tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48419236949845832462012-02-12T07:14:22.128-05:00Pictures and tutorials about building static modelsXavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.comBlogger731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-70892173056653728692012-01-06T11:22:00.000-05:002012-01-06T11:30:57.651-05:00

Since they move freely around their axle, the front wheels are not difficult to put into place. I just hope that the stopping parts glued on that axle will be strong enough. I would have prefered them to fit a bit more tightly because the way I see it, only the bead of glue will hold the wheels. Once again, it is not a problem for a static model, but could prove tricky when it is moved from one

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-16770439156515737282012-01-06T11:10:00.000-05:002012-01-06T11:10:18.688-05:00

The hubs take their proper location easily. The links between the hubs and the steering rod are very small and flexible. Given the weight of the wheels, it will definitely be better to make it a static model. There was no problem fitting the black tubes to the brake calipers and inside the monocoque. I would mention though that it is easier to slide it there before trying to the bal joints in

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-36068444044380760972012-01-06T11:01:00.000-05:002012-01-06T11:01:15.972-05:00

The torsion bar would have been easier to work on before the rear suspension. There are two attachment points to the engine and the upper suspension arms come in the way. On the other hand, those arms help a bit to keep the attachment points in place. The links between the hubs and the torsion bar must be joined by "hot fix" (flattening the end of the parts with a hot device), a process which I

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-67306394736697410112012-01-05T10:14:00.000-05:002012-01-05T10:17:02.249-05:00

There is not much left apart from assembling the remaining parts. The rear suspension is a complex sub-assembly with no less than six contact points to either the monocoque or the engine to fit in one single operation. I always wanted to avoid touching the chromed parts with my dirty fingers, but now it is just impossible to do. I hope there will be no long time stains or blemish developing from

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-11946496337718078652012-01-04T11:53:00.000-05:002012-01-04T11:53:22.216-05:00

I ran out of white and racing green paint and postponed the side duct. However here it is, stretching fore to aft, properly attached to the rubber tubes and to the side of the cockpit. The multiple paint and clear coats sprayed on the cockpit made it impossible to fit the duct in the holes: the holes were no more at the right size. I preferred to shrink the attachment bits instead of widening the

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-2718684947072469012011-12-22T11:52:00.000-05:002012-01-04T11:56:38.200-05:00

Today is the big day: the monocoque will be joined forever with the engine, until death, or a cat, does them part... The operation was not straightforward. Without the bottom black tubes, the engine fits quite easily: the bracket slide in and the engine is put into place thanks to one plug on each cylinder bank. With the tubes, nothing moves, so I have to widen the holes at the bottom of the rear

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-50112307180904117582011-12-20T12:17:00.003-05:002011-12-20T12:17:54.236-05:00

I am about to end the building of the Lotus quite soon, or so I guess. There is not much paint job left, and lots of assembling to do. I put the roll bars in their place but had a bad surprise. The front bar does not fit the model at all! Its left hand attachment point is completely out of the body of the model, and looks weird (see picture). There is not much I can do about that except replace

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-11433848439889871732011-12-20T12:10:00.000-05:002011-12-20T12:11:43.089-05:00

The tyres provided in the kit are made of soft rubber. It is still stiff enough to stay firmly in place when the tyres are fitted on the rims. I am not sure whether they are true to the real tyres, I simply have not enough documentation. There are pictures from 1967 showing no side markings, markings outside and inside, whitish markings and golden ones... I have not found any proof of the "F"

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-25242634828026513042011-12-16T20:19:00.000-05:002011-12-16T20:19:59.085-05:00

The spokes of the rims are in chromed plastic too but I am no fan of that at all, especially because the real spokes are not chromed. I painted them semi-gloss black but left the rest of the rim in all its blingy glory. The overall paint was sprayed, but the sides were touched up by brush. It is highly unlikely that it will be spotted out once assembled. In order to highlight some details, I

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-20031648643995798102011-12-16T09:36:00.001-05:002011-12-16T09:36:39.136-05:00

The brake rotors are painted boltgun metal. On every colour picture I have seen from the cars in 1967, the rim of the disks were fairly rusted (due to heat probably), so that was painted Tin Bitz.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-27197699907889567732011-12-15T13:22:00.000-05:002012-01-06T11:03:34.863-05:00

