Nissan Silvia K's - Lightly Modified

As I cannot progress the BMW for a while I have started another project, the Tamiya Nissan Silvia K's. As can be seen below the body shell was somewhat twisted!

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/7789/dscf6434.jpg

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/6025/dscf6437.jpg

I sorted this out and then decided to reduce the size of the rear bumper which seemed to be huge! Below show pictures before and after.

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/92/dscf6460.jpg

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/3906/dscf6822.jpg

The pictures below show what it looks like after a few hours work today lowering the suspension and adpating the aftermarket Fujimi wheels to fit the Tamiya wheel hub assembly!

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/346/dscf6823s.jpg

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/2870/dscf6812.jpg

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/5554/dscf6816.jpg

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/1274/dscf6814.jpg

As can be seen I have yet to fill in the hole that I made when I removed the rear bumper!

That body wasn't pretty, it looked like it had been in a rollover! Glad to see you've saved it.

nice job.. good work

like the body now very much.

Paul.

Good job on the body, I've had to sort a few like that, did you dunk it in really hot water & then twist it carefully back to shape? Rear bumper work makes it look much better. Wheels suit it too, serious negative camber on the front wheels, is that adjustable? As it may look better with a bit less.

GOOD WORK MAN!! I have a Fujimi's Silvia S15 that got the same problem. I'm wondering how do you solve that problem.

CHEERS

Mine was seriously twisted as well. I let it sit in hot water for about 3 minutes then clamped the "glass" in place and popped it in the freezer for a minute or two. this got the majority of the twist out, but still slightly noticeable. When I put the interior tub and chassis in place it should take out the rest of the twist.

I always liked the s13s. Getting the body back to normal looks like it was a piece of cake. The wheels suit it well, and fit well in the wheel arches.

Thanks for all the comments.

To straighten the body I did use hot water from the tap, I soaked the body for a few minutes. Luckily this particular model seems to be made of very pliable plastic that was extermely forgiving. I had to do some major twisting which did actually result in the start of a very minor split at the top of the right had front wing near the windscreen (I will try to take a picture later).

Even now when I remove the bodyshell from the interior chassis and glass it is still slightly warped. As rsxe240 said it needs to be held in place by the chassis etc when fitted.

I also had a problem when I was modifying one of the wheels. I was using some Tamiya side cutters to remove the inner wheel (female) part and because the plastic was quite brittle it shattered and I lost part of the outer wheel too! I repaired it and it hopefully will not notice when painted! (see the right rear wheel in the photos to see where it was repaired).