Nissan GTR

I had to put a long term project aside for some paint to cure, (and not being one who can just wait for paint to dry), this kit looked like it would be something that would benefit from some detail painting (which I was in the mood to do) since the engine is molded as part of the main body. I apologize for the diminished quality of the photos as almost all the work is being done while it is dark and I don’t feel like setting up a proper studio for each wild hair I get to shoot pictures of its progress.


Standard body prep for finish paint was done first. I did remove the ejection pin marks from the under side of the hood. On the other side of the hood above where the hood prop boss is located a sink mark had to be filled with a little CA.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09176.jpg
Here is a shot of the body and engine molding after clean up. It has been primed with Tamiya white fine primer.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09178.jpg
Next, I sprayed the engine bay with the body color.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09180.jpg

Cool project, I think Ill need to follow this one to learn some new techniques

Once the red dried (overnight) I went in by hand and painted the black, dark metallic grey, silver, gold and white details.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09187.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09188.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09190.jpg

Ooh, I'll be following this.

I'm sure there is a simple way to paint white over red and not get...
pink.

so far,so good!

The chassis is similar to many of Tamiya’s other offerings, much of it molded in one piece in curbside fashion, but with some patient detail painting it can be brought to life relatively easily.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09179.jpg
I sprayed the body colored parts of the chassis…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09181.jpg
Then started hand painting the details…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09183.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09184.jpg

that is so cool. What paint are you using for the hand painted stuff? Especially the silver paint.

that is so cool. What paint are you using for the hand painted stuff? Especially the silver paint.

Mostly Testors enamels. Black Chrome Trim, Silver Chrome Trim... Some colors straight from the bottle, other colors mixed. A little Dullcote lacquer too. Also I used some Tamiya acylics, but they are used more in the washes and transparent tints, except for the dirtier metallic gray color I mixed using them... - Mark

I masked off the red and detail painted areas and sprayed the flat black.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09185.jpg
A little shading, washing and dry brushing were done to provide some depth and hopefully life. Some areas were picked out by freehand brushing with varying degrees of grays to break up the monotony of the black. And the other chassis parts were finished too… The exhaust pipes are plated so the chrome was toned down and tinted a bit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09192.jpg
And here it is finished…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09221.jpg

This is looking great! I am guessing you are painting it in red?

The rear wing was cleaned up and the bottom painted first.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09182.jpg
Once the paint was dry it was assembled. Temporarily mounting it to the car while the cement sets assures proper fit will not be an issue during final assembly.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09186.jpg

Now thats a good idea with the spolier, might have to pinch that:biggrin:

Pinch away, I am honored when I hear someone was able to take something away from something I posted... Thanks.

After a final round of washes and drybrushing to accentuate the molded in details, the engine bay was masked off and the underhood surrounding area was shot with a very dark gray.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09195.jpg
The rubber seal between the two areas was hand painted black. The contrast is not high, but in better light it is enough to differentiate the seal from the panels. I plan to shoot “real” pictures in daylight once it is finished, hopefully it will look better…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09196.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09197.jpg

Moving right along…

Time to mask the underhood area off and shoot the body… I chose TS-49 Bright Red although the instructions call out TS-8 Italian Red. I like the look of this color better and depending on the lighting, an argument can be made for both looking correct.
Usually I use the airbrush and sometimes supplement the last full coats with the can, but this time I opted to try just shooting from the can. Light coats, let them flash for 5-10 minutes (maybe 15…), shot about six coats. Also did the hood, top of rear wing and front fascia at the same time… (The mirrors were shot red when I did the engine bay by airbrush.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09201.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09200.jpg

No polishing on the paintwork yet? If not, WOW that looks good!

wow!! that red is stunning!

Thanks! Now you can see why I chose it over the Italian Red.

Those pictures were taken about an hour after shooting the last coat. The trick with that paint is to NOT put it on wet and to put it on in several lights coats. You will see it flow out between each coat as it flashes. It flows, levels and shrinks all by itself and it always looks better 30 minutes after the last coat. It actually tightened up a bit more as it dried and cured.

