Bigasshammm Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Getting close to the end. Not much to the undercarriage. Added a little bit of dirt/rust to dirty it up. I've since put the wheels on and am just now starting the decals. More later. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Started decals. They go on well but are pretty thick so they need some generous MicroSol to get them to conform. Will; probably make it a few day decaling process then. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 My work here is complete. Still waiting on Dave to get his WRX going. Which goes to show that in a race between an EVO and a Subaru the EVO always comes out on top! I'm waiting for some sunny weather to get some outdoor pictures of this in the dirt where it belongs but otherwise here's a teaser. Which just made me realize I need to paint the inside of the exhaust. I'll be submitting it for ARC Auto so look for the pics there. K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Okay, so lately Kris has been all (insert whinny voice font here) "Look, I finished my EVO model in 4.2 seconds, because the EVO is better. Your's isn't done because the STi sucks. I'm a big baby, blah blah blah." So I figured I should probably get working on the STi, so that everyone can see what a REAL rally car looks like. That and so Kris can stop crying. It's just not right to have to watch a grown man cry. Anyway, as I mentioned before, the next thing I needed to do was paint the body. To do this I'm using Tamiya's TS-50 Mica Blue spray paint. I love Tamiya spray paint, it coats really well, and they have a bunch of good colors that are really, really close to actual race car colors. The problem with this is I don't like using spray cans. So the answer? Decant the paint into a bottle and airbrush it. To do that you take the little spray button off of the can of spray paint and drill a 1/8" hole in the nozzle. After that, you may need to clean the hole out so the paint can still come out when you depress the button: After that, I take a short length of 1/8" brass tubing and jam it in the hole I just drilled in the nozzle. Obviously, you won't be able to use this nozzle for spraying now, but if you are going to airbrush the paint anyway, why do you care? I don't glue the tubing in so that I can take it out later and clean it with a pipe cleaner, that way I can use the same nozzle for any spray can the nozzle will fit on. The next part is the part I didn't like, which is why I kept putting it off. Basically, you put this nozzle back on the spray can, and then spray it into your airbrush jar. Now this is going to splatter everywhere, so I would put masking tape across the top of the jar to help contain the mess. It usually wasn't all that successful which meant I usually had to do this outside, and then clean up the mess afterwards, basically a huge pain. Just recently, I saw an article where someone else was doing the same thing, except they used plastic cling wrap (Saran Wrap for us Americanites) across the top of the jar instead of tape. Well, after I smacked myself in the forhead and knocked myself out for awhile, I gave it a whirl and low and behold, it works like a champ. (Obviously, the nozzle would be attached to the spray can, but my third arm is at the cleaners and I couldn't hold it and take the picture at the same time, you get the idea.) Push down on the button, paint comes out and goes into the jar. Easy! Just spray out as much as you need and your are almost ready to go. The nice thing about decanting spray paint is that you usually don't have to thin it (I never have). The only thing you have to do is let it sit for a little while so that the paint can "deair", otherwise the propellant gas in the paint won't have time to come out of the paint, and when you try and screw the top on the paint jar, it comes out the top on its own. (Don't ask how I know). After that, airbrush as normal. Here's the body all painted up. I also did the chassis, rear wing, fog light covers, and all of the interior rollcage parts too. (Ahh Subaru Rally Blue. One of my favorite colors.) That's all I have for now. Enjoy! -Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Okay, so lately Kris has been all (insert sexy Godlike voice font here) "Look, I finished my EVO model in 4.2 seconds, because the EVO is the greatest car ever. Your's isn't done because the STi sucks (truth). I'm a big stud!" So I figured I should probably get working on the STi, so that everyone can see what a SLOW rally car looks like. That and so Kris can stop winning. It's just not right to have to watch a grown man dominate me. Edited for realism I will say though I have always wanted to know how to decant a spray bottle and now I know. Once again you are the master and I am but the learner. That color looks spot on I'll have to use it when I do my STi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Edited for realism More like fiction. Really bad fiction. Like 3rd grade english fiction. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 I was laughing so hard I had to read it to the family. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted December 26, 2011 Author Share Posted December 26, 2011 Who knew the sun would finally come out on Christmas. Finally got the ARC Auto article submitted today. So look for it within a week or two depending on how many articles Steve's gotten. I'm really quite pleased with the EVO. Especially after I've had it and started it so long ago. Can't wait to see Dave's. Should blow mine out of the water. Hope everyone had a good Christmas. K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 EVO pics on ARC Auto today. Overshadowed by that AMAZING Mustang. wow! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Ok, lots of progress on the STI. First, I painted the drip rails and window trim about a week ago, but I never got any pictures of it. Deal with it. After that, I started working on the decals. These are the kit decals, printed by Tamiya themselves before they started out sourcing them to Cartograf. I wish they had started doing that sooner, because these ones were a royal paint. Namely the large neon yellow decals. The problem is that the neon yellow needs to have a white undercoat, which makes the decal thicker, and the non Cartograf Tamiya decals are fairly thick to begin with. I used very hot water and lots of Micro Sol, and I still had issues. Mostly with the decals splitting around sharp corners. Plus, as a result of the hot water and Micro Sol, the clear carrier film separating the stars from the stripes on the side piece were extra soft, and wrinkled like crazy. The next time I do one of these, I'll cut the stars away from the stripe decal and apply them separatly. Anyway, here she is all decaled up. After the decals were applied and allowed to dry, I went ahead with head and tail light installation. Here is a picture of the components of the tail lights. Two clear lenses, two clear red lenses, and a sheet of templated chrome foil stickers. The chrome foil is cut along the templated lines, and then added to the back of the lenses as a reflector. The clear lenses are actually held into the red lenses using only the adhesive from the foil. And the result: And installed. Very convincing I think: And the head lights. Nothing fancy here, semigloss black frames, silver paint in the reflectors, clear lenses in place with Micro Kristal Kleer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Looks very nice. I'll have to remember to cut the stars away whenever I get to mine. Maybe outsource some new decals altogether? How long till it's mated to the frame? