TRA Rocket Bunny Suzuki Wagon R RR

Picked this kit up recently, thought i would make a start. Its a fujimi kit with resin parts to replicate the TRA car, even comes with a little metal exhaust tip. Was a bit disappointed with the resin, all of it has shrunk a bit, the side skirts are warped and need to be straightened, and the way the wheels were cast!!! :screwy: have a look how the resin sprue connects to the wheel?? can see alot of effort to get this looking ok!

the box:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3494/dsc8508z.jpg (http://img4.imageshack.us/i/dsc8508z.jpg/)
whats in the box:
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8451/dsc8509.jpg (http://img411.imageshack.us/i/dsc8509.jpg/)
the resin parts
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/9329/dsc8513y.jpg (http://img829.imageshack.us/i/dsc8513y.jpg/)
nightmare wheels! i was hoping they would be in chrome so i don't have to try to replicate!, but now im worried about even just cutting them free.
http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/4553/dsc8514t.jpg (http://img856.imageshack.us/i/dsc8514t.jpg/)
have to cut this rear bumper off
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/92/dsc8520.jpg (http://img202.imageshack.us/i/dsc8520.jpg/)
:( i cut these 2 free, one of them is ok but the other needs some serious repair, the resin is so brittle...
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/3632/dsc8526m.jpg (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/dsc8526m.jpg/)
cut bumper
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/561/dsc8528p.jpg (http://img832.imageshack.us/i/dsc8528p.jpg/)
resin bumper doesnt fit very well, has shrunk and needs to be built up again
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9669/dsc8533s.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/i/dsc8533s.jpg/)
quick mock up
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/8256/dsc8536m.jpg (http://img695.imageshack.us/i/dsc8536m.jpg/)
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/3705/dsc8537.jpg (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/dsc8537.jpg/)
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/550/dsc8538r.jpg (http://img641.imageshack.us/i/dsc8538r.jpg/)

Holy...kits like these (mostly Fujimi) gives me nightmares, but sure you will pull through nicely with this one!

I have this kit and it definitely is a typical older Fujimi resin kit nightmare. I noticed the same issues (minus the cracked wheel). :banghead:

the shrunken parts are really annoying! especially the tabs on the inside of the resin bumpers that hold the chassis, have to cut them off and make my own or stick the ones from the styrene bumpers on. all part of the fun of resin i guess haha

progress on the damaged wheel. thank god for tamiya 2 part epoxy putty! worked well
after some sanding
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/2868/dsc8539u.jpg (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/dsc8539u.jpg/)
after some more sanding and primer
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/897/dsc8541j.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/i/dsc8541j.jpg/)
its not perfect, but consider its size against 15inch, and 18 inch rims. this wheel is tiny!
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4395/dsc8542c.jpg (http://img254.imageshack.us/i/dsc8542c.jpg/)

started work on the body today, stuck the front and rear bumpers on. and had a look at the sideskirts, you can see how they are warped here.
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/246/dsc8560a.jpg (http://img708.imageshack.us/i/dsc8560a.jpg/)

cut the stock sideskirt off
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6136/dsc8567.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/i/dsc8567.jpg/)

straightened the new sideskirts using boiling water
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3121/dsc8561z.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/i/dsc8561z.jpg/)

test fit, the sideskirt is too short!! :nono:
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/9360/dsc8564y.jpg (http://img26.imageshack.us/i/dsc8564y.jpg/)

so i just cut it
http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/4084/dsc8572c.jpg (http://img847.imageshack.us/i/dsc8572c.jpg/)

fit the side skirts on
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1663/dsc8573d.jpg (http://img442.imageshack.us/i/dsc8573d.jpg/)

then i corrected the warps in the wheel arches with more boiling water, and stuck them on
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/8450/dsc8581.jpg (http://img507.imageshack.us/i/dsc8581.jpg/)
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9585/dsc8583s.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/i/dsc8583s.jpg/)

and filling has begun
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7826/dsc8585d.jpg (http://img12.imageshack.us/i/dsc8585d.jpg/)
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5431/dsc8586.jpg (http://img204.imageshack.us/i/dsc8586.jpg/)

after alot of sanding it is starting to look reasonable
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7757/dsc8589d.jpg (http://img411.imageshack.us/i/dsc8589d.jpg/)
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9944/dsc8590p.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/i/dsc8590p.jpg/)

shot some primer to see the flaws, still needs alot of work but its taking shape
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/3972/dsc8592.jpg (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/dsc8592.jpg/)
http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/6453/dsc8593k.jpg (http://img573.imageshack.us/i/dsc8593k.jpg/)

