[NuNu] Volvo S40 - WIP

Washed. 

I was digging deep into the panel lines, but the mold for the handle part was too blurry, so it was difficult. (Before | After) 

Some Nunu kits occasionally require pressing the front and rear bumpers or securing them with adhesive to ensure they fit snugly against the body. 

I soaked it in hot water, took it out, and bent it so that it would fit well without having to use force. 

The front bumper was also worked in the same way. 

3D printed products are easily broken, so removing the supporters can be a bit nerve-wracking. 

The curvature is not fit well. 🙁 

Once again, I tried bending it with hot water. But I had a bad feeling about it, so I tested it using a support piece.
I only dipped it for a second, but it turned soft like chewed gum.
If I soaked it for over five seconds like with regular plastic, it would be a disaster. 

So I dipped it for only about 0.1 to 0.2 seconds, then quickly pulled it out and bent it. 😉 

I filled the unused holes with super glue. 

The holes drilled to mark the locations of the bonnet pins were also filled in. 

After attaching the slit parts on both ends of the front bumper, I roughly organized it. 

They're telling me to get this done. The kit is on the expensive side, but the quality and service design aren't great for the price.
Aren't NuNu products too expensive?
For this level of quality, I think it should be priced under $35. 

This kit has negative camber applied.
 

The front also has negative camber, but it needs to be adjusted to zero camber as requested by my client. 

But surprisingly, it's a simple fix. Just trim the highlighted area a little and you're done. 

Like this. 😄 

This is a method I came up with because the sum of the parts didn't fit well, but anyway, you can easily eliminate the camber angle. 😉 

This is an unnecessary detail, so it should be removed. 

After removing the protrusion, the hole was filled with epoxy putty. 

This kit comes with tapered tires to accommodate negative camber, but since I modified the camber, I needed tires without tapering. So I looked into some custom wheels, but the aspect ratios don't seem to match, so I can't use them. 

However, upon closer inspection, I discovered that the wheel had a negative taper in the opposite direction of the tire.
Therefore, if I installed a standard tire, the tire would also have a negative taper, as shown in the picture on the left. However, if I installed a included tapered tire, the two angles would cancel each other out, resulting in a final taper of 0. 😄
So, I decided to use the included tire. hahahaha 

Now that all the parts are trimmed, I painted them with black surfacer. 

While deepening the panel line, I applied super glue to modify a missed line.
But, just as I applied super glue to the toothpick and was about to dab it onto the target area, static electricity caused the glue to suddenly spread out. 

Same trouble. 

The silver on Volvo vehicles has brightness and low contrast, so instead of standard silver, I painted it with Tamiya's Gloss Aluminum. 

Masked for steel color. 

1st clear coated & I painted IPP's Iron Silver.
Last time I made a 320i, I had a big problem with clear coating on gloss aluminum, so this time I made sure the first coating wasn't wet air brushing. 

2nd clear coated(same again) & other parts. 

Removed mask. 

3rd clear coated. 

Finally, I sprayed a generous amount of clear for gloss. But... 

There's a stain on the roof. 

The metallic particles on the front bumper are scattered. 

The same goes for the rear bumper. 

The metallic particle was damaged overall. 

I had no choice but to wash it with thinner. 

I washed it all off. Last year, I bought GGX paint from GSI, which was touted as a game-changer, but I threw it away because of its poor quality. I hadn't even used the GGX thinner I bought at the same time, so I figured I'd just use it for cleaning.
For reference, the photos I'm uploading now are records of work I did at the end of last year. 

Okay, let's start from the beginning.
First, the black surfacer. 

Roughly polished. 

I painted Gloss Aluminium again. 

1st coat.
This time, I used Tamiya acrylic clear instead of lacquer clear. 

But as soon as I painted it, a strange stain appeared. 

Bonnet too.
So I was just guessing for a moment, wondering what I was doing wrong. I noticed the area of ​​the stain was getting smaller and smaller. 

It was cold when I painted, and as the clear coat dried, the silver underneath was reflective, which made the drying area look oddly colored. So I heated it with a hair dryer, and as expected, the stain disappeared. 

Super Clear coated. 

Because the compressor pressure of Tamiya Spraywork was weak, I had no choice but to dilute the acrylic clear a lot, so I think that's why the coating was only light in the marked areas. 

Sanded. 

I painted Gloss Aluminium again. 

I clear-coated it a few more times after that, but I skipped it because it was just repeating the same work. And I've even finished sanding it. 

1st polished with Tamiya Rough Compound. 

2nd polished with Tamiya Fine Compound. 

Final polished with Tamiya Super Fine Compound. 

I remembered removing the side blinkers, so I cut some clear pla-plate and made them. 

Masked. 

I painted the rubber part of the window frame with Vallejo Mecha primer. 

This time, instead of painting the parts with a brush, I used AK's Palyer Marker and Real Marker. 

Attached decals.
The width reflector of the indicated part is printed with the rubber molding, so I just cut the orange area and attached it. 

I painted panel-line. 

Ready to assemble. 

Usually, the kit is designed to be assembled starting from the engine room or lower part, but there is a reason why this kit is designed to be assembled starting from the interi. 

Assembling the roll cage is a bit tricky.
If you accidentally cut off the male pins, mistaking them for gates, it'll be even more difficult to assemble.
And, Contrary to the instructions, the marked x-bars are easier to attach to the tub like this. 

Assembled. 

Another view. 

Next, I was assembling the underbody, but the rear suspension and arms were supposed to fit into holes in the bathtub, not the underbody. This is why I had to start with the interior. 

So, the unpainted part is now exposed. It's probably hidden by the wheels and fenders anyway, but... 

I applied Vallejo Mecha Primer Black with a brush. 

Under body done. 

I cut and attached nylon mesh to the bottom of the front bumper. 

I attached windshields and front and rear reflectors. 

I woke up to this stain, wondering if something had caused it. It turned out to be a humidifier stain, and it was wiped clean with a dry cloth. 

Front assembly complete. 

Normally I put the metal sticker(not include) on last, but I think it would be easier to put it on now. 

Rear assembly done. 

The adhesive splattered while I was attaching the wiper blade. 🙁 

After letting it dry, I sanded it and polished it with a compound to restore it.
I put masking tape on places where I didn't want the paint to peel off while sanding. 

It was only after I attached the side mirrors that I realized I should have painted the marked areas black.
I tried to take it off again, but it was firmly attached with resin adhesive and instant adhesive, so I decided to just ignore it. 

Normally, it's easier to install the wheels last, but on this vehicle, the tops of the wheels were covered by the fenders, making it impossible to install them later.
So, I disassembled the upper and lower panels, installed the wheels first, and then reassembled them. 

Finally, I installed the front and rear tow hooks, left and right turn signals, and a kill switch. But... 

It feels a bit underbuilt, perhaps because there's no license plate.
Because this kit is a race car, it doesn't include a license plate decal.
So I used some leftover decals from a previous IVECO build.
It starts with an F. Could that be a French license plate? 

It looks much better. 

Finally all done. 

It's finished. 

Thanks for watching. 😄