While the paint on the body is drying/curing…

The brake rotors can be supplemented with Tamiya PE parts, but my kit does not provide them (there might be a version that comes with the PE parts as I have seen with other Tamiya kits), and there is no engraved detailing on the rotor faces.
However, the instructions included drawings of the PE parts so I used that as a guide to create decals for the rotor faces. Standard hand painting, shading and dry-brushing for the calipers/details…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09215.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09217.jpg

The suspension sub-assemblies go together well, a little time spent detail painting pays off, but I doubt much of it will be seen on the completed model, it is tough to see all the paint work even at this stage…let alone capture it in photos. But it is fun to do nonetheless…
Front:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09224.jpg
Rear:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09227.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09226.jpg

The dash is crisply molded, but the instructions direct to paint a few somewhat tricky details. A good brush and a little patience are the best approach.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09228.jpg
Same thing for the well molded once piece intake piece on the chrome shot. I painted it in two phases with Testors Black Chrome Trim.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09222.jpg

Interior bucket/pan, somewhat the same single piece set up needing a few shades of black and gray plus silver to bring up the molded in detail… (The shifter and hand brake are separate parts.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09240.jpg

Seats are called out for the black version to have red trim. It is not molded in. I thought it looked cool, and this is a red car, and my model…
Using the molded seam line as guide, just paint outside the perimeter on both sides of the seam. I had to touch up both black and red as I progressed to get a good defined line. Then, when I was satisfied with the lines, I sanded the seams off the center and repainted the red. (Make sure the paint is dry before sanding of course…) Then a sprayed coat of clear blends all the hand painting together…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09238.jpg

Looking Good, Like the detail painting your putting in!!

Installed the seats to the interior…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09241.jpg
Here is the dash coming together…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09245.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09247.jpg

Everything looks very realistic, lively work.

Very fast but controlled building going on here! Good stuff.

Great work, sharp and very clean build.
Suscribed!

Thanks Guys.
Still crankin' along and enjoying this kit...

The doors come with the chromed inserts and decals for the little safety lights, but the instructions indicated to paint the silver around the speakers. A very tedious task indeed. Paint a black base, then silver trim. Then spend a few days chasing the line round the speaker grilles with black and silver… It can be done… (Not saying I did it the best either.) Let the paint dry between touch ups to keep from making a metallic gray mess. Now I wonder how much it will be seen when the model is buttoned up…

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09248.jpg

Very nice work.

Are those door panels mainly painted flat black, or semi gloss black?

They are flatter than semi-gloss, but not dead flat. Semi-Flat…? And they are actually a very dark gray.


The interior is done….
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09267.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09268.jpg
The wheels are molded in two parts per rim. They are chrome plated and called out to be painted Smoke. Two coats, one light, let dry then one moderate. Decals for the center caps to be applied later…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09273.jpg

The hood is finished. The scoops are the same Gunmetal as will be used on the rest of the trim.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09275.jpg
The under side of the hood was left with unprepped primer and dry-applied unpolished red paint. The picture shows the orange peel as a bit more aggressive than it looks in person, maybe better lighting will help later… The hood blanket is molded in and just painted flat black.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09276.jpg
The front fascia grille area was masked and shot gunmetal… If you are planning to not use the front license plate, I would advise to put a couple small drops of CA in the back side of this part to shore up the holes that are used to locate the plate to the car and sand the outside part flush. Otherwise you will likely have two dimples visible in the center of that grill bar… The lower rocker/spoiler part was shot the next evening to make masking easier.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09242.jpg
The body also received the same trim treatment…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09243.jpg

Window trim was painted by brush with Testor Black Chrome Trim. The surround that goes around the rear quarter windows was freehanded, but I took the easy path and masked the straighter door sections.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09277.jpg

The engine is “installed” and finished, simply by cementing the three parts that make up the induction system to the body. The kit provides a Mylar Nissan badge for the front of the plenum. The front fascia and headlight bezels fit very nicely to the body.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09278.jpg

The taillights are each made up of a clear, clear red and chrome piece. They fit very well together and into the body too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09279.jpg

The kit comes with those nifty masks to allow crisp painting of the black areas. The rear view mirror comes with a Mylar piece that looks very convincing as a mirror.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09283.jpg

The center post of the rear wing is attached…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09285.jpg
And since it was pre-fitted is a breeze to install to the body…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09289.jpg

The windows and headlights are mounted to the body, all fitting very well…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09287.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09292.jpg
The side rearview mirrors are two tone, I painted the black by hand and found it easiest to leave them on the sprue until they are ready to mount to the body…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09297.jpg
They too come with Mylar inserts for the mirror faces…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/Scale-Master/NissanGTR/DSC09298.jpg

Incredible work. I have learned quite a bit from this quick build. Now, off to Hobby Lobby for some more Testor's paints (that's all I use for the most part)