Pit Stop: Kenmeri Skyline, A Classic Beauty

The C110 Skyline is an iconic classic. It is also know as the "Ken & Mary" or Kenmeri Skyline. Named after it's characters from television ads that ran for two years. This skyline was also the last one to participate in the motorsports circuit until the BNR32 came out. The C110 also has several different cult following styles, from original, to the wild bosozoku, shakotan and kyusha-kai mods.

Thomas, AKA Tami on the SPC forum has taken the Rocky Auto Japan route and built his C110 kit as an "Unmolested" Skyline. Using Fujimi's version which has no eninge bay details, even though it does come with an engine, Tami took it to the next level and opened the hood and added those missing details. With an entirely scracth built engine bay, what would it be with out any extra bits like the hood prop, the hood latch spring. The wheels of choice are the classic Watanabe's. No extreme widths or offsets here, they are kept close to what the stock steelies would have been. The paint job is a bit of a newer touch with its metal flakes and ultra high shine. The interior stays factory stock. Under the hood lies the S20 twin cam with triple carbs, it's what makes this GT-R move effortlessly in the streets of Japan.

Here are a few words from Tami.

"A few things about my "unmolested" Classic Beauty


Kit: Fujimi Nissan Skyline 200 GT-R KPGC110 DX (ID-121) with PE parts
Paint: Mr Hobby Metallic red airbrushed, Mr Hobby Gloss Clear spray can
Wheels: The kit came with 2 sets of wheel these are the optional wheels
Engine: in-line 6 cylinder S20 (included the kit)
Scratch built part: engine bay was mostly scratch build, also made some changes on the interior (there was no legroom and pedals)


The kit comes with full engine but the engine bay is very poorly detailed and designed. If you want a nice OOB build on this kit you have to forget about showing the engine. After cutting the hood it needs a lot of scratch build to make it look good. Also there are some fitment problems with the glass, the bumpers, mirrors and the exhaust. I'm not sure what Fujimi was thinking, they made it very hard to enjoy the progress but, it is a nice model, and a great challenge to build for sure. Wouldn't recommend for beginners though!


Some facts about the car:
NISSAN Skyline GT-R (C110) S20 (1972 - 1973) Description & History: The second generation of the Nissan Skyline GT-R was short-lived due to the early 1970's gas crisis that ended demand for performance cars. The car was launched at the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show and in terms of power it featured the same in-line 6 cylinder S20 engine from the first Skyline GT-R generation. On the visual side of it, the second generation (also known as C110) featured minor aesthetic changes as well as few aerodynamic added parts. Only 197 units were made and they were sold exclusively on the Japanese domestic market."

I hope you have enjoyed looking at Tami's take on a classic beauty.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pit Stop: The Black Pearl, More Than Just A Myth...

DAYUM, is just one word that I can come up with after looking at David Zin's black RX7, FD3S. This one does not rock your typical fire spitting boosted Rotary, NO this packs a kick and a donkey punch to the dome. Dave is from Triangle, Virginia and I have come to wonder what do they put in the water over there??. This Tamiya RX7 kit was originally used for it's already potent rotary on another project. Now it rocks an angry looking supercharged LS9 from the Revell Corvette kit. The hoodless beast spits it flames through a Y'ed exhaust piping out of a "lobster tail" stlye tiped muffler. It rolls on my favorite set of shoes, The Kranze LXZ wrapped in some lo-pro Pegasus tires that were modded to his likings. The metallic black paint on the body and faces of the wheels combined with dark gray lips give it the menacing look of a ship ready to take on anything that comes looking for trouble.

 The Black Pearls Specs:

 Tamiya RX-7 R1
Aoshima Kranze LXZ's, metallic black centers with dark grey lips, reshaped Pegasus 19" non-directional tires
Tamiya's metallic black paint
Revell ZR-1 kits supercharged LS9 hooked to the stock RX-7 trans
stock chassis modified for stance and camber, Nissan Skyline Z-tune brakes
parts box Bride seat for the driver and steering wheel from the Aoshima GT-C RX-7 kit, rear package tray covered in carbon fiber decal and Apexi decal with NISMO Z-tune shock adjustment knobs

scratchbuilt Y-pipe for the exhaust and lobster tail tip for the muffler and scratchbuilt intake tube with a Scale Dreams K&N filter at the end. the rear wing is the Ings upgrade from Tamiya


"honestly i have no idea how much time was spend in it's construction. it was just one of those projects that you just have fun building and the time just passes. inspiration came from a red hoodless RX-7 with a Supra engine swap and a white slammed and cambered RX-7 from Japan that i saw online. the name "the Black Pearl" came from my interest in pirate stuff and the "Pirates of the Carribean" movies."

I'm absolutely sure that this is one that you wouldnt want in your rear view mirror, now would ya??

Thanks for stopping by.

