1/24 Tamiya Honda RA272 F1
Discussion
I’ve been meaning to try scale modelling for a while and with the lockdown looming I quickly bought a couple of kits and what I hoped would be enough tools and materials to get me started.
It’s been 30 years since I last glued my fingers together, as a kid, so this first effort may not become a showpiece but here goes:
The engine assembly is almost complete. I’ve only snatched a couple of hours at the end of the day to do this and the light is rubbish. Today I’m looking at it in daylight and can see where I’ve been a bit ham-fisted. At some point I’ll add a work lamp and magnifier.
It’s been 30 years since I last glued my fingers together, as a kid, so this first effort may not become a showpiece but here goes:
The engine assembly is almost complete. I’ve only snatched a couple of hours at the end of the day to do this and the light is rubbish. Today I’m looking at it in daylight and can see where I’ve been a bit ham-fisted. At some point I’ll add a work lamp and magnifier.
<waves from Instagram> 
looks great from here. Saw the real thing at Goodwood FoS a couple of years ago, absolute magic watching the team of Japanese technicians get it started, the startup procedure took ages, with various fluids being checked and topped up, all the while going about things with typical Japanese precision. Then that noise! 4 exhausts with no silencing and 12 tiny cylinders, must rev to 15000 rpm or something silly.
looks great from here. Saw the real thing at Goodwood FoS a couple of years ago, absolute magic watching the team of Japanese technicians get it started, the startup procedure took ages, with various fluids being checked and topped up, all the while going about things with typical Japanese precision. Then that noise! 4 exhausts with no silencing and 12 tiny cylinders, must rev to 15000 rpm or something silly.
Don't knock the budget spray booth - I had one of those for years!
It was just two big cardboard cartons knocked into one, and was perfectly adequate in the early days for spraying maybe half-a-dozen models a month. Having achieved its original goal of keeping overspray off the wall behind and the table below, the more models I sprayed the more inadequate it became - paint was bouncing round the garage and settling on everything in sight as a sort of multicoloured dust.
When my brother said to me, "I never realised your Porsche was purple," that's when I knew I had to do something!
It was just two big cardboard cartons knocked into one, and was perfectly adequate in the early days for spraying maybe half-a-dozen models a month. Having achieved its original goal of keeping overspray off the wall behind and the table below, the more models I sprayed the more inadequate it became - paint was bouncing round the garage and settling on everything in sight as a sort of multicoloured dust.
When my brother said to me, "I never realised your Porsche was purple," that's when I knew I had to do something!
Bit of a setback today when applying a second coat. I did a ‘test spray’ into the booth, which came out clean, but as soon as I showed it to the bodywork it started to spit. I realised I’d forgotten to invert and empty the nozzle after the previous coat. It’s drying now. Tomorrow I’ll sand it back and start again.
In the meantime I tried to look ahead and prepare the remaining small pieces. My work space is one end of the kitchen table. The other end is occupied by my wife who is now WFH and is a fidgeter with a jiggly leg. She also likes to forcefully tap the table as she makes her points on work calls. While trying to paint I feel like those women who apply their makeup on a bus or train, only without the acquired skill. My makeup would be less cover girl and more Joker.
In the meantime I tried to look ahead and prepare the remaining small pieces. My work space is one end of the kitchen table. The other end is occupied by my wife who is now WFH and is a fidgeter with a jiggly leg. She also likes to forcefully tap the table as she makes her points on work calls. While trying to paint I feel like those women who apply their makeup on a bus or train, only without the acquired skill. My makeup would be less cover girl and more Joker.
Evangelion said:
Don't knock the budget spray booth - I had one of those for years!
It was just two big cardboard cartons knocked into one, and was perfectly adequate in the early days for spraying maybe half-a-dozen models a month. Having achieved its original goal of keeping overspray off the wall behind and the table below, the more models I sprayed the more inadequate it became - paint was bouncing round the garage and settling on everything in sight as a sort of multicoloured dust.
When my brother said to me, "I never realised your Porsche was purple," that's when I knew I had to do something!
