Toyota Supra JGTC '01 - WIP

Before starting, the yellowed transparent resin parts were exposed to UV.
I don't know if this method will work or not. 

I cut off the unnecessary parts that were attached to the bottom of the body. 

I carved deep into the panel line. 

Sanding done.
I decided to make both at the same time. 

This time, I wanted to finish it quickly without any modifications, but there were a few parts that I couldn't just pass over, so I'll have to make some simple modifications. 

The canard was too thick, so I made it out of 0.5mm plastic plate. 

The difference in thickness seems to be twice as much. 

I thought 0.5mm was a bit thick, so I made the other one 0.3mm.
The difference in thickness between 0.5mm and 0.3mm seems to be quite large compared to what I thought. 

Next, I'll replace the too-thick blades on the rear diffuser. 

Removed blade. 

Marked original location. 

Prepared to blade with pla-plate. 

Glued.
This resin also adheres well to anhydrous adhesives. 

Trimmed and done.
I have to do the same works again. 😉
 

Next, side skirt.
I was worried that it would fall off easily after assembly because it was so heavy, so I was debating whether to replace it or not. 

It seems like it would be a big deal to trim the marked areas. and the blade is too thick. 

I prepared the pla-plate(0.5mm) by cutting it to fit well. 

Done. 

Adjusted fit the body shell. 

The other one was made with 0.3mm pla-plate.
Comparing them like this, the difference in thickness between 0.5mm and 0.3mm is quite noticeable. 

The yellowing did not disappear with UV light.
But it doesn't matter because I have to paint it Clear Red. 

I replaced the side mirror pillars with cut pieces of paper clips. 

I tried adjusting the wheel while trimming it, but I don't know if it was warped or the injection was done incorrectly, but it didn't fit well, so I had to do a lot of sanding. 

These parts don't fit right either. 

It's a part that attaches to the rear window, but the antenna hole(?) was interfering with sanding, so I removed it for now. 

It seems like all the parts that will be noticeable after completion have been polished. 

Small parts were washed in an ultrasonic cleaner. 

Some parts were lost during the process of washing with a neutral detergent and rinsing. 

I listed everything to figure out which parts were missing.
One part each was missing from the bottom three.
Fortunately, they were parts I didn't need or was planning to modify. 

Part of the rear bumper is split, which I think may have been designed this way because of the variation kit. 

After attaching it so that it doesn't stick out, I applied a thick layer of putty. 

Sanded. 

I thought the side skirts were finished last time, but it turned out they had small etched blade parts. 

This time too, I measured the dimensions and cut the pla-plate to the appropriate size. 

Before attaching it, I bent it a little like the picture in the manual. 

And I glued it. but it's not done yet. 

Since there are slits on the second floor as well, blades must be made. 

When assembled, it looks like this.
Unlike the right side, the left side has an exhaust, so I don't need to attach a single large blade. 

All four have been completed. 

Next is Canard.
I measured the shape by attaching masking tape. 

After attaching it to 0.3mm plastic plate, I cut it out. 

I glued to match with original curved surface. 

x4, done. 

Trimming PE parts. 

I assembled the things that needed to be assembled in advance. 

The harness is PE, so I have to be careful because the paint will likely peel off later when you assemble it.
Nevertheless, since the paint will be chipped anyway, I think I should empty my mind and think about painting. 🙂
 

I fitted the wheel onto the rim. 

Instead of primer, I tried painting More Modeling's multi-surfacer. 

For parts that couldn't be handled with tongs, I held them by hand and painted them in halves, turning them like grilling meat. 

This time, I'm trying to make a headlamp.
1st. I cut the aluminium pipe.
 

2nd. Polished. 

3rd. I cut the chrome tape into a circle. 

4th. I applied chrome tape to the back.
The hemispherical lens shown is the H-Eyes product from ‘Wave’. 

5th. I dropped a single drop of UV resin into the cup. 

6th. After placing the lens, I exposed it to UV light. 

Done. 

When applied, it looks like this. 

I forgot something, so I cut and trimmed a little bit of the copper pipe. 

I attached it to the spot where I had removed it during the previous sanding because it was catching. 

I can finally start painting in earnest.
Painted in gunmetal and metallic gray. (AU vehicles appear to have gunmetal wheels) 

The black was applied with Vallejo Black Mecca Primer. 

The remaining parts were painted with white surfacer. 

I forgot the kill switch again, so I made this in a hurry. 

The decal appears to be in good condition, but it is 30 years old and the film layer has shrunk considerably. 

The AU car decals were in the same condition. I figured they'd all crumble if soaked in water, so I decided to take action. 

So I'm going to use Microscale's liquid decal film, but I applied it with a brush before and it ended up being too thick, so I'm going to try airbrushing it this time. 

