Current short term project: Celica GT-FOUR

Progress is good, working on the engine today!
It's really nice to do a road car engine for a change, so few kits have them nowadays!
This is how the body looks, and those wheels are Huuuuuuge!
The idea is to do the body black with Titanium coloured wheels. Nothing I see here detracts me from that, it should look mean!
I will be able to spray the body tomorrow, weather permitting!
I fancied adding a bigger tourbo, but having looked ta the engine, modifications seem difficult! We'll see!
I'll keep you updated as usual!
BTW, it will have the biger wing! I just can't dummy fit the packers!

Looking good so far, awaiting more pics.

wow. you're getting lots done... man, I need to get my act together :)

Looks to be coming along nicely for you

Would you be able to drop it a bit? Looks like you could lower it a bit.

Originally posted by DVSNCYNIKL
Would you be able to drop it a bit? Looks like you could lower it a bit.

Nope! The body is already resting on the tops of the tires!!!:eek:

Originally posted by Guiddy


Nope! The body is already resting on the tops of the tires!!!:eek:

:eek:Whoa!! Okay, scratch the drop thought!:D

Found a new problem today!
With a kit such as the Celica, with engine detail and therefore an opening bonnet, you MUST file, sand, primer and polish the body with any separate parts in place, otherwise nasty dips appear in the panels, elaborating the look of a model!
I therefore went back to the body tonight and refiled it with everything in place.
I will also primer it now as you see it, and the same with the paint and then polishing!
Tape the bonnet in place once the back of the parts have been painted, and spray the body complete!
Just a little tip I wanted to share! learn something new everyday!:D

Originally posted by Guiddy

Tape the bonnet in place once the back of the parts have been painted

I know this might sound stupid, but what is the bonnet. Is it the hood? I have no idea.:smoker2:

Originally posted by JE123


I know this might sound stupid, but what is the bonnet. Is it the hood? I have no idea.:smoker2:

:rolleyes: Of course! You are speaking our language remember! No complaining!!!:D

Will you then remove the bonnet right after you paint the car? I'm not sure, but I would be worried about the glueing effect of paint.

Can we see a picture of the engine?

Originally posted by Guiddy
Found a new problem today!
With a kit such as the Celica, with engine detail and therefore an opening bonnet, you MUST file, sand, primer and polish the body with any separate parts in place, otherwise nasty dips appear in the panels, elaborating the look of a model!
I therefore went back to the body tonight and refiled it with everything in place.
I will also primer it now as you see it, and the same with the paint and then polishing!
Tape the bonnet in place once the back of the parts have been painted, and spray the body complete!
Just a little tip I wanted to share! learn something new everyday!:D

Good tip :) :)

Originally posted by ales
Will you then remove the bonnet right after you paint the car? I'm not sure, but I would be worried about the glueing effect of paint!

I'll have to do one coat at a time, with 24 hours drying time inbetween!
Not like I am in a hurry!:)

Originally posted by ales
Will you then remove the bonnet right after you paint the car? I'm not sure, but I would be worried about the glueing effect of paint.

Can we see a picture of the engine?

When I have done it, yeah!:D

Originally posted by Guiddy


When I have done it, yeah!:D

Hurry up...i want to see this kit finished :) :)

Originally posted by primera man


Hurry up...i want to see this kit finished :) :)

Back on it tomorrow! Work has been a bit crazy this past few days!
Weather too!:rolleyes:

Originally posted by Guiddy


Back on it tomorrow! Work has been a bit crazy this past few days!
Weather too!:rolleyes:

Good old English weather

:finger: :finger: :finger: ...its summer time here :finger: :finger:

Slight changes to this kit!

I have decided to go white, aka rally chase car style, with subtle mods like roll cage etc. similar to the cars used by the teams to add road support between rally stages.
Red mud flap material, and I would love to add a light pod! Group A exhaust, and those great 6 spoke wheels!
This is tomorrow's project! Top priority!

Hey, I spent some time modeling today!

This kit got some body colour sprayed on today, using the old can warming/airing cupboard trick to keep the paint shiny!
Ford Diamond White was used, and the wheels will be white too!
Should show off the engine bay well!
Hope to find more time for it soon!

Originally posted by Guiddy
...using the old can warming/airing cupboard trick to keep the paint shiny!
Ohhh that old trick.


:huh: OK what exactly is that trick? :D

Originally posted by G-Forces

Ohhh that old trick.


:huh: OK what exactly is that trick? :D

Put some hot water in a bowl, place the can of spray in the bowl!

Turn the heating or hot water on, and close the boiler cupboard door!

