Hello model builders,

I have just finished some complicated race car builds that I really enjoyed, so decided to stick with the race car theme. I have a few in my stash, including those noted in this blog title. I was going to try a McLaren, (the black Loctite longtail) but decided to try it another time.

So, I jumped right into the Nissan kit - and, well, I seem to have forgotten how smoothly Tamiya kits go together - wow! If you're just learning they'd be ideal or, if you have more experience and want a solid foundation for detailing, they seem to meet that criteria too!

To my big surprise, this kit has moved along really quickly - I started it while the paint on the 917 was drying.

First up, I know my first picture is not of a historically accurate modification - the entire front of this Nissan is removable, but I didn't want to go that route, as it leads to all sorts of problems - I like this car but don't love it, so not worth the work to me. So, like the 917, I opened up a small hood, so you can see in to the (interesting) steering and other parts:



Above, you can see I carved along the curve, and voila:



I cleaned this up, and it looks fine, in order to reveal:





As usual, you won't see most of this, but you can see some of it...and then, into the cabin:



Mostly simple clean up above...and to the engine:



As I mentioned, this kit offers a great base you can leave alone, or detail up - and create, a transformer:



Arggh! what's that??! well, it's a bad A*$ twin turbo Nissan engine is what it is - wow - what a brute!

But not all glamour, I thought about a recent post of Joel's where he lost either a mirror or door handle - I lost a mirror, so I carved up a new one:



and finally, early paint on the chassis/engine:



I like this kit - and encourage anyone to give it a go if they like race cars! The ease in assembly of this led me to the idea of the dual build. I haven't done anything on the Toyota yet, but will soon - it has an engine too, so look forward to seeing where it goes -

Thanks for having a look -

cheers
Nick

Nick, you're definitely now sitting around doing nothing are you?

Excellent progress, looking forward to more reports.

Cheers, D

P.S. Make sure you don't clear out your stash completely before next April when we start the Race theme Group Build!

Nick,
I've often eyed this kit both for its excellent price and it's detailing. Tamiya gets top marks from me once again. I tend to focus my builds on North American/European racing, so I just gotta start buying some of those great Tamiya kits before they're also out of production.

The N390 was originally designed for FIA Endurance Racing for the production class. But the rules called for I believe a min of 25 cars to be built, (which is why all of Shelby Cobras had 25 examples built). Nissan only built one car. So Tom Walkinshaw Racing was contracted to greatly modify the design to run as a prototype, which is the history of the model you're building. That's about the extent of my knowledge on the car, as I'm a huge Walkinshaw fan. To me he's the English equivalent of Dan Gurney's AAR team, as there's a great history between the two companies and founders.

Excellent detailing on the engine/transmission/suspension. You certainly added just enough to get the impression of a highly detailed unit.

I understand your decision to cut open the nose section rather then have the entire front end clip just removable for viewing. It's always a modelers license to do so. I'm looking forward to how and what you decide to detail up front.

I'm still amazed at the speed you turn out these detailed models. I can easily see you doing a min of 12/year. I'm lucky to build 3-4 in any given year.

Oh yeah, I lost a door handle to the carpet monster, but just as I was going to try and carve one, I found it. So I owe the Carpet Monster big time, and I'm sure that he'll collect when it suits him.

Looking forward to your next update.

Joel

Nick, it is amazing how fast you move and what kind of detail you can throw nonchalantly into each build!

Following up!

Gabriel

Love the look of that turbo brute.

HI Damian,

Funny, about the time you sent that note, I was getting into a Lyft on my way to see the band "X" - an old time favorite of mine from the 80's - they rocked, and opened up for Squeeze (not a favorite, but they put on a tight set). The group build sounds great! I don't have a huge stash, but try and keep a few cars, some armor, and a few soft skins handy. I think each of the cars I have are racers....

Hi Joel - yep, the Tamiya kits are a great deal - not expensive, high quality - in fact, I just saw this Nissan on line for less than $30USD!!! I almost feel obliged to buy it because it is a great kit! And yes...the lost part, inevitably the last part - lol -

Hi Gabriel, yep, I'm a detail nut - while many of you are aces with paint and finish, I enjoy all sorts of scratch work - It's just a bummer, you can rarely see the results! lol -

Hi Jesper, glad you like that engine too - the turbos are huge - wow - and fun to build and paint - the upcoming Toyota has a detailed engine too, but don't remember if it's turbocharged? I'll add some plumbing in any event....

