In Progress - Tamiya 300ZX convertible

[mickbench]

Done some work on the Interior. Not a lot really, as I’ve not had a lot of time today to do any massive work. Detailed the dash last night, hopefully I’m getting better at this, as some of my last attempts have looked a little blotchy.. This looks a little more realistic,..



Also sprayed the seats and floor German Grey, for grey leather and also for the grey flocking I’m going to do for the carpets. The rest is satin black with parts picked out in Semi Gloss black enamels.. Still got to do the steering wheel etc, but gives you all an idea of what I’m aiming for. Was thinking about the seats in tan or buff, but looking at the old 300ZX brochures, the car when offered in Cherry Red only had Grey leather seats, with grey carpets. So buff seats where no longer viable. I would have thought special order would have allowed for buff seats, but it looks good with grey seats. Plus I've got some grey flocking to match..





No work done yet on the engine..!! Saving that till later..!! And yep, I’m leaving the engine bay body colour flat, as this I think is how the car would have been for real.

[robrex]

This is looking very good!
I love the colour!

[klutz_100]

super clean as always! great stuff

[mickbench]

Just done the flocking, and I was thinking how best to do this. I wanted the carpets to be dark, but I didn’t want them just either flat black or dark grey on its own. Looking at some ref pictures, the carpets appeared to have some light and dark grey with black. Looked like some type of anthracite colour with highlights of light grey.

So I set to and attempted to mix the colour up. It was more trial and error then knowing what I was doing, but some black, light and dark grey flocking has produced a superb looking carpet.





As can be seen by the pictures, in which are not great, as AGAIN I’ve had to use a flash due to it being dark in the UK now the carpets have made the interior just jump out and it looks a whole lot better. Needs a bit of dusting, and all the parts are just dry fitted for the time being, but I'm getting there..

Just completing spraying the steering wheel and small parts, and then the interior is nearly done. I’m thinking about seatbelts, but I’ve not got anything that will look like seatbelts yet, plus I need some buckles and latches etc… The UK is bad for this type of stuff..

[Captain Mark]

Nice! The black areas of the interior really have a same sort of shine as the real car! I know 'cos I just went outside and looked... I'm impressed!

Can you give us a very quick "How To" on what you used for flocking, and how you attached it to the interior?

[klutz_100]

nice!
shag carpet?

[mickbench]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

nice!
shag carpet?

Nearly..!! Not quite as deep pile as true shag.. I was tempted to just lay down pure grey, but I looked a some interiors of the real car, and the buff colours were solid, and so where the black carpets, but many of the grey carpets had bits of light grey.. I might have over done it a little but it looks good..

As for the flocking I used, I got it from a recommendation, and it was pretty cheap as well. I just mixed the colours together, ran it through a basic strainer, to mix it all up. Then I applied some white glue and using the strainer, placed some in the strainer and sprinkled it on. I pressed it down with my thumb, hard to get areas used a flat brush, waited for it to dry and knocked the excess off..

I used this guide, http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutoria...g/flocking.htm

This guy knows what he's doing, and his guides are perfect to get going with. Worked for me everytime. Learnt a lot from his guides.

[Jaymes]

looking great so far!

btw, the link for the flocking doesn't work it seems that whenever i try to access that website, i get warnings

[g00eY]

looks great!

just a tip for making a leather apperance. i heard this somewhere(dunno if it was on this forum or what) and i haven't tried it so i dunno if it works, but it sounds like it would. you know how there is oil on you nose? take your finger and rub it on your nose and then apply it to the place you want to look leathery. sounds gross, but it might work lol...

[mickbench]

Some more updates on the Nissan 300ZX. I’ve done a lot of detail painting, priming etc but no actual building yet. The only parts I’ve stuck together thus far is the engine block so as I could spray with Alclad II Aluminum.



