In Progress - Fujimi Subaru WRX STI

I haven’t posted on this board for a little while; in fact end of November 2005 was my last postings, many of these posts I deleted, as I was embroiled in some very silly banter with newbie members that seemed to care little for the hobby and intent on disrupting the dedicated builder. Sadly, I decided to leave for a while, simmer down and continue my works, posting on other forums to allow others to view what I’ve been up to, and in return taking advice etc..

Anyhow, been lurking around for about a month on here, it seems to have settled down somewhat, and all the regulars, such as rallyraider, verminator, MPWR, Klutz etc are still hanging around and posting their works, and so I thought, time to break silence and share. If only for the decent folks on this board, and to give back as I’ve been viewing some stunning work on here. Also, I know a few of you are long term Subaru fans, and it is a Subaru WRX STI from Fujimi that I’m currently building.

So, here is a work in progress of what I’m currently working on, and if I don’t get booed of stage, I’ve got more works to show you all…

I’ve decided to give Fujimi a go. Fujimi are known for the lesser detailed model, or you’d think so. Not so with the Subaru WRX STI 2005 I got from HLJ. Nice to get a Subaru kit without decals, rollcage etc, and get one that is road and not track..

Take a look for yourself – Highly detailed, the only thing I can see lacking, is the top half of the engine. Kudos to Fujimi.

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/50060/mode/L/img.jpg

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Sadly, all wasn’t well when I started this one. The body is moulded with separate side skirts, front and rear bumpers, and rear wings. Even the front bumper has separate grill, and air vents, and this makes for extra work. Not a problem, Tamiya thin cement will soon get this attached.

Rear bumper didn’t go so well.. The panel line was faint, and the plastic melted from the glue fumes. Thankfully, with some filling, sanding and rescribing, all is now fixed.

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The interior is stunning. Many parts, separate door panels, console, dash, two part front seats, and nice details.

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The chassis is where this is really showing off… The chassis has pipes, fuel lines etc on the chassis plate, OK some don’t like this, but they are there. The frames, exhaust, gearbox, drive shafts and even the turbo systems are moulded OFF the chassis. This is a joy, and it all fits perfectly fine. Even has steering and suspensions.

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/50076/mode/L/img.jpg

Mr Tamiya, this is HOW to engineer a new model real car. Not die cast, not ALL in one mould, this is just how I like it shame the engine is missing.

All parts now sanding, checked for fitment, and ready for fine wash

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/50081/mode/L/img.jpg

And here she is in a nice coat of primer.


http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/50083/mode/L/img.jpg

And test fitting, and I’ve also dug the primer out the panel lines to deepen the lines and help give a good deep look to the model.

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/50084/mode/L/img.jpg

I’ll be painting the body automotive silver, and then automotive mica blue, followed by automotive clearcoat.

Sorry for all the pictures, but thought you’d all like to see what the kit contents are like, and how she builds up. So far, apart from the rear bumper mishap, I’m happy with this kit. Even has window templates, and frosted window edges… Nice..!!

Here she is, now in a coat of Silver. I used Halfords spray can silver. They used to be only £4 a can. They have now upped the price to £5.20 a can.. Checky sods.. A few months back you used to get one free when you bought two or more. Don't even get that now. Soon won't be as cost effective buying these as buying Tamiya...

Ahyhow, in silver ready for Dupli Colour W R C Blue Code 02C. And yep, mica blues are very translucent colours. The silver will help a lot.

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/50129/mode/L/img.jpg

Here she is, sporting her WRC pearl blue. The silver helped, as the paint was like stain glass affect as it was going on. I only planned for a few coats, as with these types of paints you need a lot of clear afterwards to get the shine back up again.

Sadly, I had to apply 2 mists, 1 heavy and a wet, 1 coat too many I feel, but I had to as the depth wasn’t there. I then had to clear it 5 times to get a shine. In total, with a coat of primer, a coat of silver 4 coats of blue and 5 coats of clear, this is verging on “too” much paint. 11 coats from start to finish. I’m glad I dug the panel lines out a little, as if I’d not, they’d be lost in paint. It was touch and go TBH.

The colour is amazing. The pictures I took do not do this justice. It’s much more vibrant and brighter then this, I’ll try and get some outdoor shots. I used dupli colour automotive blue and Halfords clear coat. I know Steve is starting to sell paint, but it’s airbrush paints, and I’ve not got a compressor for my airbrush, only using cans still… I’ve got to sort that out, as Steve would be able to sell you this colour at a fraction of what I paid for it in total. So, if you like it, have a airbrush with a compressor, speak with Steve. He’ll fix you up with this colour, and I think Steve is also getting 2 pack clear.. Nice.. I’m getting a compressor and I’m hoping to start using more automotive colours on my car using my airbrush. The dyring times for this was amazing. Within 5 mins I was recoating, after the final coat, it was touch dry with 30 mins. I’ll be able to polish this one out in a few days.

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Outside pictures for you. Little overcast, so took them when the sun popped through the clouds. Pearl affect of the paint is now showing. Little texture to the paint, needs a polish, but I can’t see any heavy orange peel. It’s been curing now for well over 12 hours, shrinking period for these paints is about 24 hours, can’t see anything cracking, or reactions. So, thin plastic, but still able to use automotive paints.

Mica Blue is hard to spray correctly. The clear tends to burn the edges, it’s not been too bad on this one. I’m not too keen on pearl and candy paints. I love the affect, but getting then down is hard. Just one speck of dust and it’s ruined… Thankfully, spraying water all over my spray booth, and working quick, and keep it under cover I’ve managed to cover this with one a VERY small mark on the back window frame, and this will be painted black. How lucky was that.. The panel lines are still well visible, should be fine once I drop some black into them.

Even the front bumper still fits. Amazing really after all the paint I threw on this. I’m fairly happy..

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As I'm waiting for the body to cure, I've made a start with the chassis. Basically, it's all black with some parts in Aluminum. Did the Aluminum using Alclad II, applied a black wash and dry brushed with X11 silver.

The chassis plate is sprayed with automotive flat black, the rest with X18 from my airbrush. The silver heat shield on the chassis plate is BMF. If you look at the ref picture link I posted, you'll see a bit of the real chassis, and this isn't too far from that picture. I'm happy with the result.

The pictures show some blue ish tints.. I think that's my camera, as they are not there if you look by eye.

I've made a small start on the interior as I wait for all the chassis parts to dry. The fitment is great. The chassis parts all fit fine. The tryes however are not good. I'm still trying to clean them up.

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Hmmmm...... Can you say orange peel. Developed a nice case if it all over. The clear shrank down, and it was pretty bad in places. Had to start with 2400 mesh and work my way up to 6000, then Scratch X compound and buff it up.

Only got the roof and bonnet done, working on the doors at the moment, these are currently cut back with 3200, as they aren't as bad.

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/50438/mode/L/img.jpg

See how the colour has changed from taking my pics indoors. It's a lot brighter then this.. Outdoor gives better pictures of this colour.

Looks better when you take outdoor pictures… The colour reacts nicely to the sun. Not as sunny as the weekend, but the pictures show how the colour goes from dark to light with the sun. Nice pearl colour. I like it.

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This is the interior and it's a little untidy in places. Still not overly happy with the X18 going to glossy. Overall, could have been better but it was a very tricky interior to paint. Two tone isn't easy.

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Got nearly all the painting done now. Still need to flock the interior floors, add some decals etc and then it's all final assembly.

The tyres on this model suck. Not a good tread on them. And the mould lines were very bad. Not too happy with them TBH.

Anyhow final picture for today. I felt it was only fair to share some works with you all as I have used this board in the past to help me build models, sadly, some of your newer members needed to learn forum etiquette, but thankfully looks like many of them have now gone.

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/50802/mode/L/img.jpg

Mick, this build is truly fabulous!:sunglasse The step-by-step documentation is wonderful as well as informative!:) The paint job ain't bad either!:lol::sunglasse

Hey Mick: welcome back.
Looks like you haven't lost some great attitudes: amazing skills and... long long posts: well, you know we love it ;)
Jokes apart I'm really happy to see you here with an awesome start.
ciao

This is one more proof just how good this model is. Separate pieces for chassis make painting a breeze! I love it, think I may in fact get one of those kits.

The model looks great too, the colour and everything else.

Don't bother to come up for air mate! :lol:

Terrific looking build. I've been waiting to see how the new STi kit would come out. Looks sweet. Good to see you posting again.

Don't bother to come up for air mate! :lol:

Terrific looking build. I've been waiting to see how the new STi kit would come out. Looks sweet. Good to see you posting again.

MPWR, sorry about that, I basically lifted the entire posting from a post I’d made over on www.spc.org.uk . Hiroboys web forum. I tried to clean it up a little, as it was a day by day WIP, but I just thought it would be nice to get a little history on this model, as I know it’s been hotly discussed. I could have just posted a few pictures of where I am now, but where is the fun in that? LOL

And thanks for the warm welcome back. I’ll post some more when I get the pictures ready, as I’ve now done most of the body. But overall, this model is great, I really recommend it.

Paint is beautiful!

Wow, you've just convinced me to buy this model! Your paint looks AMAZING! I wish I could get depth and reflection like that, but I'm too scared to sand my clearcoats, as I don't wanna ruin a (generally) expensive paint job.

fantastic!

I'm not too big a fan of the front for this year's WRX but your model is changing my opinion. Beautifully done! The interior 2-tone looks great and the chassis/underside looks great!

Lovely body colour and the interior is up to your usual very high standards.

Great job so far! :bigthumb:

Welcome back, nice work :sunglasse

I may get the kit; I'm waiting to see all of what Fujimi comes up w/it over the next few months in the form of variations. Having driven a friend's '06 STI I love the car and the model looks pretty great too. One could get creative and take the engine and various bits from the Revell 1/25 diecast body WRX kit to finish this one out, though you'd have to kitbash/scratchbuild the underhood area (firewall, inner fenders, radiator crossmember) as those are all part of the diecast body.

Looking good so far - that paint is smooooooth. Oh, and welcome back....! :)

Love the paint and the build so far! You are definitely doing this fine car justice.

Winston

Very Nice!
Good to see you over here again too. Crisp interior, too bad about the semi-gloss, that's always been my result as well.

:eek: Yayayaya!!!! Go Suby!!! That really is a great kit!! Love it!!

Welcome back!

This kit looks nice, great build!
I think I will have to buy this kit and add a third mica blue impreza in my collection :-)

Welcome back, nice to see a fellow UKer.
Build is looking great youve got a loverly finish going on there, I have this kit in transit and now can't wait.
Not to contradict you but i think its Paul ( Gundam1969 ) who has started the paint mixing/selling venture not Steve, that is unless i've missed something.

Welcome back, nice to see a fellow UKer.
Build is looking great youve got a loverly finish going on there, I have this kit in transit and now can't wait.
Not to contradict you but i think its Paul ( Gundam1969 ) who has started the paint mixing/selling venture not Steve, that is unless i've missed something.

Yep, you're right, but Steve is selling them for Paul and if I'd had a compressor (something I'm looking into right now) I'd have bought the pre thinned mixed lacquer from Steve /Paul. I actually think my Halfords mixed colour is a little too dark, and Paul at modelcolourworx has it about right.

Thanks for the comments guys...

Somehow I missed this one. I gotta say.... WOW, Fujimi's really stepping things up aren't they! I think I'll have to pick this kit up. It's looking excelent so far! Can't wait to see more!

Nice build.
I too am not a fan of the 06 WRX front end but you have done a nice job with this kit. Love the interior and the paint, welcome back.

Very nice so far. The paint job looks perfect in the pics. I think I may be one of the few that actually likes the front of the '06 WRX. I was planning to get this kit eventually, nice to see pics of one.

How did I miss this great thread?

This is absolutly fabolous! Great interior, paintjob and documentation...

El Exotico

Great progress and welcome back. Interior looks just like the real deal.

Hey MickBench! Welcome back! We sure missed your builds around here. It's so great to see your talents being executed on something as fine as Fujimi's new WRX kit. Thanks for sharing, and best of luck finishing it :D

Thanks for all the great comments guys. Very much appreciated, and means I now have to keep trying harder to impress you all. J/K.

The chassis is now fully completed. And I’m very happy with the result. Fujimi have engineered the fitment so good, that you can test fit to ensure it does fit, but I wouldn’t press down on the parts to snap them in, as once you have you can’t easily get the parts back off again. The parts for the chassis mostly have holes that go right through the plate, meaning you can glue and then add a drop of glue to the other side to help secure. If using VERY thin CA glue like I do, it’s perfect, as drop the glue on the tab, insert, press down and hear the snap, and then add another drop of CA on the other side. Makes for a strong bond.

The rear sub assembly is tricky though, and you’d be well advised if you plan on building this model to fit the rear arms first, and then bend the suspension struts underneath once the sub frame arms are fully set. The driveshaft needs to lay loose, until you attach the strut arms, otherwise you will have problems lining it all up correctly. Its also very fragile, so be careful. But the fitment is PERFECT.

I’m not overly keen on the wheels and tyres though. They look a little undersized IMO. Anyhow, managed to get an outside picture even though it was slightly raining.

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/51038/mode/L/img.jpg

Next up, is the interior. Fujimi again seem to have well engineered the fitment, I had no problems with any of this other then the side panels. After paint, flocking and paint on the door panels themselves, fitment was a little tight. Some light sanding and cutting required, nothing too surgical.

Picture isn’t the best, as it is very overcast at the moment, and the overall affect I’ve managed to get in the interior seems to be lost from the digital picture. Detail master also sent me the flocking, and the colour isn’t what I’d expected. It’s a little too light, almost turquoise in colour. Not overly happy, the colour I looked at on detail masters website doesn’t appear to be the colour I’ve got when I laid the flocking down, and I’m still not overly happy with the semi gloss black glossing up too much.

Overall, the interior parts fit fine, no problems but Fujimi colour guide is WELL off. The seats are not marked correctly, the floors carpets are not coloured from the guide correct, STI’s have blue carpets, and the dash and door panels are not black, but dark grey. Also, the STI logos are a darker pink, the decals from Fujimi are too light, and not apparent enough. Overall, fujimi engineered it well, but colour guide is wrong, and I’ve not totally pulled off the corrections. I got the seats a little too glossy, and the interior carpets a little too light.

http://www.pictureparking.com/pic/51060/mode/L/img.jpg

And now for the body. Not completed yet. I’m not going to show too many shots, as I really couldn’t get some nice pictures due to the overcast weather conditions at the moment. But I’ve done the window trims, and the room left to get the tape cut wasn’t great. In the end, as risky as it was I had to dig some of the clear paint out to get some depth back to allow me to get a clean line.

With each scribe my heart nearly stopped. I think heart surgeons would have felt less pressure. It was like taking a sledge hammer to put up a picture hook… RISKY..!!! Anyhow, pulled it off with not one slip, and I never want to do that again. The window trims came out fine, but Fujmi window trim lines got buried in paint, they weren’t deep enough. Oddly though the body panel lines didn’t suffer the same fate.. Weird.

I’ve also fitted the front bumper, and fitted the wings and rear lights. Just the fronts to fit, decals here and their, wax and install the windows, and she is nearly completed.

Enjoy.

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boo'd off stage?! are you kidding, that paintjob (and overall build) is amazing. truely incredible worksmanship. Its unfortunate you havent been around to share your talent with us, but welcome back!

Mwoah...looks mediocre.







:icon16: Just kidding, it's awesome like your previous builds, no, it's better. Such a nice paint job. You're too harsh on yourself about the interior, for the interior looks great too!

Thanks for all the great comments guys. Very much appreciated, and means I now have to keep trying harder to impress you all. J/K.

The chassis is now fully completed. And I’m very happy with the result. Fujimi have engineered the fitment so good, that you can test fit to ensure it does fit, but I wouldn’t press down on the parts to snap them in, as once you have you can’t easily get the parts back off again. The parts for the chassis mostly have holes that go right through the plate, meaning you can glue and then add a drop of glue to the other side to help secure. If using VERY thin CA glue like I do, it’s perfect, as drop the glue on the tab, insert, press down and hear the snap, and then add another drop of CA on the other side. Makes for a strong bond.




The guy who made the kit must have worked for Tamiya before...This sounds so much like a Tamiya kit from your description.

Great progress so far. The interior is looking really good now. Too bad the pics are a little dark so that I can't see the nice shine on the body clearly.

Winston

I'm glad to see someone doing one of the Fujimi 2005 Impreza kits. Hwlen and I bought a MY06 RV when we moved back to Aus (my Dad actually put a deposit sown before we had left the UK) so we want to get these kits. Might even attempt to convert one into the hatch.

Excellent work!

Very nice work.Congrads.

Looking very nice!:iceslolan

That blue mica really shines! You've done a flawless job.
I can't wait to see it all put together.

Not done a great deal today, only took some outside shots. Sadly I was too busy today to get this completed, gardens and houses take a lot of work sometimes. So this is only work I did last night.

I’ve installed the lights at the front and decaled the body, and that was about it really. I did something silly as I was taking the pictures outside. I dropped the rear wing as it isn’t glued down, and it landed on a concrete slab. It chipped. Obviously. I just sprayed some paint into a cup and used a brush to touch it up. You can’t see it actually. I’ve done this before, dropping stuff. I’m such a butter fingers. Also, the rear light in the wing, it was meant to be a bit of clear plastic, but yep. I dropped that as well when installing it, and it vaporised. I searched the area for nearly an hour looking for it last night. Used torches, my hands, everything. Its well gone. So, made a new one using white glue that was stuck in the cap. I rolled it into shape, paint the area it was going silver, pushed it in, painted it with clear red and bingo. Home made rear light.

This model is fair from perfect. Frankly I’m surprised it has gotten this fair. LOL

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Thanks for all the great comments guys

Looking good :sunglasse

I have stuff like that happen all the time. Doesn't usually bother me when it's my fault, it does if it's the kit's fault :icon16:

Wish I had read the description here before I read it at the other board...I got a bloody headache and wore out my mouse scrolling back and forth and back and forth because someone there spoiled your page with a nonsensical response :shakehead Seems rampant immaturity rears it's ugly head here, there, and everywhere.

Looking good :sunglasse

I have stuff like that happen all the time. Doesn't usually bother me when it's my fault, it does if it's the kit's fault :icon16:

Wish I had read the description here before I read it at the other board...I got a bloody headache and wore out my mouse scrolling back and forth and back and forth because someone there spoiled your page with a nonsensical response :shakehead Seems rampant immaturity rears it's ugly head here, there, and everywhere.

Yeah, I know. He really did mess it up. I was hoping an admin would clean it up a bit. Still, I can't stop what others post, and I just ignored it in the end. Idiot.

I forgot to say, the front headlights are marked incorrectly in the build guide. They tell you to just install the clear parts, place in the body, and install the clear lens cover.

It says nothing about painting the black areas, if you visit a subaru webpage either uk or us you'll see the headlights do have sections of black. also if you want to build the UK spec, the rear break light in the wing is actually red, not clear, and the side indicators are clear, but have a small dot of orange.

The headlights however are black in sections no matter what spec and what country you buy the car, so is a mistake by fujimi.

Fantastic work so far, awesome paint job and the interior looks great too. Can´t wait to see it finished ;)

I forgot to say, the front headlights are marked incorrectly in the build guide. They tell you to just install the clear parts, place in the body, and install the clear lens cover.

It says nothing about painting the black areas, if you visit a subaru webpage either uk or us you'll see the headlights do have sections of black. also if you want to build the UK spec, the rear break light in the wing is actually red, not clear, and the side indicators are clear, but have a small dot of orange.

The headlights however are black in sections no matter what spec and what country you buy the car, so is a mistake by fujimi.

You're too funny. You make us all think you've gone through the wringer on nearly every detail of a model, yet the results show that you certainly do know your way around the workbench and it's myriad of hazards. It's like the photos betray the prose :wink: :icon16: The same happens to me sometimes. Anyway, thanks for the critique as it will definitely help people get it built properly.

Kit instructions have mistakes and missing callouts all the time, I don't even got worked up about it unless it causes me to screw something up that I wasn't anticipating. I just assume they're screwed up and find pics I need for detailing, and use the instruction guide only occasionally as I put a model together. It's easier/more relaxing to get the reference ahead of time than relying on something that is often incorrect or incomplete. Revell/AMT/Polar Lights are to blame for that cynical observation :icon16:

Nice to see ya back, and great progress on the subaru. The blue really sets it off, and nice detail on the interior.

For painting the window rubbers, I cut my tape into strips about 1mm wide, and lay them along the edges. When it's that thin, it goes around the curves well. There will have to be overlap at the sharp corners, but if you burnish them well and spray a shot of clear before the black, you won't have any trouble. This allows me to avoid taking a knife to the paint I worked so hard on.

Looking great, though, this car's new front end is growing on me.

great build mick! :D

I've deleted this part, as it was mostly posted in anger and is not really a good way to behave on a public forum.

FUJIMI always make people crazy.haha.maybe you can get a bigger set of wheels for the rideheight. maybe Tamiya's rally BBS rims...

hi its arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrf@# guy ace motorsport from spc www.spc.org.uk (http://www.spc.org.uk) i cant get to it so ill say what i need to say here
fuck the lights were hard