Tamiya 1/24 HONDA CR-X 1.5i Ballade Sports

[360spider]

Wanted to build a quick one, but maybe do a little more than just a box stock this time. I have a large collection of unbuilt kits, so picking the next one is always a challenge. this time I chose a little Japanese rocket from the 80s - The CRX! the kit itself is rather rare nowadays original release - first pressing brought into States by MRC!

IMG_0858 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0859 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Number 40 in Tamiya catalogue, made in 1982 according to the date on the decal sheet (yikes!). Decals look fine, but we'll see how they hold up.

IMG_0862 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0861 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

The kit itself is very typical for the kits from the 80s - very charismatic. Look at it - you open the box and can smell that old cardboard, crinkly wraps, yellowed instruction sheet. And what a drawing on the front of it!**

IMG_0863 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Moulding quality seems a bit better than Revell
IMG_0860 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

I also have this small decal sheet that I plan to use on the seats:

IMG_0873 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

The kit was purchased years ago on eBay, and made it to my with some damage - the roof was pushed in and bent one of the A-pillars:

IMG_0856 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0857 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Carefully not to break old brittle plastic, I have bent it back into shape in boiling water:
IMG_0864 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0866 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

To check it I test fitted the glass and it seemed to fit fine:

IMG_0867 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

And I couldn't resist mocking it up with the wheels*
IMG_0871 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

[potsie]

Thisis such a cool little kit and I know you will do it justice. Looking forward to seeing progress!

[360spider]

Originally Posted by potsie

Thisis such a cool little kit and I know you will do it justice. Looking forward to seeing progress!

Thanks, I'll do my best!

I wanted to paint the car in Capital blue - a dark, almost violet shade of blue that Honda offered starting in 1985.

DSC02964 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

The problem was - I didn't have the paint, and with all the local stores closed, I wasn't willing to wait for it to be delivered. Sooo, I decided to mix my own. TS15 & TS8 in 3:1 proportion.

IMG_0876 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Painted a spoon to see how the color would look - was very satisfied with the result.

IMG_0900 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Prepped the body, re-scribed panel lines, gave it a coat of white Tamiya primer, and painted the lower portion in MM magnesium silver.

IMG_0883 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0881 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Then the lower portion was masked off, and I laid couple of coats of clue paint:

IMG_0885 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0888 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Followed by 2 coats of clear:

IMG_0890 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0892 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0893 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0896 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Turned out great.

[360spider]

Painted the trim on the body, painted the shell flat black inside, did all the trim and decals. Decals were old and started crumbling, so had to transfer the first one in pieces, then sprayed some Microscale decal film on the rest - went on a bit easier.

IMG_0988 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0989 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0996 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0994 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Funny how the color changes depending on lights. Under fluorescent lamp it looks almost purple!

Then I moved to the chassis and interior. Spent couple of hours cleaning all the parts from mold lines and little imperfections:

IMG_0912 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Painted all the little bits in the base colors:

IMG_0933 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Chassis plate was painted black and then sprayed with some flat clear to give it some depth/texture:

IMG_0938 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

The I ddi some detail painting and dry brush on the suspension parts:

IMG_0942 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Assembled front suspension:

IMG_0945 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Rear:

IMG_0948 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

And entire chassis ready:

IMG_0952 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0950 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

[360spider]

Next was the interior - and this is where I wanted to make some changes to the old kit.

Interior tub was cleaned and ejector holes filled:

IMG_0911 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

A quick coat of primer to check:

IMG_0913 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Back to sanding!*

Kit sets had no backs, so they were filled with some putty and sanded smooth.

IMG_0909 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

The rest of the seats was cleaned up:

IMG_0910 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

The rear jump seat folds down in the real car to make the flat cargo area, so I wanted to replicate the on the model. I drilled holes in the bottom of the interior tub, and inserted small pins to serve as pivots:

IMG_0922 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

I also drilled holes in the seat:

IMG_0921 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

After painting, I would just mount the seat, slide in the pins, and secure them with the glue.

