Audi R8 Ultra (Studio 27)

[sam01contact]

I am glad to share with you my latest project: The Audi R8 Ultra from Studio 27. The real car raced in 2013 in the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps, and it was prepared by Belgian Audi Club.





A lot of Audis raced that day, but it was the #2 that really caught my eye. When Studio 27 announced the #2 R8 Ultra kit, I knew I had to build it.



With this Studio 27 kit, you get a nice, well proportioned body.







The decal sheets are also very good, but the rest of the kit is another story. There is almost no detail in the kit pieces, and the detail you get is very rough or incorrect.



You only get the superior part of the engine molded in the chasis



After studying in detail the kit and my photo references, I decided to add all the detail I could to the model. The way the Studio 27 kit is produced makes very hard to do an accurate model in some areas, but with some effort you can get a good result.

First, I put the body over the chassis to define the contact places I must observe to mantain a good fit after adding detail







I will use Revell´s Audi R8 Spyder kit to obtain some detail pieces, specially for the chassis and engine



I will use some sections of the Revell chassis to add detail to the Studio 27 kit, wich is completely plain



Following my references, I cut the chassis sections I need. I built some pieces from styrene



I define the position for the new pieces in the Studio 27 chassis



The engine molded in the Studio 27 kit is wrong. It is a V8 engine when it should be a V10 unit. The Revell Spyder engine is a more accurate option

I cut the molded engine from the chassis. The entire engine area will be built to get acceptable detail



I build the engine area floor with styrene. I put the rear diffuser in place to make sure the fit is OK



I check the fit of the new pieces in the chassis. I put the body in place to take a look at the detail





At this time, I check again the fit and detail of all the pieces. This will give me the opportunity to preview more details



My objective is to build an acceptable engine area. To know the space I have to work, I do a quick mock up of Revell´s V10 engine and put it in place (Side exhausts are wrong for the R8 Ultra. Later I will build the correct exhaust configuration)





Once I checked the existing space between the engine and the side and rear panels, I begin to build the engine structures. At this time I add some detail to the engine area panels



I put the body in place constantly to be sure no detail interferes with it



I build the bars that connect the side structures with the chassis





I begin to add some plumbing, checking in advance the position of tanks, hoses and cables



When you build multimedia kits it is very important to check the fit of all parts constantly. At this time I put again the body in place to check the fit of the new parts



I put the engine in place to be sure everything looks OK. Later, I will add rivets and soldering details to the structures





That´s all for the moment! There are a lot of details I want to add to this one, and many of them won´t be visible after the body is permanently glued in place, but I am having a great time with this project!

Thanks for watching!

[88Porsche944]

Lookin' good Sam. Will follow this one.

Trevor

[firun]

Wow-wow, that's what I like in model building! That's a great start.

[lovegt40]

great job as usual Sam. The car is really nice and deserves such big work. will follow closely

[is200_adelaide]

Yes! I've been waiting for you to start this since you finished the McLaren!

[rallymaster]

oh yes, I suspect a new master piece !!
will follow it closely

[da_ashman]

Cant wait to see more! Thought you learnt your lession with your last S27 kit (919 Porsche)

[karambolis8]

I guess Studio27 kit costs small fortune... Too bad they didn't detail it more.

[jaykay640]

Nice start on an ambitious project!
The engine missing 2 cylinders is spot on Studio27. No words!

[airmaster]

still waiting the R8 LMS in plastic kit.... meanwhile i will learn from your work, maybe finding something useful to work my Revell's R8 kit

[indy1977tx]

Wow, this is a great start. This got interesting fast! Looking forward to watching the updates of this build.

Jordan

[circuitR]

Wow amazing work. Disappointed in Studio 27 at getting the basics like engine wrong.

[Borjacho]

I recognize this feeling with Studio27. All looks perfect when you open the box and say to yourself... OK, this will be an easy project “direct from the box”, but when you take a more in detail look to reference pictures, a terrible headache appears, as you need to change more or less the 75% of the kit to get some accuracy

Anyway, your work up to this moment is really fantastic, and the mechanical part integration is “to take notes”

[gtziaf]

Super start. Love it from the beginning

[BVC500]

A lot of work! Can't wait to see more.