In Progress - Tamiya 300ZX convertible

OK. My new project is an oldie, but still a great car. Actually not seen any 300ZX convertibles on the road before, seen a few of the hardtop, so when I saw this kit for a good price I picked it up.

I’ve started to clean the parts up, test fit etc.. Fitment of the parts appears OK, but the parts are in a right mess. Mold lines, flash, even holes /sink marks in some parts. It’s taken me hours to get this far.. This is an old kit, dated 1992 but even for Tamiya this is a pretty bad kit.

Also the hood is clear..!! I have no idea why Tamiya thought that was a good idea. If I want to show the engine in the display case, I’ll just take the hood off or hinge it up somehow.. Stupid.. Anyhow, I’ll just prime and paint it.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7088/p62300020xg.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/1840/p62300036yu.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4418/p62300049lm.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4236/p62300057xh.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9749/p62300092gl.jpg

Not a lot of progress due to the poor parts taking a while to clean, but this will be the progress thread for my new build, I’m building this OOB. I think I might actually paint it Maroon, (I’ve got a few cans of maroon from another failed model) so will use it up plus the build guide asks for maroon if going for the same look as the box art, and that looks pretty cool, and I will do the interior buff, with various blacks. Flock the carpets with a mix of ivory and buff flocking, paint the engine with various Alcad II paints, etc Should look OK, just a shame about the cleanliness of the parts, as the details are all there..

I am suprised to hear such a review of the tamiya Z. the coupe I have of the same car is beautiful!! though it is very simplified but greatly detailed. as for the clear hood, I think it is a good idea, you could put flames on it so that you see the engine bay through the flame licks or something hahaha.

again, I thought it was a great kit, so I guess each one is different.

looks like another great project!!! :) Maroon might not be my personal choice but this definitely a great convertiable to built.

btw, mickbench, do you only built convertiable? :) let me guess, Z3, Miata are on there way eh? :D

Hmm.. Could be just me, but there are a lot of mold lines, and I've sanded off a lot of flash so far..

As for the colour.. Hmm... Perhaps another colour? Not sure though. I don't want to do another yellow (too much pain from last time on the S2000), I'm saving RED for all my Ferrari kits I've yet to build, I did think of Maroon base coat, and then Mica Red. But its red again..!! I thought about white, as I know the 300ZX looks cool in white. I'll have a think about this some more..

Oh, and yeah, I like my convertible cars..

white is nice:

some images off google, not my built

http://turukame.fc2web.com/Miniature%20Models/sakibon/sakuhin/300ZX-1.jpg
http://turukame.fc2web.com/Miniature%20Models/sakibon/sakuhin/300ZX-2.jpg

Actually, gun metal would not be a bad choice neither. :)

OK. Been searching for hours now, but I like this colour -

http://www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~brianpostma/pix/300zx-3.jpg

That is Charcoal Pearl Metallic. Trouble is, I need a UK paint code so as I can order a 400ml can from my local auto supplier (Halfords).

Or is there a close match with Tamiya TS sprays.. Hmm, best study the TS paint chart..!!

Gone of the idea of Maroon. I'm never going to use those cans of maroon up.. :lol2: Also, that might look best with just a mix of satin, semi gloss and gloss black interior then buff..!! This build is changing faster then I change my underwear..!!

I have never sprayed Tamiya gunmetal but from the pictures I've seen it looks close to that color. I have always liked 300's but have yet to pick up a kit of one. I will watch this thread. You sure are banging them out Mick.

now aalot of my paint work is wild but for a car like this it needs to be subtile and clam i would be thinking the gun metal color on top and the pearl white at the bottom with the Nismo strip between the 2 ????

Nice start.. It´s a great kit!

That's a cool car. I've never seen a convertible either, in person, but I've seen pictures. Will built his Coupe in silver and it came out very nice. A friend of ours has a pearl white one, I was never a fan of the pearl white that's on the 300's, seemed a bit brown to me. If you go with maroon that'd be awesome, since it's an Aggie color!

Great kit, the charcoal color would look good.