I’ve sprayed parts of the exhaust Aluminum and the pipes are done in Alcad II burnt metal. Has some hints of gold, and once I’ve done some silver dry brushing should look pretty nice. The back boxes I’m doing a mix of X 11 and X 10 to mix up a type of darker metal looking silver. I’ll do the tips Alclad II chrome, if I can mask it off correctly..



I’ve also done the rear light cluster. A little tricky, some thinned down black helped to allow the paint to run around the outline, and I then just filled in the spaces. Looks a lot better then I had hoped for. Body still needs trimming with black, and then panel lines in black.



Lots of smaller parts have been sprayed and then detailed. I dry brushed the springs with X 11 silver, and then just washed them with black ink.. It was a hell of lot faster and easier then attempting to pick the springs out using a small brush. I’ve also dry brushed the dash in places. Underchassis needs trimming with black. Need to also wash the engine block and then small areas to be dry brushed with silver. And I also did something with the seats. I wasn't about to start rubbng my face all over the plastic to make it look like leather, so used some good old cooking oil on a rag.. Came up a treat, but I'm not sure if it will wear off over time..



That’s it for now. Soon be able to start some assembly.

[freakmech]

hey Mick,

your builds continue to improve and your showing alot more detail. congrats! looks like your going to be around for quit awhile, kudos!
keep up the great work, maybe i need to pull out my old 300 and finish it. it was the first body i ever airbrushed, i think 3 years ago. wasnt happy but 3 year old paint must buff out nicely thanks for the inspiration.

[mickbench]

I was hoping to have much better updates of this build today; however total disasters, but thankfully not with the model, but with one of the household appliances. Instead of working on my model today, I’ve spent the best part of today attempting to get a washing machine to wash my work clothes. Damn washer /dryers..!!

Anyhow, managed to take some outside pictures today, before I had to hightail it off to my brothers house to get my washing done, so enjoy… Sorry they are not much, but it’s progress.

Front lights have been detailed with flat black.





Underchassis has parts dry fitted to see how it all looks.. Body colour looks a little more cherry in the picture, can’t think why, as it’s not actually that bright.. Exhaust is a mix of burnt metals with smoke over the top, and x10 – x 11 mix, with chrome tips. Did the chrome tips with black in the ends, done some testing fitting.. Not looking to bad.





And for the engine.. It’s not completed yet, but I’ve used Alclad paints, and detailed the manifolds with burnt metal and enamel smoke. Washed and dry brushed to look slightly used, as I don’t think any engine is 100% clean apart from the parts you can easily see. The blocks I think are mostly grimy, even from new.







Was hoping to have the cam covers, and engine top parts done with polished alclad today, but that wasn’t to be.

And the interior has been glued together, apart from the dash. Was also hoping to have this done today..





That is it.. Won’t get much done for the next few days.. I’ve got to buy, fit and then remove washing machines…!! There goes my new compressor.. Thank you very much Hotpoint..!! Grumble grumble..!!

[Captain Mark]

Excellent work in all areas!

[mickbench]

Got some more done on the 300ZX engine and at first I thought it looked really good. But I’m not sure if I’ve over done the engine being run look..!! I was going for a slightly used look, as I don’t think any engine looks 100% spit polish clean not even from new. I’ve seen new engines, I’ve just brought a brand new from the factory car, and it was anything but highly polished when I got it.. A bit like this really..

Comments please, anyone..? I would like to know if I’m getting this right, as I’m still a rookie..












I used Alclad II aluminum and polished aluminums, with burnt metal Alclad II for the manifolds covered with enamal smokes, X 18 enamels for the bottom of the block, with acrylic blacks for the belts etc. Used enamel metal cote for the small silver parts on the belt areas.

Don't worry about the join seem, this won't be seen once installed in the engine bay.

[klutz_100]

It's a little work of art!
If you wanted a "straight from the showroom" look than iI would agree with you that maybe it looks a bit more used than that. But on the other hand, you've got a beautifully weathered engine first time - just move your goal posts to "2 weeks after I drove it from the showroom" and you're rocking!