In Progress : Tamiya 350Z Track

tired of the fitting problems and stuff after building a few fujimi kits so decided to build a tamiya one for a change. decided to build the 350Z as i wanted to try working with metal transfer.

this will be a slow build as i want to gauge how far i have progressed since my 1st build.

the stock rim had a very "fake" look to it. So i decided to change it to 19" CE28N. will spray it gold. one problem is that the wheels are sticking out of the car's body. so i used plastic rod to substitute the metal axle to make it easier for me to shave the length so that the wheels will be "tucked inside" the wheel arch. will spray the plastic rod black. bodyshell is cheryl's.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1119.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1112.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1114.jpg

decided to drill out the centre of the rims to make it a little more realistic. pictures to compare.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1106.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1105.jpg

as the front looks "long and heavy" and the back is short and rounded. i decided to balance it up by added a gt wing at the back to give it more "weighted feel". did not want a very flashy wing and i found this one. the wing will be spray with body colour to give it a subtle effect (pure white + pearl clear) while the stands will be in black.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1102.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1103.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1104.jpg

helped cheryl to do some carbon fibre. will do the same for mine. give it a bit of sporty look yet keeping it subtle. won't want to change the elegant theme 350z holds.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1137.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1138.jpg

bodyshell drying as usual.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1128.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1120.jpg

bodyshell after the :
1. grey primer
2. white primer
3. 3 mist coats of pure white
4. 3 wet coats of pure white
5. 3 mist coats of pearl clear
6. 1 mist coat of clear
time for decals and metal transfer. guess it's hard to see the metallic flakes. that's also the reason why i love it. looks very realistic.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1142.jpg

was searching my leftover decals box and found a 5ZIGEN decal. had doubts that they would fit in the small space but i was wrong. here are some pictures.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1139.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1140.jpg

thanks for looking. :lol:

Same gabriel in AF? hahahaha i prefer the silver? rims ... hehehehe anyway its looking smooth sailing

The Rims are cool! Nice Paint too!

i have the same idea for my Z, white with those CE28s. lol you're making good progress.

Nice start, if its anything like your RX-7 from Initial D the paint will look awesome again! Good luck!

Looks good!

did you apply the cf on the door frame, then paint over it? or am i missing something.

Looks great, and aren't you the guy that did that beetle and have a wife on here?

Looks great, and aren't you the guy that did that beetle and have a wife on here?

girlfriend not wife LOL.

chyknees : yeah i sprayed clear over it. LOL

Nice work. The color looks really cool. Can't wait to see more. :D

Great lookingproject, it will look great when finished

thanx ppl for the encouragement. a lil update here. currently all the paints that should have landed on the body are there already. currently waiting for it to dry.

tried to wet sand the roof about 1/2 hour ago but it had a "sticky" feel to it. the sandpaper couldnt be rubbed "smoothly". decided to stop and sun the body instead to prevent a screw up. here are some pictures tho. love the design of the cf decals. tried using sms decals on a car model for the 1st time (other times were just experimenting it on scrap plastic etc). it's good. took about 2-3 rounds of decal softener to fully conform to the surface. once conformed, its real good. i like the fact that it's not the fragile kinda decals that wrap around contours right after adding decal softener cos it gives me plenty of time to adjust the position of the decal and stuffs. fragile decals aren't for ppl like me. :lol: Did a little bit of interior as well but will post it up when the whole interior is done. :lol:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1165.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1168.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1171.jpg

Thanks for looking.

Amazing shine once again!

very small update. did the roof as i wanted to see how hard it is to make white paint shine. and yeah it's really hard. spent bout 2 hours or so on it. tried my best though polishing results not as good as many white car builds i see in this forum. will do the rest part by part over the next few days. slow is good for me at this present moment. gonna do my interior later today though. :cry:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1180.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1179.jpg

Thanks for looking. Negative comments welcomed. :D

very small update. did the roof and bonnet as i wanted to see how hard it is to make white paint shine. and yeah it's really hard. spent bout 2 hours or so on it. tried my best though polishing results not as good as many white car builds i see in this forum. will do the rest part by part over the next few days. slow is good for me at this present moment. gonna do my interior later today though. :cry:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1193.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1195.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1196.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/GabrielN/IMG_1201.jpg

Thanks for looking. Negative comments welcomed. :D

Those are 2 diff models right? Keep up the awsome progress people.

Those are 2 diff models right? Keep up the awsome progress people.

yeap the light gun metal body is my gf's build. :p

Nice work until now. I bought mine on Ebay and is shortly arriving. Looking foorward to it.

No negative comments here! Your paint is always incredible. Fantastic work.

wonderful: the 1st I see i white

the first negative comment
it's too shiny till my eyes cannot concentrate /focus :D

awesome progress!

Nice going, keep up the good work!

yeap the light gun metal body is my gf's build. :p


ohh..thas what i was originally wondering. i thought you laid the cf on the door parts, and then painted the body white. was getting a bit confused. but both are nice builds so far. loving the white body.

Damn'! So shiny!!
It looks verry promissing!

What a car :sunglasse

Grtzzzzz Nissanmotorsport :thumbsup:

Wow, that is a great shine. I really like the CF on the B? pillar?