1993 Nissan Skyline GT-R r33

[Marianitem]

This one is a Fujimi curbside kit for the GT-R r33, the first one of my GT-R history collection I´m building. I chose my favorite color for this one: an atempt of "Midnight Purple". More on later.

Kit overall is OK, with almost no fitting issues. Front left roof pillar came a little bent. Front bumper link to sprue was located at a very bad position, making it difficult to cut without damage, but as it was my fault for being anxious, i did not want to fix it too much, just to keep it as a reminder. Also many links to the sprue are really big so you have to work a lot after removing from them. I don´t have many pics of this work, as I met this forum after a lot of work on this one.

I´ve finished a poorly build of the interior, which I think I´ll be re-painting and adding floor mats, fur to door panels and stuff, just to match the body finish.

I´ve already gave the body about 7 AB´ed enamel coats. Just to mention the last 4 they were 2 base coats of enamel purple with a bit of silver, and the last 2 were a mix of Humbrol #68 purple with Humbrol #52 metallic baltic blue on turpentine. I love the color that I got from this final coat so I´ll not be spraying any more color on this one.





Please look at the texture of the paint. It is not as grainy as I usually get it, but I can´t sand it due to metallic paint. I also have a few dust particles, maybe not really noticeable. Should I apply many mist coats of clear so I can sand and polish? I cannot risk rubbing thru clear as it will ruin the color. I´m sure I wouñd throu it thru the window if that happens as I´ve already done too much on this body to get the right color.
For the same reason, should I use acrylic X22 clear or Humbrol clear gloss cote enamel? Acrylic seems more user friendly, but maybe too soft to polish safely, and enamel takes a lifetime to dry and it always stays sticky. I´m afraid wetsanding a sticky surface should never be a good idea. I also have RustOleum Laquer spraycan, but I was told not to apply over enamel.
Also, would it help the drying process to keep the clear-sprayed body in a box with holes near a dry-heat source? Would that shorten the drying time, or solve the "always sticky" issue?

Thx in advance for any tips/comments.

[Marianitem]

To the moderator: I accidentaly opened this thread here instead of "WIP - Street". Would be great if you can move it, or let me know if I have to re-post (please don´t clean it in that case). Thx

[Chieflongshin]

That colour looks familiar....







This was my first model too before trying a 32 and 34. Good luck and enjoy building.I found with the R33 the colour was hard to do also and i struggled with the sanding back processes. There are some really good tutorials on here about sanding back. ( Have a look for a recent WIP about a porsche 924. Thats very good!)

Sorry for the slight hijack

[Marianitem]

Nice addition to my thread XD. Is that 33 the white box Fujimi kit? That makes me think of lowering it a bit.
C'mon, you also built the silver z-tune? At least my 32 it's gonna be gun metal I will check on the 924, thx.

As there is to much metallic paint here I will clear it as it is with many mist coats. Then I will have to sand back a lot, but don't want to risk the color.

[Chieflongshin]

Yeah I built all three of them. The z tune was the last one as i began to get a little better at it again.

The 33 is a tamiya kit, went together very nicely.

[Marianitem]

Originally Posted by Chieflongshin

Yeah I built all three of them. The z tune was the last one as i began to get a little better at it again.

The 33 is a tamiya kit, went together very nicely.

What kind of finishing process did you use on each of them? I mean color/polishing, or color/clear/polishing, or color/clear, or well, other.
The color looks quite the same. What did you use?

[Chieflongshin]

I think for the purple one i just used a tamiya purple and lightened it out with a metallic silver.

In regards to my painting process i'm a big time learner on this. That purple skyline was a straight prime and paint with no clear or polish.

As i worked through to the ztune i was priming, painting, clearing and then doing a little buff of the colour.

I'm trying to get my head around the wet sanding and that as of late with recent models.

Still learning...

[luchoteam]

Nice work marian!! suscribed to see more news

[Chieflongshin]

Any updates on this one?

[Marianitem]

Not much really, as I had too much time at work. Here goes some info for the fans :P

I gave it 4 mist coats of clear using RUST OLEUM´s LAQUER. Yeah, that crappy rattle can can be used safely over enamel. I made a "spoon test" and nothing bad happened so I gave it a try on the body. Anyway I still have to give it a couple more before I start polishing. I really want to have the paint coat protected as there are many metallic components and different tones of colour on each layer. I CANNOT rub thru on this one. I polished the upper rear wing and it looks fantastic, so I expect to have the whole body looking good.
I also considered redoing the interior/chassis as now it looks too simple compared to the work on the body. Some extra ABing, floor mats, seatbelts, not big deal. I really lack of time right now.
Pics as soon as I polish.

[Chieflongshin]

I know feeling with time. Had to post though as i love the skyline builds, just purchased a mcr racing ( i think it is off top of my head ) skyline r34 and a veilside r32 which should look a little like this i believe.

[Marianitem]

Both will look great! I really like that 32, but doesn´t look like the Veilside kit I know.

I was trying to use polishing sticks on my R33. I thought that 4 mist coats of clear were enough not to rub thru. I was wrong. Now I have to start OVER AGAIN. I´m really dissapointed...

[Chieflongshin]

You are totally right. I'm being thick, its this one but i was using the blue as a colour inspiration.

http://carmodelingcorner.com/BuiltKi...ine_Combat.htm

[Marianitem]

As I rubbed thru the clear in some minor spots, the metallic finish turned out weird, unacceptable. I decided to give this one another shot of paint over the clear, to fix those spots and to try a new mix. It´s been an hour since the spray and no problems so far. I´ve used a 3:2 mix of Humbrol 52 Metallic Baltic Blue + Humbrol 51 Metallic Sunset Red, thinned to +-33% with turpentine and high air pressure. BTW, it was sprayed over RustOleum´s Laquer.
Here are the results of the spray:









The little dusty bits are really loose, and some of them were easily removed. I have faith on this one

I´m loving the color. It looks much better than the previous one, less toyish, more serious. Pics were taken with a 5mp Milestone 2 camera, so they don´t make justice to the real thing. Anyway, they give you an idea of what is looking like. I will leave it for a couple of days on the open air hoping that it helps the curing process. Then I will store it somewhere and forget about it for a month. Finally it will be clear coated thick to make sure this color coat doesn´t suffer any more. I don´t really want to see any more purple paint for a couple of months (I´ve been painting this one for more than a year with troubles, and my stupidity as a catalyst).
There are some little flaws, even some molding lines, but I started this project long before knowing AF so many mistakes were made on the first steps. Anyway I just want to finish it and step up.

This was meant to be a quick build so the interior and chassis will be really simple, instructions-like. I learned a lot since I started this one, but I will just fix some paint issues on the interior and keep it simple. As soon as I get the retouched interior I´ll post some pics.

C&C welcome. Thx for looking.

[Marianitem]

Quick update:
I retouched the interior paint with a new shade of grey, AB´ed (it was brushpainted before with an ugly military green-grey). Added seatbelt buckets, and will add belts as I install the window´s clear part.



And a little mockup of what it looks like today.





It´s a pitty that Fujimi didn´t make bigger "inner wheel well".

Body will be cleared this week/weekend and will have to wait several days to be polished. Once cleared and black trimmed I´ll see if I lower the suspension a bit. I don´t like the actual stance

Decals and metal transfer logos will be added after polishing the clear.

Thx for following and comments, and sorry for the cell pics. It´s 2:30 AM and I don´t have the camera batteries charged