Custom Aoshima C-west RX-7 (progress)

Hello everybody!

I have a few projects right now, but my favorite by far is my c-west rx-7. This is the first 1:24 scale model that I am doing somewhat major bodywork on, but I am no stranger to sandpaper, bondo/putty fuems, and needle files.

I just wanted to share this project with the good people of this forum, and humbly ask for advice, since what i'm doing might take some strategy, and it's always good to have other's imput.

Here's what i have right now.

http://modgodsmodifiers.freeservers.com/images/ozzysi_rx-7_progress.jpg
(if the picture doesn't show, give me a minute. I'll figure something out)

Here's what i hope to have in the future. (sorry, this is the only picture of the hood I have, and VIS doesn't let you right click. If anyone has a better picture of this hood, I would GREATLY appreciate a link)
http://www.visracing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=177

I think I have pretty much everything figured out, but let me hear your imput and suggestions. For the scoop thingies that I haven't done yet, I was planning on cutting up a plastic spoon, and shaping it to fit in the holes that I have yet to cut.

I guess that's all I have for now. Thanks to Hiroboy for the advice I requested from him earlier. I'd like to hear your comments and questions, if you have any.

sweet project, what color are you planning?

sweet project, what color are you planning?

It's looking like Tamiya's Pearl white. I bought it when i saw it in my hobby shop a while ago just because it looked cool, and never used it. :grinno:

Why a plastic spoon, and not just styrene? I'm not sure what the spoons are made of, but I don't think it's compatible with styrene and plastic cement (though I may be wrong.) Spoons are also much more brittle than just plastic card, so it would be harder to work with, (but you cand do it with experience under your belt.) If it's on account of of the curvature, you can easily sand oversized plastic to contour, or even bend it slightly, as it holds shape rather well especially after glueing. I don't really know what advice you're after without specific questions, but the only thing I can say is try to keep it simple as far as materials you use, and use as much plastic and as little putty as you can. Remember, overbuild, you can always remove material more easily than adding.

Nice job Colin. The hood looks great so far, but I dont expect anything less from you.

Im glad to see I talked you into the hood, you'll thank me later on.

Why a plastic spoon, and not just styrene? I'm not sure what the spoons are made of, but I don't think it's compatible with styrene and plastic cement (though I may be wrong.) Spoons are also much more brittle than just plastic card, so it would be harder to work with, (but you cand do it with experience under your belt.) If it's on account of of the curvature, you can easily sand oversized plastic to contour, or even bend it slightly, as it holds shape rather well especially after glueing. I don't really know what advice you're after without specific questions, but the only thing I can say is try to keep it simple as far as materials you use, and use as much plastic and as little putty as you can. Remember, overbuild, you can always remove material more easily than adding.

Perfect, thanks. That's why I made this thread, to stop me from doing something stupid. I guess I'll build the... fins out of styrene instead of spoons, the curvature was my concern, but i guess i'll just do it the old-fashioned way. Think I should make it out of a ticker piece or a thin piece and bend it slightly?

Nice job Colin. The hood looks great so far, but I dont expect anything less from you.

Im glad to see I talked you into the hood, you'll thank me later on.

Yeah, thanks mike. It's looking great so far, I'm just trying to explore every possible outcome from each meathod before I move on to the rest of the hood.

Thanks for your replies, if anyone else has a different picture of this hood i'd really like to see it, maybe from a different angle.

Thanks for your replies, if anyone else has a different picture of this hood i'd really like to see it, maybe from a different angle.

I'll find some, I know Ive seen it 10million times. Its probably in my mags, I'll scan them for you if I find something

Thanks mike. I'll be looking in my big heapin' pile of super streets too. I already tried all of my other car parts sites.

Think I should make it out of a ticker piece or a thin piece and bend it slightly?

It's up to you. Get a few different thicknesses of styrene (I love getting the odds and ends packs Evergreen puts out!) and experiment with different ways. Some people find one way easier than others, and some applications lend themselves better to some ways than others. If you're worried about messing up the body, get an old one or some scrap and cut a similar hole in it and experiment. No one ever said you had to do it right the first time, or that you couldn't change your mind after the fact.

.020 Styrene is good for the loovers.

http://www.visracing.com/catalog/images/93MZRX72DRE-010C.jpg?osCsid=716329e095a0437bdff06330c3adcd9a

Here is the photo for you all to see :evillol:

Looking good so far, keep up the good work

Awesome, You finally posted something. Im sure this will come out as nice as the Mustle Car that you did, i already forgot what the name of it was :icon16: :lol: Your Cuda i think. lol

Keep us posted Mr. Colin :sunglasse :smokin:

Looking good Oz. Hope the hood comes out well. Are you going to carbonfiber it? or just paint it.

