Tamiya Xanavi GT-R R34

[KevHw]

Always had a love for the JGTC cars (can never get used to calling it Super GT) and after much hesitation I decided to finally buy the Xanavi R34 in my LHS. I'm sure most of you will have one of these already. These JGTC kits are more expensive and I didn't want to start one until I had reached a fairly decent level of experience (just like I'm holding back on Ferrari's). Call it respect if you will, but I want to do these cars more justice.

I started the kit about 3-4 days ago and I'm currently waiting for my LHS to have some TS-8 Italian Red in stock, but God knows how long that'll be. So, in the mean time, I've finished the cockpit to about 93%.











Please excuse all the dust and lack of any variety of colours, but I'm very limited in my colour range to a few bare basic colours. Some of the cockpit details I haven't really painted because I personaly won't be too bothered about some of the hidden details. Kinda working on a "brief glance" kinda basis so, as long as it's fairly detailed, I'm happy.....it's the outside that counts more.

So far a pretty easy build which surprised me as I was expecting this to have a lot of detail, but I guess that's mainly focussed in the bodywork which isn't surprising, being a JGTC car and all.

Body has been primed with most of the areodynamics glued onto it too. Needs wet sanding then the base coat of TS-17 Gloss Aluminium before I spray the Italian Red over that. I'm really, really worried about ruining the decals with TS-13 so I think I'm going to stick to my first brand of clear coat I used, Humbrol because I know it's more stable, but dries a bit longer I think.

Thanks for reading all this and let me know what you think. Thanks.

[nugundam93]

not bad.

[Guiddy]

Like it so far. If you want the 'quick glance' look you are Ok but personally I would have added more detail to the interior as it does look a bit sparse!
I would go with Tamiya clear as a safer bet, isn't Humbrol clear enamel based?
Take your time, it is a great kit and should look ace!

[KevHw]

Ye I think it is enamel based, but it's worked fine on my previous models and is cheaper than Tamiya and I know there's no chance of it destroying decals.

Interior is a bit bare, but that's all there is in there. I've got some parts left to decal and paint, but that's it. Oh, and it said to paint the wheel arches and some other bits XF-60 Dark Yellow. Is this colour consistent with the other JGTC cars? Because I'm not going to buy it unless it's required for more models. Thanks.

[MidMazar]

Interior looks good, im actually building the same model, but all i did was just painted and decaled the body, a little advice would be when you paint it, don't spray red over the silver as it won't match the decals, mask it. Looks like a promising build.

[KevHw]

Thanks for the tip. Ye, I've already masked off and painted the silver, just waiting for the colour in stock now. I'm gonna have to research some interior shots to see what I might decide to detail.

[klutz_100]

I guess I have an interest in following this now

Good job so far, although I don't like the decal seatbelts

[nugundam93]

Kev, yes, the other JGTC skyline uses it. and iirc even the JGTC 350Z, i'll have to doublecheck the manual.

[KevHw]

iirc? Ok thanks looks like I'll have to buy that a well then and do some careful masking . klutz_100, I hate the decal seatbelts too, I wasn't really thinking what I was doing and just put them on. When I looked at the decals, I thought how I could make them scratch built, but then I got lazy =/

I'm going to try and put more effort into this but mind you, there won't be much difference. Just seeing where I can do touch ups etc. Interior is a shame to have low detail, but I haven't got any CF decal so . Window masks are a Everything else is pretty much done, body is waiting for the red, spoiler needs last bit of paint, wheels done (-1 which is waiting a special package thanks to klutz_100) Anyone know a good way to make sure tyre decals don't come off?

[Gamerxz]

Looks really clean right now... even with the shortage of colours it still looks good

[Rtuned]

Looks great so far. btw, R34 skyline still under JGTC, only when 2004 Fairlady Z join in the battle then is named Super GT I always love JGTC/Super GT cars. Keep up the good work.

[KevHw]

Well, popped down to LHS today and managed to get some Italian Red finally. Also spotted something not normally seen in the shop which was a very nice set of rally drivers. My LHS typically has just the kits and I never thought they would stock an accessory like this.







So, now I've got something a little extra that I've never had before which is a nice addition I think. Only problem is I've never worked with such soft (I'm thinking it's resin) material before. It's a lot like working with a soft pencil eraser it's so bendy. Not sure how I should prepare it for painting...any tips? I've got a picture of the two drivers standing next tot eh car, so basing my colour scheme on that. Shame about the seatbelts.

Won't be able to do much progress on these though over the weekend because I'll have to leave the kit behind at my flat whilst I go home to pick up the wheel nuts klutz_100 kindly donated and help out my parents.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm hoping the decals will turn out ok and if they're not a perfect match, at least be close to one. Hopefully no more hiccups. Hopefully will have some good progress updates to show after the weekend. Thanks all.

[KevHw]

Ok, just some final progress, dry-fit pics before I can get the completed photos done. Quite annoyed with the paint outcome because the decals match Bright Red than the suggested Italian Red (this is over grey Halfords primer), so I should've ust used the Bright Red .

Just got a few decals left to put on. Cockpit is pretty much done, need to tidy up the paint on the driver still. Windows left to paint too and need to buy some Smoke to finish off the rear window. Once decals are all on, time to clear it over and hopefully be finished soon.











Had to reposition the seat forward more to accomodate the....shorter driver. Wanted to unstick the seatbelt decals off the seat and apply them onto the driver figure, but they wouldn't budge . Looking at my spare driver that came in the Rally set (previous post) I'm tempted to create a mini-diorama of part of a track with two of these beautiful JGTC cars on it. Maybe another Xanavi R34 but number 22 instead. Similar to the amazing "2003 Last Run" diorama by Rtuned but it obviously won't be as good

Thanks for looking.

[klutz_100]

Looks good!
The colour difference doesn't seem to show in the photos.
Which wheelnut is the odd one out?

Shame you didn't remove the mold line on the driver's helmet.

[G-man422]

Outstanding work. I love that you put a driver in.