And this time I decided to use a no-clean airbrush. 

I divided it into a exclusively bottle, and since the concentration was extremely strong, I mixed it with alcohol in a 1:1 ratio.
 

This seems to be a way to draw air from the tip of the needle to lift the paint from the bottom of the bottle. However, the liquid is so thick that my Tamiya sprayer barely managed to lift it, but it didn't spray. 

In the end, I ordered a new compressor to replace the 'Tamiya Spray Work' I've been using for almost 30 years. 

Since it would take a while for the new compressor to arrive, I had no choice but to dilute the alcohol more and apply it with great difficulty, squeezing it out.
Maybe that's why the surface turned whitish after drying, but I think this will disappear with a clear coating. (Like the white marks on the GSI Mark Setter...) 

Since the compressor pressure was weak, the coating was thin, so I cut off the end of the decal and tested it, but fortunately there was no problem. 

The new compressor I bought a few days ago arrived.
I bought it after seeing the reviews of Barbatos Rex and I am very satisfied.
 

Youtube Video
I tried spraying liquid decal film, which was too thick to spray, with my new compressor. It finally sprayed smoothly. I mixed some alcohol in it before, so I'm not sure if the original solution would spray as well. It turns out the previous problem was due to insufficient pressure in the sprayer... 

I painted base color. 

I was masking to paint a pattern, but the paint came off.
"I have a bad feeling about this"... 

So I took off the masking tape... and as expected, the situation was dire. 

In particular, the part where the Tamiya curve masking tape was attached fell off badly. 

So I was curious how far it would fall, so I tried sticking and removing masking tape, and this is what happened. 

The orange car was in relatively better condition, but the paint was also peeling off. 

I had no choice but to wash them both with thinner.
In these cases, instead of submerging them in thinner, I poured about 100cc of tool cleaner into a plastic bag and brushed it on to dissolve the paint.
After it was completely dissolved, I sprayed thinner on them with an airbrush. It felt almost like washing a real car. 

Restored to its original state. 

Since only 100cc of thinner was used per a car, the cleanup can be done neatly by putting the tissue paper used for wiping in a ziploc bag and disposing of it as incinerable waste. 

I cleaned out the spray booth to start over with a fresh feeling. T_T 

This time, I used Vallejo's Mecha Primer.
It's the most stable quality primer I've ever used.
However, because it's water-based, it clogs easily at low compressor pressures, so it needs to be many diluted.
If the water-based paint is too thin, it will form droplets on the surface, making it very difficult to apply properly. (That's why I recently purchased a new compressor.)
MIG's One Shot Primer is also strong, but its viscosity is higher than Mecha Primer, making it somewhat awkward to use on 1/24 scale models. 

I painted White Surfacer. 

And I also recolored the base colors. You might feel a sense of déjà vu, but that's normal. 🙂 

Since I was still in shock from the chaos I caused while masking the white car earlier, I started by masking the orange car this time. 

I removed the masking tape.
Fortunately, the paint adhered well and the masking was done cleanly. 

The paint on the marked area has come off in the size of a grain of sesame, but this is not a problem at all. 😉 

I painted the chipped areas with a mixture of Vallejo paint. 

Unlike the AU vehicle, the Denso vehicle's pattern is included as a decal, but I decided to paint it. 

I couldn't figure out what the part covered by the wing looked like, so I just masked it as I pleased. 

Judging by the shape of the decal for that area, I think I masked it correctly. 😉 

I painted with GSI Red Madder. 

Removed mask. 

This time, the paint didn't peel off and the masking was done cleanly. 

The paint on the deep part shown on the back has come off a little, but fortunately it is covered position by the wing so it is barely visible. 

I filled it in with a brush of white water-based paint.
The paint you see in the photo is Monument Hobby's Pro Acryl, which is very thick, has excellent shielding properties, and is strong enough to be used in cases like this. 

The "Tamiya Gloss Aluminum" used on this vehicle would cause the metal particles to become disorganized and uneven if coated with clear lacquer.
So, I coated it with Tamiya acrylic clear before applying the clear lacquer. 

Now it's time to apply the decals. 

First, I started with the AU vehicle, and I guess the decal was in bad shape because it took over 10 minutes for the decal to separate from the paper. 

Some of the decals were just about to crack, but I managed to stick them on.
The wrinkles you see in the photo can be removed by dissolving them with a softener and pressing them down.
It's scary to think that if I hadn't applied the liquid decal film, they would have shattered. 

Phew~ It's all attached. 

Next is Denso. 

Done. 

I think it's a side light part, but it's so yellowed that I don't think it's usable. 

After trimming the aluminum rod, cut it into appropriate thickness. 

