Dodge Viper GTS-R (now with finished pics)

[Steve Gibbins]

This is the latest kit I have just started work on. It's the Studio 27 kit of the class winning Viper GTS-R from Le Mans 2000. It's a mostly resin kit with photo-etch parts, white metal and some excellent aluminium wheels. The resin body is very crisply moulded and needs hardly any cleaning up before painting can be started. I have stuck on the rear diffuser and the front splitter, but that is all so far. This can now be sprayed black with a blue interior and then carbon fibre decal added to the diffuser and splitter later. We had a phone call from Guiddy yesterday, he's found me a copy of a review of this kit in Austrailia in a magazine, he thinks it will be quite helpful, especially as the instructions are a little vague, he's going to post it to me, so until that arrives I probably won't do too much more to the kit. I intend to keep you guys posted on the progress of this kit so keep watching.

Steve

[Jay!]

What magazine is it? Scale Auto did a review of that kit a few months ago, I think.

And will this one be changed to the 1998 car, too?

[Marco_Wrc]

Just a question for everybody.

I can imagine that models getting more detailed every year. But, is there a big difference in quality and detail de last two years?

Or let me ask it this way, if i buy a model from 1998, will it be as good as a model from 2001? (i'm talking about tamiya models), but what about other manufacturers?

Could someone give me a little bit more info about this?

[Steve Gibbins]

Jay,

In a word, no. It's going to stay as the 2000 car and sit alongside the corvette from the same race, pics of the vette at the weekend for you (hopefully). As for the magazine, yes I think it is scale auto.

Marco,

The only older and brand new kits that I have are Tamiya which have always been good, but the recent kits do seem to have even more detail in and the mouldings seem a little clearer with less moulding lines that have to be removed, I just wish they would start to use a little bit of photo-etch in their kits.

Steve

[primera man]

Originally posted by Marco_Wrc
Just a question for everybody.

I can imagine that models getting more detailed every year. But, is there a big difference in quality and detail de last two years?

Or let me ask it this way, if i buy a model from 1998, will it be as good as a model from 2001? (i'm talking about tamiya models), but what about other manufacturers?

Could someone give me a little bit more info about this?

Tamiya have always put out a good quality kit. Revell and the others are starting to get better but still have a long way to go IMO to match a Tamiya kit.
You will find most kits from Japan are pretty good

[Guiddy]

Let me know when you get the magazine article Steve!

[Steve Gibbins]

Not much to show yet, but just a quick progress report.
Now that Guiddy's magazine article has arrived I have a better idea of how this kit goes together and the problems I may encounter with it. The main chassis/floorpan has been painted blue, then masked up and the black painted as well. The seat has been painted ready for adding seatbelts (pic later) so now I will concentrate on getting some primer and filler on the body and then carrying on with the interior while the filler goes off.



Hopefully a lot more progress over the weekend, more later.

Steve

[G-Forces]

Originally posted by primera man


Tamiya have always put out a good quality kit.

Maybe for their time. I broke out the old Tamiya NSX today to get started and I noticed the quality isn't really up to par with say the Porsche GT3 I just got. Not to say that it's bad, just a noticable quality difference.

[Jay!]

Remember, though, that old kits use old molds, and the molds were out eventually. So you can expect more flash, etc. from an older kit... especially these Tamiya re-issues like the R32 and NSX (and NSX-R.)

[Twist]

Can some one tell me the difference in modelling with resin and plastic? I know the physical differences, but do you still glue/paint/cut the same. It's obvious you can't use plastic cement, but can some one be more specific.

Street rod version of the S15 Silvia. Body molded in off white. Interior and chassis molded in silver. White metal and resin parts are included for the aero skirts and detail.. Wheels turn after assembly.

I have this kit ordered from HLJ and am just curious as to what all that means. Don't worry I'm not going to put it together any time soon. I just wanted to get it and hold on to it until my modeling skills caught up. Odds are I won't even get it because it is an old limited-production item that is a one-time release from Fujimi.

[Jay!]

Start reading the rec.model.scale FAQ for now:
http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/model.../rmsfaq.1.html

We'll be posting a more AF-specific FAQ soon.

(Now back to Steve's GTS-R )

[Steve Gibbins]

(Now back to Steve's GTS-R )

Thanks Jay

[Jay!]

So, back on-topic, is the chassis of the Viper resin, too? I haven't worked with resin yet...

[modelfan1]

Resin plastic is a two part liquid that catalyzes when mixed together.
It is very brittle and when sanded it makes a fine dust,so use a mask of some kind.
Regular styrene cement won't work,use super glue or an epoxy glue!
Resin takes any kind of paint even automotive lacquers won't hurt the plastic !
Look out for "pin holes" in the resin they are air bubbles created when the resin cures,resin that is catylyzed under pressure is mostly free of pin holes depending on how long it was cured.
If there are pin holes sanding will remove some but more are below the surface and invisible until you put the primer on or even color coats will show more pin holes
A well made resin body for example will look just like a it body,crisp clear lines and no pin holes,but if you just have to have "that" resin
piece.
GO FOR IT:bandit:
Mike

[Steve Gibbins]

Jay,

Yes the chassis is resin as is the dashboard, most of the other parts are white metal.

Progress report.

Not as much done as I had hoped this weekend and I'm running out of things to do. The body has a choice of exhaust exits, the ones that are not used have a blank to fill the hole but filler is required to tidy it up so I have given it a coat of primer and then filled the gaps, this will have to be left for a week or so to set properly. I have made a bit of progress on the chassis, although I can't fit the seat because I have run out of seat belts. Next job is to paint the roll cage so I can fit it as soon as the seat is done and fit the hoses and fuel fillers.

Steve