That is Charcoal Pearl Metallic. Trouble is, I need a UK paint code so as I can order a 400ml can from my local auto supplier (Halfords).

The only matching Nissan paint code I've seen is KH2. Although Tamiya's Gunmetal is close. Hope that helps.

Not done a lot since I posted these pics. Still wasn't sure what colour to go for...

I toyed with Maroon, then I thought about white, then it was going to be Graphite, but then I found this -

http://tere.net/t-z/Cherryred.jpg

And just check out the engine...!! http://tere.net/t-z/300zx.htm

This is Cherry Red Pearl, and I have the paint code to order this colour, and so my build is going to be red, even thought it was the colour I wasn't so keen on... But it looks so darn hot in red, it just has to be this.. Interior will now be a mix of satin and semi gloss blacks, with dark gray seats, dark gray and light gray mixed flocking for the carpets.

Need to order some paint, some clear and a bottle of high polish alloy for some of the engine parts..

Keep reading this thread, I'll keep updating, and I've also got a spare 300ZX kit - just in case I need decals, or some part or another..

If you have access to dupli-color sprays, they make a OEM Nissan Cherry Red Pearl spray in a can.

THis is slow going. After building the S2000 I now know how far these kits have come along. The S2000 had no flash, I hardly had any REAL sanding work to do, and it fell together easy..

The 300ZX I'm working on, sadly is not this way. Now, the fitment is perfect. The parts fit fine, but they do need some cleaning up. I'm getting there, and I think I'm almost at the stage where I can get some primer laid down.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/7818/p62500121sp.jpg

Just need to give the body I quick rub with 1000 grit to give the primer something to bite into..

I did some research so check it out maybe it would help:
http://www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~brianpostma/motor.html
and modell but I think nice wired(I was doing my wiring by this picture)
http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~mokei/e-gallery-z04.htm

Well, I've now cleaned up all the parts, and I've just washed the lot in soapy water. Waiting for it all to dry then gray primer for the lot.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/8771/p62700162gb.jpg

Body will be white primer on top of the gray provided all lines etc are gone, as I'm nipping to Halfords tomorrow to get a can of Nissan Cherry Red Pearl..

Should I just get a can of clear from Halfords as well, or shall I use Tamiya TS-13 to clear it, as the pearl will not polish unless I put a clear coat on.

I'd suggest sticking with one type of paint so as not to "craze" it if the paints don't react well together.

man, I need to get mine out of the closet and build it!!!!

Applied the first coat of gray primer to the body. All the time I spent sanding this down has really paid off. I even sanded the clear hood to give the primer something to bite into... The panel lines have really popped out, and flash and mold lines are now gone..!! Wait for it to dry and then apply a coat of white primer as the colour is going to be cherry pearl red.

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/645/p62800185rv.jpg

I’ve now painted the body, used automotive paints. Nissan Cherry Pearl Red, clear coated with the same brand clear. Had no idea what I was doing. I just sprayed automotive gray plastic primer, then white primer and then applied a mist of red, a heavy mist of red and sanded the orange peal out with 1500. Applied another mist after the body was dry and then after 30 minutes applied a slightly wet coat to give coverage.

I then applied 3 mist of clear 15 mins apart and then a really wet coat of clear after 30 mins. Hope this is right, as it’s done now.

And my hood went wrong. Got some sort of bad reaction with the paint, and a pin hole appeared. Tried to fix it, but the mark always showed through. Now in a DOT 4 bath, and I just hope I can match the colour when I re-paint it..

Some pics, does seem to have a bit of texture to the paint, hopefully when I flat it back, and polish with compound this will go.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/3914/p70100303gp.jpg

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/5392/p70100310jl.jpg

Still lots to do yet..

nice Z, i prefer the ttop 300's better but still sweet. I like the color choice

Ouch, that sounds horrible man. I dont know about the paint that your using since they don't sell them here, but usually with my Dupli Color Lacquer paints i wait for atleast a week to apply clear coat so it could completely cure. Maybe this is different for that kind of paint and it takes less to cure? Good luck,

Ooh, i love the colour! Can't wait for the engine.

