Revell Audi R8

[NOBLNG]

I picked this one up cheap at a flea market. It is complete except for a missing transmission rear cover. I assume that maybe a youngster may  have attempted to build it and gave up? The engine and drivetrain was pretty much assembled (unpainted thankfully) with I think the old Testors tube glue.😬 Some parts were not properly located and the poseable steering was glued solid. Last night I managed to disassemble it mostly, and this morning I drilled out and replaced all the pins in the steering components, and re-assembled the engine.

[NOBLNG]

I made a rudimentary cover for the transaxle. It doesn’t look quite like the kite piece (which I don’t think is correct) but I don’t think it’s really seen on the finished model anyways.

[lordairgtar]

Nice work bringing the engine back to greatness. The cover is well done, but like you said, it won't be seen very well.

[Nacho Z]

Hang on, Greg, let me go pop some popcorn, because I’m going to be following this one!

[slusher]

Greg you have my interest in this build, I will be following along!

[NOBLNG]

On 5/17/2025 at 12:45 PM, lordairgtar said:

Nice work bringing the engine back to greatness. The cover is well done, but like you said, it won't be seen very well.

 

On 5/17/2025 at 4:38 PM, Nacho Z said:

Hang on, Greg, let me go pop some popcorn, because I’m going to be following this one!

 

4 hours ago, slusher said:

Greg you have my interest in this build, I will be following along!

Thank you for your interest Fella’s!😎 This is going to be a mainly OOB build with just a little detailing. 

[NOBLNG]

I am scribing some lines on the seats to separate the headrests and the seat back from the bottoms.

I don’t want to put European plates on it, so I’ve filled the plate mounting holes with stretched kit sprue and will smooth the panel soon.

I don’t want to have a front plate at all (even though it is required here in Mb.) so I filled the space for the plate with some 0.010” Evergreen sheet. I’m not thrilled with that look so I may use a homemade grill?

I went to a nearby fabric store and they were nice enough to clip me off a couple of sample pieces of “tulle” fabric used for making veils and tutus.

I put some tape on the kit grill, trimmed it and then made a new blank from 0.030” styrene, glued the tulle fabric to it with CA and trimmed it.

After a coat of paint it looks not too bad?🤔 It’s a little blotchy due to uneven glue application. More paint may help or I might make another…I have enough “sample” material for a few more attempts.🙂

Edited May 19 by NOBLNG

[johnyrotten]

That looks great. Nicely done. 

[espo]

Like the effect with the fabric, I'm going to have to remember that one. 

[NOBLNG]

On 5/19/2025 at 6:04 AM, johnyrotten said:

That looks great. Nicely done. 

 

On 5/19/2025 at 2:48 PM, espo said:

Like the effect with the fabric, I'm going to have to remember that one. 

Thanks Guys. It worked better than I hoped.🙂

[NOBLNG]

Somehow during my disassembly and reassembly the engine location seems to have shifted slightly causing the intake shroud to not line up with the opening for it.😕 I didn’t realize it until I had the engine glued solidly in place.😳 So I am taking the easy way out and eliminating the mounting pins for the shroud. I will glue it flat on top of the intake tubes after the body is mounted. Very little of the engine is visible after it is in place anyways.🧐

[NOBLNG]

And I got the body primed and the interior completed. I am not sticking with any stock color schemes.

Edited May 23 by NOBLNG

[dino246gt]

Wow Greg, that looks great and I love the way you motor through missing or misaligned parts!

The rear cover looks excellent and your grille is genius!

Cheers!

[NOBLNG]

1 hour ago, dino246gt said:

Wow Greg, that looks great and I love the way you motor through missing or misaligned parts!

The rear cover looks excellent and your grille is genius!

Cheers!

That comes from being a sucker for glue-bombs.🤪

[Nacho Z]

Look at that interior!!  Sweet!

[NOBLNG]

Got the wheels and tires installed and the poseable steering works again.🙂 Also got the side blades painted. Once I get them masked I will spray the rest of the body.

[NOBLNG]

And we have some color….LP-42 Mica Red. It looks a bit orange to me. I hope the red interior will look ok with it. I’m wondering now if I should have done the grill and corner vents metallic grey also instead of SG black? 🧐

Edited May 24 by NOBLNG

[slusher]

Beautiful color Greg, man, your interior looks awesome!   Color of the car looks burgundy not orange….

[1930fordpickup]

This looks great no matter what color we see. Another well done kit from your bench. 

[NOBLNG]

Still plugging away at it. I don’t like the look of the mesh decals so I am just painting those areas in the engine bay and on the deck lid. Should be able to finish it up tomorrow hopefully.😎

Edited Saturday at 03:22 AM by NOBLNG

[Belugawrx]

Paint finish looks great Greg..airbrush or spray bomb ?

Interior work really looks the part ! 

[NOBLNG]

On 5/31/2025 at 5:03 AM, Belugawrx said:

Paint finish looks great Greg..airbrush or spray bomb ?

Interior work really looks the part ! 

It is airbrushed Bruce. Thinned a bit less than 1:1 from the bottle. Thanks!

[NOBLNG]

Well I am calling this one done. Everything was going along nicely until I went to mount the body to the chassis. It went in nicely and then I realized in my haste that I forgot to put the interior in place.😳…so pry it apart, put the interior in and then I couldn’t get the chassis plate to fit up flush with the rockers.🥵 I had it in and out a bunch of times…ground a bit away from the dash and passenger side door panel ( it wouldn’t slide up flush with the top of the door like the drivers side was).🤬

Anyways, after fiddling with it for an hour or so I finally heard a click and it nestled up into place. Then I glued it in place before it could give me any more grief.🙂 Then I glued that intake setup on top of the engine. I don’t think the mesh decals look very realistic, so I didn’t use them. I also glued some candy wrapper foil to the mirror faces instead of the decals.

More pics under glass here:  https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/201084-revell-audi-r8/

Edited 23 hours ago by NOBLNG