Sounds good Wes, looking forward to seeing this one

 

Lately I've been starting with the interior a lot, and this time I wanted to make it classy. I was really inspired by this Amber Red interior

Masked the parts using tape and liquid mask

Painted them

I opted for simple, classic harnesses - Sparco in black

 

After that I started on the engine, which is always my favourite part. Modern engines are kinda tough to work on because they tend to be very cramped affairs. Anyway, this is the stock engine - not too shabby and lots of room for improvement.

Take that apart

The engine bay cover is an especially dull looking thing so I started with that. I used RB Motion washers and bolts to add a bit of something to it. It's a small but effective change

After that I went to work on the intake manifold cover.

Painted it gold first

Added some carbon decal

After some decal softener

I seem to be missing some intermediate pictures of it but basically what I did was add 6 segments of longitudinally bivalved alu tube to each intake duct, 6 machined bolts, clear coated the carbon, added a bunch of other wires and rivets

Another angle

No self-respecting track car goes without oil catch cans, so I started on those

RB Motion bolts

PE washers

Transistors from a computer parts store (yes you read that right) with 2 holes drilled in them

Pop those other two in there

Two more metal parts - a connector for the side of the body and a nut for the top portion - both brass

Oh and I did mention that there were two of them

Attach the plumbing - glue technology has really come a long way. I really have no idea how these things hold on

And in they go - a VERY tight fit

Some rivets for the strut tower - there is also a PE ring in the coilover well, if you can spot it. Lastly, the coilover damping adjustment knob goes in the middle.

Engine cover in

And the rest of the engine with lots of other wires and tubes

 

After that I went to work on the wheels, and again, since this is a track car, the smaller the better. The most common choice for GT-Rs is 20" it seems, but I went for 19" TE-37s that I bought from TK Diecast in 2017.

I opted for gloss black with a red spoke decal

The initial dry fit looked promising.

 

Having done the wheels, I then turned my attention to the exterior. I opted for a carbon roof and trunk

Then some low key side skirt extensions

Then a front lip

Painted black and coated with 2K clear with my new aibrush

While I was there I decided to repaint the intercooler silver as well

Then I decided to symmetrically carbon the rear lower bumper/diffuser section

Which received some 2K clear as well

Then I gave the exhaust a burnt titanium effect - looks pretty cool through the mesh

Oh and I repainted the rear badge as well. I used a PE sticker so it still says Nissan

 

I thought I was quite happy with the wheels, but then realized the tires weren't meaty enough

So I ended up finding a set of tires in my parts bin which had the absolutely perfect level of meatiness so I promptly switched those out. Here are the before and after pics.

Then I started with the livery, which basically took all day.

Now the last part remains, this Mine's 2-tier wing with the base in semi-gloss black and the top in glossy carbon.

So I started on that and that's where I am for now.

Thanks for looking

 

Great progress Wes, that looks superb. What do you use to fix stuff like the RB Motion washers and bolts?

 

Love all the progress so far. The engine bay looks very nice and i love the front spitter and the side skirts lips. Well done!

 

Thanks man!

Some more progress on the wing last night

 

Fantastic work

And I have no idea how do you manage to paint all those tiny parts so well and get such clean lines

 

Thanks! Well I've recently discovered how to use masking tape correctly and the liquid mask was a game changer as well

 

Can you share the how to and what's a liquid mask? : )

 

Well it's quite simple with the masking tape - all you have to do is make sure you use the existing edge and not an edge you created yourself. For example, I had a fat roll of Tamiya masking tape so I cut the strip in half and that didn't turn out so well. The edge that I cut let the paint bleed through. Then it's very important to press the tape down so that the entire edge is making contact with the surface

The liquid mask I use is this latex one by Vallejo

It works great, especially for door cards or dashboards, to protect the decal stickers or if you want to keep the vent the same colour but repaint the rest of the dash. Peels right off after painting, I love it.

 

Thanks

I use the same technique for the masking tape, but I always get bleeding through

This liquid mask though sounds quite up my street, I'll look for one here, thanks

 

Great work! Really loved all the little details

 

thanks man!

 

It's looking really well so far. The choice of meatier tyres is spot on, they suit it perfectly. The carbon work is great and it's looking like a beast. I love it!!!

 

Ah thanks Craig, bless TK Diecast for even making builds like this one possible!

Lucked out with the tires, they just happened to be in my parts bin and I have no idea what model they came from haha

 

progress of the Mine's wing

built, shaped, carbon decal, paint and 2K clear with some polish

Adding some tiny rivets as per the real thing

And the model is done! Will take some outdoor pics later but here are some preliminaries

Thanks for looking!

 

Very good looking overall!!! I like it. Is there any particular reason you chose 19" wheels and not 20"? I think that the 20"wheels would fill the arches a bit better.

 

Thanks man. Yeah it's a track car and usually they have smaller wheels and beefier tires. The overall diameter is still the same as with a 19" wheel with a lower profile tire

 

Lovely work on that carbon fibre. Are you going to add a rear licence plate?

 

yes eventually, just have to order some from Ding Sign. He's got quite a waiting list so I like to batch them up and order several sets at the same time

 

Very nice work on this model ! I love the engine and the small details everywhere. well done

 

Appreciate it

 

The problem with artesan studio is that stuff goes missing if it drops outside the new content list, IMO. Anyway, I love this model yo.

Great work and I think the wheel size is perfect.

 

Thanks fellow diecaster

 

Alright some finishing touches now. Since I decided to repaint my Mine's R33, the license plates I got from Ding Sign became available and they were perfect for the R35.

Then the missing decal for the wing arrived from TKDiecast - the little red one

 

It's the little things in life that make it perfect, love the number plate. Awesome model mate

 

Thanks Rob!

 

Looks great mate, love those plates

 

Perfect finishing touches!

 

Thanks guys

 

Great result! The bodykit is well made and matches the car nicely, the wheels are looking very good also.Nice work! I would love to see it in day light if possible please!!!