Ouch, that sounds horrible man. I dont know about the paint that your using since they don't sell them here, but usually with my Dupli Color Lacquer paints i wait for atleast a week to apply clear coat so it could completely cure. Maybe this is different for that kind of paint and it takes less to cure? Good luck,


Yikes..!! I don't know, the paint was totally dry before I applied the clear, as it dried really fast. So I applied light mist of clear. Body is fine, but the hood went funny before I applied the clear. Have I done this wrong?

Looked this morning, and it hasn't gone funny or anything.. In fact looks very good, and I can see my face in it.

uh oh - nearly missed this.
Interesting car. Nice paint job. That cherry red sure is "cherry" - should look cool

Looking good so far! Guess I'm too late to put in my bid for a silver Z huh... hehe

If you need the odd reference pic, I own a 1:1 Z (not convertible, and yes it's silver), so give me a yell if you're after some pics/info, happy to help.

Keep the updates coming, I'm enjoying this build!

very nice color.

Looking good so far! Guess I'm too late to put in my bid for a silver Z huh... hehe

If you need the odd reference pic, I own a 1:1 Z (not convertible, and yes it's silver), so give me a yell if you're after some pics/info, happy to help.

Keep the updates coming, I'm enjoying this build!

You wouldn't by any chance have a photo of you engine bay, also do you know if the fuel tank is black, or body colour? My build guide asks for body colour, but I'm sure that is incorrect.

Many thanks.. I did consider silver, but the cherry red just edged forward, as many colours were on the board.. White, Maroon, Graphite, and cherry red were also all considered..

Well now that I've fixed up most of the exterior and interior of my Z, I'm starting on the engine bay - but at the moment it's pretty shabby and a pic might not do you much good.

So I've found a pic of the engine bay of one of my mates who also owns a 300ZX... check it out...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/captain_mark/plenumpull_13.jpg

It's not the best shot, but might give you some ideas. Not sure if I'll be able to get any more pics of this particular engine, as I haven't seen my mate in some time.
If you're looking for some major details let me know and I'll snap off a few closeups of my engine bay. It's not terrible by any means, but it's not up to the standard of the above pic yet.


I'll check out the colour of the fuel tank as soon as works permits me to! Damn late nights... to be honest I've got no idea what colour it is. Hopefully I can figure it out tonight, which may be a problem given how low the car is. Will keep you posted.

Cheers,
M

Mickbench:

Just remembered... on the pic above the throttle cable cover isn't on (normall positioned in the centre of the engine on top of the plenum [shiney thing in the middle] ). The cover on my engine is a sort of gold/brass kind of colour, with red stripe down the centre. I believe most covers are factory coloured this way, and I'd recommend Humbrol "Brass" as being the closest I've found to the colour of my cover.

The fuel tank - well, I jammed my head under the car with a torch, and to be honest couldn't see too much of anything. Now I 'think' the tank is a matt black like virtually everything else under the car (not body colour), but I did see a lighter colour under there as well - could have been silver like my car's exterior. It's just too difficult to see in the dark though, all twisted up under the mufflers. I'll take another look tomorrow in the daylight.

Cheers,
M

Well, like the good Captain I crawled under my Z and the fuel tank is covered in the same dark grey/black rust proofing that the rest of the bottom of the car is. But it's a lot smoother stuff then most cars I've seen, if you shoot the bottom your model with some flat dark grey at a distance to get some texture it should be about right.

The throttle cover plate is the aforementioned light goldish color with a red stripe for Twin Turbos. The NAs had a black stripe.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3692/picture0158yi.th.jpg (http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0158yi.jpg)

Capt'n, what you might have been seeing was the heat shield between the fuel tank and the rear differential. See as how the rear dif can get kind of hot and the fuel tank on the 2 seat models sits right over the top of the rear dif between the wheels...probably a good idea. Anyway, it seems to be painted a flat black but it looks to have the same dark grey rust proofing on it in some places. Maybe the dif is burning some of it off or it was just overspray or something.

