Pandem (Rocket Bunny) Wide Body Tamiya Nissan Z (ZR34)

[project510]

I wasn't planning on  starting this kit until after I completed the C7R for the Born in The USA GB, but I couldn't wait to see how good or bad the fitment was on this this 3D printed LBWK wide body kit I found.
I would say its a solid 8 out of 10. Its from a place called FUGU Garage that I found via a Google search. 

Why 8 out of 10? Well the front bumper is id say about a mm off so it doesnt line up perfectly on either side of the hood. Which in all fairness, it will probably disappear when the car is painted and headlights are installed. But you don't know until its done.




Body lines line up but its a little tricky getting it to line up. I had to glue one end, then stretch, pull or push in different directions to line up. Glue, then hold to dry. There will also be a decent amount of work to sand and fill with putty a few places to smooth everything out. Mostly at the end s of the over fenders where it meets the side skirts. You can see here I have not yet glued the fronts fully, its a bit tough to line up perfectly.



Its also not a perfect copy of the actual Liberty Walk kit, which is not necessarily a bad thing... but its advertised as a LBWK Wide Body Kit. I bought it knowing it wasn't a 100% copy so I didn't really mark it down because of this. Its mostly fit and build quality.
Its still a great kit, it was expensive, due to shipping but as no one makes one (not that I could find anyways) Kit is $45 shipping to me was $18.

Ill be starting back on this after the Vette is done. Until then, enjoy.

[tcoat]

If it is a solid 8 out of 10 it probably fits better than most real life body kits out there!

[kyledehart5]

Pretty dang cool. I’ll be watching whenever you get back into this one.

[70 STING]

What Kyle said. 👆🏼

[project510]

With the C7R finished and my group build responsibilities done (for now) I think I will jump into this one.

Did a little more work getting the wide body kit attached. It doesn't fit as great as I initially thought. Not bad though.




Kit also came with a nice set of wheels. Appear to be Work Meister S1

[handiabled]

Bookmarked! This will be a great one to see come together!

[project510]

Searching for reference photos and I kept telling myself... how did they get this kit so wrong... Well, the answer is that they didn't. I've been researching the wrong damn kit. This isn't a LBWK wide body kit. Its made by Pandem, AKA Rocket Bunny. LOL

Here is the correct car we are trying to replicate haha.

[kyledehart5]

That’s pretty cool. This’ll look great.

[project510]

I guess its been a while since I have built a NEW Tamiya kit. Most of the kits I have are 10, 20 almost 30 years old. So I was surprised to see how detailed they are. 3 pieces to make a side view mirror? Crazy. Also, and I have never seen this before but almost all of the paint recommendations are for LP paints and not the usual X/XF line. AND... you need to mix them with other colors to get the correct one. I do like how they give you a chart to create the factory color. That is pretty sick.




Working on the wide body I have to open up these air passages and I am trying to think of the best way to do so. How would you do it? At first I was thinkng dremel, then I said no maybe stay simple and go panel scriber. Razor blade?

I need to make this



Look like this


Also Debating if I should fill this area.. or trim the white part back... or leave it?



Have not been able to find any good photos of this part of the actual kit yet.

[tcoat]

Apr 8, 2024 10:07:36 GMT -5 project510 said:

Also Debating if I should fill this area.. or trim the white part back... or leave it?



Have not been able to find any good photos of this part of the actual kit yet.

The real thing would be trimmed and rolled back but that would be tricky to do with plastic so just trim it out.

[project510]

Used the Dremel to trim away and clean up inside the fender. Spent quite a bit of time sanding as well to help the transition. More work still to be done but in general this was for sure the right way to go. Should clean up nice and look great once paint is applied.




Not super happy with the vents yet. Again, once cleaned up it will look fine after paint. It was so fragile it broke away as soon as I started drilling it out. This caused me to make a bigger hole than I wanted to clean it up. 




I was going to post up the two wheel sets and ask for opinions on what looked better but once I saw the photos I am set on the Works. 

Kit supplied wheels




Aftermarket wheels that came with the Pandem kit from Fugu Garage

[kyledehart5]

Works look good on there. Nice work on the body work. Can be tough to work with and easy to break. This is very cool

[tcoat]

Apr 11, 2024 11:02:55 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Works look good on there. Nice work on the body work. Can be tough to work with and easy to break. This is very cool

Pretty sure that every single widebody kit on an actual street car that I have ever seen had at least one broken panel so a few cracks could be very realistic. 
Now, mind you, most of what I have seen on the streets are Neon's or such with a $100 Ebay kit so they shouldn't be held up as the standard. 