Brother here. I don't remember saying that but your memory has always been way better than mine. I do remember the multi-coloured dust. It was just two big cardboard cartons knocked into one, and was perfectly adequate in the early days for spraying maybe half-a-dozen models a month. Having achieved its original goal of keeping overspray off the wall behind and the table below, the more models I sprayed the more inadequate it became - paint was bouncing round the garage and settling on everything in sight as a sort of multicoloured dust.
When my brother said to me, "I never realised your Porsche was purple," that's when I knew I had to do something!
I have a Dyson air purifier/climate thingy for the nursery, which is currently in the kitchen. Here’s the trace for the first spray. The trace plots a 15 min average and the spike coincides with two half-second sprays on the kitchen table (inside my ghetto booth), before I realised doing it indoors wasn’t sensible. This is the first time I’ve recorded anything other than green, let alone topping out the chart.
The average is for the whole day, so not really relevant here. The y-axis is not variable according to results, so any time it’s orange or higher it’s considered toxic.
Perhaps worth adding that the Dyson is in 'measure only' mode at the moment. So it dissipated naturally over the space of an hour, helped by having the back door open slightly.
Gruffy said:
The average is for the whole day, so not really relevant here. The y-axis is not variable according to results, so any time it’s orange or higher it’s considered toxic.
Perhaps worth adding that the Dyson is in 'measure only' mode at the moment. So it dissipated naturally over the space of an hour, helped by having the back door open slightly.
That's not too say I'm recommending it though!
Little time for the model last week but have been chipping away with several light coats on the body panels. Made some decent progress today. It’s at the stage where everything is coming together.
I’m still waiting on some of the kit I ordered a month ago. Lack of tweezers is making fiddly transfers a proper swearfest.
I’m still waiting on some of the kit I ordered a month ago. Lack of tweezers is making fiddly transfers a proper swearfest.
Still waiting on tweezers so I’ll leave the remaining decals for now. It is otherwise finished.
I was deliberately avoiding being precious about the first model, knowing I’d cock lots of things up. I was only halfway through when I realised that lots of the moulding lines and circles weren’t part of the intended detail. I also now realise that Tamiya make great kits and s
t paint. Brush painting is probably only ever going to be so good but it’s been frustrating trying to keep the quality up. I also need more brushes for fine work. And glue for clear parts (on order for a few weeks now).
For now this is parked up and I’ll move onto the next one.
I was deliberately avoiding being precious about the first model, knowing I’d cock lots of things up. I was only halfway through when I realised that lots of the moulding lines and circles weren’t part of the intended detail. I also now realise that Tamiya make great kits and s
t paint. Brush painting is probably only ever going to be so good but it’s been frustrating trying to keep the quality up. I also need more brushes for fine work. And glue for clear parts (on order for a few weeks now). For now this is parked up and I’ll move onto the next one.
Gruffy said:
Still waiting on tweezers so I’ll leave the remaining decals for now. It is otherwise finished.
I was deliberately avoiding being precious about the first model, knowing I’d cock lots of things up. I was only halfway through when I realised that lots of the moulding lines and circles weren’t part of the intended detail. I also now realise that Tamiya make great kits and st paint. Brush painting is probably only ever going to be so good but it’s been frustrating trying to keep the quality up. I also need more brushes for fine work. And glue for clear parts (on order for a few weeks now).
For now this is parked up and I’ll move onto the next one.
The model looks good to me.I was deliberately avoiding being precious about the first model, knowing I’d cock lots of things up. I was only halfway through when I realised that lots of the moulding lines and circles weren’t part of the intended detail. I also now realise that Tamiya make great kits and s
t paint. Brush painting is probably only ever going to be so good but it’s been frustrating trying to keep the quality up. I also need more brushes for fine work. And glue for clear parts (on order for a few weeks now). For now this is parked up and I’ll move onto the next one.
Tamiya paint is fine through the airbrush, rubbish when brushed on anything but the smallest parts.
Vallejo Model Colour is designed for brushing and is easy to apply.
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