W.I.P. Honda NSX

[paulyrichard]

Here's out it's lookin', now that i've fitted those Gartmaier's! The crowning glory will come when I fit the body to the chassis. At the moment i'm jus' in the process of finishin' the engine, and also, i'm havin' to paint in the black trim round the window edges by hand and some masking tape, because this kit does not supply any masks. Watch this space!

[PerfAdv]

Here is the finished back-end of the chassis. The heat stains were painted usin' a mix of GW Chestnut ink and X-19 Smoke*, and the same for X-23 Clear Blue mixed with X-19 Smoke*. All the Tamiya colours I have in my arsenal, I have the same colours thinned for airbrush. Whenever I hand paint pieces, I always brush-paint the airbrush colours, because the paint settle's like water, I never get brush marks. Admittedly they need more coats for coverage. *These ink colours were carefully blended into the chrome paintwork.

Thanks for sharing your formula for creating the heat stain effect. It is such a nice effect, I have admired the look in many a kit. Being new to modeling, I was starting to think it was a closely guarded secret.

How did you do the undercarriage weathering?

Looks really good so far. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[paulyrichard]

Some people airbrush Alclad II Pale Burnt Metal #104, but I feel it doesn't give the right effect, it is too uniform, and you are limited with control. If you are goin' to use my procedure, make sure your base colour for the pipes is an Alclad II one, otherwise, if you use Tamiya acrylic paint for the colour, then these paints may absorb the ink, and destroy the effect. Whereas with the Alclad colours, they are a solid, and smooth paint, and are not tainted when painted over, in this respect. In other words your ink effect will be retained. You must be careful though, a very small amount of ink on your brush goes a very long way!

[Dino Scuderia]

The worst thing about doing a wheel swap on a NSX is the design of the car is made for smaller diameter rims on the front...which is near impossible to find in aftermarket rim sets.

One way to counter this is find a lower profile tyre to put on the front rims to give it the smaller rim effect...other wise it never looks quite right.

[PerfAdv]

I'd pick up some Alclad II paints but it seems from a quick search that the local hobby stores don't carry the brand.

Can you possibly use one of the Tamiya metallic colors, seal it with Clear (X22) and not get the absorption?

I'm sure with a little searching an Alclad dealer will surface, I just wondered if you've tried using Clear to separate paints?

[paulyrichard]

Best1 Hobby in Alhambra, California, deal in Alclad II. Is that near you? Otherwise you'll have to order over the internet with 'em, and have a credit card.

[PerfAdv]

Thanks for looking that up.

Actually Alhambra is about an hours drive but I did locate a small hobby shop that's closer.

[KonaGreen]

Pauly...

I used to build models waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when I was young. I have to say that the work that you do is truly outstanding. I mean like, "Holy Fracking Heck!!!!" outstanding. Keep it up man!!!!!!!!!

[paulyrichard]

I guess any of you guys could have done this better justice, by wiring up the engine! I've never tried it, let alone have all the right stuff, to do it well. I guess the day will come when I'll try it! Anyway, the logo and script was drybrushed silver.

[Matra et Alpine]

Continued excellent work.
Don't be afraid of the wiring, it's easy.
I mainly use fuse wire of different ratings for the wires, 0.4 drill for the dis cap and plug holes and connect them up.
Hardest is trying to get a realistic look to a large wiring loom - I fail miserably at that

[paulyrichard]

Thanks Matra! I'll have to try it at some stage, because then my modelling skills will be more rounded and complete. Thanks!

[kingofthering]

i wish i had that time to spend working on my model, i usually don't have time to work on it.

[paulyrichard]

I've started paintin' in the window trim by hand. Basically I mask off the trim, but for a curved window trim, I cut a very thin piece of maskin' tape, so that it is much easier to bend and make conform to the curve. After the trim has been painted, I jus' round off the corners with a brush. Easy!

[henk4]

excess paint along those frames can best be removed with a wooden toothpick

[paulyrichard]

Yep, that's jus' what I do, if there is any rough or irregular edge, a toothpick works wonders! This is the type of masking I was talkin' about! Lucky I used to work as a signwriter, huh?