Anyway, need engine pics?

http://twinturbo.net/ttnetrides/rides.aspx

Some under car pictures, no real good shot of the fuel tank though.

http://twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=general&msg_id=1496260&words=engine%3a%3apic

Here is kind of a good shot of where the fuel tank would go...but it isn't there in this picture. That open space over the rear dif should be where it is, so it kind of gives you an idea of how it's all stuffed in there.

http://s89053294.onlinehome.us/misc/fuelsetupV2/img_0038.jpg
http://twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=general&msg_id=1485482&words=fuel%3a%3atank

Or just go to the General forum there and search "engine pic". Years worth of everything from junkyard NAs to blinged out show winning Twin Turbos.

Hope it helps. :thumbsup:

WOW. Thanks you guys. Lots of pictures for me to build my 300ZX from. Mine is the NA, as the car I'm building I think was not released with the turbo.

I thought the fuel tank would be a dark colour. I'll spray it flat black, along with the spare wheel area, and wheel arches.

I was thinking of painting the exhuast with alclad II burnt metal. It has a slight burnt look to it, the engine will be alclad II silvers, with washes and dry brushing. Not sure how to add some wires. Might skip that, unless I can find a guide on how to do this.

All the parts are now primed and ready for some detail painting etc.. Thanks for all the info...

That would be correct, to my knowledge the convertible was never released as a twin turbo. Neither was the slick top (flat roof, no T-Top or convertible) if I recall correctly. Also, the US market didn't get any twin turbo 2+2 (four seat) Z32s but seems the rest of the world did.

The burnt look would probably mimic aged stainless steel pretty good, then you could say your Z has an custom aftermarket exhaust on it. :D

As for wires, take very thin gauge electrical wire and use it to make some of the fuel injector harness type wiring. Get it all bent into shape using some small needle nose pilers and then paint it black or whatever color you're dressing up the engine with. Let the paint dry and set it in place over the finished motor. Looks pretty good if you are willing to take the time to bend 30-40 wire bits and hook them all together and paint them and place them...anyway, only thing about doing wiring is you do tend to have to do more or less all of it in there. Looks kind of weird to have some but not everything. Also, using some black plastic sheathing from said thin wire makes for good fuel hose and what not.

I just remembered... there's a couple of new detail sets out for the 300ZX (1/24) that I saw at mediamixhobby... check it out on the link below!

http://www.mediamixhobby.com.sg/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?currency=AUD&keywords=300ZX&sort=2a&page=1

Oh, and great info Ba*. Good to see there's a few Z lovers in this particular forum!

Update.. The build is not dead. Far from it, the build is taking longer then expected. I primed all the parts, but there where some mold lines still showing, so had to sand these away… Took a long time. Longer then expected to get all the parts primed, and there are still a few left to re-sand and prime again.

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/3154/p70100393jr.jpg

The bonnet got a re-spray and then cleared the same day, odd that it looks a touch darker, and so does the rear boot lid.. The paint seems to flicker with the light, as it’s a pearl paint. Also cleaned up the soft-top. The windows are attached, so careful masking is required to get this looking right.

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/1015/p70400461or.jpg

Managed to get some outside shots of the body tonight, as I’ve just finished getting the orange peel out, and giving the body a real good compounding. Used Tamiya Fine, then Finish and then Megs Scratch X to get the shine back, but what a job. The automotive paints I used dried REALLY fast. Within 30 minutes it was dry.. 4 days in the sun, in a plastic container and it was very hard. The orange peel was just awful though. Sanding with 2000 grit was the only way to get rid if it. Still, turned out good in the end but very hard to sand the peel out. The clear was much harder then TS sprays I’m use to.

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/3529/p70400488nj.jpg

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/8986/p70400499vm.jpg

The outside images show just how the paint goes dark and light.. I like it. It looks good, and very true to a real car paint job.

I’ve also done the soft-top. Hard to spray without masking the windows out, so this was done, then flat black, with a mix of black 10:1 to make a satin black sprayed from a distance to try and make it look like a soft-top. Picture doesn’t show it too well, but it has a nice texture to it.

