Tamiya Honda S2000 with F20C Engine Kit

Hey guys, i'm new in this forum and new in modelling as well. Probably most of you won't read this, but i'm going to say it anyway. This is my fourth model kit ever. One thing i can assure you fitting this HobbyDesign engine to this kit has been absolutely frustrating. The engine itself is great, but my God it's so hard to put it in the engine bay. I've made thousands of little adjustment not just to the engine kit itself but also to the chassis (cutting out the molded parts such as lower engine and the gearbox is eye watering), muffler, suspension, the glass and everything.

For your information i'm just a complete noob making only totally OOB kit (while still managed to make complete mess of it). There is time when i felt like i've had enough and almost throw the whole thing to the trash. But then i remember the time when i cut out the hood that there is no way back, i have to make this work. So i carry on. You may think i'm hiperbole-ing the crap out of this, but trust me, it is like that. Later in the process i said to my self like "I've gone to all the complicated things cutting the hood and many other stuff out. So, f**k it, let's go all out". So i went online and bought myself some seatbelt and red interior flocking (Which is extremely rare in this rather unpopular country in south east asia). Anyway here it is. Hope it's automotiveforums worthy (yeah, i'am often jealous with everyone's work here, i'm afraid that my previous work isn't anywhere near this forum standard, so i kept the picture for myself, you guys are absolutely amazing modeller !).

http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8627_zps65f2b86c.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8627_zps65f2b86c.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8633_zpsa2e17a67.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8633_zpsa2e17a67.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8628_zpseb759aa8.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8628_zpseb759aa8.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8654_zpsa0fcbc22.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8654_zpsa0fcbc22.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8734_zpse1d76c41.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8734_zpse1d76c41.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8772_zps65bfd19d.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8772_zps65bfd19d.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8672_zps6ee8e34d.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8672_zps6ee8e34d.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8703_zpsabe1021d.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8703_zpsabe1021d.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8680_zpscfe7d23b.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8680_zpscfe7d23b.jpg.html)
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a600/ditoditodito/IMG_8718_zpsae557706.jpg (http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/ditoditodito/media/IMG_8718_zpsae557706.jpg.html)


So many "first" going on in this S2000 build. First time posting in this forum, first time making non OOB kit, first time cutting the hood out, first time cutting the molded parts out, first time using ribbon to make the timing belt for the engine, first time using putty, first time using PE parts, First time using wax and polish material, and lastly first time doing the seatbelt and interior carpeting of the car. Thanks to this build, i'm now can open my mind to endless possibilities. Hope you like it, well if you don't, at least i'm proud of it :). I paint this kit using a normal TS-26 Pure White straight from the spray can and the rest of it is brush painted with tamiya enamel paint.
Verdict on this HobbyDesign F20C Engine Kit is. If you're not an expert or at least not comfortable cutting things apart, scratch build here and there, use putty to fill gaps, etc. I do not recommend this F20C engine kit from HobbyDesign for you. Is all the transkit avalaible on the market requires big modification like this? I'm not an expert so i'll definitely think twice before doing something like this again in the future. Peace :smile:

Man, great work! Absolutely stunning to have first detailed build with so high attention to details!

I think its lovely, the engine looks great the body looks clean and ontop that the interior is exposed being is not an hardtop.you should see my plain boring gtr or aventador interior with no seat belts, not to mention my enzo.

Always remember theres someone whos worse.

you will or should get better,so dont worry.
;)

Great looking kit. You should be proud of it and take everything you learned with to the next kit.

You sure its only your 4th?! Looks great!

Great work, youve done a great job of a complex modification.
Keep going & post your next WIP here too, the guys here are very helpful & friendly & can offer advise on how to do things, I & many others have learnt alot!

Thank you guys for your kind reply and support :) Really appreciate it ! Yeah, i'm pretty sure it's my fourth. since i haven't made that many to actually lost count of my collection haha. The other two actually right next to this turntable display. Which is tamiya Evo V WRC and Aoshima Silvia S15. The other one is tamiya R32 which is now on my work desk, because i want to completely re-do the building process due to many mistake i made in the first build. Hopefully when i'ts fully repaired i will post it here too. The Silvia is also on the list. After that i'll make another one, which hopefully will be done with the same or higher standard.

You should give yourself far more credit, this looks very good, and for a fourth model it's really excellent!
Unfortunately in my experience HD Transkits are mostly like this, nicely detailled, but not easy to fit properly, sometimes even a disaster to make them fit at all.
Just keep building and posting!

i definitely will. Thank you very much !
Yeah, this engine kit is almost a nightmare. At first i thought because this engine kit is specifically made for Tamiya Honda S2000, surely they have made it a lot easier to fit and take the Tamiya kit into consideration. But it just doesn't, the engine itself is superb, no complain about the detail but they like saying "Here's the engine, good luck then. LOL". Things like front white bar on top of the radiator for example, is way too long, i had to cut it short to give the headlights some space and many more.

Kit looks great. Did the F20c engine kit come with the fuse boxes, master and brake cylinders, radiator support, etc??

I just picked up the Tamiya kit and haven't even opened the box yet. Already getting ideas.. hehe

Owning an S2000 in real life makes me super excited to get started on it. But i need to decide if I'm going to attempt an AP2 bumper conversion :/

Anyway, keep up the great work!!

Haha, after fourth build I still had glue all over :-)
Very nice!

Sweet!

Excellent job, well done for persevering - it was well worth it!

For a 4th kit it sure doesn't look like it with the great quality you made. :)