OK, please take a look, the Nissan needs to move it on over for the Toyota:







I'll say it again, this kit is pretty nice - for a beginner, or someone with some experience - paints up pretty well too:







And a few opened up:





And with no glare:





So, next up the Toyota!

In the mean time, a couple of extra pics - yes, I enjoy adding detail, this is a reworked 1/35 Panda MATV for use in a diorama:









I spent a while doing only armor - but I enjoy some variety!

cheers -

Nick

Nick,
The Nissan R390 really looks the part. Just love your detailing. The paint and decaling looks flawless.

Looking forward to seeing the Toyota GT-1 cross your finish line, and knowing you, it will be much sooner then later.

Joel

There must be more than one of you in your production line Nick, your turning them out so quickly. The Nissan looks great in the sunlight, almost the real thing.

cheers

Michael

Hi Joel, Michael - thanks for taking a minute to drop by! Yes, I've got to say, compared to some other builds, these Tamiya's really go together well and fairly quickly.

The Toyota is a bit more complicated than the Nissan was, there are a few steps which require a head scratch or two but nothing that difficult. I've made lots of headway on the engine:



As you can see above, there is nice detail provided in the kit, but I changed a few parts - you'll see some metal rods toward the rear. These struts were plastic in the kit - part of an overgeneralized (in my opinion) bracket - so, I scratch built the control arms and struts. I also added some plumbing. It is based on photos of the engine I found on line. Next, base coat of paint:



Wow! that's bright - silver over primer, and then, some real
paint:







This engine/parts are painted with four shades of black over the silver - NATO, bright black, metallic black and German grey. Also with several variations and blends of silver. For the blends, I mixed with copper, brass, black. The silver base color is nice because you can add thin coats of paint and get a variety of looks - like the anodized blue and gold. I used the metallic black to emulate shiny carbon fiber.

So, like with the Nissan, I offer a positive recommendation for this kit! I'm working on the body - which it turns out is relatively complex and interesting to assemble and wonder how to paint -

I'm really pressed for time today -so need to run -

thanks for having a look

Nick

Nick,
I'm once again really impressed with your detailing to upgrade some parts of the rear suspension, and of course the engine/suspension detail painting is most realistic.

I've been experimenting with various shades of Metallics ( next up is the new Mr. Hobby Super Metallic 2s), but I've only varied the undercoat, never tried to change the color coat. But after seeing your results, I'm going to give it a good try out.

Tamiya's older kits seem to consistently out shine detail wise so many of their new tin tops that are basically curbside kits. That's one reason why I've been concentrating more on Aoshima & their family of companies: Beemax, Nuno, & Platz. Not fully detailed, but enough to fools one eye, and make the build experience for the Buck worth it.

Joel

The Tamiya kits of the new Toyota TS hybrid racing cars look VERY complex. I was thinking of trying their TS050 and looked at the instructions over on Hobby Search and was totally bamboozled over how the bodywork is put together. I might get the kit,not for making, but just to study out it all fits together.

Gary,
I've watched a You Tube video build on this kit, and it's certainly not for the faint of Heart. The complex body does go together fairly well, but not perfectly. This is the main reason why I've shied away from buying one. But like with most Tamiya offerings, I'm weakening by the day.

Joel

Hi Gary, Joel, for what it’s worth, I say go for it on the TS050, or, start with the TS020 and see what you think. Now wrapping the TS020 up, and just finishing the Nissan, I want to try something different - but, might well come back to it. Gary, I took a look at your link and the instructions and it looks like a great kit -

Cheers
Nick

Hi builders,

I haven't stopped or forgotten the Toyota! just been distracted by the Ford GB - that said, the Toyota is painted and waiting for decals:







And I like the finish! only a few small flaws - same as always, Vallejo Model Air paint with Alclad Aqua Gloss II over -



There were a few challenges in terms of figuring out how to paint parts, like the rear wing....



