The
body takes some time to dry when using enamel paint, so it's
time to move onto the rest of the kit. The chassis is next.
I used flat black spray paint (department store bargain $1.00
a can stuff). After that I may use a slight mist of grey primer,
or oxide brown primer, depending on the look I am after. No
chassis would be perfectly flat black and consistent on a
real car. Using a mist color can give it some character and
highlights.
Because this is a curbside, there's not much detail underneath
to paint. I used silver for the exhaust and oil pan. The front
and rear suspension pieces were done in gloss black. Here
you can see a painted chassis next to a new one out of the
box.
Some
of the trees were painted as needed, between the body and
chassis parts. Although I don't like using flat black on models
(boring!) for interiors, our original RX3 wagon had a black
vinyl interior. So this coupe gets the same treatment. Black
interiors don't allow much detail, it's hard to see inside.
So using a brush, I painted the various chrome trim and used
gloss black to try and highlight some areas.
The nose piece probably took as much time as the rest of the
build. Although the directions say use flat black around the
headlights and taillights, I found that on the real cars,
that doesn't appear correct. The parts appear more of a metallic
charcoal color and texture. (many Asian market cars seemed
to use this, a Datsun B210 comes to mind...). I was able to
replicate this to my satisfaction by using a can of Rustoleum
#7754 "Anodized Bronze". I spayed it into a
loose cup, and brushed it on carefully. It looks much better
than flat black would have, and more accurate.
The rear tail-lamp assemblies received the same treatment.
The rear lenses are clear, so I used Tamiya Clear Red to bring
them to life. Testors Parking Lamp clear paint was used on
the front parking lenses.
Installing the wheels and tires was for the most part uneventful.
These use the soft clear round attachments like most Asian
made kits. I know our family's RX3 had better looking rims
or hubcaps, but I don't remember what they looked like. These
stock examples with the kit are begging for an aftermarket
upgrade.
Best
Motoring - Skyline GT R - The Prodigy - We explore the legendary
Skyline GT-Rs, checking out the latest technologies that Nissan
has to offer in creating the future GT-R and finishing with track
battles of the GT-R pitted against the EVO VIII RS and the Impreza
WRX STi. WRC Subaru Touge Attack - BMI invited WRC Subaru driver
Petter Solberg to check out our home touge, attacking it with
his 2003 WRC Champion car. Touge Showdown 200 (Round 2) - Keiichi
"Drift King" Tsuchiya, Manabu Orido and Nobuteru "No
One Better" Taniguchi are back for Round 2 of the Touge 200
class. Top J-tuners like Technospirits and Spoon are again at
the Touge with their ultimate street machines, plus new entrants
like TOM#s and Garage Motore. ARTA NSX: Tsuchiya#s JGTC Challenge
2003 (Episode 2) - BMI can only take you to the tracks and the
paddocks of the JGTC series. Keiichi Tuschiya shows his amazing
driving skills and pure guts, taking the NSX to the limits! Bonus
Footage: Tuning into Tokyo #04 TAS Report BMI is back on sight
reporting directly from the Tokyo Auto Salon 2004. Nobuteru Taniguchi
shows us the enormous show grounds of TAS and gets the latest
trends in tuning straight from Japan by interviewing manufacturers
and tuners like HKS, APEX-I and Yashio Factory.
Drifting:
Sideways From Japan to America - Dreamed up by drivers trying
to outdo each other on the mountain passes of Japan, the art of
the sideways descent of a switchbackwhat Wired described as the
fishtailing ballet of burning rubber called driftinghas made it
to the United States in a big way.What began as a new kind of
daredevil driving among teens has, over two decades, become a
sanctioned sport, making its way across the Pacific through video
games and magazines, anime and the Internet, to take root in Californias
fertile underground racing culture.Drifting tells the story of
drifting from its arrival on the West Coast to its emergence as
the hottest form of motorsport in the United States. A dramatic
visual record of the sport in America, the book also profiles
the people, teams, techniques, web sites, publications, videos,
and trends that have made drifting the phenomenon that it is today.For
the curious newcomer, author Antonio Alvendias introduction succinctly
explains what drifting is, setting the stage for the thrilling
automotive drama that then unfolds.