Good job so far :thumbsup:

Good luck with all that sanding to get it perfect. I know by experience that huge modifications like that are time consumer but, with a lot of patience, I'm sure you'll do it.

progress is very slow, i decided to blend the wheel flares into the body work as i realized they were way too thick and out of scale compared to the box art. Still heaps to do before i can consider painting...

Filled these hollow seats with styrene and putty
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/9038/dsc8742a.jpg (http://img12.imageshack.us/i/dsc8742a.jpg/)
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2060/dsc8748g.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/i/dsc8748g.jpg/)

Here you can see the countless layers of various filling materials and sanding
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/6581/dsc8745b.jpg (http://img522.imageshack.us/i/dsc8745b.jpg/)
http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/7341/dsc8746.jpg (http://img851.imageshack.us/i/dsc8746.jpg/)
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9744/dsc8747i.jpg (http://img189.imageshack.us/i/dsc8747i.jpg/)

And primed it again:runaround:
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/5596/dsc8749s.jpg (http://img713.imageshack.us/i/dsc8749s.jpg/)
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5259/dsc8750a.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/i/dsc8750a.jpg/)
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/7118/dsc8755u.jpg (http://img51.imageshack.us/i/dsc8755u.jpg/)

so i finished fixing the remaining problems and prepared the body for spraying in tamiya ts-14 black. After 4 coats it was looking great, very deep black colour and very glossy. That can was running low so i decided to open a new can for the final wet coat. It looked fine when i sprayed it but as it was drying this strange effect where it looks faded in areas happened! the surface is all uniformly shiny, but it seems like some sort of fogging has happened under the top layer?? :banghead: The fogging effect is patchy, quite hard to photograph it.

Does anyone know what this problem is? I'm hoping it buffs out.:confused:

You can see here that the top half of the body appears to be faded, but the lower half hasn't experienced the fading effect.
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/5568/dsc8761s.jpg (http://img42.imageshack.us/i/dsc8761s.jpg/)
Front of the car didn't fade either
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9232/dsc8760q.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/i/dsc8760q.jpg/)

roof looks good from this angle, nice and shiny.
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/3160/dsc8759c.jpg (http://img97.imageshack.us/i/dsc8759c.jpg/)

but change the lighting, and you can see what looks like a patch of glossy on a faded surface.:eek7:
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/3879/dsc8767.jpg (http://img703.imageshack.us/i/dsc8767.jpg/)

I think I have had the same effect on my older model.

I guess It would be caused by difference in temperature between first and second can.

Or....just by low temperature in the room where you have done your final wet coat.

Just my opinion ;-)

Great start to what looks like a real challenge.

I have had the same problem with the paint as you. In my experience it is from "Blu-Tac", "Yellow-Tac", or whatever it is called in your region - you know the re-usable, weakly adhesive putty normally used to hang posters on a wall. It looks to me like you may have used this to attach the body to the top of the bottle you used as a paint stand. I cannot think of a reasonable reason why, but putting Blu-Tac straight on to the plastic has resulted in this type of problem a number of times for me. I now put a strip of cheap masking tap on the plastic, then the Blu-Tac - never had a problem since.

Not sure you can save this paint job now - I have always had to strip and do again. But might save you from the problem again.

Cheers,
Grant.

that blu-tac observation is an interesting one! i noticed a glossy patch in my primer too right where the blu-tac was!! but i sanded it out and cleaned it all really well because i thought maybe the plastic was reacting with the primer. Strange indeed but i will definitely put some tape down in future!
Maybe it was a combination of blu-tac effect on the roof, and temperature differences on the sides? haha.