I need 4 of them. 

Now I think it would be a good idea to place a small dome-shaped bead on top of it. 

Done. 

The tail lamp is supposed to be covered with a decal, but the shape doesn't match. 🙁 

I cut the masking tape in advance. 

1. Painted clear orange. 

2. Masked and painted clear red. 

3. Masked and painted body color. 

4. Removed mask and varnish coated on Gloss Aluminium. 

There were some silverrings in some places, so I fixed them. 

1st. clear coated. (with UV Cut)
I was worried that the silver color of the AU vehicle would dissolve in the lacquer clear, so I coated it with Tamiya acrylic clear in advance. 

The surface condition was so bad that I just roughly sanded it. 

2nd. clear coated. (with Super Clear III) 

Sanded once more. 

Last coated. 

Sanded for polishing. 

Silver vehicles are even more careful when sanding. 

Sanded. 

And... polished.
 

I drew a line to be masked by attaching masking tape to the windshield. 

After transferring it to paper, I scanned it. 

I modified it by drawing the masking line as a vector. 

I cut it with a cutter and masked it.
The assembly instructions say not to cut the windshield, but I had to because it didn't fit perfectly. 

Masked. 

Painted matt black. 

Removed mask. 

Thinking back, I remembered that I'd used a normal surfacer for everything except the body. And as expected, some of the paint on the wing had come off. 

Some of the decals also fell off. 

Some of the decals also fell off. 

I was going to paint it again, but I was too lazy, so I ended up painting it with a brush. 

I also drew the letters with a brush. 

The white letters were so thin that I tried to paint them over with a brush several times, but I had to be content with barely being able to read them. 

Anyway, ready to assemble. 😄 

Instead of painting the fuel filler background, I cut out some Hasegawa matte sheet and pasted it on. 

I painted panel line. 

I painted seat belt with paint brush. 

Since the etching has a sharp, I was careful not to damage the paint when inserting it into the hole, but it ended up getting scratched in a few places. 

Assembled basic interior. 

The interior was completed by adding various ducts.
Attaching these wasn't easy. The joint pins were either missing or misaligned, and some required bending the duct into an S shape to attach them. 

The rear interior is also complete. 

The wide gates of the tires had to be cut with scissors, and unlike typical hard tires, the rubber was soft like a hair band and could not be smoothed with sandpaper. 

Anyway, I trimmed it and attached it to the wheel. The sponsor logo on the red wheel wasn't glossy, so I didn't have to do a separate matte finish, which was convenient. 

I put it on the wheel axle and compared it to the body, and the shaft was longer. 

Hmm... about 6mm longer. 

I cut it off. It was fortunate that it was brass. If it had been stainless steel, it would have been difficult. 

Even this hole is blocked. 

Even though I cut the shaft, the wheel was still sticking out past the fender, so I pressed down on it with force, and the inner wheel part came off and the paint broke. 

I restored it by painting it. 

Upon inspection, I discovered that the problem was the wheel hub touching the body. However, I felt that cutting the wheel hub would prevent it from being secured to the axle, so I trimmed the body by about 0.5mm. 

The underbody work is complete. 

Attached windshield. 

It's a headlamp cover, but the cutting line was blurry, so I drew a line with a pen and then cut it. 

As expected, it didn't fit perfectly, so I cut it smaller and smaller as I assembled it. 

The silver car had a glossy finish, so it was fine, but the white car had a matte black finish, so the adhesive left a lot of marks.
So I removed the cover and the adhesive, and filled in the gaps with Microscale's Krystal Klear to secure it in place. 

The fuel nozzle was painted with several layers of Panel Line Accent and then wiped. 

The back of the taillight was treated with chrome tape. 

The rear assembly is done. 

Attached side skirts 

I've joined the top and bottom body.
The back of the side skirts are supposed to be secured with screws, but I couldn't do that because I modified the skirts with thin pla-plate.
Fortunately, even though only the front part was fixed, the back part was fixed without space. 

Now, before attaching the small external parts, I wiped off fingerprints and such with Hasegawa coating polymer. 

Attached canard and tow hook.
I didn't know where to attach the tow hook, so I just attached it where the arrow indicated. There's a rear tow hook, but it doesn't seem to be used on this vehicle.
And I suspect that if I had used the included "white metal" canard, it would have been too difficult to attach. 

I also attached all the remaining front parts. 

The rear wing and trunk hook were also attached, completing the job. The trunk hook is a 3D-printed product. 

Finally, attach the side mirrors and the work is complete. 

All done. 

Thanks for watching. 

Oh, I looked it up and it seems like the Toyota emblem on the red car is metal, so I put a metal sticker on it.
Well, I hope you all have a fun hobby life. 😉