Audi A4 - Timo Scheider DTM 2009

Well, this one was "fun"! The Revell Audi A4 as driven to Championship victory for Audi in the 2009 DTM series.
Built for a friend it was actually a very nice build and a beautifully fitting*kit, albeit with a fair amount of mould seam clean-up being needed - seems a typical trait of Revell kits? Lots of lovely bits to put together, plenty of detail and fun to be had though much of it ends up hidden. I have left it with the body loose as there is so much interior detail and most is almost invisible with all that black in there.
The bodywork design is quite unusual to say the least with all of it's sophisticated aero features well replicated -*took me a while to get my head around it*for some reason. Maybe I was being dim but it all became pretty clear to me as soon as I started to assemble the thing! Message to self there I think - stop overthinking the hobby and get on with it!
The fun bit came with that*blasted matt black finish, complicated by a livery featuring a gloss black repeat behind the primary white logos, bit like a drop shadow. I have an aversion to applying decals to a matt finish so I sprayed it gloss black and decalled-up in the normal fashion - error!I Previously I have found that matting down straight onto decals will leave the decal with a gloss sheen whereas the paint will matt nicely. Not so this time! It all went matt so I had one option - hand paint gloss varnish over the faint drop shadows. Not ideal but kind of gets there.
Another side effect I found is that the finish is extremely difficult to remove dust from and this kit just pulled dust in from everywhere - so, apologies for the dust in the pics.
Largely OOB but I did use a little carbon decal on the front splitter and also on those "webs" between the rollcage and the roof arches, where it's visible through the glazing.

Anyway, here it is warts 'n' all.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t22/Spad93/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/IMG_0152_zps8o41sy2s.jpg (http://s156.photobucket.com/user/Spad93/media/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/IMG_0152_zps8o41sy2s.jpg.html)

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t22/Spad93/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/IMG_0171_zpsby51vbxp.jpg (http://s156.photobucket.com/user/Spad93/media/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/IMG_0171_zpsby51vbxp.jpg.html)

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t22/Spad93/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/IMG_0177_zpsjzeggkco.jpg (http://s156.photobucket.com/user/Spad93/media/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/IMG_0177_zpsjzeggkco.jpg.html)

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t22/Spad93/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/d5899b75-8308-44c4-bb3b-cdef8fc60bf9_zps2yyldxwc.jpg (http://s156.photobucket.com/user/Spad93/media/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/d5899b75-8308-44c4-bb3b-cdef8fc60bf9_zps2yyldxwc.jpg.html)

And finally one with it's clothes off!

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t22/Spad93/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/IMG_0169_zpshpdifaj2.jpg (http://s156.photobucket.com/user/Spad93/media/BM/Audi%20A4%20DTM/IMG_0169_zpshpdifaj2.jpg.html)

All C+C welcome in equal measure.
Thanks for looking
ATB
Rick

Very clean result, the aerodynamic features of the original car make the model particularly interesting.

Great build, the matt black looks good. Nice that these Revells can be dis-assembled for varying displays.

Looks great!

Very nice build ... having this particular model in my stash i always found excuses not to start it... mainly because of that matt black body/gloss balck decals thing you mentioned! but now i have seen the results, i will be trying out your sequence of clear-coats.. Thank you !

Very nice build ... having this particular model in my stash i always found excuses not to start it... mainly because of that matt black body/gloss balck decals thing you mentioned! but now i have seen the results, i will be trying out your sequence of clear-coats.. Thank you !

Hey 5th thanks for the comments and vote of confidence.
I would, however, suggest you consider applying the decals straight onto the matt finish. I say that because if you check the decals themselves you will see the carrier film is cut back very close to the image - almost no carrier is visible. By doing this you can eliminate all of the grief of trying to paint in the glossy bits. There is a second, optional, decal for one side which you could experiment with - worth a go!

Looks good.