Sesto Elemento...take 2

I have gotten so in love with this car that I decided to do another one and present it too in the recently-concluded meet-and-greet with the folks of Aoshima (Naoto-san and Hideto-san), sponsored by our local hobby shop (JMN Hobby). Decided to get the PE add-on set for this, and apply CF decals to the body.

http://i64.tinypic.com/2j2c2f5.jpg

started to separate the parts from the sprues
http://i66.tinypic.com/2mww035.jpg

adding painted PE grilles and unpainted rotor faces
http://i64.tinypic.com/10zquyt.jpg

red parts for painting. gave this a gray basecoat first to dull down the red a bit
http://i63.tinypic.com/30m5pxk.jpg

paint it black :D
http://i64.tinypic.com/zvvl81.jpg

silver parts
http://i64.tinypic.com/123nwp5.jpg

parts to be painted gray
http://i64.tinypic.com/auuw0j.jpg

parts painted. in retrospect, i should've masked off the clear parts that i want to show the details behind (such as front vents and the gas tank and engine)
http://i65.tinypic.com/zy6g6p.jpg

i didn't paint the door areas but ended up putting CF over it since it wasn't gonna show off much except the backside of the inner doors. just painted the sides of the rear cowl.
http://i66.tinypic.com/23hn8gj.jpg

front cowl
http://i68.tinypic.com/33fez68.jpg

test-fit of the body parts
http://i67.tinypic.com/219xdvt.jpg

interior almost done
http://i64.tinypic.com/wjvz9h.jpg

small parts with CF applied. tried to use flat acrylic clear as decal fixative and it was a disaster - it was too crunchy and didn't like to conform to curves. the glossier CF used proper decal fixative.
http://i65.tinypic.com/11c5js7.jpg

the self-inflicted torture begins - making templates using masking tape
http://i67.tinypic.com/2rpe4i8.jpg

why did i decide to put CF trim here? lol.
http://i67.tinypic.com/210bl3n.jpg

PE belt hardware done. trimmed to fit is on the left of this pic.
http://i63.tinypic.com/28ukbnr.jpg

steering wheel with the PE lambo logo in the middle and the PE paddles (which was a PITA to bend hahaha)
http://i68.tinypic.com/fodmbs.jpg

interior done
http://i63.tinypic.com/11qnx37.jpg

more CF applied. also used the metal transfer from the PE add-on set for the intake tract.
http://i65.tinypic.com/wsl084.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2mfn61l.jpg

in hindsight, i should've done this in multiple sections and not just one big cut off the decal sheet
http://i64.tinypic.com/egtkpu.jpg

test fit of the body parts, now with CF decals
http://i67.tinypic.com/6eqepy.jpg

cleaned-up the overspray on the clear part to show off the gas tank. did the same cleanup with the front and rear cowls. painted the backside of the decaled areas in a mix of 3:1 semi-gloss black and silver enamels to make the CF areas less translucent
http://i63.tinypic.com/2z5uh08.jpg

ver.1 sesto waiting for the ver.2's glue on the glass to dry - had to use enamel bottles to weigh it down
http://i63.tinypic.com/1yabv8.jpg

finished! here it is with the ver.1 sesto.
http://i63.tinypic.com/nye9p3.jpg


i wish i could've applied flat gloss to the decaled areas and also given the CF weave a better sense of direction but i ran out of time, this was a buzzer-beater, finished just in time for the august 3 meet. maybe for the ver.3. :D

finished thread here - http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=1147574

posted along in that thread is a surprise gift from Naoto-san. :)

Awesome! nice work!