Like the rear hubs, the front ones are painted semi-gloss black. The brake stirrups are painted chrome silver and enhanced with boltgun metal. I want them to look like they are made of different parts.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-43488349623171950532010-04-18T18:49:00.008-04:002010-04-18T19:56:14.055-04:00

Yes I know: I usually complain about how difficult I find to place the supplied decals, and now I want to put CFRP decals everywhere... No logic here, but only the wish to get one more notch in detailing the kits. CF decals come in plain sheets, mine were bought at Scale Motorsport. They keep decals for the main modelling scales and have different weaving patterns. I chose one which is quite

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-55396976408642229732010-04-17T14:12:00.004-04:002010-04-17T14:35:09.826-04:00

The relative ease with which I cruised past the first masking stage of this model backfired in a twisted way once I decided to prepare the parts for the red paint application. I used the same method as for the green areas: a first counter-mask identical to the decals supplied with the kit, to be used as a guide for the actual masks.First, it took me a whole week to get things right. On the one

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-87493544970260840622010-04-17T13:59:00.002-04:002010-04-17T14:09:40.743-04:00

The Park Green spray paint is easier to use than the white paint. It covers the model much more and is more opaque. The masking tape was removed without any difficulty but revealed a few surprises. I did not mask the sidepods enough and some spray went onto areas whcih should stay white. I guess I will have to brush some touch up eventually. Same story at the border of the masking tape: there are

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-29218932670849721592010-04-17T13:46:00.003-04:002010-04-17T13:58:45.174-04:00

The early 1990s are definitely somehow pre-historical. No internet with Imageshack or Flicker or any image bank, no digital photography, merely magazines and VHS tapes to get visual references. At that time Tamiya was in full swing with their 1/20 F1 models and they published a few books full of close up pictures for some of their kits. I recently got this one, 5th in the series, to help me with

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-26880730058265013692010-04-05T10:18:00.004-04:002010-04-05T20:50:42.030-04:00

Good intentions do not always pay off. I tried twice to build the 107B with the decals and twice I made a mess. I hate large decals, simple as that. Here are the front wing elements with their decals on and even those I cannot get right... I removed all of that in warm water with a shot of vinegar (I placed them a few years ago) without any problem. Of course, the second picture is the new end

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-50726577895532760582010-04-03T13:35:00.003-04:002010-04-03T13:42:18.975-04:00

Working on both a 1960s and a 1990s Lotuses makes it obvious how things became more complex at some point in time. The body of the 49 is merely made of two separate elements: a nose and a cokpit. The body of the 107B is made of a nose, a cockpit, a front suspension cover and an engine cover. Anything different from a plain paint job gets very complicated very quickly!I had to assemble some of the

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-61507378682090075522010-03-27T17:49:00.012-04:002010-04-02T13:00:06.762-04:00

Priming is now a classic operation, so here it goes on the various parts making the body of the car. Prior to that, some adjustment has to be made on the two halves of the cockpit. Careful cementing (alignment is important) goes with some repairs on the joint lines and some sanding to prevent huge gaps between cockpit and nose and cover. I am proud of what I did on the front suspension cover: it

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-23601881814981488992010-03-27T17:00:00.014-04:002010-04-03T13:36:31.131-04:00

Here we are again! It looks like springs awakens in me the will to work on models. It could be seen as an ideal winter hobby, but I always come back to them around Easter. This time I wanted to go back to my late teens and build again my first two Tamiya kits: the Lotus 102D and Lotus 107. It was 1992 and I was cheering for the F1 team, getting the 102D at my hobby shop and waiting anxiously the

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-69755967494030599382009-11-28T09:31:00.008-05:002009-11-28T11:07:13.093-05:00

Before I can comfortably glue the ships to their base, I need to paint the bow and quarters with a total freedom of movement. I started with the bow of the ships. The work is not really complicated since there is not much detail to be seen. I just painted the whole area Chaos Black and then painted over the delicate woodwork with the same colour used on the hull.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-89154598753938307882009-11-21T12:08:00.024-05:002009-12-10T09:00:19.709-05:00

Time has come to paint the main colour theme of the ships. I chose a traditional Nelson checkered pattern for the English, even though the moulding of the hulls does not show any gun port lid. There should then be an ochre stripe at the gun deck level. For the French, I chose a red theme, a bit like the Acheron as seen in Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World. The steps are

