1993 Honda Civic

Hi. This will be my first WIP thread so I´ll be learning how to go with it on the go, even when I read too many. Also, if you read any word that doesn´t make any sense, that was me trying to translate from spanish.

This one is a Revell Honda Civic from 1993, tuner edition. And guess what it´s gonna be based on?... Yeah, just another Fast and Furious build. I´ll building a couple of models that I like, but the way they appear on the FnF movies: this Civic, first Charger, orange Supra, GNX (I don´t have the movie´s wheels...), all of them already boxed on my wardrobe, and maybe a couple from Tokyo Drift.
Anyway I love this model since 1993.
The only thing Revell did not add to this kit to make it a "FnF kit" is the manual saying "if you want the FnF version use this parts". The overall moulding look OK (I never check scale). Mold lines are really hidden which is nice except for the search. A good one on this kit is the clear hood, which is REALLY clear! And it comes with a 3 part decal for the hood of "striped carbon" which would look great for the engine to show with the hood closed. Also hood hinges are awesome: thin, great moving, and it locks when raised.

The downside so far are the clear parts for lights. They are big here and too small there, so fitting is not perfect and not easy to repair if you´re not used to.

For test fitting body work over wheelled chassis I spent a total of about 2.5 hs, never done it before. The worst part to fix was the front end, the joint between bumper, headlights, HL buckets, hood and body. It was pretty annoying as I was trying to gues were to cut, sand, trim, slim, whatever. Here the pics for that:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=42919&stc=1&d=1305504140
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=42920&stc=1&d=1305504140
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=42921&stc=1&d=1305504140
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=42922&stc=1&d=1305504140

I really like the way it stands low just without any mod. There´s a little gap between bumper and body but I did the best I could with my experience. I´m pretty sure it´s gonna get closer when glued.

Today I finished with primer, first time I primer a body with so much care: wetsanding OOB, toothbrushing technique, 2 mist coats 6hs apart, checking for dust, really light wetsand 600, another light coat. I´m not gonna tell you what did I use yet, as I want to go through the full process that I thought of and see the results. Also, it would be nice if you can guess what kind of products did I use ;)

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=42923&stc=1&d=1305504140

This is how far I got up to now.

I might be making little progress updates because I might not be doing it if I wait for too long.

Not much too say, but any comment is really appreciated.

By the way, I´ve been modeling cars for about 15 years (interrupted), almost always using brush and ennamels for EVERYTHING, not wetsanding/priming/testfitting, not using tweezers and many other "mistakes". I´m gonna make a "before knowing AF" gallery so I can share how far i´ve gone up to now with modeling, and to compare my results with the AF-learnt techniques.

Thanks for following up.

do you have bigger photos?
also, how are you storing them?
they're a little blurry and could do with being a little bigger.

If you want a place to upload images to, Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/), Picassa (https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?hl=en_GB&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Flh%2 Flogin%3Fcontinue%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fpicasaweb. google.com%252Fhome&service=lh2&ltmpl=gp&passive=true#utm_medium=embed&utm_source=pwalogin) and Photobucket (http://photobucket.com/) are some relatively pain free options to look at.

I have bigger pics, but they suck anyway. Those are from a 5mp Milestone cell camera. I´ve just tried a 6mp pocket camera in "super macro" mode and it´s still awful. I will have to try with natural light tomorrow, maybe already wetsanded.
Thx for the storage sites. I´ll be uploading full quality (when I get there...). Meanwhile I´ll try to do my best with what I have...

Hey! Maybe I learnt how to take pics!
As requested, here are some details on the primer, not wetsanded yet.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2005/5724872938_b71494055c_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5210/5724874274_8aa5b74405_b.jpg

Later.

Se lo ve muy bien al civic...a meterle mano!

