VIP, BABY!!! Nissan Leopard/Infinity J-30

Well it looks like I found one. I thought it was a bit pricey, but after getting it today in the mail, well worth the $32 I paid for it. Sadly though, I bought it a week to soon, but thanks to Tonioseven, I will now have 2! One will be the JDM Leopard, the other will be USDM J-30.

I was so excited to have found this kit, I started on it as soon as I got it in the house.

Plans:
VIP with as much class as I can muster.
Nismo LM-GT 19" rims/low profile rubber
OEM Nissan (real auto paint) Arctic White pearl
light tan leather, cream, and black inside with wood and chrome trim
slam that bee-otch
attempt to weather the undercarriage
mild body kit (the one that came in the kit with a little extra added for cleanliness purposes)
and above all, finish in a timely manner, as I am tired of looking at all of your fine builds and not having anything to show of my own.

on to the first of many pics

You can see where I filled in some gaps and made a rear valance to go all the way across the rear bumper.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2107.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2106.jpg

http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2105.jpg

some other plans include cleaning out the lower grill and installing a front mount intercooler, and possibly a 5 speed shifter. if I get carried away, I'll probably end up hacking a tamiya Z32 for the twin turbo VG30DETT.

enjoy!

Those are good moves to attack that car. I say go for the engine transplant and drop it in, might be a little extra work but the end result will be crazy conversion with vip style! Keep the pics coming.

Hmmm...slippery, I like it so far, a nice non Toyota VIP subject finally. I always had a soft spot for these cars....might have been the fact that they shared alot with s13's

The nismo lm wheels look great on it, keep us posted.

I guess it wouldn't be to bad to pull the motor out of the Z car, and build it curbside, but I really like the Z with the motor. anyone have a spare laying around that has gone back into the "never see the light of day again" pile?

as for updates, I have the body kit all smoothed in and ready for primer. now I'll start the interior, pics as I get progress. I will be building this one steadily, as I am psyched to finish it, and it is such a fine kit.

I might have a kit you could use..the motor is painted though, and some assembly has been done....i'll get a pic of it tomorrow night if you'd like...

Gray

yeah, just pm it to me. as long as the engine and what not is salvageable and the price is right, I'll probably get it.

OK, progress...

Well, thanks to a very BAD paint product (Valspar Kustom Kolors) I have decided to throw it back in the box, and let it set until I can find something that will strip this horrid paint from the body without damaging the plastic. I have tried CSC, Easy Off oven cleaner, and DOT-3 brake fluid, 99% isopropyl alcohol, and none of them will even soften the paint, let alone remove it.

Sorry to disappoint anyone that might have been following this thread, but I am not going to risk ruining this model any worse than it already is. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

How long did you let it set in the chemicals?

well thats not fun. Maybe you should let it set in all that stuff for a week or more and see what that does. But look at the bright side at least you have another one, right?

Haha, yeah, I do have another.

and I decided to try another soak, this time 99% Isopropyl, and it did soften the paint enough to where it came off in HUGE sheets. almost like vinyl. I actually peeled a rubbery shell off of the body! The primer under the paint was basically intact with a few spots where the dot 3 and oven cleaner actually penetrated the paint, so I'll have to shoot it again with some oven cleaner to get it down to the bare plastic. so all hope is not lost.

like I posted in my thread in the main topic forum, I received an email from a fella over at Valspar, and he's going to call and assist me with some tips, and proper primers, and what not to use. This car however is going to get what I wanted to use in the first place REAL CAR PAINT! OEM Nissan Arctic White base/color/clear. I'll have to test it on a junk body to see how it will react as I know it is a VERY hot paint (it burns your eyes just when you open the can, it's that hot)

well wish me luck!

good luck with it man, sorry to hear about the paint....i've never had any problems using HOK stuff....Glad you got it all to come off though. Oh yeah I just remembered about the 300zx motor..you still looking for one?

Gray

well, now that I'm basically back to square one, I may just go ahead and do it. so yeah, if you want to PM me about it, I'm all for it.

Well, I decided to resurrect this old thread with some progress.

Paint is Kustom Kolors snow white pearl on white base and Colors by Boyd high gloss clear. Brakes are composed of scratch built "Dremel lathed" rotors, and resin copied calipers from the parts bin. Wheels are resin copied Work Equip 19 inch (thanks, Tonioseven for the original). I decided against the nismo wheels in favor of these, they just look more "VIP".