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-41412584227386683302009-11-08T20:31:00.010-05:002009-12-10T08:28:14.486-05:00

Since all seems ready to be painted, there is not a moment to lose. Of the different stages of making a 1/1200 ship, painting it is probably the easiest but also something that requires some research and organisation in order to be well done. For example, it could be useful to find out what differences there are between the paint schemes of various nationalities and how to reflect them on such

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-54337918954389394662009-10-30T23:43:00.013-04:002009-12-10T09:02:25.793-05:00

I would say that I am finished with her! I glued the sails onto the masts and started the rigging operations. The standing rigging is a bit stressful: in order to get straight pieces of string between the masts, they must be stretched a bit, but the material allows for such a load. After that, the running rigging looks like a walk in the park! All those small ropes help a lot to stiffen the model

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-66688159433707234342009-10-25T16:46:00.011-04:002009-11-01T20:18:00.017-05:00

With new Langton miniatures, there is a little work to be done before they are ready for painting. Right out of the box, the models show very little flash left to remove (with a sharp edge, by scratching the flash rather than cutting it out). However, the pewter used is a soft metal alloy and can bend very easily. It is therefore very important to check the straightness of the parts, the way they

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-82319939787388743202009-10-24T16:31:00.020-04:002009-10-24T21:10:37.555-04:00

I was satisfied enough with how things went with the Langton HMS Victory (even though it is not quite finished as I am typing this), and I thought that it was worth trying to make small fleets for Close Action. I decided to walk this road carefuly and my final choice was on a 2 vs 2 scenario for Close Action: French ships Sultane and Etoile engaging British ships HMS Creole and HMS Astraea. All

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-30350178968847089342009-08-05T14:40:00.017-04:002010-02-20T09:21:23.332-05:00

All the parts were coated with Tamyia grey primer. Trying to stay as close to the real thing as I can, I tried to find the proper colours. I thought that the yellow ochre paint from Caldercraft (which I will be using with the Heller kit) would not fit the smaller scale of this ship. I opted for a lighter ochre from Andrea Color (#15).I started with the masts, plugged into a Pepsi Cola bottle cap.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-60529821204696588032009-07-31T22:24:00.008-04:002009-07-31T22:38:21.299-04:00

I fitted the metal braids and things went well. The steel sleeves make a good work hiding the roughly cut ends. The copper wire is now in its final place and I did not even have to make a groove at the top of the bulkhead since the nose cone fits perfectly well.See also Radiator part 1.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-52264164597068869502009-07-30T16:32:00.004-04:002009-07-30T16:50:29.219-04:00

There is no way I can start building my Heller kit but I can work on a smaller scale for a more immediate use. So thanks to Rod Langton, I can work on a 1/1200 model and even play with it with Close Action (find reviews of this game here). Here is a picture of the parts of the kit. Sails are die-cast ones, they get my preference over photo-etched ones even though they are bulkier. I have ordered

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-79368130138165053622009-07-30T16:17:00.002-04:002009-07-30T16:28:36.349-04:00

Here are the assembled elements of the rear suspension. I do not really like how the kit was designed there: the lower triangle is placed between two cemented parts and I can imagine some stresses going through this assembly, even because of the weight of the car itself... Worse: if things go totally south, repairs will not be an easy task. Time will tell!The wheel hubs are painted semi-gloss

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-13362624265352855722009-07-30T15:41:00.011-04:002009-07-30T16:16:38.725-04:00

The radiator is kept in place with only two thin plastic parts glued to the front sub frame. So far, no big deal beside the fact that those parts are from the dreaded chromed tree. The assembly is much stiffer than it looks like, but not enough to fight the load created by the tubes connected to the radiator. That is where it gets interesting... Four tubes are expected to be running to and from

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-63232036156376523062009-07-29T14:55:00.005-04:002009-07-29T15:13:24.033-04:00

I finally cemented the cockpit assembly into place. My first disappointment was to see that it looks like there is a ton of space between the dashboard and the rim of the body. I hope that the windshield will make it less visible. If not, then I missed a good chance to paint things black!I managed to put the steering wheel where it should be without breaking any part. The challenge was to make a

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-56277651341571433902009-07-28T14:35:00.004-04:002009-07-29T14:51:57.384-04:00