Interior about done - needs seat belts -



I included the pic above so you can see the two small metal pins I added after it was all painted up there the two sticking out of the two black tubes, in the very bottom of the pic. After fooling around with the dryfit I realized - yes - add the metal locating pins.

Finally:



This front end looks pretty good, but unlike the Nissan - it will never be seen again - oh well -

Cheers

Nick

Great work as always Nick. I love the finish you are getting from the Vallejo paints. I've never been able to get them to work well, can you please outline your formula (thinning, air pressure, tip size)?

Cheers, D

Nick, superb detailing! Thanks for posting these, I'm "stealing" the trade (well, I try at least).
As Damian wondered: Vallejo should pay you an allowance for that result with such "weak" paints! It is true, I use them as well, but for interiors / undersides; I will never dare try a shell finish with these. I remember when I was doing my B-17, which I never finished, and used from ignorance Vallejo acrylic white primer, that paint was flaking and peeling off just watching it!

Gabriel

Nick,
The paint finish on the Toyota is excellent. Looks super smooth with the Aqua Gloss sealer.

And the engine/trans/rear suspension really came out perfectly.

My only question is where do you find the time to build so many kits at one time at the speed of light?

Joel

Hi Damian, Gabriel and Joel,

Thanks for the positive words! I appreciate them.

Regarding the use of Vallejo paints, for a variety of reasons I only paint with acrylics, both airbrush and regular brush. The vast majority of this is using the Vallejo Model Air series. Gabriel, I started building armor, and for this work, the Vallejo is almost ideal - I spray right over Vallejo primer. Autos are a different story. Looking at the posts here on Automodeler it was very evident that you guys were all getting much better finishes than me.

Some experimenting led me to using various Tamiya spray can colored primers. For red bodies, I use their fine pink primer, which allows you to gradually build up the red base coat. For most other uses I stick with their fine grey. The same layering of the base follows. The funny thing here tho is that at some point I emailed Vallejo for guidance on how to get an auto quality finish using their products - they never wrote back!!

So the method is spray can Tamiya fine primer, Vallejo Model Air base, and Alclad Aqua Gloss II. A few lessons, you can’t really sand the Vallejo paint, but you can sometimes knock down odd surface conditions using K+S sanding film, I use regular ultra fine. If I need and heavy sanding, I’ll do it on the Tamiya, which can take quite a beating and still look good, or get repainted. I very rarely sand the Aqua Gloss, but do polish it with Meguiars PlastX. The Gloss results are still somewhat hit or miss - in fact, I find it to be the hardest part. I generally use two coats, with both getting polished once dry.

I don’t thin the model air paint - but I really shake the bottle before use. You’ll find with practice you can sort of tell when shaking it if it’s good to go, or too thick or thin. If either of the latter, I’ll use a different bottle. I very rarely thin it - it seems to get too watery for my liking. If too thick, it seems to have spoiled - sat too long etc, which can quickly result in a gunked up air brush....yes - I know that from several direct experiences lol.

I have two badger air brushes - a Patriot and a Krome Renegade. Both are tough and reliable - the only problems I’ve had have been self inflicted. I shoot Vallejo acrylic thinner through them after each use. Or, use water after the Aqua Gloss.

My compressor is an Iwata Smart (something like that? Relatively quiet and no airtank). I have an in-line water trap, but can’t adjust the air pressure! That is a drag, but that’s the way it is....pressure is around 20psi...at all times.

Most of my problems with paint stem from me doing something dumb....fingerprints, dropping the piece while it’s wet, not really paying attention to how much paint I’ve sprayed and getting puddles or streaks, not taping it off correctly, and so on, all really smart things by me!!

Gabriel, I’ve never had flaking, but, I’ve seen it peel, but again, my fault.

I do most detail painting with a brush, right over whatever the base color is. I’ve taken to using a figure painting technique of glazing, essentially a series of wet washes over my preferred color. This is very useful, as you can usually cover streaks and for a metal surfaces, get a nice shiny finish if you desire.

