Tamiya Subaru WRC 2001 progress

After two street cars in a row I decided to pull out a racer. Have loved the looks of these cars for a while. It's suprising just how HUGE the spoiler is on the back of this thing! Kit looks flawless from a quality standpoint and will be built box stock...to the best of my ability. I seem to have issues with following directions :sly:


Body has been sanded/primed using Tamiya surface primer. Tried Krylon gray primer on the chassis. Was the first time using it and it seems to be pretty good, covered nicely and is somewhat smooth. Since I have a good supply of Tamiya primer (3 cans) I'll stick with using it for the bodies!


And so it begins...
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/871351sub002.jpg

Oh this is going to be FUN!!
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Not being lazy...but I have a question for those of you who know this kit/car. The finish on the wheels is excellent and if the color appears to be correct I'd love to leave them as is. So, is the color accurate?

Thanks for looking and any/all input is welcome!

-Rick

Hi Rick,

I think the colour of the wheels is OK.
And out of the box it should be real fun to build! Keep us informed on how it goes! :wink:

hello,

I have built the kit once and am now currently building a new one.
Speaking from experience, you may run into a small problem with the stance of the front wheels.

Front wheels sort of stick out too much
and the wheel gaps between the front wheels and fenders are bigger than that of the rear wheels if built stock.

I am pretty sure it is how the real thing looks like.
It is personal if one likes it or not.

Just my 2 cents.

Well, here is mine and I didn't paint them. I felt the color was correct, but then again how much of a fanatic are you about accuracy. :iceslolan

Thanks for the feedback guys!

nervestrikes- Your car looks sharp..I've noticed it in your sig. many times! Think I'll leave the wheels alone for now, but will decide before I apply the decals to them.

In an attempt to achieve perfect finish I used a stopwatch to track the time between coats! Two mist and two wet coats on the body, chassis and rollcage left me with a practicaly empty can of TS-50! :mad: I have never used this much paint on one kit! Finish is "ok" overall. For the first time ever on one of my kits, everything has been primered...even the wipers!

More to come...

-Rick

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/835522sub003.jpg

Ive been wanting to try that kit but Im afraid ill mess up the decals.
Yours looks good.:bigthumb: :bigthumb: :smile:

That paint job is looking awsome :bigthumb:

I think the ride height is right, right out of the box. The front wheel openings are bigger for steering clearance. I think the gold on the wheels is about right too. I built mine straight out of the box except for the added seatbelts.

looking good :bigthumb: i have the same kit sitting in the closet :frown:

WOW:22yikes: It is simply too hot. It makes me to intend to consider buying this kit again. But I just sold my ST27 Evo7 Malboro decal.:dunno:

looking great guys..
that white looks awesome like that
leave it as it is :)
ahaha

i got one in the stash too.someday i'll build it..

Looks really good almost makes me want to build this kit box-stock

Originally posted by hobbes874
That paint job is looking awsome :bigthumb:
:iagree:

May i ask, did you use silver paint(for ex ts-30) before ts-50 or just sprayed it after the primer?

Originally posted by Valentino

:iagree:

May i ask, did you use silver paint(for ex ts-30) before ts-50 or just sprayed it after the primer?

No base coat, just straight over the white Tamiya primer.

Thanks for all the praise everybody! Will try to keep you updated as it comes along.

-Rick

cool paintjob!

Been using some rare free time to detail the chassis. I usually don't spend much time on the underside of my kits, but decided this would be the first. Nothing is assembled yet, just "popped" into place. The quality of this kit is awesome, maybe the best I have seen, but then I haven't seen many! :D

-Rick

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http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/777717sub005.jpg

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i want this kit so i can build a street version :iceslolan

looks really nice. :iceslolan

I know you diehard WRC guys will hate me for this....

After assembly the front was a little too high for my liking. I have no doubt it is accurate in its reproduction of the actual rally car, but it's a model and I decided to hack the $%^ out of it. 3mm later it sits rather aggresive in my opinion. It will still get the full decal treatment, it's just a little lower than it was meant to be.

The drop was simple:

I cut the front struts just below the coil springs. Then removed 3mm from the strut housing and reglued the two pieces togather. The fun part was making the 3mm spacer for the bottom A-arm. Since I'm not brave enough to heat and bend the part, I make spacers from a piece of old parts tree. Just bore a hole down the center (in this case 6mm deep) of the tree and cut the two 3mm spacers out. To have correct "camber" they have to be sanded/filed with a slight angle. Mine are not perfect, but they suit me.

Have a look:

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/934325sub007.jpg

The paint looks uneven because of the poor indoor lighting of my hobby room. I increased the brightness in photoshop to make the front a little more visable...I have got to get better lights in here!!

Feedback as always is welcome and DESIRED!:feedback:

-Rick

Have to say I like my Subies, particularly the rally Rexes, but the lowering job looks awesome. It should look real aggressive when you have finished decalling it - like the presentation cars (they always seem lower and more aggressive).

BTW, I don't know your level of experience with decalling, but be wary of the large side ecals in this kit - they can be painful to work with.

Looking good !

Originally posted by potsie
It should look real aggressive when you have finished decalling it - like the presentation cars (they always seem lower and more aggressive).

BTW, I don't know your level of experience with decalling, but be wary of the large side ecals in this kit - they can be painful to work with.

Had not thought of that, but does seem that the "show" cars they present are a little slammed in the nose. Guess it could also look like it was braking extremely hard?!? :icon16:

As for the decals, the most extensive thing I have done was the Holzer Opel...it was a PIA...so I'm sure this will be a challenge also...thanks for the warning!

-Rick

Like the look of things so far Rick.

As one of the diehard WRC fans of which you speak, the lowering job is fine. They do sometimes get down that low, especially on the smooth Italian tarmac of the San Remo Rally.

Which version are you building? 2001 Monte or 2002 Corsica? If if the latter then the ride height is in the realms of possibility.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/339537corsica-02-solberg-mills.jpg

RallyRaider- That pic is absolutely beyond words!! I LOVE IT!! I have to admit we Americans get very little access to WRC racing (this is a NASCAR country), so I truely know not what I do! :wink: My only desire was to give the car the aggressive stance that I thought it should have in a static display. Trust me, I watch all the WRC racing coverage I can, but it winds up being about an hour highlight show once a month! The car will be built using the decals that were included, though I have not yet decided on a "car number" series. Comparing the box art to the photo you provided results in several differences in the decals series. I wil probably apply the decal scheme of the car #18, simply because the number 18 is a personal favorite. :rolleyes: I really wish I knew more about WRC, but for now I only know that the cars are extremely interesting and the Tamiya models of them are of high quality and have excellent detail!

Thanks for your post!

Build Update: I have ran into a few roadblocks. The lowering job has created several problems. The spacers fabricated for the lower A-arms failed to hold and snapped loose several times while attempting to "steer" the front wheels. I decided to heat and bend the lower A-arms to eliminate the spacers. In the proccess of doing so I discovered the glue had not formed a strong bond on the strut housings and they also broke. I fixed this issue by drilling holes and inserting small (4mm) dowels into the struts. The dowels were made form a common paper clip. The struts are now stronger than original and the bent A-arms seem up to the task of holding the unit in place. All in all it has been assembled 8 times!!

As for the rest of the kit...the window trim has been painted in x-18 and no decals have been applied the body. The interior is 60% finished, just need to detail out the dash and assemble everything. All major paint work is finished, all trim and detail work from here!

Goal is to finish it up this week. Should have fresh pics up by Tues.

-Rick