1/24 Hasegawa Datsun 510/Bluebird 1600 SSS street racer

[e30lover]

Hi folks,

I haven’t been able to do as much modelmaking as work got so much busier this year, but I didn’t stop buying more kits.. so I needed to start finishing to clear up space for new kit boxes.

This is a recent re-release of Hasegawa Datsun 510/Bluebird which includes front valence and Watanabe-style wheels, but when I got the kit the wheels were way too small for this car, so I instead decided to go for a period street racer/autocross look, with aftermarket rims from Aoshima that looks similar to American Racing Le Mans wheels which were go to choice by BRE and period looking Fujimi tires. I also added fender flares sourced from Hasegawa Fairlady kit to clear the rubbers, with good amount of trimming around the wheel arches and underbody.

 

Here’s my build summary as usual:

- Cleaned up mold lines with 600 grit and gave whole body a good 1500 grit wetsand prep

- Sprayed Tamiya grey surfacer

- Mixed Mr Colors’ aluminum, gold, metallic green and tiny bit of metallic black for a base color to simulate one of rarer period Datsun colors - 302 Leaf Green Metallic

- Applied three coats of Mr Colors’ super clear III and progressively added more self levelling thinner on each coat (wet-sanded the second coat with 2000 grit to get the optimal surface for the final coat)

- Dried the paint for 1 month (for the most of time, I usually dried 2 weeks for all the bodies I painted with TS spray cans, but then I noticed some of my recent builds would lose some shine couple of weeks after I finished them, and bit of research I realized 1 month drying time for lacquer clear coat was the rule of thumb in most Korean and Japanese modelling community)

- Wet-sanded with 3000 grit sponge then polished with three-stage Tamiya polishing compounds

- Masked the front & back windows and sprayed Mr. Color’s flat black, then masked them again and applied chrome silver to simulate rubber surroundings.

 

Thank you for looking and hope y'all enjoy! 

Edited May 20, 2021 by e30lover

[1959scudetto]

Looks very good with these fat wheels and tires - aggressive, racy look !

[Dodge Driver]

Your Bluebird is simply gorgeous! All that was done to it suits the car perfectly. 

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[cobraman]

Very sharp, I like it !

[Bainford]

Very nice Datsun. Overall appearance is awesome. Love the look. I’m digging those wheels, will have to look onto a set of those. I really admire your ability to mix colour. The green looks great. 

[e30lover]

22 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

Looks very good with these fat wheels and tires - aggressive, racy look !

Thank you! 

21 hours ago, Dodge Driver said:

Your Bluebird is simply gorgeous! All that was done to it suits the car perfectly. 

Thanks a lot!

15 hours ago, PappyD340 said:

Very nice!

Appreciate it! 

15 hours ago, cobraman said:

Very sharp, I like it !

Thank you!

13 hours ago, Bainford said:

Very nice Datsun. Overall appearance is awesome. Love the look. I’m digging those wheels, will have to look onto a set of those. I really admire your ability to mix colour. The green looks great. 

It was a bit of work trimming the underbody to fit these wheels. For me colour mixing is one of the most fun part of modelmaking. Thank you! 

[espo]

I thought your first picture was of a real car. Beautiful paint finish and really like the build style.  

[Daddyfink]

Outstanding build! The additions are spot on for it. 

[ozmodeler]

Beautiful job mate, also your photo's are excellent !

 

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[Spottedlaurel]

That looks so good Chang! Wonderful detailing, the windscreen rubbers with chrome trim turned out very well.

What wheels are they please? They look similar to those on some Toyotas.

Good use of the Fairlady flares, they're not too extreme.

[e30lover]

On 5/19/2021 at 11:57 AM, espo said:

I thought your first picture was of a real car. Beautiful paint finish and really like the build style.  

Thank you! Weather is amazing in Toronto these days. Perfect weather for outdoor shoot.

On 5/19/2021 at 4:29 PM, Daddyfink said:

Outstanding build! The additions are spot on for it. 

Thank you!

15 hours ago, ozmodeler said:

Beautiful job mate, also your photo's are excellent !

 

Appreciate it! I really like the new macro lens I bought

13 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Looks great!

Thank you!

11 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

That looks so good Chang! Wonderful detailing, the windscreen rubbers with chrome trim turned out very well.

What wheels are they please? They look similar to those on some Toyotas.

Good use of the Fairlady flares, they're not too extreme.

Thanks! I might try doing the other way around (painting silver first then black surroundings) next time. I think I might've pulled from Aoshima Celica LB 2000GT which had a set of rim looked just like American Racing's Le Mans wheels! 

[slusher]

Very nice..

[grodudulle77]

Details and paint work are outstanding !!! I really like the color.???

[Beamerman]

Very cool! Great work! I like these cars more and more...awesome...

[Safire6]

On 5/20/2021 at 5:08 AM, ozmodeler said:

Beautiful job mate, also your photo's are excellent !

 

I agree +1 !

 

[e30lover]

On 5/21/2021 at 11:33 PM, slusher said:

Very nice..

Thank you!

On 5/22/2021 at 10:32 AM, grodudulle77 said:

Details and paint work are outstanding !!! I really like the color.???

It's a bit too much teal compared to Datsun factory colour - next time I'll use more gold! 

On 5/22/2021 at 10:44 AM, Beamerman said:

Very cool! Great work! I like these cars more and more...awesome...

It has definitely grown on me. The price of real car reflects the popularity!

 

[VanSpence]

The green is perfect. Love the end results. Really makes me want to get on my own Datsun kit. 

[doorsovdoon]

Great looking build, very aggressive looking with those wheels and arches. Colour suits nicely.

[Straightliner59]

That looks beautiful. The stance is right on, looks mean! Fantastic work. Very nice photos, too.