Once the can is warm (careful, too hot and it can explde!) shake it for the required time, spray the model, then put the model in the cupboard and the paint back in the bowl! (Not the other way round!)

Add the required number of coats...

Viola! Shiny paint!

OK, outer coats were applied on the body today, and a superb shine was achieved!
Because I am spraying the bonnet in place, I am only applying 2 coats at a atime, and pushing the bonnet up after each coat just to break the seal made by the paint!
All engine parts are painted, now I am searching for some add on parts for it.
I plan to use a Rally exhaust, CAI (cone filter to you non Americans!)
and numerous braided hose connections.
Just debating on the intercooler. It's top mounted, and a bit naff!
Have to think on that one!
pics if I could find the charger for my digcam!:mad:

Originally posted by Guiddy
and a bit naff!


I have not heard that for a long time !!!!

Sounds like its coming along well.

Cant understand why anyone would put a intercooler on top of a engine in the first place :eek: :eek:

Originally posted by Guiddy
...CAI (cone filter to you non Americans!)


Which are not quite the same :p

Can't wait to see the finished engine bay!

Originally posted by primera man
Cant understand why anyone would put a intercooler on top of a engine in the first place :eek: :eek: Um... Because of the hood scoop? ;)

Update:

The body received it's final coats yesterday, and I want to leave it for a good while to harden, in the pursuit of a better shine! I found with a few kits lately the paint is shrinking back after I have polished it!
The engine and m,ost ancillary parts are now painted, but I don't like the wheels, so they will be changed to something a little more flashy! Perhaps one of the new sets I'll get from HLJ! We will see!

It seems the suspension needs only subtle lowering, if any, which is good! The bigger wheels fill the arch gap anyway!
I have changed the seats for Rally car items and the exhaust needs scratch building again!

Progress is good, working on the engine today!

Could you send more pictures of this model (with engine of course)
Do you have Tamiya's Toyota Supra? It also has engine and I'd like to look to coplete model if you have one

Originally posted by awaken1973
Do you have Tamiya's Toyota Supra? It also has engine and I'd like to look to coplete model if you have one I know he has one. (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t10503.html) ;) I don't think he's had time to start it yet, though... :D

I found a pic of completed Supra.

http://www.masscar.com/Toyota_Supra_DeVaux_35.jpg

Originally posted by awaken1973
I found a pic of completed Supra.

[

Hmmmmm, dodgy collour, and chrome window trim? Very 1970's!
I have some big wheels on the way for mine, and it will be black!
Kits with engine detail rock though!

Update!

Basic engine is completed, with decals and ancillaries to be added, plus my detailing and wiring!
looks great in the engine bay, though I think it will remain largely stock!

color sucks but engine bay looks awesome!
I got a 50% discount on my next model purchase,
so don't know how to use it ;)
imho the only colors suitable for sportcar are:
red, yellow, black, white, silver. not too many choices, huh?

Originally posted by awaken1973
imho the only colors suitable for sportcar are:
red, yellow, black, white, silver. not too many choices, huh? Heh! You must have missed his Bayside Blue Skyline, as well as my Blue MR2... :right:

Damn this kit is looking good!
I have been assembling the suspension today, and it is really low!
I changed the wheels slightly as the offset on the ones in the pics was too far out, and the wheels stuck out too much! They are now off a Rally Corolla! They look exactly the same though!

The rear wheels are tucked under the arches, and the suspension was superb, so easy to lower!
Everything is separate, so it is just a case of lowering the struts and everything else glues into the new posistion! Hats off to Tamiya for that!

In a moment of madness I remade the front struts, drilling the shock out until it was a hole through the springs, and then re-glueing a new shock tower down the hole! It looks superb, like a real shock absorber!

The body I am slowing polishing as usual, taking my time when I am in the mood!
The interior has rally seats, painted to match the interior trim! I shall add harnesses too, though in black to blend in!

Pics, soon! I lent the digi cam to a mate!:rolleyes:

Originally posted by Guiddy

Pics, soon! I lent the digi cam to a mate!:rolleyes:
Good god man! How could you! :eek:

Originally posted by G-Forces

Good god man! How could you! :eek:

I thought it would be inline with the 'Progress, but no pics!' mood of resent threads!

Originally posted by Guiddy


I thought it would be inline with the 'Progress, but no pics!' mood of resent threads!
LOL! :hehe:

Waiting....LOL

OK, camera is back!

The model is now sitting on it's fully adjusted suspension, and I must say it was a delight to work on!

I have posted some pics of the modified front suspension, as described above.
The aluminium rod is cut to the desired length, and then the strut top glued back on and the whole strut glued into the car.
The steering is more realistic on this kit, as it's not the strut that moves, but the king pins in the steering knuckle! Very cool!

