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Posted

Hi everyone,

After building Fujimi EM series B7, I needed an easy kit to build so I started Tamiya's 240ZG kit. My build concept is to keep it OEM+ by adding wider period wheels & tires, weber carb, and some nice seats.

As usual I started off by wet sanding the body and scribing body panels.
zg1.jpg.5ade491795a221f972006858ca25f5eb.jpg

Fujimi's watanabe wheels I prepared were so wide I had to cut them to fit. I chose Tamiya NSX tires to achieve staggered setup that has some serious tire walls.

zg2.jpg.6c1edc51ebc34a7353148fa1f71c1e9c.jpg

I painted the body in silver (great way to check for small scratches and completely seal the body while keeping the paint super thin - but the painted surface isn't as sticky and strong as surfacer) then lightly sanded the body with 3000 grit to make sure I have a clean, flat body to lay base coat.

zg3.jpg

  • Like 19
Posted

I’ve got one of these in the stash. Keen to see how yours turns out and to pick up some build tips for when l do mine.👍🏻

Posted
On 3/7/2025 at 9:08 PM, DJMar said:

I'm always, always down for a Z car!

Always!

On 3/7/2025 at 9:22 PM, Nacho Z said:

This should be fun!  I'm along for the ride.

Thank you!

On 3/8/2025 at 2:39 AM, Spottedlaurel said:

It'll be great to see you work your magic on this one Chang!

Thanks!

On 3/8/2025 at 7:05 AM, James2 said:

Making popcorn.....

🍿

On 3/8/2025 at 9:09 AM, Zen said:

Cool project! 

What brand are your scribers?

I use Wave materials carving needle and Funtec scriber with interchangeable blades.

On 3/9/2025 at 2:36 PM, catpack68 said:

Looking good! I would like to know what scribber you are using too.

These two are what I use!
https://www.plazajapan.com/4580488730751/
https://www.plazajapan.com/4943209382538/

On 3/9/2025 at 10:48 PM, STU111 said:

I’ve got one of these in the stash. Keen to see how yours turns out and to pick up some build tips for when l do mine.👍🏻

Thank you!

  • Like 1
Posted

Hi gents, here's the build update! I started painting the body with maroon colour. I mixed red, blue and black until I got the shade I wanted and laid two base coats:
z11.jpg.2b7305c310c3afdb8fd9ce2aab87b564.jpgz12.jpg.5dbd8b34cf1110f5601ef8231f9898ef.jpg

After that I laid the first clear coat (mr color super clear III with self leveling thinner)
z13.jpg.2ea973615bef7b6932a4aa240101c95b.jpg

Once the first coat dried, I wet sanded with 3000 grit sandpaper until all the surfaces especially around the panel lines are completely flat. 
z14.jpg.0ee9328c4614d3bf73568f14007cf414.jpg

Then I laid 2 additional clear coats, with non-metallic colours I can go pretty wet without disrupting the metallic flakes.

z15.jpg.82541ec63bed50179c0258ddde32159c.jpg

Next up will be engine bay and interior!

  • Like 11
Posted

Looking great! Excited to see this one and it's progress. Thanks for all your help on the forum, keep up the great work!

Posted

I see you're spraying with the tailgate and fuel filler flap in place, are they permanently fitted?

I wasn't brave enough to cut out the roof supports before polishing, I thought I needed a bit more robustness - those front pillars are so delicate!

Posted
On 3/12/2025 at 8:20 PM, Bainford said:

This is looking great. Classic colour.

Thank you! I love maroon.

On 3/14/2025 at 4:40 PM, Badge73 said:

Looking great! Excited to see this one and it's progress. Thanks for all your help on the forum, keep up the great work!

My pleasure. Thank you!

On 3/15/2025 at 12:24 AM, beeRS said:

Nice job with the maroon. 

Thanks a lot!

On 3/16/2025 at 7:22 AM, Spottedlaurel said:

I see you're spraying with the tailgate and fuel filler flap in place, are they permanently fitted?

I wasn't brave enough to cut out the roof supports before polishing, I thought I needed a bit more robustness - those front pillars are so delicate!

I usually glue all the non-movable body panels (as long as I can actually assemble bottom without breaking) first to make sure I don't rub any paint or get glue marks. Cutting the roof support was dicey but looking at the spruce location I had to cut it to make sure none of them are visible after painting. Sometimes I break A pillars but this time I was super careful! 

Posted
On 3/19/2025 at 4:27 AM, happykyle said:

enjoy following your build, photos you took are very satiating.

Thank you!

Posted (edited)

I bought this kit before Tamiya released the street custom version that had weber throttle body.. so I used resin weber and made my own intake manifolds using leftover parts, and added ignition wires.

z21.jpg.f42e1032909784640a6f1e6320cf3bb6.jpg

Then I used couple of small brackets, drilled them and put thin metal rod across to simulate throttle cable, and added radiator overflow hose as well as fuel line. I also made ignition coil as kit didn't come with one.

z22.jpg.b17e1fcaa09e79dce80129c68ffdd6c0.jpg

I mixed brown, red and yellow to create saddle brown colour for the interior. Seats are aftermarket singer-style recaros. z25.jpg.39470eaed9b80a4bd539e026024fef86.jpg
 

I used leftover GT2 shifter boot instead of stock one, masked the interior to get two-tone look then flocked the trunk area.

z26.jpg.ac8255fe26081e31651b49795817ae08.jpg

Watanabe wheels were painted with mixture of gold, silver and flat black to get titanium-like finish.

z24.jpg.67147cdd62cef73bd00413222472f372.jpg

 

 

Edited by e30lover
  • Like 9
  • Thanks 1

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