Christmas Group Build?

[dr_gn]

Had to do some re-riveting with the hollow brass tube - some lost during the priming/flatting stages I suppose:



but finally got some paint on:



Using Tamiya Lacquer Thinners with their acrylics has been a bit of a game-changer for fine work - much less nozzle clogging:



Here's current progress, now needs masking for topsides:



Also did some more work on the exhausts: Citadel Chaos Black followed by a water coat of rust brown:





Then I'll add some gunmetal and light brown weathering powders for some exhaust staining:

[robemcdonald]

Great progress on the various projects.

I’m thinking the spitfire may even make it across the line.

[dr_gn]

robemcdonald said:

Great progress on the various projects.

I’m thinking the spitfire may even make it across the line.

This might sound crazy, but it is possible.

[dr_gn]

robemcdonald said:

Great progress on the various projects.

I’m thinking the spitfire may even make it across the line.

This might sound crazy, but it is possible.

[Geoff391]

Flash !

I think this will be a quick and dirty build as quality is pretty low

No point in painting him as He now entombed in the capsule never to be seen again

Capsule and booster body assembled , next some paint

Silver is the dominant colour for most of this kit

[gruffgriff]

Geoff391 said:

Flash !

Saviour of the Universe, King of the impossible!

All that free plastic! Good luck!

[robemcdonald]

Very good ^^^^

I managed to just about finish building the panzer.

It needs a clear coat, pin wash and weathering (I have done the Jerry cans,sand bags and tarps already though)

I will clear coat it tomorrow morning, then it’s on to the BBX before the weathering.

[gruffgriff]

Spottedlaurel said:

Tamiya clearly predicting the fad of electrifying "classics" long before the 280 was old enough to be called one!

Is that a cut-it-out-if-you-want-to-see-the-engine bonnet? Or is there a whoosh parrot under there?

Tell me you're not replicating the Hiace box image because the decals are shot/lost? Hilarious, such a snapshot of the Japanese take on a very brief custom period!

[gruffgriff]

Splendid clean Panzer Rob, bloomin great progress too. Must try something with link and length tracks one day.

I've felt guilty about having been paid good beer money to build a couple of Tamiya buggies and a 14th scale truck, they are so much fun to assemble....and of course extensively road-test.

[Spottedlaurel]

gruffgriff said:

Spottedlaurel said:

Tamiya clearly predicting the fad of electrifying "classics" long before the 280 was old enough to be called one!

Is that a cut-it-out-if-you-want-to-see-the-engine bonnet? Or is there a whoosh parrot under there?

Tell me you're not replicating the Hiace box image because the decals are shot/lost? Hilarious, such a snapshot of the Japanese take on a very brief custom period!

Hadn't thought of it that way on the 280ZX, indeed so :-) I think there's room for the motor to sit under the rear parcel shelf, so it leaves room for a full interior (unlike some older Japanese kits) and yes the bonnet can be cut open to reveal a top-half detailed engine bay. There's also the sump and half a gearbox moulded-in below. I have a couple of the T-tops too, so I'm looking to cut all that out and fit a full engine from something later into one of them, maybe a Z32 300ZX's V6 turbo?

The Hiace does have all of its decals, and they appear to be in remarkably good condition. Not looking to use any apart from the registration plates, but I am planning to add one or two of the accessory items like R/C helicopter and skateboards, plus perhaps the rubber dinghy from a previous AMT kit.

Current state of play on what I've been working on, with untouched parts still in the box:



Woodgrain decal on the tabletop came from a Revell Chevelle Wagon kit. May use other offcuts of it elsewhere if the interior needs jazzing up a bit.

Edit: Other vans in the range:

Edited by Spottedlaurel on Saturday 30th December 07:23

[dr_gn]

Spottedlaurel said:

gruffgriff said:

Spottedlaurel said:

Tamiya clearly predicting the fad of electrifying "classics" long before the 280 was old enough to be called one!

Is that a cut-it-out-if-you-want-to-see-the-engine bonnet? Or is there a whoosh parrot under there?

Tell me you're not replicating the Hiace box image because the decals are shot/lost? Hilarious, such a snapshot of the Japanese take on a very brief custom period!

Hadn't thought of it that way on the 280ZX, indeed so :-) I think there's room for the motor to sit under the rear parcel shelf, so it leaves room for a full interior (unlike some older Japanese kits) and yes the bonnet can be cut open to reveal a top-half detailed engine bay. There's also the sump and half a gearbox moulded-in below. I have a couple of the T-tops too, so I'm looking to cut all that out and fit a full engine from something later into one of them, maybe a Z32 300ZX's V6 turbo?

The Hiace does have all of its decals, and they appear to be in remarkably good condition. Not looking to use any apart from the registration plates, but I am planning to add one or two of the accessory items like R/C helicopter and skateboards, plus perhaps the rubber dinghy from a previous AMT kit.