I painted the master cylinders in Boltgun Metal and left their covers as from the tree, in the original chromed finish. The only thing to check is to have them in the right position and parallel to one another, especially since they will be clearly visible behind the oil tank. I then glued the oil tank in position. I put my temperature sensor mock-up into place to get the right feeling about it.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-22901750624739232492009-05-22T22:02:00.007-04:002009-07-30T16:29:09.831-04:00

With the damper rods and upper attachment hooks left in chrome, I chose to paint the body of the dampers in semi-gloss black and the lower attachment hooks in Boltgun Metal. Then came the tricky part... I chose not to cement the front plate to the body so as not to pry on it to put the springs into position, so every mobile part was ready to fall off if my hands got too shaky! I worked with the

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-82371749991825823392009-05-21T07:50:00.002-04:002009-05-21T08:04:35.238-04:00

I did not really like the side panels of the cockpit at first. They look bogus and need some detailing. I should say they need some re-modeling but I do not have the skills here and now. I chose instead to create some rivets by putting tiny drops of glue on the parts. I then painted the dried drops in a metallic shade to create more appeal. To be honest, I would not do that again if I had to. I

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-88527733336200649392009-05-20T12:25:00.004-04:002009-05-20T12:42:34.309-04:00

It is really not a bad thing to check how parts fit together before making the assembly permanent! There were quite a few modifications to make. The pins of the rocker arms were way too thick, especially those which are to fit into the bulkhead. In that case, it is almost impossible to widen the holes because there is too little material left to hold everything together. Same thing with the pins

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-56671568809054842992009-05-18T17:37:00.005-04:002009-05-20T12:43:08.587-04:00

After some cosmetic adjustments on the front bulkhead, it was time to start assembling the front sub-frame. The "C" tree of parts is chromed and always a disaster (whatever the model I made, I have always been disappointed by the chromed plastic parts). The moulding is way below par for a Tamiya product: either there is a lot of flash that cannot be erased (or a matt line would appear in the

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-56655379832559461222009-05-17T16:24:00.009-04:002009-05-17T16:54:16.726-04:00

I am painting this one from black and white pictures from Michael Oliver's book, so it is hard to tell the right colours. However I did not choose to have it painted the same green as the body, as can be found on race cars. The main plate is covered with two brushed layers of Tamiya flat aluminium. With primer applied beforehand, the paint covers the part nicely and a good finish is easy to

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-53138721375096793172009-05-16T16:16:00.002-04:002009-07-29T15:13:49.649-04:00

I put the decals in the dials. There was no problem at all during the process, and the decals tolerated the bath of Micro Set afterwards. I wanted them to get the exact shape of the part and to avoid disgraceful trapped air bubbles. I then coated them with clear Citadel varnish to give a glossy look and allow light to reflect as if they were dials under glass.Some would put some colour onto the

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-55878913249958983632009-05-14T12:30:00.005-04:002009-05-14T12:41:04.094-04:00

I could put the cans aside after the final clear coat was dry. After a mandatory rubbing with 3M compound and some wax, the result looks like what is on the pictures. I would get more shine without the clear but I had rather have the body protected from anything that will necessarily follow a collision course with it. It will also be easier to manipulate for the next assembling steps.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-62308468705457152932009-05-12T13:18:00.002-04:002009-05-12T13:21:46.543-04:00

That is what my clear coat looks like. I toyed a bit yesterday with 3M rubbing compound, abrasive pads and wax. The compound alone was able to give the Europa a shine it never had. In comparaison, the hood lid with a clear coat is full of crevices. I will try sanding the clear coat before rubbing and waxing it.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-48842820171077993602009-05-12T12:43:00.003-04:002009-05-12T13:18:24.115-04:00

It looks like everything went too well so far. Karma hits back with some strength these days... I sprayed the first coats of clear on the body parts and something occured. The "Team Lotus" side markings are covered with blisters! I do not understand how it happened: those decals are from the same sheet as the nose decal, and the latter showed no defect at all. The picture is not quite clear (look

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-44288051372490928312009-05-11T07:27:00.001-04:002009-05-11T07:27:00.913-04:00

I had some success with decals and clear coats, so I thought I could make it work for me. I must confess though that my latest attempt at making nice "Team Lotus" markings was another failure and that I cannot resolve myself to not having them on the car. So my strategy is to use the decals of the kit and spray clear coats over them.The "Lotus Ford" decal went onto the nose without any problem.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-15706752959430014692009-05-10T16:27:00.018-04:002009-05-10T17:26:18.523-04:00

