Lamborghini Diablo VT (The Dark Shark)

[Ferrari TR]

Fujimi Lamborghini Diablo VT kit.
Crisply molded ABS body, with opening doors and a simple engine insert.
I'm not going to go crazy with this one (famous last words), I'm just going to add a little detail to the interior and engine.

The body parts have plenty of sink marks, but the fit is very good, though i did have to sand the top of the front bumper to get it to fit onto the body right. I really like Tamiya basic putty, which is good as i had to use it quite a bit.

The interior is crisp with an interesting and useful separation in the dash assy
though this requires careful sanding for a proper fit.

The engine insert is only 2 parts and lacks the central engine cover seen on most diablos. The plating on the intake is quite tough and has so far resisted every normal stripper i've tried on it.

[da_ashman]

Looking good so far

[countach79]

Awsome! another lambo in the making

good start, what colour are you looking at? i will guess a darker colour judging by your topic title " dark shark"

[Ferrari TR]

Primed body. The primer went on a little rough in the near record heat.

The interior is gonna be RED. The paint came out way glossy, i'll try to get the right sheen with a coat of semi-gloss lacquer.

The Engine insert is wearing a coat of chassis black, which is just a bit flatter than the molded plastic color.

There's more coming, The body is going to be dark grey metallic, the interior is getting seatbelt anchors and an E-brake lever and the chassis is primed. I just realized that there are no shocks or springs. I'm going to have to decide if it's worth it for the trouble of scratching up some. We'll see...

[Ferrari TR]

Some painting.

Exterior and interior colors. Just a little CC paint left, Testors little bottle enamel (these were 15 cents when i was a kid lol).

The plated parts are finally 'nude', it took a bit of time for the 'scrubbing bubbles' to get the matt chrome off.

Body color (cleared too) on the edge of the chassis.

Interior color. They still need a coat of semi gloss clear to knock down the shine.

The primer on the body needs to be lightly sanded. I may add a black base under the metallic color coat. I want to get color on the body right now, but i also want the prep to be right first.

[da_ashman]

Nice work, Girgio Avalon is an awesome grey metallic colour, should look really awesome!! I have a customer whos modified his Diablo Roadster some what, he changed the interior to cream & lime Green accents, terrible. But man they have big dash boards.

[Ferrari TR]

Rims are important, right?
I'm not a fan of the early Diablo OZ's, but i don't have a Murcielago around to donate its rims either so, kit rims with black centers it is.


First a coat of gloss black Testors enamel. Masked with a circle cut out of tape just a bit smaller then the center with some liquid mask brushed on to define the edge before a coat of Alclad II polished aluminum was applied.


The painted rim next to its BIG brother. It still needs the logo badges and chrome lug nuts but you get the idea.

Speaking of logo badges...


I checked the logo badge sticker size and found it to be just a bit larger than the kit supplied decal. So i sanded and filled the kits raised and recessed badge location.

I've also added the front bumper and rear valance to the body and puttied, sanded and primed the seams. With a little sanding and maybe some primer touch-up the body will have color on it very soon.

[gtziaf]

Nice Start...
Good luck until the end

[TRBJ]

nice rims man... very nice rims... btw what chemical did you used to strip the platings? thx..

[Ferrari TR]

I stripped the chrome with Dow bathroom cleaner "the scrubbing bubbles". It didn't work very well, it took a very long time, it did work though. I foolishly left the few remaining 'chrome' parts out of the process and since i used the last of the bathroom cleaner for its intended purpose, i'm going with Easy Off oven cleaner for the rest.

[Ferrari TR]

Some test fitting before the color goes on.
With the rear glass in place i tested the fit of the engine cover with all the guts in the same place. Not going well so far.

With about 3mm of space in the middle a little adjustment is called for.

Too many little things to list, the engine cover didn't close, a small trim piece mounted on the engine got modded a bit to fix that. The sanding and fitting started at the roofline and i worked my way down. The only surprises to me came when i got close to the fit i wanted and found the rear side windows were pushing the body sides out. More sanding then i expected to adjust the fit there. I may still sand a bit off the bottom of the interior tub, after all it is better to have the chassis in too far than out too far.

[Ferrari TR]

All that test fitting and modifying did cause a little damage. It is much better to find weak points before the paint is on though.



"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it."

[Ferrari TR]

Well, I finally got a coat of color on the body. Its too hot and dry for a second so that will have to wait for tomorrow morning.
Some progress on the rest, the engine insert part one. First, the half-way point and then completed. Lots of colors and finishes a bit of cig pack foil and even a couple of teeny strips of BMF matt al.



Part two: The intake, coming soon.

[countach79]

nice progress!

[MidMazar]

Originally Posted by Ferrari TR

It is much better to find weak points before the paint is on though.

But tend to sometimes omit this step. I really like the progress, keep us posted.