Lexus SC430 JGTC 2007 - Houzan Cosmos

So I managed to pick up the Tamiya Open Interface Tom's SC430 kit quite cheaply. After a bit of research I discovered that this car won the JGTC in 2006, but in 2007 it completely changed livery to the Houzan Cosmos car - which Shunko Decals happened to do a set of decals for. So here it is... I also added the Tamiya photo-etch set and A+ Club Enkei wheels. I did not perform the necessary aero and body mods to bring the car up to full 2007 spec - not enough patience or (more importantly) talent!

Anyway, hope you enjoy something a bit different.

Cheers,
Grant.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s287/tinytintops/Lexus%20SC430%20JGTC%20Houzan/HouzanLexusSC430JGTC01.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s287/tinytintops/Lexus%20SC430%20JGTC%20Houzan/HouzanLexusSC430JGTC02.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s287/tinytintops/Lexus%20SC430%20JGTC%20Houzan/HouzanLexusSC430JGTC03.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s287/tinytintops/Lexus%20SC430%20JGTC%20Houzan/HouzanLexusSC430JGTC04.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s287/tinytintops/Lexus%20SC430%20JGTC%20Houzan/HouzanLexusSC430JGTC05.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s287/tinytintops/Lexus%20SC430%20JGTC%20Houzan/HouzanLexusSC430JGTC06.jpg

Nice build, very clean!

Love this livery, nice see it built. Great job

This is a BEAUTIFUL model!

Looks fantastic. That livery looks great.

This looks great! How are the Shunko decals to use?

Rob

Lookin good.

Nice work, great livery!!

Thanks for the replies all.

Rob, the Shunko decals were actually very good to work with. It is possible to argue they were printed a bit thick, and the decals over the rear-quarters were especially hard to get to lay flat and crinkle-free. They did respond nicely to decal solvent and heat though. The thick printing does have the advantage of nice opaque colours. The fluorescent colours on the racing numbers is very nice, though it does not show in the pictures. I would have no trouble recommending them based on my one and only experience so far - and they do have an excellent range of JGTC cars.

Grant.

Looks great, the paint finish looks amazing

It's funny because I see your name and think of the guy from Happy Days. But yet your models are incredible beautiful projects. I really enjoy seeing the great photography and super clean building techniques.

Yep, Happy Days is the source of my nickname. I only got it later in life - about 20 years after Happy Days was even on the TV!

I always wanted to do a different livry of the sc430 but most of the liveries are for newer years with slight mods to the car. Nice job with the lex, are the rear wheels painted? Thanks for sharing.

Hey MidMazar,
The wheels are a resin set from A+ Club, called something like "Super GT Enkei Version" and are design for SC430 and 350Z kits. I noticed from reference photos that the cars usually ran with black front and silver rear wheels. I possibly should have gloss coated the rear wheels before assembly. I agree that Shunko do some spectacular liveries for the SC430 (the Bandai and Eneos??) are particularly lovely. The decals I used are obviously set for the corrected bodywork, in particular around the exhaust outlets, so I did some creative painting to hide the differences.
Grant.

I love it, because it's so clean...!

R :)