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.

Updates On My Projects

As usual I seem to leave the updates on my projects last. I try my best to keep this spot up to date, but life just gets in the way of doing so.

The Celica has some chassis detailing done and sits on it's wheels now. First I started by modding a cross member from a Fujimi Ae86. I cut off the oil pan and splash guard details adjusted the arms and got a better looking member than what it had. Then I lightly weathered the chassis with the Tamiya weathering sets and a bit of a black wash from Citadel paints. The tail lights were painted with Tamiya clear red sprayed through my airbrush. I have also been working on the interior. I flocked the rear deck and carpet area with some flocking powder from Michaels art store. The seats were taken from aoshima AE86 kit that I "dirtied" a little using the citadel wash. I also used the shifter boot and gauge cluster decal. Im using the shifter from the Aoshima Kai wheel sets. They come with some extra parts and one of them are the clear shift knobs that come in different lengths and designs. I also used some Pioneer TS-X11 speakers, yeah old school beats..I'm a Wu Tang Clan fan, so thats what I'll be bumping..lols

Now, the Mark II has been getting some love as well. I mentioned that it's for an online contest on the Model Scientists forum. Well the deadline is this saturday...I'm pushing myself to finish it on time. I lagged it a bit on this one, but it's getting really close to being done. Now I'm thinking "damn, is it possible? I'm actually going to finish not only one, but 2 models this year??" of course it will be more than 2, but I'll save that for later.. I painted the details on the chassis which consist of the molded in engine, transmission and exhaust. The front and rear suspension is glue in place, which can only mean that my Stance is locked in. Rotors were painted with titanium silver and titanium gold. The calipers were done in transparent yellow. The chassis still needs a couple of parts to call it done, but they are on the way to being glued in place. The interior parts were painted in tan. I'll be using some Recaro seats. I printed up some plaid pattern decals that I hope will work. if not then maybe next time. Now, the body has recieved it's final putty call and has been sprayed in mica silver from Tamiya. I tried to find the .5mm set for my Iwata airbrush, but had no luck on finding the last part needed to use it. So I wipped out my Badger 350 and got the large tip out and went to town with. Unfortuantely I was asked by the dude running the contest to leave that update till saturday...ooooh the suspense...lmao.

My 67 Impala is just chillin and waiting to get done...lols how ever I did chrome up the frame using Alclad II gloss black base and chrome. It came out good for my first time using chrome the proper way. I also sprayed some of the interior tan from duplicolor vinyl paints. I person it looks just like vinyl..

Thats about it for today. I'll be getting back to work on these tonight, so I hope to have some more later on.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enter The Lions Den: Victor's J's Racing S2000 AKA "Lion Heart"

Today I bring you another S2000 built by member Victor AKA Backyardinc on the forums. This time around he has built a J's Racing inspired version. This one is partaking in a contest on the Model Scientists forum. The contest is called "StanceWars". Pretty much the name says it all.

Victor has taken another Tamiya Honda S2K and has made a masterpiece, artwork in static motion...haha if that makes sense.. There is a long list of many scratchbuilt parts on this one. The J's Racing front bumper and fenders are just one of the many that stand out. OEM strakes and rear fender flares add to the already aggressive front bumper. Underneath the open hood lyes the heart of this lion, an LS2 out of a Corvette. It looks as if it belongs in there. A wild zebra pattern adorns the engine bay along with some Samco style radiator hoses. The brake master and clutch master cylinders and booster are extra details as well. Lets take a peek at the interior, Mugen style roll cage-check, kevlar bucket seats-check, oh look a skateboard for cruising around. Take a closer look and you'll see a Go-pro camera and a carbon kevlar Password JDM center consol. Honestly, I can go on forever on the attention to detail, but I'm not. I'll let the pictures and the details list do all the talking from here.

