(WIP) First Time Modeler - Tamiya Mazda RX-7 R1

Hi everyone!

I was looking around my local hobby store and thought I would try building a model car. Prior to this I built a Tamiya WW2 warbird (which didn't turn up so well in some areas), and painted a couple of Warhammer miniatures.

I've completed just a bit and after doing some online research on modeling techniques i stumbled upon AF. I thought it'll be nice sharing my first-time car modeling experience with you guys and in the meantime, hope I'll get as much guidance from you pros(looks like all of you are!) as I possibly can. I guess there's no point being shy asking tons of noobie questions compared to ruining my model due to lack of know-how. Not a nice trade, haha!

I suppose I'll start with a question! After doing a quick mock up (see below) I realised the body roof had some corrugation; in a cross-sectional view it would appear W-shape-ish. Is that what we call bubbles? And if I've done my research correctly, I need to prime the body first (I have the Tamiya White Fine Primer) then sand away the irregularities?

Apologies, the photo quality isn't the best, plus I took it at night. I need a little tweaking to my old digital camera and the lighting, will make sure its fixed proper by the time I post up new pictures of the project!

The funny-looking roof (if you can see the distortion in the reflection)
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa247/Kelvandros/Mazda%20RX-7%20R1/P7280004.jpg

The Mock-Up w/o wheels
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa247/Kelvandros/Mazda%20RX-7%20R1/P7280005.jpg


That should be all for now (:

Best Regards,
Joshua

Hi josh, the roof is correct, if you look at the real car the roof is shaped this way. It gives a little extra headroom, and also suits the car designer's ambition of making the car body look "like water flowing over rocks".

Hi josh, the roof is correct, if you look at the real car the roof is shaped this way. It gives a little extra headroom, and also suits the car designer's ambition of making the car body look "like water flowing over rocks".

LOL YOU'RE RIGHT! Haha good thing you told me before it was too late!

I took the following pictures last night under slightly better lighting conditions, so its a slight improvement. You guys might also note that in some cases, the colour scheme is slightly off. I use a brand of paints not associated to replica model painting (Citadel Paints) but I think they should be suitable as water-based acrylic paints. Everything is brush painted (hence some areas require a bit of touching up, the brush strokes are quite obvious there)

the underside
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa247/Kelvandros/Mazda%20RX-7%20R1/P72800052.jpg

and a close up of exhaust and rear suspension (haven't done the front)
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa247/Kelvandros/Mazda%20RX-7%20R1/P7280006.jpg

the engine, mounted
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa247/Kelvandros/Mazda%20RX-7%20R1/P72800042.jpg

and a (slightly) better picture of the body. I should be spraying the first coat of primer tonight.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa247/Kelvandros/Mazda%20RX-7%20R1/P7280010.jpg


I can't get a good picture on the brake calipers yet, but at the moment they look horrible :S

Thanks for reading! :)

Joshua