V35 Skyline Nismo

[avidinha]

I ordered this kit online and it didn't survive the trip.

The seller gave me a refund, so that's no big deal. This is a 2 in 1 kit so it has a lot of extra parts and I want to see if I can salvage it.

Edited August 18, 2023 by avidinha

[avidinha]

Here's what I'm working with. Out of all the parts that were damaged, only 2 didn't have unbroken counterparts.

There was an extra dash and interior tub.

The base model bumpers were damaged, but the Nismo bumpers were fine. I wanted to use the Nismo bumpers anyway, so that was lucky.

Now here's where I get unlucky.

The chassis was broken in half.

And the windows are smashed.

I think I can salvage the chassis, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the windows.

[drodg]

That stinks.  I have been getting more boxes beat up on different items I buy.

 

[avidinha]

I was able to repair the chassis. The break was pretty clean and it wasn't bent or warped.

I ran a bead of glue across the top where it wouldn't be seen.

And used a couple of scrap pieces of plastic to give it some extra strength.

The interior sits up off the chassis a little bit, so it still fits with the extra plastic.

More next time.

[avidinha]

Since my chassis repair worked out, I'm going to go ahead and build it up per the instructions.

Even though there's not much detail in the chassis and the car sits so low it would be hard to see anyway, I couldn't help but do a little detail painting.

I also painted the brakes and the springs to add some color.

I went ahead and black washed the grill and exhaust tips while I was at it.

The way the body attaches durring final assembly allowed me to install the bumpers and side skirts before paint, which makes things a little easier.

More next time.

[avidinha]

I got the chassis assembled, it was pretty strait forward.

I also got the interior finished. It was only 6 pieces and 2 decals. I did a little detail painting and made a 3rd brake light with some BMF and a red sharpie.

I got all the body parts in primer, the paint I'm using requires a black base.

More next time.

[iamsuperdan]

That's crazy. How do the parts just snap in half like that? I've seen warped, bent, and twisted, and crushed; but I've never seen parts just break into pieces like that. 

Good that you can salvage most of it.

 

[avidinha]

2 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

That's crazy. How do the parts just snap in half like that? I've seen warped, bent, and twisted, and crushed; but I've never seen parts just break into pieces like that. 

Good that you can salvage most of it.

 

Right?! I thought the damage was kind of suspicious to have just been caused in shipping. But I did get a refund, so whatever. ?‍♀️

[avidinha]

Now that all the easy stuff is out of the way, I have to figure out what I'm going to do with this mess.

I went ahead and glued it back together figuring I could at least use it as a template. While I was gluing it together I noticed that the rear window was intact.

I'm going to try to cut the rear window out and use it and I figure it won't be too difficult to make side windows out of some flat clear stock, so I only need to figure out the windshield.

I'd been working on a Cadillac XLR from Jimmy Flintstone and I remembered it came with 2 sets of vacuformed windows.

I tried one of the windshields on the Skyline and it was almost perfect.

I'm going to cut some windows and use the kit window masks and see how they come out. More next time.

[Kennyboy]

Why don't you just cut out the glass and make it look like the windows are rolled down? If you wanted to, you could use clear acetate to make the side windows in the down position. 

Just a thought

[Pete75]

Interesting work here. Fingers crossed for the rescue mission!?

[avidinha]

1 hour ago, Kennyboy said:

Why don't you just cut out the glass and make it look like the windows are rolled down? If you wanted to, you could use clear acetate to make the side windows in the down position. 

Just a thought

The quarter windows don't roll down on this car, so I would have to make those anyway and I figure it would be just as easy to make them and the door windows one piece.

[avidinha]

The kit came with window masks and the ones for the door windows made for great templates to make the new Windows.

Here they are with the frit painted on and the masks removed.

And here's a snark peak at the paint.

More next time.

[avidinha]

She's all done.

Here's the under glass post