Finally 3:23 AM and I almost finished with the engine, just missing a few parts, color details and the upper cover decal. I just stopped from making more details as I think I´ll start messing it all up, I can barely see right now. It has been built right OOB, but looking at 10 full different B16A2 engines´ photos. As the engine is not shown in the movie I felt free to improvise and express myself (¿!?).
It may look quite simple to many of you, but for me is the first 4 cyl engine, and the first one to have so many paint details, as I used to just follow the instructions which are usually very simple and undetailed. It looks way better in person, and that orange is actually red...

Now the pics! Enjoy, as I do right now.

Honda B16A2 | 160 hp @ 7600 rpm
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/5739311000_ddc569944f_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5226/5738748363_ac68096ea5_b.jpg

And a teaser of how it will look inside of the car already painted (not taken care of yet).
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/5739297986_a4f1e23407_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2228/5739297392_d703b9debb_b.jpg

Comments are always welcome. Pics are a little blurry as I don´t want to look for a camera stand at 3:30 AM.
Thx for watching.

very nice progress so far.. looks promising!...good choice not to go with clear hood..

Thanks Cris and Lucho.

Body got fully sprayed with about 3 or 4 layers (I can´t remember right now).

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5189/5748839086_bbd020ffc2_b.jpg

Then I´ve been wetsanding the body. I got to the primer in some points but fixed it with a paintbrush. Question for you is: show I keep sanding with 2000 until I get a PERFECT matt black finish? Or may I move on to a light 2500, and then to the polishing cloths? (yes, some Mr. Laplos polishing cloths arrived yesterday). I think I will not be clearcoating this one, but just polishing all the way. Just in case I were to add clear, should I do it now (after 2000 grit), or previous to that (just sprayed), or after going thru 2500 grit?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2124/5748839614_de208731e8_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3344/5748291275_0c6b589f6f_b.jpg

Today I´ve been working on the interior and have just finished it. It might be one of the most detailed interiors I´ve ever done. It might not look that much detailed, but I started scratchbuilding so that will add some extra points. I´ve made a couple of seatbelt buckles for the front seats (from some numbered plastic of a part-tree), and added floor mats, made of that soft fur that goes inside of sunglasses´ boxes. I might be adding some belts between the windows. Also I think it´s pretty much clean. Rear loudspeakers are just decals. I know they suck, but there were no grills molded on the plastic and I don´t have any idea on how to scratchbuild them. Also, I think there´s a point where I have to stop adding new details, just not to screw up the progress. I will have time for that on my next project. Anyway I might be adding window tint on all 3 rear windows so that will not be very visible (still have to find a how-to for that).
Enjoy the pics. Comments, tips, whatever, always welcome.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/5748291439_ac9def301b_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/5748290567_8dd14ca3d0_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5748290783_161fcc0be5_b.jpg

I think you should remove those fake grills from the front bumper.. it would make it look more realistic..

Keep going.... :)

Thanks cris. I considered ripping em off, but should do the same on the back, which looks harder to do. Also, I couldn't find a good mesh to use here in my country, and I'm not buying a detail up sheet. For now I will paint them with mix matt and satin to keep faking and if I come up with some mesh I'll do the surgery. Anyway it scares the hell out of me doing such.
Last night I gave the body a final coat over sanded texture. The top is drying glossy with the sides grainny. I'll give it a week before final polishing process. My is now too humid and cold for painting and drying. :banghead:

I'll be sharing some other wips in the meantime.
Thx for following :wink:

Despite of what you said, i think that this ain't an easy model to build.. i live nearby you.. in Brazil, and if you need something that i can get for you, just let me know ok!

Thx for your offering Cris, I appreciate that. I´ll let you know.

Guys, I think I have right there. I´ve been working on body sanding for about 6 hours, going 2000-2500-4000-6000, and back to 2000 and again in many spots that looked like shinny holes. I fixed some minor rub thru´s with a small brush, only sharp edges. It´s not perfect, I know, but is beyond what I expected to get. Also, 2 days ago I was just about to the body thru the open window so I consider that I succeded with this one. Here are the pics:

After spraying clear:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/5790531808_33e9d9b97f_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/5789974111_3acc231490_b.jpg

After 4000
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/5789973995_dc1206f21c_b.jpg

After 6000
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/5789974037_eccdd4ce2f_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/5790531862_c4a5fffb37_b.jpg

It might not be interesting for many of you looking at sanding progress pics, but I´d really appreciate comments on any pros or cons of what I have done.