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/4584/p70400522vs.jpg

That is about it for now. Lots more to do..

The paintjob is coming along very nicely, good work.

Are you planning on leaving the rims chrome looking? There's very very few Z's around with chrome mags... I'm surprised Tamiya actually made them like that. The orginal mags on my car are more of an aluminium colour, which I believe it standard. Just a heads up.

hey i was hoping to ask you all for a favor... if you, or anyone couls resin cast me the main parts of a 300zx engine, i would be glad to pay for them..pleeeeese help me!

Awesome piant job :)

I must say this is a very interesting Build. I Love the color on this Z, I once (back in the day) Owned a '91 300ZX N/A t-top with this same color (although I remember the color was known as "Candy Apple Red"). So far awesome build, never seen this Gen Z in a converitalble drop top with this color, can't wait for the final results. Again great build man!

cheers

Gav

P.S, when I got my '91 300ZX, I had built a model 2 seater Tamiya kit in the late 80's, I looked for the old instructions from the kit the 89-96 shape Z, and in the Tamiya instructions, the Official Nissan Color name(according to Tamiya) was Candy Apple Red. :2cents:

Nice paintjob!

I actually saw a pearl white 300ZX convertible last night. Very pretty car.

hey i was hoping to ask you all for a favor... if you, or anyone couls resin cast me the main parts of a 300zx engine, i would be glad to pay for them..pleeeeese help me!

I can't cast resin parts, so I can't help you sorry..!! If I could I would.

Gav

P.S, when I got my '91 300ZX, I had built a model 2 seater Tamiya kit in the late 80's, I looked for the old instructions from the kit the 89-96 shape Z, and in the Tamiya instructions, the Official Nissan Color name(according to Tamiya) was Candy Apple Red. :2cents:

I've got the 300ZX and the 300ZX Convertible kits, the convertible colour guide is poor..

Only six colours. I searched the net, and found many more. Tamiya called out for maroon for one colour. Never even saw that in the colour codes I found with help for Nissan 300ZX.

The 300ZX guide has more, but it still says cherry red and not apple red. Still, it's sprayed now..

Also, if anyone has any thoughts on this, I've done the underchassis the same colour as the body, and I'll pick out parts with semi gloss and flat blacks. But, should I clear it with clear fist? I don't think the real car would have a really glossy paint surface. Looking at my real car, the engine bay is the same colour as the car, but a lot duller.. I think leaving it as just the base coat would be enough.. any thoughts on that?

And I was planning in leaving the chrome wheels as is..

Quick update.

Picture of the body with the rear hood to give a better view, plus I’ve sprayed the rollbar. I’ve got a small white speck in the bonnet, as this is the windscreen washer, when I was polishing I took a bit of paint off. But its no big deal, as I’ve got to pick the washer out in black, so didn’t watch it around them when polishing.. no point really.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/4901/p70600603pc.jpg

Also, under chassis now same as body colour, need to pick out the details, done some work in the interior and started the brakes etc.. I was going to paint the calipers red, but then I decided against it, and went with the build guide. I want the car to look like it would as if rolled of the assembly line and driven only a few times.. So tuning etc is now out of the question, and I think it would ruin it.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/375/p70600611sf.jpg

Got to flock the carpets, pick out a few details etc, then I will start work on the engine.. It’s getting there, slowly..!!

As you say, my engine bay is not as glossy as the exterior. I thought this could be due to 15 odd years off accumulated filth, but I've tried some mild cutting compound on the engine bay paint and it's still reasonably satin-ish, not high gloss.

From memory the underside of the car is predominantly matt black, not exterior colour. Could be dirt and grime though. Without hoisting the car up it's a bit hard to tell. I think the body colour gives it a nice effect though.

Keep up the good work!

Done some work on the Interior. Not a lot really, as I’ve not had a lot of time today to do any massive work. Detailed the dash last night, hopefully I’m getting better at this, as some of my last attempts have looked a little blotchy.. This looks a little more realistic,..

