Tamiya Acura NSX in Valencia red ***FINISHED***

[mrversatile]

While waiting for my missing sprue for my bf-110C to arrive, I decided to jump into another Tamiya offering. Its the newly released 2016 Acura NSX. The complicated body is beautifully cast and as per usual Tamiya, the kit includes window masks, metal transfers, and nicely cast wheels with correctly sized tires. The color will be a tri-coat factory color, "Valencia Red," and the following pictures will show that I have already prepared, primed, and painted the base and mid coats of the Gravity colors lacquer on the body parts. These went on soooo smooth and you can see the results prior to the clear coat application. I am also adding some factory optioned carbon fiber decals by Studio 27.




mold lines on the body were cleaned up, then the body was sanded and primed with Tamiya fine primer.




Here are the body parts painted with the base and mid-coats prior to clear coat

[Leon]

That looks sharp Gil!

[jpc1968]

Nice

[John Everett]

The car painting has always been a mystery to me.

I can succeed at a nice gloss.

But I've no idea how they get that appearance of gloss under a gloss over a clear gloss protected by a layer of gloss. You know what I mean.

[mrversatile]

John, the color or base coat is really a satin finish, the mid coat is a tinted transparent pearl to add an effervescence to the color which also lacks gloss. That is where the clear gloss coat comes in. It makes all the previous coats pop and provides depth. This clear gloss coat can be sanded and polished smooth to create a flawless finish.

[jpc1968]

Did you understand all that?

[John Everett]

Are you using model products or paint designed for full scale cars? I read that the Zero paint has fumes so bad they make model products look kid-friendly by comparison.

[mrversatile]

John, the paints I used for this and my Mercedes build are lacquer based paints made for scale model cars from Gravity Paints. These paints are factory colors with scaled down metallic flakes for a more realistic appearance. There are other model paint companies like Scale Finishes and Model Car World which also make Lacquer based scale paints. Zero paints, as you mentioned, also offer their own line of lacquer paints. The common denominator here is that they are all lacquer for a reason. Lacquer dries quickly reducing the chance of particles ruining your finish and they allow one to re-coat and polish more quickly. The disadvantage is they are caustic to breath and require protection to use safely. I have also used actual 1:1 car touch up paint for factory colors not offered by the aforementioned and these are usually urethanes that I cut with MEK, another caustic chemical. It isn't a problem for me because I use a spray booth and respirator, but these takes some experience and trial and error to get correct. One has to be careful of the risk of mixing different paints or types. Some aren't compatible and will ruin a lot of effort in preparation. These are the challenges of car modeling, often overlooked, when compared to other genres.

[James Duff]

Just be aware with this one, those metal transfers aren't transfers, they're metal stickers. If you try to "transfer" them like you would the traditional kind...well you can imagine that doesn't go very well.

[mustang1989]

Jun 17, 2017 18:08:52 GMT -5 John Everett said:

The car painting has always been a mystery to me.

I can succeed at a nice gloss.

But I've no idea how they get that appearance of gloss under a gloss over a clear gloss protected by a layer of gloss. You know what I mean.

Sanding grits whether they be the small sanding pads or in paper form with grits ranging from 3200 all the way up to 12000 grit are your friends in the paint smoothing business of scale auto modeling (although I'm straying from the pads as they'll scratch the finish with the harsh corners). Alot of times no matter how smooth the paint/ gloss lays down it's going to dry with an ever so slight amount of roughness to it. Depending on how rough the finish turns out will dictate where I begin my sanding grit choice to start the wet sanding process. If it's pretty bad then I'll start with 3200 and work my way through all the ranges to 12000. If it's fairly smooth to begin with I'll start at 4000 or so. Once I've sanded everything down (being PARTICULARLY careful at the raised details and corners-you'll burn through the paint quicker than you think at those points) to where I want it then I'll wash the entire (body in this case) in cool water and mild detergent (cool water dissipates soap suds quicker than warm water.). If its the gloss coat that I  wet sanded now we're ready for the Novus 2 polish using a chamois (like what you use to dry your 1:1 car-you can't get much smoother than cow skin for polishing) then after I'm satisfied with those results I'll move to the Novus 1 and finish 'er off. I thought the same as you when I started auto modeling 3 years ago. Attaining that "perfect" gloss finish was truly a mystery to me after building aircraft for so long. It takes a few tries but it aint all that bad. Hope this helps out in addition to the great advice that Gil has already given.

