WIP: Tamiya RX7

Hello, hello.

I'm in the midst of building a Tamiya RX7, which is a fairly nice model. So far, I finished the engine and the bonnet. The body's painted with Tamiya's Racing White, still needs some more paint (isn't very obvious in the pics, though). The interior was pretty much finished also (combo of black and sand), but I wasn't too happy with the outcome, so I took it apart; it's going to get rebuilt.

Deviations from the stock kit so far:
- GT wing
- Koenig deep dish rims
- Sports seats, and a sports steering wheel
- Apexi muffler (still in the works)
- Intercooler, probably v-mounted
- Tachometer
- Turbo, from Revell's excellent Alpina B7 kit

Anyway, here are some pictures:

The bonnet, which still has some orange peel, but I can sort that out.
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2241/bonnet6nq.jpg

The picture makes the body look good, but it is very orange peely and it will take some time to get it smooth :uhoh: .

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/7263/carrosserie9if.jpg

The body with the spoiler I decided to put on. The spoiler is probably from Aoshima's GT-tuning set, or from the GT-wing set.

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/4531/carrosserieenspoiler8tg.jpg

I made a second spoiler, with a single face, which I CF'ed- looks pretty good, but not as good as this one. I made no pics of it tho - the CF is proving pretty hard to photograph.
This is the body, spoiler and rims mocked up. Too bad the rims aren't very visible, they're gorgeous, with a very deep dish! I took them from Fujimi's Koenig 600SL. :screwy:
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7370/carrosserieenspoilerenvelgen0r.jpg

That's the engine. Not a very clear picture, (they're all kind of dark, it's to blame on the bad weather in Holland) but you can still see the Turbo I took from a Revell Premium Alpina B7. It has great detail, but you can't really see in the pic. Don't worry, the Alpina kit was incomplete and damaged when I got it, but its parts are still of good use,

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/6139/motor0iq.jpg

Nose!

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/8910/neus3of.jpg

Then, disaster struck1!!1!!!!one! I painted the chassis but wasn't really satisfied with the outcome, so I bought some brake cleaner to strip the paint off. It did strip the paint off, but before the whole chassis was stripped the brake cleaner had already evaporated. Damn! I should've put it in a better box. As if that wasn't enough, the cleaner had sort of attacked the plastic, making it porous. When I lifted it up, it cracked! :eek:

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/4831/chassisgebroken0ks.jpg
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/4254/chassisgebroken29hs.jpg

Wh0t do y0u s4y lol?

Why on god's green earth did you use brake cleaner to strip the paint??

what do i say?

great project...gotta love them rotaries:D

love it!

and that last bit...that sucks...dont use brake cleaner!

Why on god's green earth did you use brake cleaner to strip the paint??

That's because I stumbled across a thread in which someone said Castrol Super Clean was a good paint stripper. Since that's a brake cleaner, I figured other brake cleaners might work as well...

That's because I stumbled across a thread in which someone said Castrol Super Clean was a good paint stripper. Since that's a brake cleaner, I figured other brake cleaners might work as well...

Jesus, this is wrong on so many levels!!! Yes, CSC is a very good way to strip paint off a model, but what ... made you think it's brake cleaner? It's not!

Have you looked in the FAQ? It has everything (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=579007&postcount=28) you needed to know to avoid the ballsup with the chassis! It describes what CSC is and also mentions brake cleaner.

Too bad you didn't bother earlier, because otherwise the model already looks quite good and has all potential to look great with some more effort that, as I see, you're prepared to put into it.

Use brakefluid, not brakecleaner.

Jesus, this is wrong on so many levels!!! Yes, CSC is a very good way to strip paint off a model, but what ... made you think it's brake cleaner? It's not!

Have you looked in the FAQ? It has everything (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=579007&postcount=28) you needed to know to avoid the ballsup with the chassis! It describes what CSC is and also mentions brake cleaner.

Too bad you didn't bother earlier, because otherwise the model already looks quite good and has all potential to look great with some more effort that, as I see, you're prepared to put into it.

I read the FAQ numerous times, but I must have misunderstood the part about paint stripping, due to English not being my first language. Next time, I'll use brake fluid!

Yup!

So what are you going to do about that chassis?

Well, it seems like it's broken in just two pieces, so chances are those two pieces will still fit together. In that case, they can be superglued. If that isn't possible, I guess I'll have to buy an overpriced replacement part from Tamiya... :mad: