Mini Cooper - JCW - to someone worth reaching for

Finally, I got into auto kits again. I got this Cooper the night right after a casual chat with a friend of mine, and I am going to build it in the color of her choice.
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061031_1.jpg

The back of the seats are fixed with plastic sheets.
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061031_2.jpg

The color is purple as specified. So I made it darker purple with silvery tune. The result for Day 1:
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061031_3.jpg

The roof is expected to be black in color. and I have tried the clear coat of Soft99 for my first time. But to my amazment, the spray was so hard to control and have messed up my color at the first glance.... the surface with disolved and the purple is prevailing from the bottom...
I have to sand off the paint and repaint most part of the body in a slightly light purple(since I did not store the paint at the first time...). Then I got a thin Gunze clear coat first with thicker coating afterwards.
Day 2:
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061101_1.jpg

But thanks God, I have managed to tidy up the cockpit with gental painting...
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061101_2.jpg

The surface is still in mess even after the gunze rescue...
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061101_3.jpg

Day 3:
I got another trial on Soft99 sprayer again, and I do think the gunze coating is working well to protect the purple color this time. but still, the surface is still very rough...
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061102_1.jpg

A little touch-up with the cockpit...
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061102_2.jpg

That interior sure is amazing, looks like a real car.

nice build, and great color combo. little dark for my taste, but it does look great.

Little Enermal Wash over the rims~

http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061104_1.jpg
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061104_2.jpg
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061104_3.jpg

You are sayin' that your paint surface is kinda rough... Sorry to ask,but are you wetsanding it with some high grit paper?
Looks great!

the first polishing for the kit.
i feel good for the soft 99 clear coat for the first time, as compared to the gunze coating~~
2nd polishing to be done this weekend~

http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061109_2.jpg
http://panzer.hkbh.net/diary/20061109_3.jpg

looks good...wheels look realistic

Hi,

Great build !
Nice color, and love the wash on the weels.

What Cie kit is this ?

Thanks in advance,
George

George

Great work, so far. Nice rescue on the paint, the polish really did the trick (I think, I'm not 100% clear on what you've done but then, I'm not 100% anything tonight). I think the color actually looks cool on this car, and those wheels are stunning! Interior work is exceptional as well.

So, I'm curious, how casual a chat was this, really?