Hello Everyone.

My name is Warren and it has been 8 months since I last started a blog on the Kitmaker Network. I have finally got my hobby room set up at my new home in Adelaide and thought I would post some piccies of my latest project.

I have had this kit for about 10 years now and finally decided to start it about a week ago.. and lo and behold I find someone else has started a blog on the same kit!

First a little background to the real car, the Datsun 240ZG (the G stands for Grande) was released as a Japan-only model in 1971. It was only built in right-hand drive (the proper way to drive).

According to my kit's sprues the kit was released in 1972 and it is still an excellent kit even today. The moulds have held up well and this re-release is mostly flash-free, and what flash is there normally only takes a swipe of a file or knife and it is gone. The body panel parts are so smooth and well finished that the TS-11 paint I used on it has come out very smooth. I haven't used a rattle can for decades and this experience means I could be using a few more in the future with my other 1/12 cars in the stash.

So without any further ado here are the piccies!!


First up the body shell. The 240ZG only came in three colours, red, white and maroon. TS-11 is a very good match to my eyes to the original car so that is the way I went... and white wuld have been a bit boring..


Then we have the bonnet.. not so smooth under the harsh glare of the camera..

Then a couple of the front suspension..



Then the rear suspension..


The the engine..



So I am about halfway through the build. The door trim has been installed and lots of other fiddly little (and not so little) bits finished awaiting installation.

That's it for now.

Cheers
Warren

Great to see you back in action mate, and very nice work so far!

Looking forward to more progress shots.

Cheers, D

Beautiful build so far Warren and I LOVE that color you've chosen. Great to see you went with the original blue color for the engine block. Looking forward to seeing it progress.

Thanks Damien and Hermon.

Just a quick one tonight..



I got the engine in!

That's it as most time got spent on the IJN destroyer I am building in parallel with the Datto.

Looks amazing Warren.

Colorful and well detailed. Excellent work so far. Looking forward to completion...

Warren, you have your spark plug wires in the wrong firing order so I doubt she'll crank up. Only joking.

I noticed your engine has the fuel pump installed though while Tony's kit engine shows the pump deleted with a fuel pump block off plate installed. Is that an option in the directions or are these two different kits?

Can't believe the amount of fine details I'm seeing. Really beautiful.

As Tony is using triple carbs of indeterminate parentage he probably has an electric fuel pump somewhere and therefore doesn't need the mechanical pump. Mine is a stock standard 240ZG like you would have been able to buy in Nippon in 1971, so I have the stock mechanical fuel pump.

But anyway, getting closer..

The engine is mostly complete.. (just pretend you can't see the gap with the radiator hose).. it will be fixed later..

As this one is supposed to be straight off the factory assembly line no oil leaks.. yet..

Fuel tank, exhaust etc etc all installed. Underneath is basically finished, but the fuel tank needs a coat of paint..

And I have started installing the interior.
That's it for now. Most of my time is being taken up by a WW 2 IJN destroyer with a bit of photo-etch and as usual the PE is putting up a bit of a fight..

Cheers for now
Warren

Looks amazing Warren.

What he said!

Beautiful so far, pretending I cannot see the radiator hose... . Following up the progress. Nice build. Warm Regards.

Jesper and Damian, thanks for the kind comments...

Gabriel, I wonder if I can get away with pretending that radiator hose problem doesn't exist?

Cheers and Merry Christmas to all
Warren

She looks great Warren. Painting the underside body color was a good decision as it really highlights all the details.

It's hard to get a sense of scale from the pictures, but I was wondering if perhaps a small section cut from a drinking straw and painted black would solve the short radiator hose problem? Just a thought.

I'm really enjoying these two Z car builds. Bringing back some great old memories.

Hey there Hermon.

That drinking straw idea is a good one, and an excuse to imbibe in a few drinks just to get the right size straw!

The paint finish is far from perfect as I made the mistake of spraying outside on a windy day, but I can live with it pretty easily.

Cheers and Merry Christmas
Warren

An interesting few days...

Did you know that Taliya clear-type plastic, including clear-orange blinkers of the type used in their 240ZG kit, disintegrate when you use CA glue and accelerator on them?



That is the result after I glued it back together as well as I could. I will do a bit more polishing later but I am not very impressed.



Then I found an area where the paint had bubbled, don't ask me how, but it must have been a tad too think. You get a lovely gloss finish with Tamiya rattle cans but they are difficult to modulate the flow of paint with the high pressures in them.



Mr Tamiya, why is there a 1 - 2mm gap all the way around the back window? Hope it gets filled by the trim that goes there...



More touching up to be done after attaching the headlight buckets. The part between the headlights got attached later and it fit perfectly.

And finally, the ZG has an interior.. of sorts..





Yesterday I attacked the hubcaps and tried to remove the paint on them ONLY where it is supposed to be removed to show the shiny bits.. I met with some success but they are pictures for another time.

Next build COULD be the Porsche Martini 935 I have sitting in the stash that has been there for decades, or maybe I will restore the 934 I have. We shall see.

Cheers for now.
Warren

I've worked out that I can assemble most of the bodywork before spraying, that'll save having to glue pre-painted parts like the lamp buckets. I see that like me you're content to leave some of the interior in the black plastic - after all that's what a lot of the original was!

Great looking build so far, looking forward to seeing more!

Hi Dave.

100% correct that originally it was black vinyl, same as Tamiya supplies!

I painted everything that needed to be painted maroon originally, but after you assemble them you always seem to find lighter and darker areas unlike when you spray it after assembly and it i all the same colour.

Oh, and a quick update to my original post, I am not building the same kit, I am building the 240ZG kit whereas the other one is the Street Custom version released just a little while ago.

Cheers
Warren

The fun continues..

Tamiya's idea for the window rubbers would be great if it actually worked properly. I am not sure how they think you can melt the rubber in place without melting the adjacent plastic so I am using glue instead.


And just for a bit more luck the masking tape is reacting with the paint and marking it.. great!


A body with no doors and no bonnet yet.


Some doors looking for a body...


Some 'steelies'..


And finally some hubcaps looking for some wheels..

Close to the end but still a long way to go..

Cheers
Warren

Looking good Warren, about the same colour that SWMBO chose for mine (got to keep the lady onside - she keeps the dust off my models!)

I've got most of the sub-assemblies done, interior next.
I sprayed the body with auto paint, but it's got a small run in it so need to let it harden, sand it out and respray. Just hope there's enough paint left...

Not looking forward to the windscreen rubbers, looks tricky.

That's cool! Those wheels look better than Beyonce. Thanks for sharing - I am following you! Happy New Year.

Thanks Dave. They are OK but a crap system compared to a moulded beading around the edge. Makes it very hard to get a strong joint between the three different surfaces. Whatever you do don't try and use CA glue!!! The plastic doesn't like it at all.. Maybe as mine is a bit older..

Thanks Gabriel

Happy New Year to everyone.

Warren, with all the trouble you seem to be running into with this kit, it still looks better than anything I've built to date. Very nice work and looking forward to the next update!

ps: That blinker light lens could be mended by heating some clear sprue and letting it drop into the cracks. Then it should buff out nicely. Just a thought.

Haven't heard of that one before.. I might have to investigate further. It may even repair the cracked tail-light surround..

Almost...



Oh and a quick hint, don't put the wheels on the car until you have the body one as you need to be able to access the top of the front wheel wells to attach the body properly.. and you can't do that if the wheels are on.. ask me how I know...

The Datto almost learned to fly this morning. It has gone away for a while until I can calm myself down when I am around it..