Lamborghini Veneno

[70 Sting]

Good Evening,

The start of each build is a brand new opportunity to build the perfect model i.e. no mistakes with things working out as you planned. I know this isn't realistic, but a guy can dream. So this one was going along pretty well until the first boo boo, which continued with next and so on...

Painted with Zero Paints Grigio Thalasso and Tamiya LP-5 Semi Gloss Black for the trim. The interior is just a mix of semi gloss and flat black.

 

What I Learned:

1. Maybe it's just me but I find Fujimi kits are quite nice during the sub assembly stages, but when it comes time to mount the body to the chassis... not so much. This was certainly the case with their Ford GT40 as well.

2. More on fit: the engine cover appears to be designed to be glued in place - no point going crazy with the engine; the windshield, both rear quarter marker lights the and headlights didn’t fit flush. On the plus side, the doors and windows fit perfectly (certainly more than I can say for any Countach kit).

3. Even more on fit: the front chassis pan hangs down below the splitter/skirt/nose (not easily seen in the photos. This is likely due to some mistake on my part. Having said that, I had the benefit of reading another member's post on fitting the body to the chassis and still encountered problems. It took some serious finagling to make front and rear splitters/skirts/ fit, as well as the side skirts/rockers. I ended up snapping/chipping the front quarter points on the body and splitter as well as some glue mess. Sorry for my poor parts terminology.

4. Zero Paints Gloss Clear does not play well with underlying paint if applied too heavily. I first applied a couple light coats to protect the decals and allowed the minimum drying time, but the third heavier coat activated the colour paint and created some swirls. Some user error here for sure. When I masked the body to paint the window trim, the tape pulled off a tiny bit of the clear and underlying decals over both rear quarter panels.

5. Zero's Satin (Semi Gloss) Clear goes on kinda pebbly unless you apply wetter coats and dries a little shinier than other brands.

6. I glued the side mirrors to the doors before priming and painting - seemed to work well with this kit.

7. First time using black CA glue. This is an interesting product: it's quite viscous, flows deceivingly well and dries with a rubbery feel. Probably excellent for PE and mounting certain body parts - especially when attaching the body to chassis to reduce creaking and snapping. I will be using this more on future builds.

 

If you've made it this far, here are the photos:

[TonyW]

That's a nice looking build.

It's not a car I'm familiar with, it could pass as a Batmobile!

I've used Tamiya clear over Zero paints base coat and got good results from it.

I'm with you on the nightmare of fitting Fujimi bodies over their chassis, they do like a tight fit!

I'm building a couple of Fujimi GT40s at the moment and the only way I can get the bodies to fit is to remove the rear panel frame and luggage bins before easing the bodies into place. The removed parts take away a lot of the stress and heave ho'ing involved in the task. Refitting is a simple enough task.

[ChrisR]

Looks great!!

[bbowser]

Very nice work!  Your issues sure don't show.  Great photography as well.

[Jim B]

Great looking Lamborghini.  Very well done.

[Dragonhawk1066]

Nice looking Lambo!

[SpikeSchumacher]

Well done Harry! That is one tough-looking ride 😉

[89AKurt]

I would be happy with that!

[Roger U]

2 hours ago, bbowser said:

Very nice work!  Your issues sure don't show.  Great photography as well.

I agree with this. Very well done.

[slusher]

Beautiful Lamborghini! Very well built!

[70 Sting]

On 3/9/2023 at 5:00 AM, TonyW said:

That's a nice looking build.

It's not a car I'm familiar with, it could pass as a Batmobile!

I've used Tamiya clear over Zero paints base coat and got good results from it.

I'm with you on the nightmare of fitting Fujimi bodies over their chassis, they do like a tight fit!

I'm building a couple of Fujimi GT40s at the moment and the only way I can get the bodies to fit is to remove the rear panel frame and luggage bins before easing the bodies into place. The removed parts take away a lot of the stress and heave ho'ing involved in the task. Refitting is a simple enough task.

For sure, it’s a crazy design (too much grappa in the design room 😁).

Good tip regarding the GT40 - I have a Ken Miles version in the stash to be built. On the first kit I made a couple years ago, I glued the front and rear body halves together with Tamiya Extra Thin. The seams let go during final assembly. 😔

[70 Sting]

On 3/9/2023 at 5:39 PM, bbowser said:

Very nice work!  Your issues sure don't show.  Great photography as well.

 

On 3/9/2023 at 8:38 PM, Roger U said:

I agree with this. Very well done.

Thanks fellas. It’s a very forgiving way to photograph models.

[ATHU]

Looking good, great job!!

[mustang1989]

You mentioned the start of a new build being a good opportunity to put out the best product possible. I know that's the case for me even though it always seems that something goes haywire somewhere in the process. Some builds I'm not as much interested in the outcome as much as I am in using new products like the black super glue (which I will DEFINITELY be trying) and the usage of a different paint/ clear. My holy grail builds get the tried and true stuff where ever I am in modeling at that point so the outcome will be some what more predictable. 

 A very good product came out of this build despite the issues you had along the way. I've got a Fujimi GT-40 in the stash and am looking forward to building it so thanks for the heads up in regard to body/ chassis fit being tight. 

Great job on this bud.

[Zippi]

That is Slick looking.  Nicely done.

[H.A.K]

I love it. Looks great.

 

[stevehansen]

Great Build!!!

[Tommy124]

Hi Harry,

this looks a fine model, especially with all the issues you mentioned. Did you use the 1K clear from Zero Paints? I do not recommend that from my own experience. The 2K is way better.

Is there any reason you did not use the kit's decals for the red lines on the body edges and the "Italian stripes"? They would have added some nice accents, I believe.

[70 Sting]

On 4/3/2023 at 6:39 AM, mustang1989 said:

You mentioned the start of a new build being a good opportunity to put out the best product possible. I know that's the case for me even though it always seems that something goes haywire somewhere in the process. Some builds I'm not as much interested in the outcome as much as I am in using new products like the black super glue (which I will DEFINITELY be trying) and the usage of a different paint/ clear. My holy grail builds get the tried and true stuff where ever I am in modeling at that point so the outcome will be some what more predictable. 

 A very good product came out of this build despite the issues you had along the way. I've got a Fujimi GT-40 in the stash and am looking forward to building it so thanks for the heads up in regard to body/ chassis fit being tight. 

Great job on this bud.

100% agree. I feel I’m still in the early stages of this hobby and trying to narrow down my favourite tools, paints, supplies and perhaps more importantly, techniques. 

[70 Sting]

On 4/5/2023 at 3:52 AM, Tommy124 said:

Hi Harry,

this looks a fine model, especially with all the issues you mentioned. Did you use the 1K clear from Zero Paints? I do not recommend that from my own experience. The 2K is way better.

Is there any reason you did not use the kit's decals for the red lines on the body edges and the "Italian stripes"? They would have added some nice accents, I believe.

Yes it was the 1K Clear. I have not tried their 2K system - I understand this dries rock hard and is easier to polish?

I do like Mr. Color GX 100.  For acrylic paint, Tamiya X-22 is really nice as well, however you have to leave it for like a month to fully harden.😆

 

The body does look a little plain without the stripes. I didn’t care for the Italian stripes as they seem a little out of place to my eye. The red ones would definitely have added interest and I planned on including them at the start of the build. After my disappointment with the fit issues I wasn’t prepared to battle all those tiny red stripes on the tires and the edges of the splitter fins. I knew the way things were going I’d get halfway through and tear or wreck some of them.