[mustang1989]

Will be watching this Gil. Looks like a pretty "kick A " project to me.

[mrversatile]

Well it has been a while since I posted an update of this project but it didn't mean I hadn't been working on it. Altering my usual "car" build process, I chose to complete the body before moving on to the chassis/interior etc. I have since completed the body by clear coating polishing same, and then installing the glass, lights, grills, mirrors, and adding carbon fiber decals to the roof and front spoiler. This car has a complicated venting system with openings behind the doors that lead to the engine compartment. The result is some complicated engineering on Tamiya's part. The main glass minus the rear. is one piece that required painting on the inside as well as the outside. Tamiya provides masks to assist in this, but other masking is tedious. I had trouble getting a flush fit of the side panel behind the doors and everything depends on the previous part's fit so it was unsettling at times because the parts were already painted the body color and polished. Another challenge was the painting of the side mirrors. These are body color and black but there is no definitive demarcation for each color so free hand painting and some masking was necessary. The wheels were painted in Gravity Colors "gunmetal" Now on to the pics:

[Leon]

The body and wheels look sharp Gil!

[dupes]

Dang. That is hot!

How do you like the Gravity paint? Seems like they come with a lot of warnings and caveats...still easy to use?

[mrversatile]

Thanks, and Dupes, Gravity Paints are super easy to use. Just remember to keep the PSI at 15 and spray close as you do most auto lacquer and it goes on smooth as glass. In fact, this is one of the easiest paint jobs I have ever done. Even the clear, (UPOL clear decanted from spray and thinned further), left me with very little polishing.

[mustang1989]

That paint work looks magnificent!!! Wow Gil!!!

Didn't know that tip about the 15psi. I'll be giving that a shot.

[wing_nut]

Hmmm makes me wanna do a car. Love that color.

[mustang1989]

Aug 17, 2017 11:03:19 GMT -5 wing_nut said:

Hmmm makes me wanna do a car. Love that color.

Go for it.

[reserve]

Ah, the shiny...I really must learn how to do this one day
So good it almost hurts to look at, stupendous job Gil

Regards,
Mark

[mrversatile]

Thanks guys, more to follow soon. This has been on my bench too long.

[mustang1989]

Aug 21, 2017 7:51:23 GMT -5 mrversatile said:

Thanks guys, more to follow soon. This has been on my bench too long.

Good God do I ever know that feeling!!!! Looking forward to more Gil.

[mrversatile]

Ok, I am finished with the interior and have installed it on the finished chassis. I have also installed the engine and joined that with same. It is a beautiful piece, and unfortunately, it won't be seen unless one uses the included clear engine cover. I plan to cover mine in carbon fiber so I didn't overly detail what wouldn't be seen. Speaking of carbon fiber, notice the interior carbon fiber details. These are part of the "carbon fiber" option offered in these cars which also includes the roof, rear diffuser, front spoiler/splitter, and engine cover. This depiction will have all of those. This project is nearly finished so stay tuned.










and the clear engine cover before decaling:

[Leon]

Sharp looking interior and engine Gil!

[reserve]

Very nice job brother

I wonder just how much work would have been involved to have the mill exposed, does not look like it'd be an easy task

Regards,
Mark

[mrversatile]

Thanks guys, and Mark, I guess the easiest way would be to just leave the undercarriage pan off and install the clear engine cover or just leave it out but I like to reproduce factory stock examples so that isn't an option for me.

[mustang1989]

Sept 6, 2017 10:03:11 GMT -5 mrversatile said:

Thanks guys, and Mark, I guess the easiest way would be to just leave the undercarriage pan off and install the clear engine cover or just leave it out but I like to reproduce factory stock examples so that isn't an option for me.

Glued to the screen dude!! Fantastic progress so far Gil. Do I see an entry at the end of the month?

[mrversatile]

Thought I would just add a quick update. I finished the carbon fiber decaling of the engine cover and installed it along with the glass firewall partition.  I also have a "before" picture of the rear lower chassis cover with diffuser which will also be covered in carbon fiber.
Thanks Joe, and yes I anticipate another MOM effort at the end of this.

[mrversatile]

Ok, last picture before this one is done....I just wanted to show the rear chassis cover with carbon fiber added to the rear diffuser. Now you can compare the previous picture.

[Leon]

The carbon fibre makes a huge difference Gil!

[mrversatile]

This one is done!! I am happy with the result and the final construction went together flawlessly. Hope you like it and thanks for following along.