EK Civic with SiR conversion and K20

[willimo]

Wow, has it been a long time since I've started a WIP thread, and even longer since a completed thread!

Not a ton has been done on this, though I've been getting behind the bench on this one since March. Still, I decided it was about time to start a thread on it. This is to be the culmination of all my skills to this point, so I'll be doing a lot of scratchbuilding, resin casting, specialized painting, and detail work. I'm really pushing my limits on this one, because that's the only way I'll get better, and because I feel like there should be more high detail Civic models out there.

No, this is not a Ferrari. Or a super car. Or anything with a multimedia superdetail transkit for. Or even a model specific photo etch set. It's just a Civic. So, let's get started.



I've started with the Fujimi 1996 Civic SiR II. I started with this kit for a few reasons. I have a 1996 Civic, and love the dealer option square foglamps that fit the '96-'98 cars. The black rubber rub strips on the front and rear bumpers of the SiRs looks so different and cool, I had to have them in model form (I admit, I'm making a model of my dream 1:1). And really, to make a high fidelity model, I couldn't make a '99-'00 model year car, because while Fujimi changed the front bumper to match those model years on these kits, they did not change the shape of the headlights, hood and grill to match the facelift of the later years of this body style. So I didn't have much choice.





I opened the hood and then went crazy. I modified the hood with all the bracing underneath and some hinge approximations so that it would open and close nicely. It's going to be a body color painted carbon fiber hood, so the underneath will be CF decalled, while the top will be painted. I also build a new cowl (without those infernal square venting on them), the firewall, the strut towers, the radiator support, and the back of the headlamp buckets. As I go along, I'll of course add details like the master cylinders and things, but I also intend to plumb the brakes, including the proportioning valves and wire it including pretty much the whole wiring harness and all that good stuff. Big things I'll add also include a Password JDM (PWJDM) triangulated strut tower bar, carbon fiber power chamber intake and some other status equipment goodies. This model has a long way to go...







While I was at it, I cut the cargo cover out of the interior bucket, and gave the same treatment to the rear end. I added strip styrene to the floor and sides of the trunk area, the strut towers, and made the unit body stampings for the sides. I also made the seat back, which is a separate piece to facilitate painting; the flat part will be painted a orangish foam color, while the part over it with the holes will be semigloss black. More chassis stiffening here, too, modeling more PWJDM parts and some EM racing parts. Also, an Odyssey batter will be mounted flat to the floor in the spare tire area.





The interior is getting some love, too. I already scratched up new door panels since Fujimi's interior bucket lacks any detail at all. While not perfect, I think they serve. These were also made in multiple pieces for ease of painting. I'm casting up copes of these for other Civics, too, since this is a huge deficiency in these kits and since I can't stop making Civics, I want plenty of them.





There's an odd error in these Fujimi kits. All the Civic dashboards are molded after the '99 model year facelift dashes. For a '96, these are all wrong. The double DIN video screen is completely wrong for anything in the USA and most everything in Japan, too. And the '96 cars have the HVAC under a single DIN radio slot and pocket, instead of the HVAC on both sides of the radio, so I had to make this right. I just deleted the radio, since in my 1:1 I moved the radio to the accessory DIN slot above the cupholders. I also had to modify where the power outlet is, since US cars didn't have the ashtray and lighter like their Japanese counterparts. I also filled the clock indent on the top of the dash, and added an airbag delete tray which will be carbon fiber, as PWJDM sells.





A couple overall shots with the body off and on...



I'm struggling on the wheels, but I like these. I think they're Aoshima Buddy Club P1s or something. I don't really know, and don't know if they'll be what I use in the end. The tires, though, will be Falken Azenis, which I am making by having cast a rubber slick from a Fujimi racing Integra kit in resin and carving out the tread. I'll do this once, and cast them. Any ideas for lettering on the side? unfortunately, PE is still out of my range, or I'd make lettering in PE and cast it all together into a sweet tire model.





The engine block is a cast resin copy of the Sakatsu F20C white metal transkit parts. The F20 and the K20 are very similar in appearance and in size, so this works well. The valve cover is, of course, much different. This is my fourth attempt, and I'm only halfway through it. This one, though, I think will stick. The radiator is made from the radiators from two Fujimi Integras, sanded thin, glued back to back, with top and bottom tanks added, a modified Detail Master electric fan, and various PE details. The welds are PE welds for 1:35 armour models, it pays to walk around your LHS sometimes! It's modeled after a Koyo aluminum radiator for an RSX, which is common among K20 swapped EKs.

Anyway, that's that, and sorry for the poor picture quality. It's been a long time since I posted one of these! I hope this was entertaining at least, and if you have any questions please ask, and any criticisms, tips, ideas, suggestions are welcome. Thanks for looking!

[spincarez]

Amazing detail. Love your work so far. Will keep an eye on this interesting build.

[ffejjeff]

nice thread, i'll keep on eye on this wip..so far so good

[NissanSkylineGTR98]

This is going to be a very interesting project. Your attention to detail is amazing, keep up to excellent work

[ales]

Will, excellently ambitious project you've got there, and your progress so far is outstanding. What are the plans for the body? And will the luggage compartment details be visible after completion?

[tuned.by.twenty]

Very good work so far! I'll keep an eye on this one for sure.

[andybmw7272]

This looks good, I used to be really into the turners in the 1:1 world, so I will be looking to see how this one progresses.

You are off to a heck of a start!

Andy

[MPWR]

Looks like this will be a fantastic (but ambitious!) project. Off to a great start, it will be fun to watch where you go with it!

And there is nothing wrong with 'just a Civic'. A 'simple' Civic built with skill and passion more than beats another cookie cutter Ferrari.

[AustinMartin]

Sick! Love Civics!

[675datsun]

Wow! it's willimo version superdetailed 2.0
I got giddy when you mentioned brake line plumbing.
This is going to the baddest civic!

Love the drivetrain swap and all the mad tyte JDM goodies, but I wish it was EG. That EK just doesn't have the personality of the EG.
What do I know I'm a Nissan guy

[jla]

Awesome build! I've been wanting to make azenis for a while now, so if you end up casting extra sets please let me know. What I was thinking of was making a hard mold and engraving the negative of the lettering into it, then using some kind of silicone for the tire... but I doubt I could engrave that amount of detail into a mold, which ultimately stopped me from even trying.

[tonioseven]

You know what I would say but since it goes without saying,

[bri g]

wow this is my dream project as well! going to keep an eye out on this. the scratched engine bay looks spot on! how's the height of the k20?

[evil_hanzel]

what? scratchbuilding the thread for the azenis? crazy! but i love it!

[quadzero]

Excellent work so far, I'm really impressed with your determination and passion on this one. I love the trunk area, talk about realism.