Citroen DS3 WRC - Heller

[Technics]

A second French WRC build has begun. I guess I really like the fighting spirit of these “hatches”. I think they look fantastic. 

This kit falls together in compassion to the Xsara. The part count is slightly higher but the engineered quality and feel is much higher. The cage is really nice. 

I went ahead and bought some close enough matching paint for the livery as the instructions call for sections of the body to be painted.

On the body I removed seams, molded in body pins and cutout a slot for  aftermarket tow hook. Can’t wait to see some vibrant contrasting colours on the body! 

 

[titino]

Very interesting project, I remain attentive. Greetings

[Bainford]

I am not at all familiar with the Heller rally kits. Looks interesting. I'm watching.

[ZTony8]

Trevor-the Heller rally cars are all about the same,feature and parts count wise.They're all curbside models.The quality of the decals varies( the Mitsubishi Evo and Peugeot 307 being the worst, transparent to the point of uselessness if not doubled or replaced with aftermarket product).

Edited December 25, 2024 by ZTony8

[PatW]

Wow! looks like great decals, just my cup of tea. Looking forward to the build as well.

[Technics]

I forgot about updating this thread. 
 

The body was primed, taped off and shot 3 mist coats of Mr Color for the blue. I wet sanded the bonnet and shot a wet coat of Super Clear. No huge mistakes, not perfect either. I’m content. Decal time!

The charging bulls decals are split horizontally by 3, is this just French fun or adding alignment challenge I wonder. The box art shows the bulls as blobs due to licensing issues I imagine. I almost bought a aftermarket decal sheet as I wouldn’t want to see blobs on the final model but after closer inspection saw the bulls are infact complete and true in the kit decals.

The jump from the Xsara to this DS3 is enormous. It’s a high quality kit thus far. 

I colour matched some decal shortcomings with bottled paint and worked on some bodyside decals. Sol/Set doing its magic. Far from perfect but it’s the largest and multi piece decals I’ve ever tackled. This is model nr. 4 of a 20 year coma 😂😃

 

 

 

When decals and touch ups dried up I misted on two very light coats followed by two wet coats of clear. I wet sanded imprefections lightly 3600. I believe I will leave it here and move onto the next stage. Ample dry / gas out time and mask out the black areas. Otherwise I’d love to do a deeper wet sand and a final wet coat there’s one or two tiny hairs. Plenty of small decal glitches but it won’t matter in the larger picture when complete.

8/10 I’m content! 

 

[titino]

It is beautiful!!

[Technics]

It’s rested 45 days and felt rock solid the clear so I had the nerve to mask and start the trim painting. In my eyes it went perfect. This DS3 project might be my nicest clear finish thus far.

The body and windows call for a combination of masking, decals and brush painting for the trim.
 

This was the first stage. I prefer dividing into separate bench time sessions. If there is too much things to paint per session I lose track / don’t pay enough attention / get discouraged. 

The body to chassis and test fitting of the windows is basically 100% perfect. This is a sweet kit especially after having experienced the Xsara kit.

 

[Technics]

Rear glass including wing, black trim, and a few decals is in. 

Detailed and fused in headlamps. With paint I tried to mimick the lamps as seen in references as mold isn’t the same really. 

Painted window trims and air intakes by brush.

Tow hook in, painted in a galvanised / goldish paint.

Tire decals on.

Took some measurements and plan to make a spray mask for the Citroen racing text to go onto the radiator

Pebbles - just for fun!

Excited how it’s looking.

 

Edited May 5 by Technics

[titino]

Very good!!

[Technics]

I sourced the logo or close enough to the original logo, adjusted, scaled and cut it out. I’m content with how well it worked. Isn’t perfect of course… incredibly small, fiddly area to mask, one can almost not see the text your to remove with a scalpel from the mask.

Much nicer than the kit decal anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 8 by Technics

[titino]

Well done!

[Technics]

Window trim painted -

I went after my main references instead of the kit decals so the windscreen was masked 3 times to get the black off areas, sun visor and lastly a mist of clear for a hint of texture. 

 

The side windows got masked twice in order to get a dual gloss / matte finish as the reference photos. 

 

The windscreen locks and holds in place without any glue. The side ones mate beautifully from the outside. I love a kit that is designed this well on such visual integral parts. This is a great fitting kit.

Applied remainder of decals 

 

Getting close now.

 

 

 

 

 

Note kit decals shape

 

 

Rounded black off areas and a sun visor that’s off black.

 

[Technics]

With an exterior wrapping up I blasted through the remainder of the interior. Keeping it simple OOB as it is incredibly hidden, with just hints of it visible. Just the steering wheel cable was non standard.

Applied flat clear to the harness decals, cut them out with the backing paper remaining and ran a black marker along the edges. I CA glued them in place. Using decals are unrealistically glossy and are less then paper thin so this adds a bit of mass to them.

 

 

 

 

 

Build environment context shot

 

[titino]

Hi, I like how it's turning out. I hope it arrives on time. One improvement you can make is to remove the nuts and hub from the spare tire, as well as reattach the harnesses. Best regards.

[Technics]

@titinoCompletely overlooked that I will likely drill them out. Thanks!