your work that amazes me.  Perfect paint demarcation lines, no signs of glue, flawless paint and so on.  So nice!

[Italianhorses]

6 hours ago, Nacho Z said:

Your models never fail to impress!  It is the cleanliness of your work that amazes me.  Perfect paint demarcation lines, no signs of glue, flawless paint and so on.  So nice!

Thanks, appreciate it!

I loved those builds!, I tried to build for others, but couldn't do it....wasn't getting any of my own done, which was bumming me out. To me, modelling is ART, and I cant force it, or which car to build, and people NEVER wanted me to build them something that I liked, so it was horrible for me......so I stopped. Tommy was saying that he prefers dark blue Ferrari 250 California Spyders, as opposed to my Champeign colored one, so I told him to check yours out!

 

I hear you. I always built only what I wanted to build. But I can see how this could be a drag.

Just looked at that Cal Spyder build again - man, that was a long time ago. Few questionable bits on that model!

[Dann Tier]

29 minutes ago, Italianhorses said:

Thanks, appreciate it!

I hear you. I always built only what I wanted to build. But I can see how this could be a drag.

Just looked at that Cal Spyder build again - man, that was a long time ago. Few questionable bits on that model!

its a FANTASTIC build that you did there!!

[martinfan5]

Wow, superb work you are doing, you had me at Skyline , then you really had me when you said blue.

[Italianhorses]

So, I was looking into lowering the back end a bit as I didn’t like the stock ride height and noticed something I didn’t like – if you build the kit according to Tamiya – you should block the front air dam by this plastic piece that has mesh imprinted on it. I thought – well, easy fix, just put some mesh there and done.

But not so easy – the stuff that was behind it was not made to be seen – unfinished backside of the radiator and not much else. Not good to look at. I decided to scratch some of the components to make it look pretty, as there was no way I’d install that ugly block plate there.

So, that escalated quickly, I might say.

First, I needed an intercooler, which is what can be easily see in the lower part of that bumper. Used some old radiator piece cut to size, added some sheet plastic, putty, some kit sprue and made this:

Lots of cursing to align these pipes to the motor and make the intercooler sit straight! Goodness.

Once was all done, painted aluminum, added some elbows and clamps to make it look a bit more realistic – even though most of the stuff will be hidden from view:

Well, next problem was that now I had this intercooler sitting in front on my radiator, that had nothing in the back of it, not even good imitation of the radiator mesh!

Real car has two electric cooling fans sitting in front, but I couldn’t find anything in my spares box that would fit or look right. I found some on eBay that would work, but it was $10 and made to order, so I was not willing to wait 3 weeks. Soooo. Scratchbuild them? Yup.

Lots of trial and error and solder and copper wire here folks.

Shrouds are made, now I needed the fans themselves! Made from tiny plastic bits for blades and slice of aluminum tubing for the core.

Sourced photoetched radiator face from my spares box, attached the fans and the intercooler – looks so much better and no I can leave that front dam open!

Detailing bug bit me hard and started scratchbuilding stuff to spice it up here and there – on the pix below you see hydraulic and brake/fuel lines for the engine bay and chassis with appropriate pumps/units these attach to:

This is how it all connects in the back:

This is the front. I also added some oxygen sensors, and some gearbox lines as well:

I think this is it for the chassis:

And this is how the engine looked at this point:

With chassis and interior completed, it was time to put these 3 together. But before I could do that, I needed to paint all the trim – masked off and ready for paint:

Painted:

Next were lights. Tamiya wanted me to paint the headlights silver and stick these, for the lack of better word, mushrooms (below in the picture next to the pack) as headlight high beam lenses. I guess that would have worked just fine, but I had these awesome convex lenses from HM for years and waited for the opportunity to use them!

They are really nice:

Taillights and side markers were painted clear red and orange respectively, and reflective backing for the taillights was punched out from BMF with the handy hole punch:

Reflective backing in place:

Taillights installed:

Headlights assembled. Can’t really see the convex lens in the picture all that well, but it looks quite nice in person.

Finally, the chassis and the body were married, and engine back got the last detailing bits – hydraulic lines, brake booster, various stickers and wiring, clamps, radiator cap, etc. Not a lot left at this point – I’m on a home stretch!

[DiscoRover007]

BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH that looks amazing!

[afx]

Very nice work Alex.

[DiscoRover007]

Those brake lines would make a great tutorial!

[Italianhorses]

2 hours ago, DiscoRover007 said:

Those brake lines would make a great tutorial!

Not sure if this is tutorial material really - there is not much to it to be hones and every car is different.

Thanks guys!

[FabbricaP]

Wow looks amazing Alex, u haven't lost the touch a bit! What did you use to make the brake/fuel lines? They look soo good

[Nacho Z]

Fantastic!

[Belugawrx]

Awesome detailing in that engine compartment Alex !

Nice Nice Nice...Cheers

[Italianhorses]

Thanks guys, working hard to have this one completed this week!

5 hours ago, FabbricaP said:

Wow looks amazing Alex, u haven't lost the touch a bit! What did you use to make the brake/fuel lines? They look soo good

0.05mm silver solder. I have various diameter of this thing and its a lifesaver for things like that - easy to bend, shiny, and holds the shape well.

[Tommy124]

7 hours ago, Italianhorses said:

Thanks guys, working hard to have this one completed this week!

0.05mm silver solder. I have various diameter of this thing and its a lifesaver for things like that - easy to bend, shiny, and holds the shape well.

Looks great indeed! But could it be that you mean 0.5 mm silver solder?? It doesn't look THAT thin to me...

[Italianhorses]

3 hours ago, Tommy124 said:

Looks great indeed! But could it be that you mean 0.5 mm silver solder?? It doesn't look THAT thin to me...

Of course. Fat fingered an extra zero there. 

[Rider]

Brilliant work. Those fans must have taken a ton of work, very nice touch.