PIT STOP: S20 Datsun 510 By, Del AKA 508Boricua

Heres a 510 that was built by MS forum member 508Boricua, Del. It's based of the Hasegawa SSS 4 door version. The kit doesn't come with an engine or engine bay details at all. It didn't stop Del from slapping in a S20 from a Hakosuka. A tight squeeze, but with some elbow grease and some scratchbuilding skills, it looks right at home. The paint job give it a bit of a new school look while the cross bar style wheels take it back to the old school ways.

HERES MY FINISHED DATSUN 510 SSS BLUEBIRD.
I MOTORIZED IT WITH A INLINE S20 FROM A KPGC10 SKYLINE.
AS YOU CAN SEE IT WAS A TIGHT FIT. I SCRATCHED BUILT
PARTS LIKE THE CLUTCH PUMP, MSD, WINK MIRROR AND
ENGINE BAY. WHEELS I BOUGHT AT A LOCAL MODEL SHOW
FOR A BUCK. THIS WAS A FUN BUILD. HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT.

Ya gotta love a clean 510.

Thanks for stopping by.


 

Finished Projects: Zokusha Celica & Stanced MarkII

So I am proud to announce that I finished 2 projects and in the same year mind you...lols I have a hard time getting projects done with in a short time frame. I managed to get 2 of them done with in 4 months. Takes me back to the years when I would have 3-4 projects going on at the same time, well I was only a teen trying to stay out of trouble. Now I only get the night hours to build and what ever free/alone time I get.

First I'll start with the Celica. It has influences from the bosozoku and kyusha styles from Japan. The paint job is a pattern often seen on bosozoku cars. Multicolors and decals add to the infulence of the silohuette racers of the past. I chose the Fujitsu Ten decals from a race Mark III Supra. The star shape exhaust is another styling que from the boso and some shakotan cars. Lowered stance(Shakotan) is a must, along with some Oni-Kyan (demon camber) to tuck in those deep offset SSR Shadow spoke wheels. Usually you would see a wild body mod like huge over fenders to house those wide wheels, but opted to stay in the kyusha (original) state of mind and just made an over sized front air dam to match the star shaped exhaust pipe and race inspired oil cooler hanging out front. The interior stayed fairly stock and mild. It just rocks a pair of AE86 front seats, shifter boot with long crystal knob and a pair of old school Pioneer TS-X11's on the rear deck.

Now the MarkII got done as well. The guy over in Japan are now loving the Stance and Hellaflush movement that is currently going on here in the U.S. Although its a trend that's been going on for decades, it's new image of deep and wide wheels being pushed to the limits of OEM body lines has gotten even more extreme than its past trend setters. Stance is the style I went with on this one.

I built this one for a contest on the Model Scientists forum. The contest was meant to be a 3 month time frame, but the admin decided to give us another month. And good thing too, I was like half done when the 3rd month came around. haha. The body kit was slightly altered to give it a lower meane stance. The rear suspension was slightly lowered and given some more camber, as for the front, just some more camber was needed as the hieght was just right. The paint color is Mint Apple or just mint green. It's a nail polish that my significant other chose out of the line up. Not a bad choice either. I had some issues with it at first, but that was due to my airbrush not having a needle big enough to give me a bigger spray pattern. I also couldn't find all the parts needed to use the bigger needle. Luckily my badger 350 single action airbrush stepped up to the plate and gave me the chance to lay down the color. For the clear I used Testors one coat gloss once again. I think I love this paint. Although you need more than one coat, it comes out nice and shiney. For wheels I went with some Gartmiers with a deeper offset. Gloss black face with aluminum polished lips. The interior also stayed mild. It has a pair of Recaro seats and a momo style steering wheel.

Specs: Zokusha Celica
Kit: Aoshima Grand Champ V.1
Wheels: Aoshima Kai SSR Shadow Spoke, Alclad Airframe Aluminum with Tamiya Titanium Gold centers wrapped in Hippari tires
Paint: Tamiya Pure White, Brilliant Blue and Light Blue
Interior: 80's Blue from Duplicolor ninyl paint with dark blue flocking on rear deck and carpet, Aoshima AE86 seats  and shift boot, Aoshima Kai "crystal knob shifter and Pioneer TS-X11 deck speakers.
Exhaust: Star Shape Pipe from Bosozoku accessories kit painted duplicolor Fire red and weathered with citadel black was and tamiya soot and oil stain weathering kit.
Exterior: OEM fender mirrors, yellow tint head light housing, Boso style front air dam, Race decals and grand champ/kyusha decals, external mount oil cooler

Specs: Stanced MarkII
Kit: Aoshima Formula D1 WELD Racing
Wheels: Aoshima Gartmiers with deep lips wrapped in MS Corp hippari stretch tires. Centers painted in Alclad Gloss black with Alclad Polished Aluminum lips
Paint: Mint Apple Green nail polish shot through airbrush, Testors One Coat Gloss
Exhaust: OEM muffler and piping with styrene tube for tip, painted in Alclad Stainless Steel
Exterior: WELD Racing body kit, front bumper and sideskirts were modded to be lower to the ground, BMF chrome on window and door trim, front mount intercooler.

Thanks for stopping by. Now on to the other dozen projects I have in progress.