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8791/p70600629as.jpg

Also sprayed the seats and floor German Grey, for grey leather and also for the grey flocking I’m going to do for the carpets. The rest is satin black with parts picked out in Semi Gloss black enamels.. Still got to do the steering wheel etc, but gives you all an idea of what I’m aiming for. Was thinking about the seats in tan or buff, but looking at the old 300ZX brochures, the car when offered in Cherry Red only had Grey leather seats, with grey carpets. So buff seats where no longer viable. I would have thought special order would have allowed for buff seats, but it looks good with grey seats. Plus I've got some grey flocking to match..

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4246/p70700633lb.jpg

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8356/p70700644hl.jpg

No work done yet on the engine..!! Saving that till later..!! And yep, I’m leaving the engine bay body colour flat, as this I think is how the car would have been for real.

This is looking very good!
I love the colour!

super clean as always! great stuff

Just done the flocking, and I was thinking how best to do this. I wanted the carpets to be dark, but I didn’t want them just either flat black or dark grey on its own. Looking at some ref pictures, the carpets appeared to have some light and dark grey with black. Looked like some type of anthracite colour with highlights of light grey.

So I set to and attempted to mix the colour up. It was more trial and error then knowing what I was doing, but some black, light and dark grey flocking has produced a superb looking carpet.

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/1847/p70800650vy.jpg

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/5502/p70800661qb.jpg

As can be seen by the pictures, in which are not great, as AGAIN I’ve had to use a flash due to it being dark in the UK now the carpets have made the interior just jump out and it looks a whole lot better. Needs a bit of dusting, and all the parts are just dry fitted for the time being, but I'm getting there..

Just completing spraying the steering wheel and small parts, and then the interior is nearly done. I’m thinking about seatbelts, but I’ve not got anything that will look like seatbelts yet, plus I need some buckles and latches etc… The UK is bad for this type of stuff..

Nice! The black areas of the interior really have a same sort of shine as the real car! I know 'cos I just went outside and looked... I'm impressed!

Can you give us a very quick "How To" on what you used for flocking, and how you attached it to the interior?

nice!
shag carpet? :)

nice!
shag carpet? :)

Nearly..!! Not quite as deep pile as true shag.. I was tempted to just lay down pure grey, but I looked a some interiors of the real car, and the buff colours were solid, and so where the black carpets, but many of the grey carpets had bits of light grey.. I might have over done it a little but it looks good..

As for the flocking I used, I got it from a recommendation, and it was pretty cheap as well. I just mixed the colours together, ran it through a basic strainer, to mix it all up. Then I applied some white glue and using the strainer, placed some in the strainer and sprinkled it on. I pressed it down with my thumb, hard to get areas used a flat brush, waited for it to dry and knocked the excess off..

I used this guide, http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/Flocking/flocking.htm

This guy knows what he's doing, and his guides are perfect to get going with. Worked for me everytime. Learnt a lot from his guides.

looking great so far!

btw, the link for the flocking doesn't work :( it seems that whenever i try to access that website, i get warnings

looks great!

just a tip for making a leather apperance. i heard this somewhere(dunno if it was on this forum or what) and i haven't tried it so i dunno if it works, but it sounds like it would. you know how there is oil on you nose? take your finger and rub it on your nose and then apply it to the place you want to look leathery. sounds gross, but it might work lol...

Some more updates on the Nissan 300ZX. I’ve done a lot of detail painting, priming etc but no actual building yet. The only parts I’ve stuck together thus far is the engine block so as I could spray with Alclad II Aluminum.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1591/p71100916er.jpg

I’ve sprayed parts of the exhaust Aluminum and the pipes are done in Alcad II burnt metal. Has some hints of gold, and once I’ve done some silver dry brushing should look pretty nice. The back boxes I’m doing a mix of X 11 and X 10 to mix up a type of darker metal looking silver. I’ll do the tips Alclad II chrome, if I can mask it off correctly..

