Honda City Cabriolet

[Gridgirl]

Here's my latest build- Tamiya's Honda City Cabriolet.

I didn't do an in-progress thread for it, so I'll tell you all about it here.



It's exactly my kind of car- cute and funky. The Cabriolet body was designed by Pininfarina, and it has an odd but cool style to it. The kit came with an optional 'body kit'- front and rear bumper skirts to give the car a more 'agressive' look. (I used them of course!) I built this one pretty much out of the box. I added some Klutz Carpets, and a replacement Klutz windshield (the original was cracked down the center). I guess I get alot out of Stevenski's builds. There are no wine bottles or anything in the interior (yet), but I'm considering adding a driver figure- I'll post pics when I do.




The kit itself (like the car) is from the early 80's. I found it on a vendor's table last year at the Mid Atlantic NNL. It was dusty, the box was beat up, and most of the parts were off of the sprues- but it was $10 and I just couldn't pass it up! It took exactly one year for me to finish- I had it done just in time to display at the NNL this year. It was easily $10 of entertainment!



The paint is CobraColors Strawberry Fire Pearl. Like many others here, I miss CobraColors!

The kit decals were in rough shape- they had cracked badly over the years. Fortunately (after some looking) I was able to find some Microscale liquid decal film.



I just brushed it on thin and let it dry and then applied the decals like normal. Amazingly, they went on perfect- not a crack or wrinkle visible, and the clearcoat (also CobraColors) completely hides the edges.



For anyone keen for some early 80's Japanese kitch, the British band Madness (of Our House fame) did a series of ads for the Honda City for Japanese TV. I came across them on YouTube searching online for references- there are 5 or 6 ads in all. They're hysterical, but distressingly catchy. You've been warned. (Honda-Honda-Honda-Honda-Honda!)



One thing that frustrated me at first about the kit was that it had no decals for the speedo and tach- the instrument faces were just molded onto the dash. But after thinking about it, I came up with a way to paint them. After the dash was sprayed flat black, I drybrushed the raised details of the dials with artist's oil paints. I used red for the needles, orange for the tick marks, and a bit of grey for the odometers. A black wash was then carefully applied to the faces to re-darken them again, and when it was dry I 'floated' some thinned Tamiya clear gloss over them to simulate the clear windows over them.



I'm very happy with them- I think they came out at least as well as decals would have.





Thanks for looking!

[white_R34]

I like the work you ont he car (Small car) lol clean work thanks for the history lesson. The work on the dash opening the air vents sweet. Hope to see more of your work.

[MidMazar]

Nice build, can't go wrong for 10 bucks. Overall a clean build and nice write up.

[willimo]

For anyone keen for some early 80's Japanese kitch, the British band Madness (of Our House fame) did a series of ads for the Honda City for Japanese TV. I came across them on YouTube searching online for references- there are 5 or 6 ads in all. They're hysterical, but distressingly catchy. You've been warned. (Honda-Honda-Honda-Honda-Honda!)

This is why your thread wins thread of all time. Award. If there were one...

Anyhow, great build! The color is awesome for this car. It's a neat little car you don't see put together often, and you've done a great job. The dash is very impressive, as are the modified vents. Are the rear quarter windows scratchbuilt, too?

[Zonda]

Nice! I love this car

[KE70]

Nice work. This kit is hard to find.

[Jmich]

Nice! I like the detail on the gauges. I've tried that method before w/out a positive result. Also, whatever happened to the VW you were building?

[quadzero]

This really is a cool and funky little car and it looks great here. That has to be one of the nicest painted dashes I have seen here.

[klutz_100]

Secretive lady aren't you?

Incredibly clean build - Obi Wan must be proud! I think it was Mozart's father who said "There is nothing left I can teach you, my Son. Now I can only learn from you..."

I agree with everyone that the work you have done on the dash is just great! I cannot accept though that you have not come up with any bits 'n pieces to throw in that interior There MUST be something in that student's set of yours Or how about a parking ticket under the wiper? Want a coke cup?

[Jurva]

Butt ugly car, but somehow amusing. You've done great job on every detail. Hard to spot any mistakes. I like the way all the lights look and the dashboard.

[Gridgirl]

Thanks, everyone! OK, so it's not going to be everyone's taste, but I think it's terribly cute.

Originally Posted by willimo

This is why your thread wins thread of all time. Award. If there were one...
Are the rear quarter windows scratchbuilt, too?

I'm glad someone else is enjoying the ads. I think my favorite is the kung fu one.

The rear quarter windows are the kit parts. Scratchbuilt replacements might have looked better (the kit parts are really thick), but they would have been hard to do as the originals are convex. I decided I'd rather finish it than fight with it. Strangely, the left and right side windows are of different sizes.

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Secretive lady aren't you?

Shhhh! Who told you?

I've been trying to think of something to put in it, but haven't thought of anything right yet. (A tennis racket? Some cans of Japanese iced coffee? An anaconda?) Hopefully the figure will do it.

Originally Posted by KE70

This kit is hard to find.

Yeah, I was totally psyched when I came across it. Only the night before I saw it in an old Tamiya catalog- the very next day, there it was! I had to have it.

Originally Posted by Jmich

whatever happened to the VW you were building?

Uh, the bug! Yeah, maybe I should post some pics of it, too.

[cham2020]

cute honda city man..
red color goes perfect !

[Mr. Me.]

I also love these small cars. great job!

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by Gridgirl

I've been trying to think of something to put in it, but haven't thought of anything right yet. (A tennis racket? Some cans of Japanese iced coffee? An anaconda?) Hopefully the figure will do it.

A big YES on the anaconda!!!
Can you scratch build one using epoxy putty with a big lump in the middle so it looks as if it has just swallowed the figure...?

[alakai]

sweet job on this one, especially with restoring those old decals. You really have a knack for making those little cars look good.
I'd like to nominate Gridgirl the "AF Queen of mini-car builds"? LOL