Not much left to do. Just detail and polish the body, and a few bits and pieces of detail in the interior. I'm really excited about this because it will be the first finished build in 3 years! lol
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2420.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2419.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2418.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2417.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2416.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2412.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2411.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2408.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2407.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2406.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2405.jpg

Hope this is enough progress to constitute resurrecting this old relic. haha

looking good on that leopard. :D

Coolness!! Those are Equips. :)

Right on, I'll edit that right up.

Well... It looks way better in person. I don't think your camera does it justice. I can't wait to see it finished with the lip on it... oh yeah. Keep it up Ken, fanstatic work as always...

very TINY update, I've got more progress, but alas, I'm to lazy to take pics.

guess what these are...
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2622.jpg

Erm,Sidemarkers? Locks? :uhoh:

looks like some seat belts to me...

seat belt buckles, are you going to make a B-pillar for them too?

The nice thing about this kit is that the B-pillars are already in the kit, you just have to set them free....
I'll have some pics up soon of what I'm talking about.

Oh, and yes, those are the buckles and shoulder loops (I guess that's what they are called) for the seat belts.

I found a great way to get seat belts. any size and they are CHEAP!!!!

Medium weight paper, like that found in those little cards with all the Japanese writing on them that come in all the Fujimi and Aoshima kits. Just use a straight edge and cut the width you need for belts, then paint them with what ever color ACRYLIC paint (It soaks in to the paper better) and you have some VERY realistic seat belt material.

Cool; I need some green seatbelts and I think I'll try this technique. :)

OK, I tried to post yesterday, but for some reason, after I made a really nice post with some pictures and all, the post didn't take. so let me try again.

Here I'm using a different body to get the work on the glass done, so I don't chance scratching, or finger printing the actual body I'll be using. In the pic you can see that the glass for the doors was removed from the glass "bucket". I did this by gently scribing a line around the window frame with the glass taped to the body. then I removed the glass and continued scribing until the glass was free from the bucket. The end result was some VERY thick side windows, and "A", "B", and "C" pillars. I need to do the same thing on the other side now.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2641.jpg

In this image you can see that I now have the a, b, and c pillars in place. I just need to paint the black part of the glass, then cover that with tan or cream to act as the plastic covering like on the 1:1 car. After I do that, I'll build a headliner, and a nice over head console with a TV for the back seat passengers.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2642.jpg

Here is a pic of the seatbelts made of paper. All colors on this build are Testors of various types, the seat belts being acrylic light tan (looks very dark on the cream "leather", huh?) I'll be adding the buckles and what not after I get the glass all done.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2640.jpg

Here's a tiny little detail that I just HAD to have, since I don't go anywhere without mine in my real car. I just have to have my SLAYER!!!
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n4/rsxse240/model%20stuff/100_2639.jpg

The iPod was easy to make, just a little black square painted on to a tiny little piece of strip styrene, a silver dot for the control, and a white dot for the center button. The input cable is just some stripped (1/25 scale) ignition wire, with the ends capped with a small bit of the insulation, paint it all white, and bada bing, an iPod! lol

I'm going to go work on it some more now. Thanks all, for your continued support.

Looking good. I like the Ipod...too bad my real-life car doesn't have an adapter!

Alex

The cutting of the window buckets were a pain in the ass for me!! It was so easy to miss the edge and scratch, and the final fitment afterwards were not as good as I wanted neither.

well I got the seat belts all done up, I'll have pics tonight.

The only reason I cut out the glass is so I'll be able to glue the seat belts in place when the car is all together. I also got the passenger side glass cut out. I think when it's all said and done, I'll have the windows rolled part way down, or something.

seeing as you've already got the kit plastic cut out, it'd be a shame not to trace the shape onto some clear acetate for more true to scale thickness windows...

I was thinking the same thing yesterday. I think I'll do a heat and smash method to get the side glass, if I do decide to use any side glass at all. If I do, I'll do a write up on it. I'm going to get pics right now. Don't be to excited though, it is only MINIATURE detail that you'll likely not even be able to see, what with my craptstic camera and photography skills.

Outstanding interior work. The dash and the carpet look great. I wish I could find a VIP Q45 kit. like the 1993-96 range.

Hey Mojo, I know I've seen a lot of q45s on ebay. they aren't cheap, due to shipping, but they are out there. This kit, although it was actually a VIP boxed kit, the only extra stuff FROM the kit I'm using is the steering wheel and body kit. everything else is from scratch and parts box.

I have some good news on this one, too, by the way. I've got a new sheet of BMF, a new polishing kit and some decal solvent. So be aware that there is a end in sight for this build....FINALLY!!!! lol