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5745/p71100929nl.jpg

I’ve also done the rear light cluster. A little tricky, some thinned down black helped to allow the paint to run around the outline, and I then just filled in the spaces. Looks a lot better then I had hoped for. Body still needs trimming with black, and then panel lines in black.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6386/p71100932bw.jpg

Lots of smaller parts have been sprayed and then detailed. I dry brushed the springs with X 11 silver, and then just washed them with black ink.. It was a hell of lot faster and easier then attempting to pick the springs out using a small brush. I’ve also dry brushed the dash in places. Underchassis needs trimming with black. Need to also wash the engine block and then small areas to be dry brushed with silver. And I also did something with the seats. I wasn't about to start rubbng my face all over the plastic to make it look like leather, so used some good old cooking oil on a rag.. Came up a treat, but I'm not sure if it will wear off over time..

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/4783/p71100948jh.jpg

That’s it for now. Soon be able to start some assembly.

hey Mick,

your builds continue to improve and your showing alot more detail. congrats! looks like your going to be around for quit awhile, kudos!
keep up the great work, maybe i need to pull out my old 300 and finish it. it was the first body i ever airbrushed, i think 3 years ago. wasnt happy but 3 year old paint must buff out nicely :lol: thanks for the inspiration.

I was hoping to have much better updates of this build today; however total disasters, but thankfully not with the model, but with one of the household appliances. Instead of working on my model today, I’ve spent the best part of today attempting to get a washing machine to wash my work clothes. Damn washer /dryers..!!

Anyhow, managed to take some outside pictures today, before I had to hightail it off to my brothers house to get my washing done, so enjoy… Sorry they are not much, but it’s progress.

Front lights have been detailed with flat black.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1674/p71401095qp.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/3413/p71401104zi.jpg

Underchassis has parts dry fitted to see how it all looks.. Body colour looks a little more cherry in the picture, can’t think why, as it’s not actually that bright.. Exhaust is a mix of burnt metals with smoke over the top, and x10 – x 11 mix, with chrome tips. Did the chrome tips with black in the ends, done some testing fitting.. Not looking to bad.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4161/p71401118lw.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/1632/p71401124kp.jpg

And for the engine.. It’s not completed yet, but I’ve used Alclad paints, and detailed the manifolds with burnt metal and enamel smoke. Washed and dry brushed to look slightly used, as I don’t think any engine is 100% clean apart from the parts you can easily see. The blocks I think are mostly grimy, even from new.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/6630/p71401131ru.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4800/p71401149kd.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8453/p71401155pv.jpg

Was hoping to have the cam covers, and engine top parts done with polished alclad today, but that wasn’t to be.

And the interior has been glued together, apart from the dash. Was also hoping to have this done today..

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9179/p71401161nl.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/6016/p71401175mu.jpg

That is it.. Won’t get much done for the next few days.. I’ve got to buy, fit and then remove washing machines…!! There goes my new compressor.. Thank you very much Hotpoint..!! Grumble grumble..!!

Excellent work in all areas!

Got some more done on the 300ZX engine and at first I thought it looked really good. But I’m not sure if I’ve over done the engine being run look..!! I was going for a slightly used look, as I don’t think any engine looks 100% spit polish clean not even from new. I’ve seen new engines, I’ve just brought a brand new from the factory car, and it was anything but highly polished when I got it.. A bit like this really..

Comments please, anyone..? I would like to know if I’m getting this right, as I’m still a rookie..

http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/2104/p71501187hi.jpg

http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/324/p71501193ji.jpg


http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/5953/p71501201ez.jpg


http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/7161/p71501212jn.jpg


I used Alclad II aluminum and polished aluminums, with burnt metal Alclad II for the manifolds covered with enamal smokes, X 18 enamels for the bottom of the block, with acrylic blacks for the belts etc. Used enamel metal cote for the small silver parts on the belt areas.

Don't worry about the join seem, this won't be seen once installed in the engine bay.

It's a little work of art!
If you wanted a "straight from the showroom" look than iI would agree with you that maybe it looks a bit more used than that. But on the other hand, you've got a beautifully weathered engine first time - just move your goal posts to "2 weeks after I drove it from the showroom" and you're rocking! :)