Wow, I don't know what I just got myself into.

Okay so here's the story. I bought a Fujimi R33 Nismo 400R....but here's the problem, I thought it would be like mechano and everything just fits together. But unfortunately I have realised otherwise.

So my question is,

-obviously i need paints, and primer
-I have bought tamiya extra fine cement but apparently you need more glues than thattt? what extra glues do i need? and what do i use the cement for?
-I need sandpaper but cant find any 600, 800 or 1000 on ebay.

What other stuff do I need and does anyone know anywhere good I can buy it?

I am making it for a girl and her birthday is on the 22nd of June..so this plan is not looking good - _ - lol

I've tried reading that but it is all too jumbled....really I just need a list of glues that I will need for my model, the relevent paintbrushes for painting seats etc, all i have is tamiya liquid extra fine cement which i thought would work for everything but apparently it only works on non painted surfaces :S

and do I have to sand all the seats etc and prime them too?

Welcome to A/F. Now for some tough love. You have more questions than answers, you obviously have little to no experience, you are searching Ebay for items you can find at the corner auto parts store, and you are unwilling to have the patience to read the above link (which I found 2 of your answers for in under a minute), you won't do much to help yourself, then I'm not going to waste time spoon feeding you and re-writing what is already in the link. Building nice model cars isn't something you learn overnight, and if you aren't patient, it's really not the hobby for you. You already dissed one of the most accomplished modelers on the planet who gave you excellent advice...so I'm going to assume you really aren't going to have much luck building a decent model w/your approach to the entire subject.

Get her a diecast. Diecast models were made for those who want model cars w/o the talent or time to build them personally.

I never knew Fujimi made a kit of the R33 400R

Welcome to A/F. Now for some tough love. You have more questions than answers, you obviously have little to no experience, you are searching Ebay for items you can find at the corner auto parts store, and you are unwilling to have the patience to read the above link (which I found 2 of your answers for in under a minute), you won't do much to help yourself, then I'm not going to waste time spoon feeding you and re-writing what is already in the link. Building nice model cars isn't something you learn overnight, and if you aren't patient, it's really not the hobby for you. You already dissed one of the most accomplished modelers on the planet who gave you excellent advice...so I'm going to assume you really aren't going to have much luck building a decent model w/your approach to the entire subject.

Get her a diecast. Diecast models were made for those who want model cars w/o the talent or time to build them personally.

Why would I of get her a diecast.....that shows no effort - _ - . I found answers for types of the glues, which is white glue, cement glue, and superglue....but I thought you could use cement for everythiing (Tamiya extra thin). And I didn't diss the modeller who told me that link I clicked thanks....I was just saying its all a jumble to try understand because I'm knew to it. Because the information isn't in chronlogical order. I also don't know whether to sand and prime the seats. I assume you would

For instance, I have tuned my own Nissan Silvia S13 SR20DET to 200KW at the rear-wheels, if I was to say here have a look at how to assemble an engine, heres some info, you would be a bit confused trying to sort through it as well. I also have lost my licence because of having 200kW at the rear wheels which means it is too hard for me to get to a model shop due to the fact public transport in Australia is shit, hence why I just am trying to get items delivered to my door. I admit I have no knowledge with model cars but it is something I am interested in and willing to learn and I dont see how being confused is dissing an acomplished modeller. Im just confused... I will proove you wrong when I build a nice model. fuck diecast.

I never knew Fujimi made a kit of the R33 400R

I wil try to find cord to camera to upload picture of 400r so far


picture included of 400r, think it may be pre painted?

People.....:headshake:headshake As Bob says, get a diecast, I am sure she will be a lot happier. You don't learn this craft in a few days.

I will learn this craft in a few days as demonstrated by the picture above because I have already assembled the wheels and the rear wing (Havent glued the wing yet due to the uncertentaintly of whether needing to use cement of superglue) just need some helpful guidance from you guys to help me complete a nice model. WIll take 6 months otherwise.

I will learn this craft in a few days as demonstrated by the picture above because I have already assembled the wheels and the rear wing (Havent glued the wing yet due to the uncertentaintly of whether needing to use cement of superglue) just need some helpful guidance from you guys to help me complete a nice model. WIll take 6 months otherwise.Good luck!