For the following stages, I have to make my mind about three things:1 - are the Lotus 49 decals still worth something after 18 years of uncontroled storage conditions?2 - is it possible to spray a clear coat over decals?3 - are sanding marks visible under a clear coat?I went back to the hood of the Europa and divided it in three areas: the upper left section was wet sanded with a 400 grit paper,

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-48174067522282995042009-05-06T18:34:00.010-04:002009-05-06T19:07:14.231-04:00

To each event there has to be a "before" and an "after". On the right is the body parts before I removed the masks. Three layers each of white, yellow and green and hopefully well placed masks will make or break the model. The previous post showed that my stress level was on the rise and tonight I was asking myself how to peel the tape without damaging the paint. After all there is no magical

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-38909145480597615732009-05-05T12:50:00.003-04:002009-05-05T13:06:49.332-04:00

I ran out of BRG paint and had to interrupt the first wet coat on the nose cone. After a week long delay, I could get back to soaking some plastic. I re-synchronised the wet coats of the nose and the body. So far everything looks good. I need to make some regular touching up for inclusions in the paint, but I encountered no nasty runnings and the masks do not seem to shift. It looks like I get

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-37640442470200820442009-04-25T18:09:00.003-04:002009-04-25T19:32:54.946-04:00

A nice cleaning was done with a 3000 grit abrasive on the yellow paint to remove the little inclusions. It was time to mask what will be the yellow stripes and markings. The main yellow stripe running from the white spot on the nose to the engine bulkhead was really straightforward. Decals showed that it was 13mm wide, so I made a masking ribbon of the same width and placed it on the body in

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-22980111615674700782009-04-20T17:20:00.003-04:002009-04-25T19:33:50.829-04:00

As with the white paint, mist coats came before wet coats. The yellow paint seems a bit harder to work with. The mist coats were hardly even but then it is not really important at this stage. The wet coats were a bit more like a pain in the backside. I got a nasty run of paint right between a mask and the edge of the chassis, where there are lots of rivet-like imprints. Wet sanding it was a joy

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-54121635381592450942009-04-15T13:10:00.007-04:002009-04-15T15:51:09.154-04:00

I let the white paint dry for a few days before working on it again. After a clean up of the body in order to softly remove the final defects in the paint (3000 grit), it was time to place the masks which will protect the white areas of the body. There were a few difficulties on the way. The first one was to make sure to get perfect disks since the paint will show every little roundness mishap.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-61191206706552046922009-04-15T12:56:00.010-04:002009-04-15T13:09:48.782-04:00

I cannot deny I felt pretty stressed before I removed the masking tape from the Lotus 25. I already saw that it did not stay in place where there were crevisses in the moulding of the body and I expected something close to a mess. Looking at the pictures it is a mess indeed, however I feel confident I will be able to make up most of it without too much effort. White is over green, so sanding

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-66428667314592776842009-04-09T14:17:00.012-04:002009-04-09T14:44:13.280-04:00

That part will give me some troubles when I try to get it into the body of the car. The assembly manual shows that the cockpit should be ready in place before the cover is placed onto the monocoque. However, I chose to close the body before anything else, mainly because the parts do not fit perfectly together. So now I do not have much choice but slide the cockpit into the body from the rear

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-43174835812769622452009-04-09T02:14:00.002-04:002009-04-09T15:48:43.692-04:00

Both parts were cemented together before painting. The whole radiator was painted Flat Aluminium: two brushed coats on the perimeter, in order to give an even surface and a good finish, and only one coat on each grid side. I just wanted to give the minimum metal effect to the grids before giving them a thorough black wash, which gives the part some depth. Then the grid bars were highlited with

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-33880723869074340882009-04-08T15:55:00.017-04:002010-04-03T09:12:24.309-04:00

I spent so much time far from this model that is looks like a new challenge to me. However, since I got some good results on the body of the Lotus 25 and since I need to have a finished body to go on with the Lotus 49 kit, I must take a deep breath and make the jump. At the last minute I decided to follow the Modeler Site Lotus 49 guide by Tony Allen. He starts with a white coat of paint, then

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-83028010776909862692009-04-08T15:50:00.011-04:002009-04-09T15:39:47.823-04:00