Clear lens parts are difficult to paint right. Each clear has 2 bars coming out of it so you can insert them on the chrome lens bucket (good idea). But the bars are too thick and raise from the middle of the deepened line that should be painted black.I had to trim the contact point and re scribe the line, ending up on an ugly finish. Painted that black line and here are the results:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/5790609928_2a0aa90970_b.jpg

But wait for it! It gets better. I´ve done that by memory, I was VERY tired of 2hs of polishing. Now re-checking some pics I found out that the horizontal line does not exist. It´s carved on the model plastic, but there´s nothing on the 1:1 car.:banghead:
So, now I have a clear part a bit roughed and painted from the inside, where I should have done nothing. What shall I do to fix that? What I need now should look like this:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2136/5790076635_e3006c02ec_b.jpg

Please don´t say that "tired" is not a good moment to build models... I already learnt that :frown:

Thx for your help/comments/tips

Thx for your offering Cris, I appreciate that. I´ll let you know.

Guys, I think I have it right there. I´ve been working on body sanding for about 6 hours, going 2000-2500-4000-6000, and back to 2000 and again in many spots that looked like shinny holes. I fixed some minor rub thru´s with a small brush, only sharp edges. It´s not perfect, I know, but is way beyond what I expected to get. Also, 2 days ago I was just about to throu the body thru an open window, so I consider that I succeded with this one. Here are the pics:

After spraying clear:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/5790531808_33e9d9b97f_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/5789974111_3acc231490_b.jpg

After 4000
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/5789973995_dc1206f21c_b.jpg

After 6000
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/5789974037_eccdd4ce2f_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/5790531862_c4a5fffb37_b.jpg

It might not be interesting for many of you looking at sanding progress pics, but I´d really appreciate comments on any pros or cons of what I have done.
I´ve just found that panel lines are now glossy and dust-grainy. What should I do to it? I toothbrushed the body every bit of the body each time I was about to spray it, but it happened anyway. Any tips for that fix?

Other than that, I was working on the clear parts. Clear lens parts are difficult to paint right. Each clear has 2 bars coming out of it so you can insert them on the chrome lens bucket (good idea). But the bars are too thick and raise from the middle of the deepened line that should be painted "some color" (more on this later :disappoin).I had to trim the contact point and re scribe the line, ending up on an ugly finish. I painted that black line and here are the results:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/5790609928_2a0aa90970_b.jpg

But wait for it! It gets better, yeah, I´m that stupid... I´ve done that by memory, I was VERY tired of 2hs of polishing (3am, after work). Now as I was re-checking with some pics I found out that the horizontal line does not exist. It´s carved on the model plastic as if it were to be painted, but there´s nothing on the 1:1 car.:banghead:
So, now I have a clear part a bit roughed up and painted from the inside, where I should have done nothing. What shall I do to fix that? What I need now is to get it to look like this:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2136/5790076635_e3006c02ec_b.jpg

Please don´t say that "tired, 3am" is not a good moment to build models... I already learnt that the hard way :frown:

Thx for your help/comments/tips

What kind of paint did you use on the tails? Knowing that would help with any clean-up suggestions.

Forgot to add. It was modelmaster acrylic, barely thinned with water, brushed, thin coat.
I thought of a toothbrush with alcohol or polishing cream, but I will wait for some suggestions first. Don't wanna mess up in the final lap any more.

Just clean it with alcohol, i also cleaned rear ligths that were painted with Humbrol Clear Paint and nothing happen to them...dont worry

oh i forgot!...nice paint work i like the shine !:)

Thx lucho for the compliment.
Wish I knew about the Humbrol clear removal before ruining my 180sx tails, where I used enamel thinner. I'll try yo fix it some day.