I will post pictures and updates of my progress....

You can use cement or superglue to fit the body parts, just avoid it when you fit the transparent parts, try to use some white glue, those used for paper, or buy a properly glue.

Basically, what you need is:

Sand the whole body, remove specially injection lines, those are awful, you just need to sand small parts if it's needed, not for paint.

Apply primer before the paint, you can buy primer in spray bottle, so then you don't need to buy an airbrush right now.

Apply paint, just like the primer, you can find paint in spray bottle.

As Zoomzoom said, you can find good things on auto parts store..

But, honestly, modeling is a patience job, if you want a good model, you need to dedicate yourself .. if it's not the case, then.. buy a die-cast :)

Regards

Being stubborn never really worked well in this hobby. Like others have said, building good models is not something that you could learn how to do in a few hours/days, this is something that takes practice. But, some things could be learned on mistakes of other people, and while this is not a substitute for practicing and learning the techniques, I bet a few hours you spend reading the link that I posted will save you days, if not weeks of trial and error doing this by yourself.

It takes me several weeks to build a decent model, and I have been building for 20 years!
It isn't a hobby that you can learn quickly, you have to just try it.

I think as a beginner, with little to no experience, and a very compressed timeframe is the reason many people have suggested a diecast. They come pre-finished and assembled. And will likely look a lot better on a display shelf than your first attempt at modeling.

Or, there is always the before and after effect....
You give her what you are able to accomplish this year, and if she is a skyline fan, she'll likely love it, and you for the effort.
If you find that you like the hobby, keep at it, try other kits and practice....
Next year, give her another one, and show her how far you have come in your modeling skills.

I build a NASCAR kit every year for my wife. Not my favorite subject matter, but she loves them just the same.

Speaking as someone who collects diecasts because I neither have the skills, time of patience for kit building (though that hasn't stopped me buying kits that I hope to build one day) I have a diecast model of the Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R by AutoArt. (Actually, I have diecasts of all Nissan Skyline GT-Rs in 1/18 scale).

Buying a diecast is not the solution if you want a Nismo 400R since:
1. Nobody makes one that's a high end model in scale 1/18. (1/43 is available by Ebbro but rare and expensive and tiny compared to a 1/24).
2. AutoArt's 1/18 R33 GT-R is a fantastic model but it is around four to five times more expensive than the plastic kit you have.
3. You've already started so you may as well finish. I have a lot of kits that I haven't started so well done for getting down to it. I've seen modellers on this forum build a kit in a weekend, so of course you can build it before June 22nd.

Your 1st model will never turn out well. Attitude or not. But you have determination. But you need more patience than anything else. As everyone is saying, it takes many, many years to learn how to not f up a model. And still, to this day, very skilled people can run into a glitch. You'll learn more 1st hand from building many models over time. Not, by someone holding your hand through every step. And you WILL appreciate diecasts one day man lol.
Also, are the Nissan Leafs rated in KiloWatts in the US? That would make some sense...

2. AutoArt's 1/18 R33 GT-R is a fantastic model but it is around four to five times more expensive than the plastic kit you have.


Considering all the supplies you need, it might equal out lol.
OP, if this girl cares about you, she should be happy with you buying her anything. And if you want the model to turn out great for her, just take your time to learn and not do it rushed in a few weeks. Good luck man, look forward to your progress.

Thanks heaps for all the advice you guys have provided. I am looking at buying some supplies over the next few days and just telling the girl i will need a couple of months to give her the present.

I have compiled a shopping list of what I am going to buy
-Acrylic Paints (Tamiya) for the small details
-Metallic Black Tamiya Spray Paint and Gray Tamiya Primer
-Tamiya fine brush set
-Tamiya Fine sandpaper ( 2 x #400, 1x #600, 2x #1000). Hopefully these are the correct ones?
-I have a university assignment due on the 11th so I most likely wont start until after I have finished that.
-My first step will be to sand the body to remove those mold lines and apply two coats of primer which I will let set for 3 days.
-Then I will spray can the two mist coats of metallic black onto the chassis (going for a mean agressive skyline look) followed by a wet coat (4-6 inches away from the surface). and I will show my results.

