Lexus LFA

[Scale-Master]

I have been wanting to build this since I picked it up last year at the LBGP from Tamiya, but needed to get some things in order (finished), and decide on a color. I decided last night…

The body is very thin and crisply molded. I spent about 2-3 hours cleaning up the delicate mold lines on all the body and wing parts. Primed it with Tamiya fine white primer and put a base coat of TS-45 Pearl White down.

I found a non-pearl white (at least is does not look pearl in the photos) version with a carbon fiber top and rear wing that looks sharp to me. I used ScaleMotorSports Hi-Def decals (1/20 scale to make the pattern a bit more pronounced).

Once the decal had dried, I clear coated it.

[countach79]

looks great so far!

i like the slightly larger carbon decals, it can be seen alot better

[andybmw7272]

Yep Mark, it is going to be good to see what you can do with this one.
Should be good to see!
Can't wait to see you put your spin on it.
Subscribed!
Andy

[nugundam93]

nice idea on using bigger-scale CF decals. it definitely looks striking with the clearcoat under the sun.

[Scale-Master]

I drilled out the rotors with a pin vise. Still doing a little clean up with a reamer…

[ll Brandon ll]

That CF on the roof looks awesome! I really like this car. Probably one of the most beautiful cars out right now, imo. I look forward to seeing what you have in store for this bad boy.

[Scale-Master]

The exhaust is called out to be assembled after being fed through the rear cross member leaving a seam to be dealt with on one of the exhaust pipes. But if you only cement the pipe together (see seam on lower pipe about a third of the way in front of the muffler) and do not cement them together just behind the catalytic converters, you can squeeze them though the cross member after fully finish painting them.


Bottom of the engine and the transaxle assemblies…

Driveline and exhaust assembled.

[MidMazar]

Looking good and i think the cf roof is going to look killer.

[wrx_triggerhappy]

Gorgeous work so far. I bought the LFA kit as well though I keep holding off on building it. The CF on the roof is such a great touch. Can't wait to see more!

[Scale-Master]

I thought flocking would look too coarse so I mixed up some textured paint to use for the red carpeted areas.


The rear suspension is almost done, just waiting for the calipers to dry… This is the top view which will be basically hidden once installed into the chassis.

[crisjr]

Great progress so far!!.. i'm also working on a LFA, with a different color combo (interior and exterior) the Tamiya LFA fitment is pretty good.. i'm just concerned about the polishment on the very thin body, as i use automotive paint i have to push a little more harder to sand and polish.

do you use automotive paint as well?

[Scale-Master]

Thanks. Yes I do use automotive paints, but the only for the clear on this one. Tamiya lacquers for the color. And I am going very thin and hoping to not have to do much, if any, sanding.

[ll Brandon ll]

What do you use for that textured paint? I have yet to use the flocking, but Ive always thought it looked a little too textured if that makes any sense. Also, your paint work on the engine looks so smooth. How do you make it look like that? Is it air brushed?

[Scale-Master]

For the textured "carpet", I mixed talcum powder into red enamel and added a little silver too, and airbrushed it.

As for the engine painting, I spray the base color then hand paint the details and washes. Part of the trick is to let everything dry, don't rush, otherwise you can pull up some of the older paint and lose the crispness.

[auw12]

I don't like this car at all but I really adore your works, as always! Good luck!