Thanks guys, and thanks Hiro for posting that picture.

IS, I think i'm just going to paint the hood the body color, but I haven't fully explored the idea of doing a carbon fiber hood... we'll see.

Yeah Joeham, it was a `cuda, lol.

I'll have to go to my hobby shop and buy the single sheet packs in all different sizes and experementing with that.

I was also thinking about doing the... er, inner walls of the hood. I didn't mention it earlier because it's hard to explain. The part that the loovers connect to, that dips into the hood ever so slightly.
What I was thinking I'd do for them is cut out a couple small, pieces of styrene for each hole, glue them into the inside of the hood, and the mold them in with putty. Any other ideas or suggestions would help though.

I was also thinking about doing the... er, inner walls of the hood. I didn't mention it earlier because it's hard to explain. The part that the loovers connect to, that dips into the hood ever so slightly.
What I was thinking I'd do for them is cut out a couple small, pieces of styrene for each hole, glue them into the inside of the hood, and the mold them in with putty. Any other ideas or suggestions would help though.

:wtf: Draw a picture.

Cool project, keep us posted on the progress!!!!!!

http://www.visracing.com/catalog/images/93MZRX72DRE-010C.jpg?osCsid=716329e095a0437bdff06330c3adcd9a

See where the glare hits the hole on the passenger side? That's what i'm talking about, Mike. It's kinda hard to explain, I might draw a picture if that's still not clear.

See where the glare hits the hole on the passenger side? That's what i'm talking about, Mike. It's kinda hard to explain, I might draw a picture if that's still not clear.

I get it...you're just confusing.

Here is a nice car with that hood.

http://www.jtuned.com/media/gallery%2FMRT%2Ftrade%2FIAS%2F019%2Ejpg

Here is a nice car with that hood.



Nice car, bad view. Oh well it might help Colin, we all know hes helpless.:evillol:

It does look better in body color. However, I don't belive that's quite the same hood. IT doesn't have how the louvers round out and point a bit at angle on each side and on the inside are straight. This one is fully straight, if you understand.

Looks like an interesting project! Keep us posted :smile:

86_SR5 those two hoods are the same, made by Scoot, just that from that angle, it seems stright.
nice project, keep us posted. ;)

Thanks guys.

Thanks for the picture, Joeham. It doesn't really help me too much because I need a view from a different angle, but that's a cool car, lol. Thnaks for looking.

Hey Colin, I hope this picture helps.
http://4.pichold.com/tunerbash0247.jpg

oh, ok, I guess im thinking of a different hood, like on the RE Anemeiya fd

that hood is originated from RE Amemiya . . . :iceslolan

Awesome, thanks Mike. That does help me alot. I'm still trying to find a picture that can let me know if I got the shape and positioning right for the holes.

Woops already said :screwy: , I will try and find some pics for you

Hmm, I searched around for "scoot hood"s and came up with this...

http://www.negative-camber.org/crispyrx7/scoot.jpg

Thanks alot man.

Yup, Scoot, some one said RE earlier, If i remember correctly RE ripped off scoot on the hood design and just took away the front scoop, I think that's how it went,

Damn it im having problems posting pics right, ill do it on monday when i get to better computers in school

Cool car and that hood is awesome! Keep up the good work.

J. Barry

Colin, youre going to love me now. :iceslolan I hope these help...please dont tell me you have these pics either.

http://4.pichold.com/scoot1.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot11.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot15.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot16.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot18.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot2.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot3.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot4.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot5.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot6.jpg
http://4.pichold.com/scoot9.jpg

Hope that helps Colin.

Dayum!! Talk about research pics!:p

Holy crap mike! I had the first one, but all the ones after it are new. THANK YOU SO MUCH. That helps me alot... and gives me some new problems to figure out, lol.

Holy crap mike! I had the first one, but all the ones after it are new. THANK YOU SO MUCH. That helps me alot... and gives me some new problems to figure out, lol.

No problem Colin, glad to help out, and I am glad they are of use. Good Luck making the hood, I cant wait to see more progress. I know this will be an excellent turnout from seeing your last projects. If you need more, I might be able to find some. :screwy:

Holy crap mike! I had the first one, but all the ones after it are new. THANK YOU SO MUCH. That helps me alot... and gives me some new problems to figure out, lol.

^^:lol:

I just cut the other holes out and started on the 'loovers'. I'll be getting more progress pics tomorrow, after I clean it up a little more.

I just cut the other holes out and started on the 'loovers'. I'll be getting more progress pics tomorrow, after I clean it up a little more.

Damn right your getting prog pics tomorrow. I want to see some pics around here, or you will be banned.