IMG_0920 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

But the seat worked fine and stayed in the position:

IMG_0917 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0916 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0919 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Rear cargo area is really open and can be easily seen through the rear window, so I wanted some nice carpet there. But first I needed to make a template:

IMG_0915 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

I had this nice blue MFH self-adhesive carpet that I decided to use for the job:

IMG_0923 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Using my template, I cut the carpet:

IMG_0924 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Then everything was painted in a custom mix of blues of XF18:XF8 in 3:1 proportion.

Untitled by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0926 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Made templates for the seats, and cut the decals out. The tiny sheet I used was meant to do nails, so it was barely enough!

IMG_0929 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Decals applied to the seats:

IMG_0936 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

With lots of Microsol they conformed fine, but were too shiny. Gave it a good coat of flat clear to dull it up a bit:

IMG_0955 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Then I detail painted the dashboard and all other small interior pieces:

IMG_0959 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0958 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0960 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

And mocked-up the interior:

IMG_0966 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0967 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0964 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0961 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Now it was time to apply the carpet:

IMG_0925 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0969 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0973 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Unfortunately, my template was not precise, and it wouldn't let the seat fully fold when the back piece of the carpet was glued to the seat back. I have re-done it later, but didn't take the pix!

IMG_0975 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

The rest of the interior was assembled together, also made some carpets for the front to cover the holes in the interior tub:

IMG_0986 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0981 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0980 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

[360spider]

The wheels were treated to some black wash, and assembled:

IMG_1009 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Test fitting chassis and interior together:

IMG_1003 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_1002 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_1001 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_0999 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Looks good!

Rear lights and front blinkers were painted:

IMG_1007 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

And rear end assembled:

IMG_1031 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

Front assembled as well:

IMG_1030 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

And its DONE!

IMG_1017 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_1020 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_1014 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_1012 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_1021 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

IMG_1027 by Italian Horses, on Flickr

[potsie]

Wow.

Just... Wow!

Absolutely superb model and a great source of inspiration on what can be achieved without going too overboard on modifications. Lovely.

[360spider]

Originally Posted by potsie

Wow.

Just... Wow!

Absolutely superb model and a great source of inspiration on what can be achieved without going too overboard on modifications. Lovely.

Thank you! This was a goal - built it mostly box stock to see what an older Tamiya kit can look like with minimal additions.

[MPWR]

What a cool little Honda! Awesome build, it looks fantastic. Fun to see these Tamiya classics built up.

I don't know that I've ever heard of boiling water being successfully used to correct a bent body. (I've certainly heard people suggesting it, but but you're the first builder I'm aware of that has said, yes I did it and it worked.) How did you go about it? Boil a pot of water on the stove, then dip the body in? How difficult did you find it? How soft did the plastic get? I have Tamiya's old Audi Quattro kit with a badly bent body. I'm not very hopeful that I could get another through Tamiya parts replacement. Suddenly you have me curious if it could be corrected, or at least improved.

The plaid seats are a great touch. Where did you find the decal?

[360spider]

Originally Posted by MPWR

What a cool little Honda! Awesome build, it looks fantastic. Fun to see these Tamiya classics built up.

I don't know that I've ever heard of boiling water being successfully used to correct a bent body. (I've certainly heard people suggesting it, but but you're the first builder I'm aware of that has said, yes I did it and it worked.) How did you go about it? Boil a pot of water on the stove, then dip the body in? How difficult did you find it? How soft did the plastic get? I have Tamiya's old Audi Quattro kit with a badly bent body. I'm not very hopeful that I could get another through Tamiya parts replacement. Suddenly you have me curious if it could be corrected, or at least improved.

The plaid seats are a great touch. Where did you find the decal?

In essense - yes, I boil some water in the kettle, pick a bowl that is a good size, pour some hot water there, dip the boy in it for maybe 5-10 seconds, then pull it out and bend the piece I need fixed back into shape and hold it until plastic cools (5 seconds or so). Then check, repeat. It might take a few dips, keep the water hot. Eventually plastic will take its shape.

Thanks! Got decal off eBay, apparently this is a decal for doing nail designs.

Posted some final pictures in Completed section for this one:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul....php?t=1155747