Joel - yes, you’ve mentioned speed and time before. I see model building as a counter balance to my job which can be demanding - and not always project focused, spending more time on admin than project tasks. It can be a handful, the long and short of it is, I seem to perpetually have a lot of balls in the air as the saying goes.

Building models is a good way to relax, experiment, be creative and screw things up - but it’s only rock and roll, just for kicks. Autos are fun to build because the parts count is relatively low compared to armor (yes - I like the 800 part AFV too, but not always), and 1/24 allows for a lot of model builder creativity, but only if you want to - as you don’t “have” to over detail it to have a great build, I like the option.

Ok - thanks guys again for checking in, hope the paint info is useful, and now, time to get back to the workbench.

Cheers
Nick

Nick,
It sure sounds to me that you've solved the issue of the pure water based acrylics. I've had zero luck air brushing any of them when I was into aircraft. The primers were the worst of the worst, and the color coats just seems to chip and scratch at the slightest touch. For me the Acrylic Lacquers were the answer as between Mr.Color and Tamiya everything was covered. Now with cars as my only focus, Lacquers from Gravity, Zero, & MCW are my go to paints for body work, but I still use Mr. Color & Tamiya paints for just about everything else including some of the Metallics.

Agreed that modeling is a great relaxer, but I've never been able to just focus on one hobby. Becomes to much like work for me. So I have others: Sim auto racing which I just picked up again, and Photography which is heading to the back burner once again. Two hobbies seems just about right for me these days.

As for your Iwata compressor, it's made by Sparmax, just labeled by Iwata. I have their Pro Jet twin that I paid way to much for, and would never opt for again just because of the insane price. It actually uses the same compressor as you have but two regulators and a 1 gallon tank.

I'm pretty sure that you have a Sprint Jet. If the water trap is screwed into the out port of the compressor, just switch it out for a regulator with a water trap. If you have a different compressor, you can still attach a regulator. And once you have one, air brushing becomes a whole new world.

Joel

Hi Joel, yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it! Haha - I think I could become a millionaire if I could figure out why there are such varied results with acrylic paints? I will say I started with them, so I didn’t have anything to compare them with - so, I had no transition other than from cans and brushes to an air brush. Similarly, I’ve found the Vallejo model air paints to be remarkably durable - even forgiving in the case of me bumbling about with add on parts, drilling holes through, dropping, and weathering.

I started my airbrush days via a sale a Blicks Art - I purchased a package deal that included the Badger Patriot and, yes you made me look! an Iwata “Smart Jet” compressor. So far so good.

I started model building essentially because of work. At the time, and for several years, I had to make a lot of long distance international flights - sometimes twice a month!! The results of that weren’t great - screwed up personal life, a couple trips to the hospital, perpetually tired... woo hoo - good times! My hobby was to try and get some sleep! I found that I was almost always jet lagged, so rather than getting up a 3 AM and just watching TV, which gets old fast, I happened into a hobby shop...and here we are. I’m not traveling as much anymore as the current international economy/situation in general is a bit weird. I enjoyed the experience of visiting far flung places, people, and cultures, and hope to do so again someday but for now, I’m more or less staying within the Western US, and, am less tired!

Happy model building!

Cheers
Nick

Splendid work Nick. The color variation, on the engine really makes a difference.
Nice glossy paintjob, on the body parts.

HI Jesper, thanks!

Below are pictures of the final build. I took the photos outside. Please take a look:

















This model turned out really well - I recommend the kit to anyone - it's fun to build including a few challenges, and provides a good base for adding detail. An all around good kit - and for fun, a few more images:





And there you have it - some recent fun with red race cars -

cheers
Nick

Nick,
Now that's really impressive Red Stable of horse Power for sure. Each kit is a show piece all by itself, but the 3 together is a treat for guys like us. Talk about eye candy.

Joel

Looks great Nick. I especially love the shot with the three jewelry boxes open.

BTW, been meaning to ask, are you in any of the areas affected by the blackouts?

Hi Joel and David, thanks! Each of these kits are really good and fun to build.

David, thanks for asking - I didn’t have my power cut, but my parents did. The outage caused lots of headaches for folks, but seems easier to deal with than more wildfires!

Cheers
Nick