Hey mate, your shopping list seems about right. Not sure if you know, but you will not be able to get the spray paints mailed to you as Australia Post will not ship flammables. So you might need a trip to a hobby store after all. Try Hobbyco, either at QVB or Rhodes.

One more tip - I would primer everything, not just the body.

nobody seems to have noticed that the kit you have isn't a 400R, if it is then the box art is wrong, the whole bodykit on the 400R is completely different, so it'll take even more work than you expected to get it to look right. Good luck with the build though dude, let us know how you get on.

the real thing:
43097

You'll also need another set of Tamiya sand paper (1200, 1500 and 2000)
in order to get rid of scratches, or they will most likely show up after
applying the base coat.

I also recommend that you get a can of semi-gloss or mat black (TS-29 or
TS-6) for chassis, suspension and even some of the interior parts. You
can paint many parts while they are are still on the tree to save time.
Also, you'll probably need gloss clear (TS-13) to seal the metallic
black before polishing and waxing.

I don't know your experience with spray cans, but just in case, scroll
down and locate the first MPEG video in here:
http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=289
Watch the amount of paint and the speed of hand motion. A car body has
several sides (like left, right, front/rear bumpers, hood, roof and
trunk), so keep switching sides, so the paint won't run.

But before anything, the fundamental question is...is your girl-friend a
gear-head? Does she own a Skyline? Will she really appreciate a model
car? Generally, girls like to have the "experience" of having a nice
dinner, or receiving pretty jewelries, bags and shoes etc. Your
"effort" won't really be important if you give something "you" want
to give, instead of what "she" would like to have (your mindset must be
she-centric, not me-centric).

If you still need to show your effort, you also have to give her a
bouquet of flowers. (It's a must!) Of course, that won't be necessary if
she's one of those who hate gender stereotypes, allergic to flowers, or
a gear-head who would rather drool over a set shiny tools, instead of
pretty bags and shoes.

Good luck!

You guys need to watch out for those crazy Austrailian Nissan tuners. They do some crazy stuff now!

As for building a model, if you know how to build an engine, you can build a model. after all, an engine is nothing but a diecast model, correct? But it is by far much more involved if you want your model to be outstanding.

You can use one kind of glue starting out, Prime everything lightly, it helps with the final finish of your paint job. You don't have to sand anything if you don't want, but it helps.

Test fit everything. remember that the part is going to have paint which will alter the way things fit. after it's painted remember to lightly scrape the paint for fitment and adhesion (this usually isn't a problem until you get into custom stuff.)

That should be enough to get you started. Just keep browsing the faq section and watching other's build threads. If you have a question of how someone did something, be sure to PM that person (personal conversations go better this way) instead of cluttering up their build thread or digging up old threads.

thanks heaps hirofkd and rsxse240...much appreciated. Well the story is is that I told her I was buying some model cars, and she was like ohhhh I wishh you could build something for my birthday =)! And I played dumb and was like oh sorry no I won't be doing that...and she got all disappointed. So my plan is to suprise her. I'm 19, shes 18 btw and anyway all her friends etc would be buying her make up, jewlerry, clothes so I thought I would be different so that what I give her will stand out and she will be more grateful...and being able to see the evident effort I have put in. And yeah whenever I am cruising with her in my car she always points out Skylines, or Supra's, or RX7's (theyre more common here in Australia than the USA) so I thought hmmm, why not build a mean metallic black skyline for her. =P and yes she loves flowers so I am thinking of a rose neatly put in the model box set ;). Although looks like I will be delivering her present late haha.

Maybe just give her the kit, with the promiss you will take your time to build it as good as you can with all the help you can get here :).

I'm still tying to build a Volkswagen bus (the hippy kind :D) for my best friend. Luckily she is patient and I actually did buy her a diecast for now as a placeholder.

If she really likes you and the car, she would want a nicely build one instead from you of a rushed ruined one, right?

Yes I told her my present would take a couple of months to deliver. BTW just realised its actually a Nismo Skyline GTR S-Tune R33