Tamiya 1/24 Nissan R390 GT1

[Wendall]

So! I've decided to make this one my next project!

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It was going to be the Porsche 911 GT1 but I'm waiting on a few after market goodies so I thought I would practise some new tricks on the poor Nissan.

I've done a few of these car kits now, and they've been pretty much straight out the box, sometimes with some photoetch or other little mods. While this is very enjoyable I'm feeling like I've got the routine bang off and its a bit of a production line affair and I'm not really pushing myself hard enough or developing my skills at all. So for this one I'll be cutting it up a bit....

I am not going to the expense of buying the SMS photo etch or carbon for this one but I do have some Plastruct, carbon and kevlar decal and a few photo etch bits and bobs in the spares box so I'll try and detail it up a bit with these. I am planning on doing a weekly update, hope it makes for an interesting thread.

Week One

OK! Got the box opened, everything checked and it all looked good so I got started with the exacto blades and files. These bits were removed and so was the front splitter as this will be attached to the front end.

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Then off came the front! Took about an hour of careful scraping. I had to ponder the gaps for a while, I thought about cardboard templates and styrene sheet but in the end I got out the trusty Milliput. I masked off the cockpit tub as I wanted the new material to be part of the body as hopefully this should make for easier assembly. At this point I seriously considered cutting the doors out but I bottled it on the grounds that it woud make the body pretty weak and I may run out of talent and fingers.(maybe next time).

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While starting to prep all off the parts, I didn't like some of the plated stuff. It would've been impossible to clean up the seams and ejector marks so these were treated to a bath in thick bleach (apparently this is also used for domestic tasks? I'm sure she's making that up!) The wheels in this kit are plated but they don't look too bad, might just give them a coat of matt to dull them a little. The bits that've been stripped will be painted in alclad.

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Whilst rummaging through the bits and bobs, I turned up some resin wire connectors and heat shrink so I cut off the moulded ones and replaced them. I'll be wiring the cockpit and engine so these should make it easier.

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And that is as far as I have got this week!

Thanks for looking

Jason

[Guest]

Jason, very good start I'll be watching this one so keep up the good work

[PaulTRose]

that looks a nice kit, never seen that one before

[Wendall]

Thanks David. Hopefully it'll be interesting, maybe a little informative and with a bit of luck I'll end up with a decent model in the end.

It's a nice kit Paul and quite readily available, this was a birthday pressie from SWMBO, think its was about £20.

Jason

[yak face]

Great start Jason, Kudos for chopping it up and scratching the details . Top choice too , beautiful motor, about 10 years ago I used to drive one of these and had quite a bit of competition success-- eventually I had to give the Playstation controller back to my son so my racing career on Gran Turismo 2 came to an end!!LOL!! keep the pics coming , its going to be a great watch . cheers tony

[Guest]

Very nice start Jason.

Seems a very good kit, will follow this one mate want to learn about the cars builders

Good luck with it, I'm sure will be a great model.

Polux

[Wendall]

Great start Jason, Kudos for chopping it up and scratching the details . Top choice too , beautiful motor, about 10 years ago I used to drive one of these and had quite a bit of competition success-- eventually I had to give the Playstation controller back to my son so my racing career on Gran Turismo 2 came to an end!!LOL!! keep the pics coming , its going to be a great watch . cheers tony

Cheers Tony, GT2 was amazing, many, many late nights due to that particular game.

Very nice start Jason.Seems a very good kit, will follow this one mate want to learn about the cars builders

Good luck with it, I'm sure will be a great model.

Polux

It is a very nice kit Polux. Not sure if you'll learn anything here though .

Week Two



Doesn't feel like a great deal of progress has been made this week but It's nearly all prepped and most of the scratching is done it's nearly ready for primer.

Under the bonnet I have added brake cooling ducts. These were made using 2mm aluminium rod, wrapped with 15amp fuse wire and ptfe tape. They will be coated with diluted pva glue so as the paint sticks to the ptfe. The fluid reservoirs are made from sprue and the radiator surround is measured and cut from styrene sheet.

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All of the moulded details were removed from the rear bulkhead an all ejection marks filled, the mouldings weren't bad but I want to cover the part in BMF so they needed to go, also I'll be covering the floor in carbon.

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Little dashboard detail, steering wheel coms lead made from 5amp fuse wire.

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Photoetched radiator face from the spares box, trimmed to fit.

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Likewise photoetched harness. I much prefer these to the standard kit decal.

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And here she is partly assembled to check the fit. The body is very fragile with the front end removed so I am being super careful not to apply any pressure to it at all and as soon as I am finished checking it gets locked back in it's tupperware box. Don't want any accidentsops:.

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All of the other pieces have also been removed from the sprues and cleaned and filled where necessary so the job for the coming week will be to get it all washed and primed...Oh and mock up the engine bay wiring and decide if I am going to scratch build my own shock absorbers.

Thanks for watching

Jason

[yak face]

Great work jason, loving the scratchbuilt bits. Seeing the body bare makes you realise what a great shape it was , it was a shame they only built 2 road legal cars , it made a wicked supercar and would have been a real stunner in gleaming white. tony

[Wendall]

Couldn't agree more about the shape Tony. I'm seriously considering buying another and modifying it into a road version, pearl white with some exterior carbon goodies. Could look pretty trick...

Jason

[Wendall]

Week Three



Got everything washed and primed. Not had much time this week but here's a quick update. I have managed to make a start on the interior, I've BMF'd the firewall and got some carbon on the floor.

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Sorry about the images, had to do them on my phone.

Thanks for looking

Jason

[Guest]

You are doing a lovely work Jason!

Cheers. Polux

[Wendall]

Week Four

Feels like I've got a fair bit done this week. Cockpit is finished apart from the wiring and the engine is well under way, a bit more detail painting and a dark wash to bring it to life and I'll call it done. I have to plan the hoses and wires for the engine bay, I have a few reference pictures but may have to use some artistic license I think. The engine bay floor still needs to be covered with BMF.

One small problem, I test fitted the wheels and found that the brake cooling ducts I knocked up were fouling the wheels so I've re-modelled the front end a bit and have to make new ducts. Apart from that the build is going pretty well!

The paint for the body is on order so hopefully I can start painting that next weekend, looks like it might be a tricky masking job though...

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Oh yeah, got the camera working again!

Thanks for looking

Jason

[Guest]

Beautiful car Jason!!!

Is looking very good so far!!

I wish to see your start on the body mate.... Just take your time to masking it

Polux

[Guest]

Jason

That engine is looking great, you're doing a great job.

BMF, How easy is it to use?

[Wendall]

Beautiful car Jason!!!Is looking very good so far!!

I wish to see your start on the body mate.... Just take your time to masking it

Polux

hopefully be a case of measure twice, paint once

JasonThat engine is looking great, you're doing a great job.

BMF, How easy is it to use?

I like using BMF but it does take a bit of getting used to and a lot of patience. Its incredibly thin but doesn't have a tendency to tear easily. I've managed to wrap it around some pretty awkward shapes quite successfully. To apply it you just need a couple of new blades (it does blunt them quite quickly) and I use a combination of cotton buds to smooth out the main areas and then cocktail sticks to get it into the corners and panel lines. Definitely recommend the stuff I think it can help make a plastic kit look like one of the expensive multimedia affairs for a fraction of the price tag.

Thanks for the positive feedback Gents! Appreciated!

Jason