dressing and redressing an rx-7

Here's my latest project. A Veilside Combat I Fd3s from Aoshima. Pretty easy build, very few parts. So here's how it's going down so far. The hardest part about this kit is how I was going to "dress it up" I didn't want to just paint and wheel it, so I made some changes. And then changed those changes.

But first things first. Get rid of that tacky intercooler molded on the front (dremel please).

The body started with a solid aluminum color and this vision of having blue graphics and the lips of the rim match .
http://img70.exs.cx/img70/7039/DSC01498.jpg
the design didn't look as good as it did in my head. So I cut up some white decals from the revell 2n1 civic and applied them like so. I thought they looked too much like "california cruisers from the 80's" so I junked that idea
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/646/DSC01523.jpg
Notice that I also colored the rims. I used a smoke pearl from boyd's to get the effect I wanted.

Then came the custom decals from testors. I took a basic design, added a greddy logo and printed it on my inkjet at home. http://img60.exs.cx/img60/113/DSC01537.jpg
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/4575/DSC01544.jpg

It went on suprisingly well (w/o microsol), but it did NOT like my clear coat (modelmaster acryl airbrushed). So I junked that idea too

So I just decided to keep it simple after so much fancy stuff. CF hood and aluminum lips. I plan to scratch an ic, add some mesh and add some sponsor decals under the side mirrors (all of which coming soon)
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/6952/DSC01594.jpg

I plan to fix the panel line where the hood meats the front bumper (kinda messy)
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/1433/DSC01506.jpg
The interior was just screaming for a little ice, since it had a nice flat back and no seats to deal with. So out comes the dremel
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/381/DSC01547.jpg


here's the dash and rim close up (nothing special)
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/2993/DSC01549.jpg

as for the back of the int,
Printed up some phosgate decals, and a little paint and flock later, I've got a descent interior
http://img60.exs.cx/img60/2776/DSC01608.jpg

Next came the scratch build tach made from part trees and a printed decal

http://img60.exs.cx/img60/9950/DSC01604.jpg
I then added a nos tank from that horrid amt f-f eclipse with some personally braided hose.

that looks f@ckng awesome!!! went through alot of decals i see. really loving the interior! nice setup and everything, well worth the time and effort!

WOW!!!! great job, I love it!!!!

gosh ya, the whole decal, body thing was a big mess....I felt so picky, but hey...that's the great thing about this hobby. You get to have things done exactly the way you want things done. complete control is pretty cool sometimes.

OMG what a superb interior !!!! Everything looks so perfect and innovative at the same time. exterior scheme is pretty nice too, i've always like and will always like silver body with carbon fiber hood and dark rims with silver/chrome lip :) man i'm really liking this project !!

Nice build. Turned out really nice. I have the same rx-7 that I finished but now I'm redoing it since I didn't like how it looked.

Looks great. What rims are they?

Looks great. What rims are they?

the wire wheels from the revell itr and the 23' sleeves from pegasus...blue painted aluminum with "Chrome brite" spray can

All phases of this project are pretty cool!!:sunglasse I like the black/blue rim combo:)

Wow very nice work! I can judge by your sig pics that you're very talented with interior design.

with testors decal maker i mist tamiya clear before i apply them on the car

All phases of this project are pretty cool!!:sunglasse I like the black/blue rim combo:)

I agree!

i love how it is now, but the greddy decal was my favorite. "ice" looks superb and the rockford setup looks smooth

hell yes that interior is beautiful... great job!

Nice project. Looks awesome. Keep it up.

ok...daytime pics up. Thanks alot for the comments guys, means alot.

http://img61.exs.cx/img61/6017/DSC01676.jpg

http://img61.exs.cx/img61/3183/DSC01677.jpg
Yes, I know there's an APC decal on there, but um...they paid for a big portion of the mechanics' salary along with the seat belt pads so I had to. ; )
http://img61.exs.cx/img61/5100/DSC01680.jpg

http://img61.exs.cx/img61/1686/DSC01683.jpg

http://img61.exs.cx/img61/6816/DSC01672.jpg

Looks Great, Nice Build !

Later, Mike :smokin:

Very nice project, can't wait to see it finished. :bigthumb:

It turned out terrific!!:sunglasse The interior is a model within itself!!:)

Super clean 'n shiney!

I must admit, I liked the GReddy decal, but it looks fine without it.

And, yes, the interior is drop-dead gorgeous. :thumbsup:

i liked that greddy decal you had on... the car still looks great, i like the cf hood

yea its nice but what can i say its another fart can, how did you do the flames on that orange car, is it a decal or what?

yea its nice but what can i say its another fart can, how did you do the flames on that orange car, is it a decal or what?

doesn't look bad at all, i have seen way bigger mufflers...in fact i think that's the one supplied by the kit

HoLy CrUd The Interior is Sick also i think u should paint it gunmetal gray so it goes w/ the rims...but w/e it's aWEsome i luv it

re: background car -that car in the background is the amt riviera lowrider. I sprayed the transition colors from yelllow to orange and I added a decal that had the same color scheme to make it blend in. I'll post progress on another forum.

re: muffler- yes...it is the muffler supplied by the kit.