1/24 Audi R8

[stillp]

Thanks Tony. The wheel might look good in gloss black too - if I try that, I can always give them a coat of chrome silver on top of the black.
Pete

[stillp]

The wheels sat in bleach overnight, and nearly all the "chrome" disappeared.

This is the first time I've done this - when I built model cars in my teens, this chrome effect was A Good Thing. There were a few stubborn spots but they'll be hidden by the tyres so I'm not too worried. With the chrome removed the whole sprue was covered in a flaky layer of clear varnish - is this usual? Anyway, it came off with IPA, and they've had a whiff of black Stynylrez.

Gloss black later today, with luck.
The interior parts have had a coat of dark grey - actually EDSG. I'll pick out some areas with anthracite later.

The seats are giving me grief though. The each have two parts, which don't match, and have a lot of 'flare' on the edges so need a lot of sanding.


All the interior parts and some of the bodywork are moulded in that horrible silvery-grey plastic that's black when you get through the outer layer, so they need a coat of primer to show what needs doing. They're currently on the 3rd round of fill/sand/prime. A shame as they've made a great effort to include some detail, like the seat back release shown above, then messed it up in the moulding process.
Oh well, that's modelling for you!
Cheers
Pete

[Jim R]

Hi Peter
Love the colour. A nice gloss coat will add shine and a completely dry gloss will polish if needed. Black wheels will look super mean :thumb2: It is a shame about the fit but although it means a load of extra work I'm sure this will be a stunner.
Jim

[stillp]

Thanks Jim. My usual gloss coat is Galeria, but I don't think it dries hard enough to polish so might look for something else.
Pete

[stillp]

Been a while since I updated, sorry about that. I've been pretty busy with domestic stuff - boiler packed up, the replacement was fine but the system airlocked and wouldn't circulate. The supplier wants to convert my system to a sealed one, but I'm not happy with that for two reasons: one is that a sealed system has more to go wrong, the other is that there must be something wrong with the existing system - blockage or some obstruction in a pipe, and that'll still be there after the conversion to sealed, so it might not work any better.
Then we're trying to organise a decorator, and a carpet fitter, hoping they can synchronise so we only need to move all the furniture once... some chance!

Anyway, back to modelling. The seats are looking a little better after multiple rounds of fill/sand/prime, but the seat controls have almost disappeared. They don't seem to show up much in the 1:1 though, so I'm not too worried.
Engine and transmission fitted to the floorpan:

The Audi '4 rings' decals on top of the engine look OK from a distance, but the logo is also moulded into the plastic, and of course they don't line up. Looks as if the airbox needs another coat of metallic black.
Spent a bit of time on the dashboard this evening:
I hate circular decals, they seem to rotate to the wrong angle, and they don't have any corners to grab to get them rotated correctly. Luckily these are the usual Revell tough decals so they'll stand a bit of pulling about. Needed a very long soak though - minutes rather than seconds.
More soon, with luck.
Cheers
Pete

[adt70hk]

Pete

Sorry to hear of the domestic woes.

Car is coming on nicely despite all the issues.

ATB.

Andrew

[Mini Me]

Hi Pete..........Very late at looking in on this one ..........Wow, certainly a lot of work into this so far but seems to me that you will pull it off in the end. Love the black wheels as it will be a real "meat eater" when you put the final touches on it. Looking forward to the next update. Rick H. :thumb2:

[Tim Marlow]

Excellent progress Pete.

[Mark1]

Trying to remember the last time I built a model car. I think it was around 1969!
This is a Revell kit repackaged for Marks & Spencer, so it's not just any Audi R8, it's an M & S Audi.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1147630[/ATTACH]
Another charity shop bargain of course. One day I really must buy a kit from a model shop. You'll notice it says it includes paints, glue and a brush. Well, the paints and glue are there, but the brush looks a bit bald:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1147631[/ATTACH]
The box was sealed when I bought it, and there are no brush hairs in the box so it must have been packed like that.
Sprues were nicely packed in plastic bags, one for each colour so 3 or less in each bag.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1147632[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n1147633[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1147635[/ATTACH]
8 sprues, plus the body, and separate vinyl tyres. I haven't noticed any flash yet. I'll have to get that 'chrome' sprue in a bath of bleach. What's the best finish for these polished alloy wheels?
There's also a nice decal sheet, and a small piece of plastic mesh.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1147634[/ATTACH]
The thing that's been putting me off building cars is painting the body. I've never had much success with rattle cans, and when I've tried to decant paint from them I've just made a mess.
At the moment I'm thinking I might paint the body in Tamiya X13 metallic blue, as a change for the 'silver' that R8s often are, and I have an unopened jar here. Whether I can get a decent gloss finish is another matter though!
All suggestions welcome.
Hope to make a start tomorrow.
Pete

If your gloss is still an issue, in halfords they do a spray can made by simoniz of acrylic gloss, you can build up light coats and settles into the smoothest finish I've ever seen from a can(like glass!)and a very high gloss finish,won't need polishing,takes a little while to dry properly. I used on my 64 impala, used 12000 grit polishing pads on it (no polish) just to get rid of the few bits of dirt I got in the paint.

[stillp]

If your gloss is still an issue, in halfords they do a spray can made by simoniz of acrylic gloss, you can build up light coats and settles into the smoothest finish I've ever seen from a can(like glass!)and a very high gloss finish,won't need polishing,takes a little while to dry properly. I used on my 64 impala, used 12000 grit polishing pads on it (no polish) just to get rid of the few bits of dirt I got in the paint.

Thanks, I'll remember that when I get closer to completion.
Pete

[stillp]

Well, it's hard to believe I've done no modelling since June! Still struggling with plumbers and painters but I need to get this moving again. Dashboard is now finished, and the interior tub is complete.


That is close to being installed on the floorpan, but that can wait until tomorrow.

The next stages involve the various windows, which all have a frosted band around the outside, which needs to be painted black. That'll have to wait until my hands are not so shaky.
That'll do for now, hopefully the next update will be a bit sooner!
Pete

[stillp]

Stalled again! I've had several tries at brush painting the black surround on the windows but none of them looked good enough. I could probably mask the front windscreen, but the rear and side windows are tricky shapes. The frosted areas don't show up very well on a scan, so I couldn't make my own masks, and the only ready-made masks I can find are in Hong Kong, and the seller states that delivery is usually 1 - 2 months but could be longer due to Covid!
I'll have another try at masking using Tamiya tape for curves. :disappointed2:
Pete

[stillp]

Well, I've been over-thinking this. Time to man up and get on with it!

Had to resize that one!
Then put some paint through the airbrush for the first time in months:

I'll let that cure overnight. Might actually be able to do some building tomorrow.
Pete

[stillp]

I mentioned in the "New Acquisitions" thread that I'd bought a can of the Simoniz clear acrylic that Mark1 suggested. It certainly is shiny, but my inept handling of the rattle can meant it has a bad case of orange peel.

I know I could rub that down with some fine sanding sponges then polish it, but I don't think I'll bother. I'll see how it looks when it's closer to completion.
I've starting fitting the windows, along with things like lights and grilles.
Windscreen and door mirrors tomorrow, with a bit of luck.
Pete

[stillp]

Revell kindly provide silver decals for the door mirrors - unfortunately they're far too small!
I've filled in the rest of the mirror with my trusty UniPaint silver marker pen.
They also provide decals for the brake calipers:

As well as some for the grilles, which are a PITA to fit as they go a long way down in between the 'ribs'.

It was a lot easier once I thought to cut off the excess carrier film.
Just one more for today:

Can't really see it in the photo - the tiny silvery 'quattro' badge in the grille.

Pete