The way the front undertray is molded allows movement in the lower A arm, so everything moves into it's new, lower posistion!

The rear is lowered by removing plastic at the top of the rear suspension turret, and so the strut has much more room to sit in!

And finally the view from above!

The engine MUSt have some after market goodies, I have decided! But not sure how to do it!
I am thinking of using a coat button to simulate a TRUST style air filter, and I cannot decide whether I like that top mounted intercooler yet! I'll have a look through the spares box!

Time to cut back that paint now!

That detail work is brilliant....and nice pics to.

Car looks to be sitting right to.

Glad you got those new rims....:) :)

My PC is down, so it left me time to do some of the Celica last night.
The body is now polished, and it too me HOURS!
So many little crooks and crannies on this kit! Lots of polishing with cotton buds!
This is how the body looks now! I shall start masking for the black today.

The front wheels need to sit further into the arches in my view, so I am taking some offset off the brake disks, see where the black plastic is showing. I use a big, rough file for this.
Anymore clearance will have to come off the back of the wheel now, which will probably mean finding someone with a lathe!
I shall paint the calliper when I am happy with the clearance!

Looks good. Are you using a metalizer on the exhaust? I bought some 'exhaust' buffing metalizer the other day for the '70 Mustang I'll be doing next. I wanted some aluminum but they were out. :(

No! I have a really cool spray that looks like stainless steel! I use that on my exhausts.
You can see the heat shield in the engine bay has been sprayed with it, just in fornt of the top mounted intercooler.

I did the window rubbers today, but weren't happy with them!
I tried to ways recently, both masking and then cutting the shape, and then masking to shape, but each has it's downfside!
I am going to try cutting the masking tape even thinner and then molding that to shape in a few days! I need to let this dry for the moment!
The model is looking good though! Taking shape!:D

Just a small update on this kit!

I have black lined the doors, and it is the best job yet! After trying many methods since starting this I have decided a black wash quite heavily dabbed in place with a very thin wash is best, which is then left to fully dry.
Then the spots are rubbed off with a very thin dab of rubbing compound, making sure I don't get white paste back down the shut line.

All wheels now sit in the arches perfectly. All I have to do is re-do the window rubbers, black line the windows and detail the engine/interior.

Wow I am enjoying this kit!

It is hard though, even for a Tamiya!
A lot of brush detail was added today, not a kit to do if you aren't steady with the old brush!
I wanted to get a rich shine on the headlight lenses, so I reverted to the trusty Chrome Spray.
As you can see, this entailed some severe masking, and the window rubbers were done at the same time.
Just the interior to do tomorrow, two toning the seats and detailing the dashboard.

How did the lights turn out?

Originally posted by primera man
How did the lights turn out?

Yeah, the chrome is great!
I painted the black rubbers round the lense, but now the light is in place, I needn't have bothered, you can't see it!

Fitting the lense was hard! Each lense had 2 tabs, which located into a cutting.
It took quite a while to get the lenses the right way and fitting flush
I would suggest doing each one at a time, and leaving it to dry before moving onto the next.
It goes without saying to only use Krystal Klear for this job! Then, if it isn't going right, just wash the parts with water.

It's finished!!!:D

There was something about this kit I really enjoyed, especially as everything came into place today!

I used the front badge from the newer Celica, and the rear Toyota script for the rear, and the photo etch adds that bit of class!
Final touch is the www.TTE.de script giving away the cars tuning!
It has a lovely fresh look, the white wheels and bodywork looking crisp!

I ended up going for black leather for the interior, the dark look complimenting the bright outer bodywork.

Lowered suspension, rally exhaust and the WRC wing complete the Support car look!

I am going to be evil and wait until daylight to take some pics...

Watch this space!:)

TEASE !!!!

Look forward to seeing it done. No doubt your good pics outside :) will be posted.

And here are the pics...

I find the rear view the best! I love the rear lights!

It also looks great from high.
The Euro version has the black chin spoiler. Only the WRC version included the wing packers to boost the wing to rally car size.
They came in black plastic, but many owners colour coded them.

And of course the engine shot.
I want to search through the spares box for a windscreen wiper motor, as it will cover the slot on the left hand side of the car where the brake servo sits if you go for the LHD version.
I will keep my eyes open for a foam air filter, an other engine mods.
For the minute it will have to stay standard!

Very nice, Dan, good job, as always.

I'm impressed Dan. Looks very nice.
Paint and detail looks good. Colour of the wheels give it a even better look.
Love the rear lights !!!
The back shot looks like the rear wing didn't fit to well ??

Another nice set of pics :) :)

ITS PUTTY TIME!:D