[kyledehart5]

Apr 11, 2024 11:40:38 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Apr 11, 2024 11:02:55 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Works look good on there. Nice work on the body work. Can be tough to work with and easy to break. This is very cool

Pretty sure that every single widebody kit on an actual street car that I have ever seen had at least one broken panel so a few cracks could be very realistic. 
Now, mind you, most of what I have seen on the streets are Neon's or such with a $100 Ebay kit so they shouldn't be held up as the standard. 

Lol! That’s so true.

[project510]

Apr 11, 2024 11:40:38 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Apr 11, 2024 11:02:55 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Works look good on there. Nice work on the body work. Can be tough to work with and easy to break. This is very cool

Pretty sure that every single widebody kit on an actual street car that I have ever seen had at least one broken panel so a few cracks could be very realistic. 
Now, mind you, most of what I have seen on the streets are Neon's or such with a $100 Ebay kit so they shouldn't be held up as the standard. 

I know of only 2 cars in the US with this kit. The first ever being on display at SEMA this past year. It will be fine. Just a learning experience. When its all painted, I think it wont be as obvious.

[handiabled]

The stance of this is wonderful!

[406 Silverado]

Such a cool looking car in real life and what you're doing with this car so far is mind blowing James. I'm with you on using the Works wheels. I'll be dialed into this build FO SHO!!!

[project510]

Getting the chassis painted up. 1st step was to paint it all black then tape off the first section.




After the tape session, came LP-36 




After that was to remove some tape and paint the UCA's and heat shield



After that dried for a day came another tape session.




Then more black.... this is starting to get annoying haha



And for the reveal... Looks good. I made a few mistakes. Ill let it dry for 24 hours and then fix a few small things if I can.

[project510]

Spotted this guy peeking out at the 1st race of the 2024 season for Super GT. My favorite cars are the Motul Z and the newly entered ARTA Civics. I really hope Tamiya makes these versions of this Z. 

[kyledehart5]

That chassis is a thing of beauty! Great work on all that tape work.

[handiabled]

Great paintwork on the chassis!

[project510]

Apr 15, 2024 1:55:05 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

That chassis is a thing of beauty! Great work on all that tape work.

Apr 15, 2024 8:48:00 GMT -5 handiabled said:

Great paintwork on the chassis!

Thank you both! Gotta love the details provided by Tamiya in these kits. 

[70 STING]

I assume you’ll be displaying this kit upside down? ;^)

[project510]

Apr 16, 2024 8:30:59 GMT -5 70 STING said:

I assume you’ll be displaying this kit upside down? ;^)

Maybe one of those cool mirror displays haha

[Medicman71]

That's an awesome looking car!

[project510]

Apr 16, 2024 14:26:00 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

That's an awesome looking car!

Thank you!

[Medicman71]

I know it's not the same car, but there's a stereo/tint/alarm shop down the street from the fire station that I work at that had THREE Nissan GT-R's out front yesterday. Gorgeous cars!!

[project510]

Apr 18, 2024 11:59:13 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

I know it's not the same car, but there's a stereo/tint/alarm shop down the street from the fire station that I work at that had THREE Nissan GT-R's out front yesterday. Gorgeous cars!!

Nice! The GTR is definitely at the top of my list of Dream cars. 

Mmmmm Yes.. an R34 GTR V-Spec II in Midnight Purple is probably my dream daily driver haha. Hmm you just gave me an idea for a thread topic haha!

[Medicman71]

Apr 18, 2024 12:20:23 GMT -5 project510 said:

Apr 18, 2024 11:59:13 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

I know it's not the same car, but there's a stereo/tint/alarm shop down the street from the fire station that I work at that had THREE Nissan GT-R's out front yesterday. Gorgeous cars!!

Nice! The GTR is definitely at the top of my list of Dream cars. 

Mmmmm Yes.. an R34 GTR V-Spec II in Midnight Purple is probably my dream daily driver haha. Hmm you just gave me an idea for a thread topic haha!

Wow! That's a really nice car. The ones near me are the newer GT-R's.

[project510]

Apr 18, 2024 12:27:29 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Apr 18, 2024 12:20:23 GMT -5 project510 said:

Nice! The GTR is definitely at the top of my list of Dream cars. 

Mmmmm Yes.. an R34 GTR V-Spec II in Midnight Purple is probably my dream daily driver haha. Hmm you just gave me an idea for a thread topic haha!

Wow! That's a really nice car. The ones near me are the newer GT-R's.

Our neighbor has a beautiful R35 GTR. I like them, but nothing compares to the R32 and R34 versions.