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 On the bottom side of things, I've also been working on the chassis/interior. Here is the chassis/interior plate all painted up with nothing installed yet: All of the components that attach to this need lots of painting, detail painting and decaling, and then everything can be assembled. Here's a few of the pieces I've been working on. Suspension components: Transmission: Lots more to come. Other than the decals, this is coming along pretty well. Thanks for following along! -Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Looks very nice. I'll have to remember to cut the stars away whenever I get to mine. Maybe outsource some new decals altogether? How long till it's mated to the frame? Thanks. Shouldn't be much longer. I've been test fitting as I go, especially with all of the roll cage parts. So far so good... I'm surprised you'd even allow an STI model in the house! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 That Subaru looks great! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Thanks. Shouldn't be much longer. I've been test fitting as I go, especially with all of the roll cage parts. So far so good... I'm surprised you'd even allow an STI model in the house! It's a pretty car especially in WRC livery. If the EVO didn't exist I'd buy an STi. They do so I won't. lol By time I can actually afford one of these though (stupid job) either car probably won't exist. At that point I'll go for a used Lotus Exige. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Nice Job! I was wondering when you two would get back at these. I'm still learnin' here and taking notes. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Nice Job! I was wondering when you two would get back at these. I'm still learnin' here and taking notes. Bill The EVO's been done for a while. Dave has way too many projects going at one time :). You can see the EVO in the Gallery section of the ARC Auto page. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Two build updates in two days, whaaaat??? It must be the apocalypse! Thanks for all the comments guys. It really looks better in pictures than in person. I'm really disappointed by the way the decals turned out. Bill, if you want to follow an expert, make sure you check out all of janman's rally builds. He's the rally master. I managed to get a little bit more done last night. I've got most everything painted up now, with a couple small exceptions. Now its just final decaling and assembly and she will be done. Here are the front and rear shocks with the brakes attached: And with those done, I was able to finish up the front suspension: I was able to get part of the rear suspension installed, but I have to wait for the paint to dry on the driveshaft before I can install the rest of it: Overall shot of the underside: Shot of the interior. I need to finish up all of the fire extinguishers before I can finish installing all of the interior components. I painted those last night, now I need to add the decals and do the detail painting on them. After that, I should be able to install everything on the interior of the car. Shouldn't be much longer now. -Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 The end is near! The end is near! Ok, marathon modeling session last night. I kept saying to myself, I'll go until this point and then stop, and then I'd get there and go, ok, I'll do just a little more, and then a little more after that, and I ended up staying up waaay too late, but here we go. Installed wiper blades, cowl, and glass: If you look at the drivers side A-pillar in this shot, it looks like the glass is falling out of the body. Don't worry, it was. But I fixed it. Kit supplied mesh in the lower grill: Rear suspension and exhaust installed: Completed underside prior to being covered up by skid plates. One of the fire bottles all painted and decaled up: Mid process shot of the interior, with wheels installed on the chassis: Close up of the dash. (Don't look too close at some of the decals. ) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Roll cage, dash, door panels in. Interior is done. Close up of the interior: Completed chassis installed to the body, skid plates in place: Just a few more pieces to go..front splitter plate, mirrors, marker lenses, antennae, rear wing, decals on the glass......drum roll please.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Let's go racing!! What can I say, other than it's Tamiya, awesome kit, everything just fit. The only thing that gave me trouble on this one was the decals. Notice I really didn't show any pictures of the seats. They look really, really bad because the carbon decals for them didn't want to cooperate at all. (Notice the absence of lap belts on both seats?) Fortunately, I was able to hide most of the problems by picking which seat went where. Other than that, I'm glad to finally have a Subie in my display case. Now I just need to finish the other three in my stash! More finished picks in the Display Case. -Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I really like it! A very clean build despite of the problems you mentioned. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 (edited) Beauty! We need to get a pic of them together next time you roll through here. Edited February 24, 2012 by Bigasshammm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wayne S Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Awesome Job Did you paint the roll-cage then glue it together? I have a similar deal like yours to do with my Porsche, still have not decided how to go about it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Thanks for the comments guys. Janman, that means a lot coming from the master! Wayne, yes I painted the roll cage parts prior to gluing them together. I cut everything off the sprue, prepped it, test fitted, and then glue them all to small pieces of sprue and sprayed them that way. If they hadn't fit together well during the test fitting, I probably would have glued parts of them together first and then painted. -Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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