You guys can´t imagine how happy and amazed I am about this. I went thru the main body and rear bumper with 8000 and then used "Autopolish", a polishing cream for 1:1 cars made in Argentina (really cheap!) applied with cotton balls, which would be the last thing to use before wax (LUCHOTEAM, correct me if I am wrong).
I ended up reading some papers and clearly looking at my ugly face reflected on roof and sides of the body. I couldn´t ask for more. I remind you this is the first time I go thru this kind of process, as I usually just sprayed and used Autopolish, with very poor results compared to this. So I thank you all for the tips I read all along this forum.
I also went up to 2000 or 2500 sandpaper on hood, front bumper and air foil wing. The front bumper is a bitch to sand! It is full of curves and edges and is barely imposible to reach all of them, specially without rubbing thru. Actually the whole body kit of this car is a pain to work on, as there are to many deep spots, edges, curves and it is very difficult to get it done properly. Also, as a first time, it multiplies the difficulty, at least for me. I´ll fix some minor white spots at the end, but I´m already happy with what I got up to now.
No more chattering. Here are the pics. Please rate (1-10 or whatever you feel like saying) so I can get an idea on how right or wrong I´ve done. Also, I´ll try to get some pics on daylight, maybe in a few days.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/5795707730_3dd00fded0_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/5795147893_4ea9433e90_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2040/5795707940_dd9429dd97_b.jpg

One more question about the tail lenses: even if I succed to remove the black paint, I´ll still have some rughed surface. I guess it would be noticeable with the clear red/orange paint, as it is now with the black paint. How can I do to minimize the roughed effect?
What should I use to thin Humbrol clear orange paint and Tamiya clear red paint? (separately, of course). Should I AB it or brush it?

Thx for watching. Hope to get this one completed before next weekend.

Great work marianitem!!

The "autopolish" is a polish compound that "sand" a little the paint, thats why your cotton end it up with a blackish color...then if you want you can wax it (i never tried wax with my models).

About the clears questions, i never used the tamiya but the humbrol clear i never thin it, and i aplly it straight from the can with a brush

Good job on the paint finish but a couple of things.
The texture you showed in the earlier pictures isn't really what we call orange peel.
Orange peel isn't so grainy and fine and more like well, orange peel.
It looks like what happened with you there is that some of the paint was drying while it was being sprayed onto the model so you may want to spray a bit closer (I spray at about 6-8 inches away) but then again, you did a good job in removing it.

For future reference, I sometimes use strips of masking tape on the vulnerable parts of bodywork, like the edges and raised parts, when sanding+polishing to prevent rub through.

I'm not sure I get what you mean about the rear lights though.

Most modelling acrylics can be removed with kitchen cleaner.
I have used Mr Muscle and Cilit Bang and both worked.
They don't seem to work with artists acrylics so well but it still softens that up a bit too.

Great paint work and information! What clear coat did you use?

Thanks guys for the feedback, I appreciate that as I'm just starting with these techniques.

@ drunken monkey: the first body painted pic is what I call sandpaper-grainny or gritty, and might be what you say, as I used to spray far to prevent orange peel. Anyway I'll try to get closer and faster. I think I succeded to remove the grit better than orange peel.
About the tails, if you take a close look at the horizontal black line you'll see it is too scatched, not as the perfect vertical line. I think I should polish the horizontal panel line from the inside before repainting but I don't know how to reach that tight hole. Any thoughts?

