Yet another Tamiya Aston Martin DBS

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

This is the second one for me, the first one was done for an article that will be in the October issue of Scale Auto. It's a typical "shake and bake" Tamiya kit with no real worries. I enjoyed the first one, so this one should be even more fun.

I custom mixed the paint; I was going to shoot it Tamiya TS Pearl Light Blue, but a friend told me he was painting his DBS that colour so I figured I'd modify it a bit. This is a decanted mixture of about 2/3 Tamiya Pearl Light Blue with the other 1/3 being made up of Pearl Light Green (didn't make much difference), Mica Blue (darkened it), and Metallic Green (warmed up the colour a lot). I like this shade, looks like a Mediterranean blue. The actual colour is a little lighter than it appears on the screen. I also shot a couple light coats of transparent blue over it before clear, but it didn't really do much but make the color a bit richer. This one will have an off-white interior w/either very dark teal or black accents (carpet, dash, seat & door panel inserts). It will look a lot different than the Ferrari F1 red version w/brown leather that I built previously.

Wheels are Scale Production 20" BBS Challenge wheels, tires are the Pegasus/Tamiya Michelin Pilots stretched to fit. Glad to find out these tires are still available. The kit tires are too thick...these are much better, and if you use Tamiya Enzo front tires (or four from an R-34 GTR Z Spec) on the stock rims you'll have a much better look.

The wheel paint is new; the resin was primed w/Tamiya fine gray primer, then shot w/the new Spaz Stix black base and Mirror Chrome. Great stuff! I didn't do one bit of wetsanding or polishing of the undercoats. This is a perfect polished aluminum look. I will be trying this on some bumpers soon, with the right prep work it should be pretty amazing. I like it much more than Alclad...it sticks really well, no need for enamel. The black base is evil on plastic, though...it etched a spoon pretty bad. Didn't touch resin...but I'd suggest Tamiya TS gloss black for the undercoat on styrene.

[countach79]

Nice! thats a real nice colour!

[BVC500]

Nice color, Bob. Not sure I like the wheels on this application...I would go with Hobby Design's 20 inch wheels (the optional wheels on the DBS).

Also, when you're mixing and matching tires, are you getting the same tread? I've been having trouble finding the right size front and rear tires for my Revell SuperAmerica wheels that I'm going to put on my 360 spider.

We need a manufacturer to create just tires!

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Originally Posted by BVC500

Nice color, Bob. Not sure I like the wheels on this application...I would go with Hobby Design's 20 inch wheels (the optional wheels on the DBS).

Also, when you're mixing and matching tires, are you getting the same tread? I've been having trouble finding the right size front and rear tires for my Revell SuperAmerica wheels that I'm going to put on my 360 spider.

We need a manufacturer to create just tires!

The Pegasus-packaged Tamiya Michelin Pilots match very nicely front to back. They're sourced from the 350Z kit. I wish they'd also offer the Enzo front tires. Some of the aftermarket guys have recast the Enzo tires (like the Geronimoworks wheels I have).

I like the wheels on this car. I have some of the Hobby Design wheels, they do look good on it, but I like mixing & matching for a unique appearance. The Hobby Design wheels will look good on other models...I'm thinking perhaps the Fujimi Ferrari 458, I don't like the look of the model sitting nose-high with the oversized wheels in that kit. They look similar to 430 Scud wheels. The large 458 wheels and clunky tires may look perfectly good on a Revell California...the wheel openings on it are so big and the back end of the car is so friggin' massive that even these 20" Challenge wheels look a bit small.

BTW, Hobby Design Aston wheels are far inferior in quality/surface finish to Scale Production BBS wheels. Not even close. The SP wheels are gorgeous and clean. Everything in resin I've seen from HD seems a bit rough around the edges, and the 599XX transkit parts are undersized.

[BVC500]

Hmm, all of Hobby Design's wheels that I have (California, LP640, BBS) look nice in appearance to me, and I've only had to clean up the California wheels a little, but I have not yet primed or painted any of them yet. Thanks for the heads up re: surface finish of the wheels.