The wiring is now in place and each piece of flexible tubing glued into place. Cyano glue was necessary to join those different materials and to save the time usually dedicated to applying some pressure on both parts until the bond correctly together. The black tubes are bundled together with a small strip of electrical tape.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-11726596964332797262009-04-08T15:15:00.015-04:002009-04-09T14:12:50.870-04:00

There is a model of the HMS Victory sitting in the attic and waiting for me to start building it. It is the Heller 1/100 plastic kit. Given the size of the model and the detail level, it is worth looking for some good reliable starting point. Obviously the two main challenges will be painting and of course rigging the ship.McKay's book is a nice one to have close to the work in progress. It

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-74958698233416954472009-04-07T17:15:00.017-04:002009-04-07T17:33:57.866-04:00

I used the Tamiya Lotus 25 Climax kit to practice a bit before getting serious with the Lotus 49. I painted the whole body in green first then masked the proper areas in order to paint the yellow stripes. When I removed the masking tapes, I had some bad surprises.Some paint soaked the tape and I will have some repairs to do. The white areas will be painted when the whole body is assembled.

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-63424447299674952642007-11-05T12:12:00.014-05:002009-04-09T12:47:49.371-04:00

The cam cover highlights were painted flat aluminium and the spark plug holes flat red. The flat red from Tamiya is a real pain: it is as clear as their flat black and strips itself when it dries a bit too much on the brush. Many coats have been necessary to get a dark finish, not really astounding even by my poor standards! The various accessories were painted in different shades of metalic

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-39399580959961022612007-11-01T07:15:00.002-04:002009-04-09T12:40:28.642-04:00

I did not describe the assembly of the gearbox as it is completely straightforward. I made however early mistakes, as I wanted to make parting lines (those on the cylinder block) disappear and found out later that they were useful for painting! The whole part was primed again before being painted. As usual, the primer was a great help for highlighting surface defects and correct them.The whole

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-40244569026316797092007-10-03T12:40:00.009-04:002009-05-17T14:44:52.244-04:00

The dashboard was initially primed while not separated from the bundle and I painted it there as well. The attachment point is on a non visible line of the part, so that was easier to handle that way. I painted it semi-gloss black, with three layers, changing the brush direction for each of them. If I did not paint first lengthwise, then crosswise, the brush pattern is too visible and not a nice

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-73752675534155780882007-09-12T07:52:00.000-04:002007-09-12T08:08:40.800-04:00

I have cemented the back section of the cover to the halves of the body. The rear bulkhead is in place for positioning and clamping purposes but still movable. The thickness of the various parts in play here is not in the practical range, so I wonder what I will get once the rubber bands are off. I have still not decided how to tackle the sides of the cover. From some period pictures, a gap can

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-69381954958368207282007-09-11T07:24:00.002-04:002009-04-09T12:38:07.627-04:00

As work on the body is to take some time, mainly waiting time for the putty to harden, I decided to have a go at the engine. I have sprayed some primer on all the parts still attached to benefit from their being easily accessible to the paint. Of course, there will be some job to cut out flash and mold lines when parts are separated and prepared to be cemented together.I followed religiously the

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-26589769562399974092007-09-05T12:05:00.000-04:002007-09-05T13:24:46.997-04:00

I was not at all impressed by the finish I got from the roof and hood of the Europa. As I ran out of primer when I wanted to start the engine block, I put the Lotus 49 aside and got back to the other one. The first picture is what I had after 1500 and 2000 grade sanding, then 3M rubbing and finally car waxing the body. That is a dull finish, full of seemingly deep scratches that came from who

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-88403645428456685602007-09-04T13:23:00.000-04:002007-09-04T13:46:26.702-04:00

I have finally bought the articles in the Modeler Site in order to have some good pictures and answers to my previous interrogations. Mr Allen points out that the inside of the tube can be inserted through the back of the cockpit if the rear bulhead is not cemented, so I decided to go that way. He also seems to make no case of the suspension holes not fitting the shape of the body, so I will let

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-75061946066581885442007-09-04T13:09:00.000-04:002007-09-04T13:45:03.951-04:00

I am close to finishing the tests I wanted to make with the Europa body. I have sprayed two stripes of yellow paint, one one the hood and the other one on the roof. The green paint was applied with a masking tape in place of the stripe, then I peeled the tape to mask the borders of the stripe. All went well as I sprayed the yellow and the end product is not that bad. There are thickness