Current state of play on what I've been working on, with untouched parts still in the box:



Woodgrain decal on the tabletop came from a Revell Chevelle Wagon kit. May use other offcuts of it elsewhere if the interior needs jazzing up a bit.

Edit: Other vans in the range:

Edited by Spottedlaurel on Saturday 30th December 07:23

I had one of those when I was a kid, but it wasn’t Tamiya. It was a Japanese manufacturer though, I think. Yellow plastic, motorised, not bad mouldings. The front wheels were on a kind of ratchet that you could set to steer at a fixed angle.

[robemcdonald]

Spottedlaurel said:

gruffgriff said:

Spottedlaurel said:

Tamiya clearly predicting the fad of electrifying "classics" long before the 280 was old enough to be called one!

Is that a cut-it-out-if-you-want-to-see-the-engine bonnet? Or is there a whoosh parrot under there?

Tell me you're not replicating the Hiace box image because the decals are shot/lost? Hilarious, such a snapshot of the Japanese take on a very brief custom period!

Hadn't thought of it that way on the 280ZX, indeed so :-) I think there's room for the motor to sit under the rear parcel shelf, so it leaves room for a full interior (unlike some older Japanese kits) and yes the bonnet can be cut open to reveal a top-half detailed engine bay. There's also the sump and half a gearbox moulded-in below. I have a couple of the T-tops too, so I'm looking to cut all that out and fit a full engine from something later into one of them, maybe a Z32 300ZX's V6 turbo?

The Hiace does have all of its decals, and they appear to be in remarkably good condition. Not looking to use any apart from the registration plates, but I am planning to add one or two of the accessory items like R/C helicopter and skateboards, plus perhaps the rubber dinghy from a previous AMT kit.

Current state of play on what I've been working on, with untouched parts still in the box:



Woodgrain decal on the tabletop came from a Revell Chevelle Wagon kit. May use other offcuts of it elsewhere if the interior needs jazzing up a bit.

Edit: Other vans in the range:

Edited by Spottedlaurel on Saturday 30th December 07:23

My mate Tim would love that. He has that shape of camper in a very similar colour.

I’ll show him pictures when it’s finished.

[robemcdonald]

Anyway here’s my main event.

I did think about doing a build thread, but will just carry on here instead.

This is an emotional build for me. I have always wanted to build a Tamiya RC buggy. When I was young a lot of my school chums managed to get hotshots and the like as Christmas gifts. We never really had the money, so I made do with the second hand Subaru Brat purchased from the local paper classified ads for the princely sum of £50.

I loved that thing, but it was no match for the brand new 4WD kits my mates had.

Fast forward a few decades and I have thought about building an RC kit many times. I even made it as far as going to buy one, but coming away with a ready to run 1/10 trophy truck instead. It was a bit of fun, but not the experience I wanted and now lives in the loft.

I had a pretty decent year at work this year, so made the case to Mrs McDonald and an accord was reached.

I ordered a premium package from the good folks at Jadlam, but to my horror realised that this particular kit didn’t come with an ESC or motor. This led to a panicky 24 hours where I was trying to work out exactly what I needed to finish the kit. Fortunately I have SC model’s virtually on my doorstep, so popped in for a bit of advice and came away with the parts I needed.

That brings me to now. So here we go. (You may need to wish me luck as everything is bound to end up working in reverse)

[robemcdonald]

Had a pretty decent afternoon building.

I managed to get the gearbox done and the motor mounted.



Work has begun on the rear suspension.



The steering and servo installation are next..

[dr_gn]

Nice so far - I really like that car. Did you go for the spare wheel on the back? Looks cool.

[robemcdonald]

dr_gn said:

Nice so far - I really like that car. Did you go for the spare wheel on the back? Looks cool.

I didn’t know that was an option, so no. Assembly seems okay so far. The worst part has been the servo saver springs. They were a bit of a faff.



In the middle of doing the steering arms, but I think that will have to wait until tomorrow.

[robemcdonald]

Some decent progress since my last post.

I have basically installed and tested all the electronics and everything is working.

I think connecting / disconnecting the battery is going to be a right pain, but we shall see.

The motors leads aren’t soldered on (waiting for some solder to arrive from Amazon) I could use a little advice from hose in the know. How short can I go with the flying leads off the motor? I want it to be neat, but don’t want to leave myself with problems later.

[MBBlat]

Wires to the motor, shorter is better but leave enough slack to be able to remove the motor or ESC without having to remove any additional parts.

[robemcdonald]

Thanks for the info.

Will get into that this evening.

I have finished the front end. Now moving on to the shocks (one of my worries)



I’ll take the driver out and paint him once I get it running (that’s my priority)

[46and2]

Decal marathon complete. Lots of little tiny ones on this, the designers at Italeri apparently did not think to group some together.

I will Satin varnish tomorrow if I get a chance and then get on to a bit of panel lining.

Would it be best to use burnt umber oils on the top for a panel wash maybe?