@speedphreak: I kept the products as a secret up to now.
The painting products were:
Whitening toothepaste with toothbrush (before and after each spray or polish upgrade).
Rust Oleum primer for plastics, about 3 coats, sanded last two.
Rust Oleum regular black paint, about 3 thins and a wet, sanded only when gritty texture.
Rust Oleum clear laquer (that green can labeled with a black chair), 2 mist and a wet, only polished at the end.
A variety of regular wetsandpaper from 600 up to 2500 grit
Mr Laplos polishing cloths 2400 4000 6000 8000 from Gunze Sangyo
Autopolish High Gloss (lustre intenso, a polishing compound cream, made and sold in Argentina, very cheap). I used cotton balls and Miyagi's technique.
All the sanding was done either dry, wet or soappy wet.
These are all crappy and cheap products, except for the cloths. I wish I could buy some Tamiya TS. Can't imagine how better I could get it. I guess better products give slightly a better finish, but with less effort. I had to work hard to achieve this result, even tho it was my first time.

I think I'll not finish it until I get some Alclad or else for the wheels. HTF here. Anyway will keep updating.
Thx for following and comments.

i think i get it.

i think the best way might be to just mask it before painting.
masking fluid is the way to go for this sort of thing as sanding the insides of things isn't easy, especially with clear plastic which is much harder and more brittle compared to body plastic.
if you don't have masking fluid, children's white glue (not wood glue or canopy glue as they dry harder) is a good substitute or even Copydex glue.

if you're thinking of removing the two molded pins, be careful because of this.

That is awesome dude! Great job with working with those products! damn! I wish I got a shine like this my first time!

@ drunkenmonkey: I'll look for a howto about glue/liqud masking. But I already messed it up. I still have to fix that line/hole as it is already scratched. If I go thru the body polishing method, would that make it clear or close to it? So I won't see scratches when painted from the back?

@ speedphreak: thx! I wish I don't get so many headaches next time! I was about to give up many times. Anyway as this body was so hard to polish, I believe simpler bodies will come out easily now, specially my 1/16 Mustang or the 1/24 GNX.

maybe to mask the lights you can try with "silly putty" (plastilina in argentina)

First a message to all of the followers and other viewers:
This model project goes in some way dedicated to the AF modeling community, as I learnt a lot in just a month here, and many people answered all of my questions, and helped a lot, followed, encouraged, and gave support. It´s because of you that I could achieve such a result, far from what I expected. In short: thx a lot!

Being that said, now back to the model :P
I fixed the tails problem. Just removed the most of the black paint error with alcohol and a toothbrush and painted it straight red and orange without leaving the white square, just not to run risks.
I also assembled the most, leaving just the wheels unmounted, as I´m still looking for a decent chrome looking spray. Anyway looking at them without actually installing they look pretty much ok. I don´t know if I´m gonna get anything better than this. They have the chrome a bit turned gold in the middle, because of the rubbing with my thumb when Imade the fit test, but is barely noticeable.

So, still to do:
- chrome (or not) the wheels, and install on chassis.
- fix 4 minor white spots on edges of body (can´t even find them but I know they are there :P).
- paint flat or satin black all front and rear grills. Removing and adding mesh is no longer an option.
- make a rear license plate taken from the movie (I guess Dom´s plate should be the one).
- make an asphalt-like stand with green light under the body (some day not soon).

I decided not to add details such as belts, window tint, grill mesh, and some others beacuse I really want to see it finished. I learnt a lot in just a month and this Civic is a big step from what I have done before. Taking into account that the result is already 10 times beyond what I expected to get, I will not go any further with this one.

Some quick pics (poor light, poor focus, no ambience, but a happy modeler):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/5816827531_30a4601cc2_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/5816827409_b2a2c90ac8_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2014/5816827331_5049f818b8_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2254/5817392978_ebb99751fc_b.jpg

Thx for following! Please rate, comment (ups and downs), say whatever you feel like. I´m already happy enough :D

Very nice!!.. very nice indeed!!.. you could take more photos..

Forgot to add. This project has been completed last weekend, as planned. Still missing is a license plate and a display stand with green underglow effect, but both will take some time.
Also.I found a little white scratch on the left door, which I appreciate some comments on how to fix.
Here's the link to the completed project. Thx for following.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=6904590#post6904590