Calsonic Skyline GT-R (R33) - Tamiya 1:24

[Pete75]

Time to get serious about a kit I was given last year. The car was a big player in the Japanese Touring Car Championship in 1996, apparently. Not an area I know much about, but it's certainly an impressive (and very blue) beast, powered by a twin turbo, 2.5 litre straight 6, putting out 450bhp.

I'd been putting it off a bit because it looks challenging, but after a few weeks of dabbling it's time to grab the bull by the horns. The first challenge encountered is that 1:1 reference photos are thin on the ground in English speaking search engines: I have a few (not great) pics, but I'll have to refer to other peoples models a fair bit. Anyway, here's one in the flesh:

I started with the shell. The massive body kit on this thing renders the R33 almost unrecognisable, and needs a bit of gluing and a lot of paint!

The primer went ok but I didn't do a great job of the colour (TS-44 brilliant blue), as the intended top coat wasn't "wet" enough, leaving it a bit rough. I ended up putting another coat over it & flatting it with sandpaper & polishing compound. In retrospect I might've done this the other way around, but it looks ok after the TS-13 clear coat & I'll repeat the flatting/polish before the decals go on. (The spoiler was an absolute pain and needed re-gluing twice, and goodness knows how much time to re-sand & touch up: I hate spoilers!)

The last couple of sessions have been spent studying/organising & I feel like I'm properly on the case now. The chassis has been primered & the wheels stripped, and I'm starting to sort out the fiddly small bits. Gonna need to order some more TS-44 for the chassis: man, this thing really is BLUE...

[TimJ]

Off to a good start. It is very blue. 

[Dann Tier]

This is looking BRILLIANT, Bud!!!!!

[Pete75]

17 hours ago, TimJ said:

Off to a good start. It is very blue. 

 

14 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

This is looking BRILLIANT, Bud!!!!!

Thanks guys, appreciate it ?

[Pete75]

Hi guys. Been in full attack mode on this one. The bulk of my time has been spent on the shell: first wet sanding the clear coat, then polishing with Tamiya compounds. Annoyingly, because I didn't widen the panel lines during prep, a number of them were showing signs of the undercoat so I had to mask them off & brush in pinstripes of colour. (I will use panel wash later, but it doesn't disguise thin/worn edges.)   

Finally, I was able to do something not BLUE & got the window surrounds masked & sprayed.

 

Next, some time consuming masking & brushwork on the front end. The light lenses are blacked out with lots of X-19 smoke. (They probably shouldn't be quite so dark, but I thought it looked badass!) It wasn't until it was too late that I noticed the (small) instruction to sand off the indicator bulbs on the corners. (This kit shares a body shell with that of the roadgoing GT-R which would have bigger front lenses covering everything.) After a few minutes of irritation, I discovered from my reference pics that other builders haven't bothered with this (including the example photo on the instructions!) & this area is commonly just painted black. I feel relaxed about it now!

Quite pleased with the rear lights. I used the usual trick of running a black marker around the lenses & have now perfected a safe adhesion method using a brush & acrylic gloss varnish.

The wheels were sprayed with Tamiya silver leaf, before brushing the tiny hex bolts with metallic grey & the centre nuts with gunmetal. The rims were finished with some dark grey wash around the edges. Tyre decals make me nervous, but I took my time & followed a useful YouTube tutorial. My best wheels yet, I reckon.

With the exception of the seat & dashboard, everything is now sprayed up & ready for brushwork/gluing. (Then the decals, but I'm slightly dreading them & not allowing myself to think about them just yet!!)

Edited October 18, 2020 by Pete75

[Mattilacken]

Good work on a classic racing car!

[Dann Tier]

On 10/19/2020 at 3:54 AM, Mattilacken said:

Good work on a classic racing car!

Agreed!!!!!

[Pete75]

On 10/19/2020 at 8:54 AM, Mattilacken said:

Good work on a classic racing car!

 

14 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

Agreed!!!!!

Thanks guys, appreciate it ? Been continuing in top gear on this - the 1/24 world is providing an excellent distraction for me at the moment!

First up, got the underside done:

I have to say, this kit goes together really nicely. Everything seems to just "click" & I can definitely recommend it.

Up on her wheels now & almost ready for assembly as I've finished most of the interior components:

This is the second time I've used this PE seat belt kit. My 45-year-old eyes need every bit of light & magnification I can get hold of - man, they're fiddly!!!

Got started on the race car decal fest. This is only model #5 for me (although 6 & 7 are also in progress) so decals still bring me out in a bit of a sweat, but I'm almost enjoying them now!! 

Not far away now, so hopefully will be done by the next post. Cheers for looking in ?

[Pete75]

Ok, all but done. Waiting on some non-fogging CA glue to put the windows in, but she's pretty much there. 

The belts were testing but ultimately ok. I derived a good deal of help here from looking at approach taken in the superb Pennzoil R34 build by@lghtngyello03.

The rest of the interior went together pretty smoothly. I'll say it again, it's a really nice kit to work with. 

Any gluing onto finished bodywork scares me silly but the spoiler was painless. I decided against the wing mirrors because you're supposed to put a hole through each door from a mark in the interior (no thanks); also the position seems a bit strange and they look mega flimsy.

So that's that: she'll be under glass when she gets some!?

[Kemszi]

Nice work!

[Pete75]

2 hours ago, Kemszi said:

Nice work!

Thank you my friend ?

[Mattilacken]

Beautifull!

[Pete75]

10 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

Beautifull!

Cheers Anton!?

[lghtngyello03]

Looks super clean! Been wanting to build one of these myself to add to the collection.   Great work on the seatbelts! You're right, they are tricky for sure to get right but are worth it. 

[Pete75]

Thanks very much ? The belts sure wouldn't look as good without using your R34 build as a reference! Your CF detailing & wiring also provide interesting ideas for the future. This is great kit & my only warning would be to thoroughly test fit the four side windows: they very nearly floored me at the last moment!!?