I've got new pictures. :icon16:

http://modgodsmodifiers.freeservers.com/images/rx-7_progress_2.jpg

It's obviously still far from completion, however I have made alot of progress since the last time you saw her. As you probably noticed, I don't have all of the loovers in, because if I put the other two in, it'll get in the way. I also still have to mold the loovers that are in, which, being in an awkward spot, will be hard to sand down. It'll be ok though, I'm used to dealing with putty in hard to reach areas.

I also shaved the side-lights/marker/blinker thingies. As you can see on the right hand side, I got a little crazy with the dremmel and cut too deep, so I had to fill it, but it's nothing big. Just a couple of tiney holes to fill in.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Any comments/suggestions/feedback would be great.

Nice work, Demel for that !, try a sanding stick in future, it better really.
Can we see a large shot of the bonnet in plan view ?

Lol, nice job so far Colin, I think you love your dremel more than me :lol:

Nice job Colin, I never doubted you. It looks great so far!

damn mike, thats a lot of research pics, progress is coming along well though

Nice work so far!!

it's coming along sweet.

looking nice. paint would be good too :smile:

great job with the hood man, looks pimpin... only racer style :)

Thanks fella's. I'll take a big picture of the hood for you, Hiro... give me a minute of two....

Excellent Work colin, this is your 1st attempt at putty? (1/24)? Very impressive..

Thanks fella's. I'll take a big picture of the hood for you, Hiro... give me a minute of two....

Yea, give him a minute, hes acting as my therapist right now. :grinno:

Thanks peoples. This is the first time i've used tamiya's putty. I have done a custom headlight scoop on my failed rx-7 project with glazing putty... that i might remove the paint on and re-do some day, but we'll see.

http://modgodsmodifiers.freeservers.com/images/rx-7_progress_3.jpg

Whelp, thar she blows again. Those were the best close-ups I could get. There is still some evening i have to do with the loovers to make them perfectly semetricle, but they are getting there. I also took the picture of the bottom of the car, so you can kind-of see how i chose to go about making this hood. I'll have to clean the underside up a little before completion, just to shave off some eccess plastic.

Enjoy, and as always, feedback and comments are greatly appreciated.

Your putty work looks fantastic. The louvers (um, not to be a dick, but note the spelling 'cause ya'll have misspelled it a dozen times) look like they are going to be fantastic. I love how well that hood flows into the car... The RX-7's lines are so flowing and delicate that it's hard to modify them and keep it good looking, but good call with that hood, it will be perfect, especially with you making it. The sideskirts though... eh... They are very angular, and busy, and besides that they stick off the side of the car a lot. I would have suggested cutting off the body of the car where the sideskirt lays over, and glued it on and smoothed it. Especially with the hood being so free flowing, the skirts look out of place. But seriously, as apprehensive as you are about the putty work, you've done a marvelous job so far.

Thanks peoples. This is the first time i've used tamiya's putty. I have done a custom headlight scoop on my failed rx-7 project with glazing putty... that i might remove the paint on and re-do some day, but we'll see.



Whelp, thar she blows again. Those were the best close-ups I could get. There is still some evening i have to do with the loovers to make them perfectly semetricle, but they are getting there. I also took the picture of the bottom of the car, so you can kind-of see how i chose to go about making this hood. I'll have to clean the underside up a little before completion, just to shave off some eccess plastic.

Enjoy, and as always, feedback and comments are greatly appreciated.


Looking good Colin, but what the hell happened to your spelling? Its atrocious. Normally you spell correctly, then you spell like five words wrong. Sorry to go all spelling/grammar police on you.

Anyway Colin, looks really good so far. I agree with everything willimo said.

LOL, my spelling changes with the time of the day, i was pretty tired when i wrote that, and I was rushing. I was spelling louvers wrong because I didn't even know it was a word until mike said it earlier, heh.

Thanks for the compliments, Willimo. I love the rx-7's flowing lines, and I love how this hood is so custom, but still flows with the rest of the car. That's why I singled this one out. I see what you're saying about the side skirts. They DO stick out, and they are very angular. However, in the pictures I took, the car was just sitting ontop of them, so the sides of the side skirts weren't pressed up against the body. They're not as bad as you might think as far a sticking out goes, but you're right about them not following the design of the car.

Gives me something to think about...

I'm back with more pics. I've molded the louvers into the hood, and I've cleaned everything up considerably. I also test-primered it, to see if I messed any spots, since primer brings out so many imperfections.

So far, it's looking pretty good, and I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Here are some pictures...

http://modgodsmodifiers.freeservers.com/images/rx-7_progress_4.jpg

The primer looks alot darker in those pics. Besides a scrath here and there that will be easy to fix, everything is looking good. Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, once I move on to painting, i'll take some outdoor pics.

nice job

Looking good Colin! Will the hood be CF?

Looks great, can't wait to see it painted.