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-3530089036938743292007-09-02T22:36:00.000-04:002007-09-02T23:34:56.805-04:00

OK, there are some surprises in stock with this model. First of all, there is no instruction for painting it. Except the exterior which is perfectly detailed at the end of the manual, there is no indication whatsoever. There is consequently an urgent need to find some good colour pictures of 1967 and mainly close-ups. I have too few of them. In this site, some hints can be made out but the car is

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-40129871687110617672007-09-01T09:27:00.001-04:002007-09-01T09:49:29.219-04:00

It has been a mere week of waiting but here it is, in perfect condition under its factory wrap. This is the fruit of a courteous and efficient deal on eBay, and it was not an expensive one by the way.The only defective part is one of the decal sheets, which stayed in contact with a printed paper for too long. The ink of the paper sticked to the decal sheet and remained there after I separated

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-67208130451533780882007-08-30T07:14:00.000-04:002007-08-30T08:09:51.091-04:00

While the Ferrari is recovering from its Easy Off treatment, I decided to have a go at some finition on selected sections of the Europa. Both sides are neat and clean so I wanted to see the effect of water sanding before polishing. In this picture, the rear portion of the door is sanded with a grade 2000 paper. As fine as it seems to the touch, it is quite enough to scrape the surface and make it

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-27374164280987517042007-08-29T07:40:00.000-04:002007-08-28T21:50:57.170-04:00

I was so certain that I got rid of it! Well, I was wrong, as I have found it buried in its original Castrol Super Clean. This is the F360 body of which I made a mess while painting. Too many runs of paint. Browsing the web about a way to strip the paint, it looked like Castrol Super Clean was efficient and harmless towards the plastic. So I bought one litre of it and let the body bath into it

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-16217672763902593432007-08-29T07:08:00.000-04:002007-08-29T22:11:56.130-04:00

This is the second wet coat. The whole body looks smooth except on some place. I used the same method as for the first wet coat, with 4 covering of the length of the car. I think I could have done with 3 because I noted a clear tendency to have paint running on the sides of the body. However, there is nothing horrible this time.The light reflection on the parting lines of the hood makes me think

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-32310652977454552212007-08-28T12:55:00.000-04:002007-08-29T22:12:05.815-04:00

This is the lid before the first wet coat. I have chosen to heavily mist it so as to even the paint more. I am not sure whether it is efficient or not, but from the look of it, the finish is convincing. The overall aspect is mate once again, but I think it is because it still needs a good build up of paint. Next step will be to put a wet coat of paint on it and see the result. I intend this part

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-41856434960696196182007-08-28T12:40:00.000-04:002007-08-29T22:12:33.647-04:00

This is the Europa body after a first wet coat. Preparation included sanding mold lines, priming and 3 mist coats. I sprayed the paint at a 15 cm distance, trying to move at a constant speed in a continuous left to right to left again movement for a total of 4 passages over the model. I kept my eyes on the paint itself during the hole process so as to watch its flow on the surface. Once the

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-22480104353656798702007-08-27T12:27:00.000-04:002007-08-27T13:00:16.111-04:00

Web-based research was satisfying, as I have found these links:First thing first, I will need English instructions, as I expect mine to be in Japanese, given that the kit comes directly from Japan. This site has them.It may be 1/43 in scale, but the result is outstanding. Here is a step-by-step report of the painting and assembling.Some piece of advice, in French.The Formula 1 Modeling Website

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-35959034949210162472007-08-27T12:11:00.000-04:002007-08-28T12:03:11.792-04:00

That is where I sweat the most: painting a full body. Applying paint with a brush, even down to a tiny level of detail has never been a problem. I have made lots of figurines and that makes me able to get some good results. However, regarding cars, my first experience has been a nightmare. It was a Tamiya F360, yellow, with Tamiya paint in a can. Trying to get what was referred to as a "wet coat"

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4841923694984583246.post-87108043081708735432007-08-26T09:59:00.001-04:002009-04-08T15:41:26.095-04:00

I have created this blog with one idea: to provide some step-by-step building information for models I have yet to make. My main project is a Heller HMS Victory, which should require many years before its completion. In the very near future, I should get a Tamiya Lotus 49 model (1/12) that will get priority over the ship.I do not consider myself as a talented model-maker. I have too little

Xavier Seynavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570420702578742505noreply@blogger.com0