Oh well, turned out to be very easy to fix. Simply sprayed another wet coat today and the effect didn't happen! :biggrin: Will have to bury it under plenty of clear coat to make sure i don't polish through it though.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/3506/dsc8772j.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/dsc8772j.jpg/)

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/363/dsc8773t.jpg (http://img833.imageshack.us/i/dsc8773t.jpg/)

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/6593/dsc8776r.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/i/dsc8776r.jpg/)

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8308/dsc8780l.jpg (http://img822.imageshack.us/i/dsc8780l.jpg/)

Well, you have certainly fixed the problem. What shine!!

made some more progress.

first, burning some rubber..
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8171/dsc9593.jpg (http://img209.imageshack.us/i/dsc9593.jpg/)

then basic painting of the interior. there is not much detail in the kit..
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2646/dsc9657.jpg (http://img687.imageshack.us/i/dsc9657.jpg/)

i added seat belt restraints, and also flocking and detail painting..
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/7900/dsc9659gv.jpg (http://img266.imageshack.us/i/dsc9659gv.jpg/)

was inspired by some other builds to try painting tiny white symbols onto the buttons, happy with the result.
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/5586/dsc9661s.jpg (http://img828.imageshack.us/i/dsc9661s.jpg/)

completed interior..
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/286/dsc9667s.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/i/dsc9667s.jpg/)
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7647/dsc9668b.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/i/dsc9668b.jpg/)

finally got some wheels to work with too, after much filling and sanding.
http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/850/dsc9677.jpg (http://img683.imageshack.us/i/dsc9677.jpg/)

and finally i couldn't resist a quick mock up, the paint has been clear coated and still awaiting cut and polish.
the wheels are just sitting here at the moment, I'm still yet to create some method to mount the wheels to the chassis... The kit included only the standard suspension which is way too high, and also doesn't provide any offset! those wheel arches need offset :grinyes:.
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/7742/dsc9678w.jpg (http://img694.imageshack.us/i/dsc9678w.jpg/)

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/4898/dsc9679.jpg (http://img502.imageshack.us/i/dsc9679.jpg/)

http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/3166/dsc9683.jpg (http://img861.imageshack.us/i/dsc9683.jpg/)

Lookin good! If I had to guess on the paint issue, I would say humidity could be a cause. Many times this will go away as the paint cures, or can be released with another coat of paint/clear. Nice to know about the blu tac issue too as I've just started using the stuff for holding small parts...
Dash looks nice!!

BTW, what color is that body?

thanks corvettekid! the paint is Tamiya ts-14 black, with Gunze Mr. Super Clear over the top.

So it actually needed alot more polishing then i anticipated, had to go over it all with 1000 grit to remove the orange peel. I followed this with 2000 grit, then tried tamiya coarse compound for about an hour, with little improvement to shine. Then tried scratch x with basically the same result. The rubbing compounds looked great after they were buffed out. but then when immersed in water the finish went dull again.

So, i decided the easiest way to bring the shine back would be more clear. Also decided i wanted the decals to be under the clear, so i put them on.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8932/dsc9686l.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/i/dsc9686l.jpg/)

My clear of choice is Gunze Mr Super Clear UV Cut. I read in many places that this clear is as aggressive as ts-13 on decals, and since this was my first time to try this particular clear on decals I was expecting the worst. But was surprised, I did a test run on some scrap plastic with some spare kit decals, and was able to apply a very heavy coat after 1 mist coat! So then proceeded to clear the model, although i used 3 mist coats just to be sure :wink:
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8353/dsc9687.jpg (http://img171.imageshack.us/i/dsc9687.jpg/)
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/4670/dsc9689v.jpg (http://img810.imageshack.us/i/dsc9689v.jpg/)

Very happy with the shine now!
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/4652/dsc96892.jpg (http://img850.imageshack.us/i/dsc96892.jpg/)

Yeah a Rocket Bunny:smokin:cool.....great work have you make. But the Pasform of this Resin Kit is :runaround: :headshake:
Daniel

What happen with this kit?
So bad!!!!

ohh what the!!
damn man, that sucks. its a sad day now.

That sucks! I'm sad for you :(

That's a lot of breakage! What happened?