"This tamiya Honda S2000 was built for a contest , called "stancewars" , ends in a few days on june 30 , 2012 . This WAS A GREAT CHALLENGE , not only to build something that can have a chance of winning , but to do so much scratch building , finding parts , paint process , in 4 months time , for me , that was insane . The project is finished and I am more than happy with it . I had my ups and downs with this project . Here is a list of stuff scratch built or put on the project :

LAUNDRY LIST :

=scratch built J's Racing front bumper
=scratch built J's Racing front fenders
=tamiya epson nsx mirrors , shortened
=tamiya epson nsx tow hook
=scratch built OEM honda s2000 side strake
=scratch built ASM rear fender flares
=tamiya epson nsx vent custom made to hood
=scratch built engine bay
=corvette motor mated to S2000 tranny
=scalemotorsports ZEBRA decal used for bay
=misc brake master cylinder,booster,clutch master cylinder
=short radiator , able to tuck under radiator support
=SAMCO camo radiator hoses , scratch built
=corvette intake box
=scalemotorsports carbon kevlar for the whole project
=chassis is box stock with paint detail
=scratch built exhuast pipes added to s2000 mufflers
=rims from tamiya calsonic R33 nissan skyline
=F1 style lug nut scratch built
=tires , resin version replica of aoshima stretch tires
=tamiya epson nsx front calipers , added to stock s2000 front rotors
=custom muffler tips
=MUGEN full roll cage
=racing seats with carbon kevlar backs
=PASSWORDJDM center console cover carbon kevlar
=carbon kevlar radio cover
=tamiya calsonic r33 digital race cluster , carbon kevlar
=carbon kevlar mirror from tamiya calsonic r33
=fujimi type r steering wheel
="knife" shift knob scratch built
=GoPro camera with stand scratch built
=matching scratch built skateboard
=fuzzi fur for carpet (flocking)
=techdecks skateboard , used stickers from there for windshield "finesse"

I think thats all , hopefully I didnt mess anything ...... this is also my first car I polished/buffed............. here you guys go ..."

This has got to be on of my favorite S2K built to date. I hope to see some more from Victor really soon. Just to throw it out there for the people in the East Coast near Jersey. Victor has a Diversified Scalerz model car meet happening in August. Check out the posting on MS forum.  http://modelscientistsforums.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/609-diversified-scalerz-east-coast-model-meet-august-5-2012/
It should be a good one to attend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Shako.....Oh Wait...Enter Zokusha

Well I decided that with the paint job being a bit more flamboiant it can no longer be just Shakotan. As Shakotan style is usually more subtle or near stock(kyusha) body lines. Zokusha comes from both Bosozoku and Kyusha. Well enough with the talk and onto the pics.

Yeah, just a couple of pics. Hope to have some decals and clear coat on it soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

The End: OS GIKEN 510

So, what do you get when you toss in an idea and sit on it?? 2 years of hard work, thats what. yup, today marks the 2 year anniversary of when i re-started this little sucker. When I first bought this kit, i didn't think it would take me this long to finish it. I bought it when it was released under the "tuner series" from Revell in 2002. at the time i had tried to fit some fujimi 15" watanabe's, i hacked away at the wheel arches to make them fit. oh man did that look stupid. so i put it away in a box. there it stayed with out an idea that it would end up like this.

I can honestly thank Jimmy aka Fujimmy. if it was not for him on making and casting the resin OS Giken TC-16 engine, this would probably still be in a box. i had thought about leaving the box stock engine, but that didn't really fuel the fire. i rebuilt the front and rear wheels wells on the chassis, modified the strut set up and went from there. this one has the most scratchbuilt parts i have ever done and several other "first timers". like the body weathering or using alclad paints. all i can really say is that im happy to have finished this even though the building part is the part i enjoyed the most.

Specs: OS 510
Kit: Revell Tuner Series
Engine: Fujimmy Casted TC-16
Wheels: Aoshima Techno Phantoms
Suspension: super low shakotan style
Scratchbuilt parts: Header, exhaust, strut arms, roll cage add ons, wheel wells, rear sway bar, water resovoier, oil filter relocation, seat belts/harness, wink mirror, induction tube, MSD 6al box, MSD ignition coil, fuel line and pump
Kit bashed parts: head lights are fog lights, outside mirrors are from an impala kit, rear under wing is from an R32 kit, ae86 roll cage main hoop, nascar gauge board, R32 front and rear brakes, ae86 modified radiator,  oil cooler from aoshima kai parts.

This is was 10 years in the making.

Thanks for stopping by, stay tuned for more builds from me coming up soon.