- If it is going to be shiny, use lacquer. Tamiya's gloss acrylics just never behave when airbrushed.
- Don't use the microSOL (aka Decal Melter) until the decal is in it's final place and already partly dry.
- If some of it will be painted over, remove the underlying chrome plating first, otherwise, the paint will just chip off, despite using primer.
- Give the aforementioned lacquer PLENTY of time to dry before putting masking tape on it. Probably should wait 24 hours before trying.
- One should probably order a second set of decals for a project like this, as some are sure to be damaged. Alternately, perhaps one could scan them, and buy a self-print decal sheet so one could make replacements (although I'm not sure about the quality difference here)
- Third party racing harness kits, while pretty cool, might not be worth the effort unless the car is an open wheel type.
Anyhow, with this project completed, I spent a few minutes photographing but this car and the last project (WWII BMW r75 motorcycle). I recently purchased a new lens, which has some macro capabilities, and tried that out on this shoot. I am pretty pleased with the results. Here are a few images of the completed models:
The full galleries are online and can be reached by either following the links on the right sidebar (new feature!) or by clicking the links below:
http://www.hello-napalm.com/photo_cols/bmwr75/
http://www.hello-napalm.com/photo_cols/calsonicgtr/
Also, as you may recall, at the beginning of this project, I set up a web cam that would allow me to both stream images to a web page, as well as do a bit of a timelapse thing of the entire build. As a result of that, I've collected the images, put them together and made a fancy little video. Check it out (click on the link under the video to see the larger version):
Tamiya Build Time Lapse from Nathan Fariss on Vimeo.
Next up: Model Airways' Curtis 'Jenny' wooden plane. Stay tuned for more model adventures!
