Progress: Crocodile Audi R8 - Page 2

RallyRaider · #16 10-07-2003, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exhaust smoke

Phil, welcome back.
That is an interesting project you got there. I can't wait for more progress. Is it all resin? it's just that there looks like some injection plastic also.

Yes exhaust smoke, it is all resin, no injection molded plastic. In addition to the resin bits, the light covers are vacformed plastic, and there are three frets of photoetched metal, one brass, two steel.

The resin is rather well done although not as crisp as a plastic kit. Here is a photo of the brake discs, showing the nice attempt at caliper detail, as well as the roughness of resin.

The wheels are nicely done, once again a bit rough in close inspection. I painted them using Gunze Sangyo "Mr. Metal Color Chrome Silver". First time using this and I'm impressed, not as real chrome like Alclad, but it buffs up to a very nice shine.

RallyRaider · #17 10-07-2003, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WRX-15

Cool project. Let us know about all those decals and problems you have.
Did you make any modifcations to the body for extra detail or for this specific race?

No, no modifications needed to the body. The LMM kit is pretty much spot on to my eye. It includes the different louvers above the front wheels and extra winglets used at Adelaide 2000/2001.

Speaking of winglets, they are going to be a major pain in the ass to build up. There are four of them in total, each made up of three pieces of PE and decaled, with no attatchement points to speak of. I ended up drilling out the rivet points to have some kind of positive placement so each winglet will be secured with three brass rivets.

Having a good close look at the decals the printing suffers a bit from "Tamiya MP4-13 syndrome" in that the graduations in some areas aren't smooth, rather a series if dots. Looks okay from a distance but not brilliant close up. With that in mind I don't really think it's worth going overboard with much extra detailing.

Was going to CF decal all the underside but will just leave it black now. Here is a shot of the front underbody with PE vertical strakes.

RallyRaider · #18 10-07-2003, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willimo

I always thought this was the coolest paint scheme on any race car ever. The guy who first said: "Yo, let's paint it like a crocodile in a river" must have been on somethin' pretty potent. Still, it looks wicked cool, and I've been dying to see someone build the model of the car... Good luck with all those decals! And I (at least) can't wait to see this thing done.

Yeah the livery is the the coolest, the shape of the car fits the concept perfectly.

The decals are going to take forever, so far I've applied four of them, each took about 30 minutes! And so far they are the easy ones, when I get to the nose of the croc, particularly the eyes, things are going to get much more "interesting".

Little-B · #19 10-07-2003, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanGiorgio

Can't wait to see more. Nice choice doing this project.

Looks good so far.

slk320 · #20 10-07-2003, 04:03 PM

Look fantastic. So far so great, keep us all posted with every decal

RallyRaider · #21 10-11-2003, 01:26 AM

Placed a few more decals on the Audi, not having much luck with them. They don't react much at all to Microsol, had to cut the decal arround the eye up into three seperate pieces! Then it wouldn't align back properly, can see I'll be having to mix up some paint to touch up all the dodgy bits!

Here is the left eye. You can clearly see the misaligned sections as well as some white through splits in the decals. The bumpy surface of the decals can also be seen. Several coats of clear, followed by sanding and a polish will fix that in the end.

Oh well, I didn't expect it to be easy - nothing that can't be fixed up though.

Bangai-o · #22 10-11-2003, 03:02 AM

Looks like you're having "fun"

. You're a brave man, do you live in the outback or something

?

Seriously, what do you think of LMM kits? I was thinking of getting one. Have you tried any part fitment yet?

Good job so far, it's only a small problem with the eye, I'm sure you'll be able to fix it through re-arrangement or touching up. What paints don't melt decals when you touch up? My f2001 white decals all melted when i touched them up with white paint cos they'd split on the edges of spoilers.

Honoturtle · #23 10-11-2003, 04:12 AM

Man, that cool! It's going to eat all it's competition!

primera man · #24 10-11-2003, 05:12 AM

WOW...What a huge project so far.
Looks like it's getting there slowly. Take ya time on those decals and i'm sure we will be looking at a master piece soon

bigfrit · #25 10-11-2003, 11:34 AM

Man I envy you, great taste in subjects, even better talent and fabulously well-made build ups!

This is going to be a very, very cool car, and a wonderful addition to a great collection.

Keep it uppy!

Ciao

Olivier

Valentino · #26 10-11-2003, 04:25 PM

Sure is something different. I bet it gonna look real nice.can't wait to see more.

chaos · #27 10-12-2003, 02:24 AM

I think you're doing a bang-up jobs with the decals!! Good luck on the rest - can't wait to see this one done!

RallyRaider · #28 10-13-2003, 08:18 PM

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. Haven’t done much to the Audi, been working on a Stratos instead. I have finished off the decals on the nose and touched up a few of the bad areas with paint. So here is the croc coming at ya!

No Bangai-o I don’t live in croc country just the wide, brown land of Australia in general, Wagga Wagga NSW to be exact. The LMM kit is quite impressive compared to other resin kits I’ve seen. Fit of parts is pretty good, not Tamiya level by any means but acceptable for the medium. If the R8 is typical of the quality of LMM kits I wouldn’t hesitate to build another.

RallyRaider · #29 10-13-2003, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bangai-o

What paints don't melt decals when you touch up? My f2001 white decals all melted when i touched them up with white paint cos they'd split on the edges of spoilers.

Woops, missed this question first time round. Did you check the FAQ, there might be something in there? Anyway if your worried about that it would be a good idea to use a less reactive paint like water-based acrylics or ‘future’, even an enamel. Lacquers are much tougher and clear IMHO so I take the risk and use them, but you need to be careful.

First make absolutely sure the decals are dry with no air or moisture trapped underneath. Then start off with several very light mist coats so the paint is almost dry by the time it hits the model and the solvents don’t get a chance to eat into the decals. Only after building up a barrier can you then lay down a final wet coat. But still make sure it isn’t too thick to burn down through the previous coats.

Good luck.

RallyRaider · #30 11-07-2003, 09:42 PM

I've now offically put the Audi R8 back on the shelf, I need some stronger solvent to work with the very tough decals. Found a place that stocks Walthers Solvaset but they won't post it to me! Will have to try wait till the christmas holidays when I go to Melbourne.

As a final update before closing up the box and consigning the Croc to the half finished pile, here is a shot of the seatbelt buckles. They're made by F1 Specialties, intended for 1/20th Formula One cars, so are nice and chunky for 1/24th scale.

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