Renault R24

[FilmMkr]

Yippiee! A forum for my other modeling passion - thank you!! This will be the inaugural installment of the Filmy's Cars and Bikes series - you will see many of my builds before they are published in the magazine. Tomorrow I will start posting up photos of this, my latest project - Studio 27s wonderful multimedia kit of the awesome Renault R24 Formula 1 race car.

Here is the real thing:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/R24-1.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/R24-2.jpg

Thanks for creating this forum - I was going to ask for one, but I didn't know if anyone besides myself and Red would be interested!

FM

[Joa]

FILM: you'd be surprised by the versatility around here... :cool:

[secretasianman]

Agreed, I'm always amazed when I look beyond the walled garden so to speak, (i mean, there are *tons* of subjects to be modeled.)

By the way, where can i get those carbon fiber sheets you used in scale auto mag a few months back?

[Neptune103]

Hello all,

Just got here so I want to say hi to you guys :) .

Nice to see you making a Formula 1 race car. I'm a huge fan of Formula 1 and Moto GP! I wanted to get Studio 27's F1 kits in the past, but I didn't because I wasn't sure how their kit was.

I will be looking forward to pictures of the actual kit!

P.S. Boy...the Renault team is doing great this year. McLaren is fast as usual, but lacks in reliability. And what is going on with Ferrari!!! :wacko: .

[FilmMkr]

I have been travelling a lot lately - I was in L.A. two weeks ago for a week, then home, off to Florida for two days, home again for one day, and back to San Diego last weekend. That is why I haven't posted any progress pix to this thread. I will be at home modelling tomorrrow, so I'll upload a buncha photos then.

Neptune - its nice to see another race fan here! I too like F1 and Moto. If you'd like to check out my Rossi Valencia, go HERE (http://www.hobbyfanatics.com/index.php?showtopic=3984).

Welcome to the group!

Film

[Joa]

If you'd like to check out my Rossi Valencia, go HERE (http://www.hobbyfanatics.com/index.php?showtopic=3984).


Holy... :blink:
I hadn't seen that build up before...
Wow...

[Masa]

Filmy... that Rossi Valencia is gorgeous... :bow:

[FilmMkr]

Okay, here we go . . .

As I mentioned at the top of the thread, this kit is from Studio 27. It is a multimedia kit, consisting of a resin body shell, chassis plate, and driver's seat, a fret of photoetched winglets, details, and other greebles, turned aluminum rims, rubber tires, some screws, and a TON of white metal pieces, including multi-part wings, all suspension components, wheel inserts, ducting and intake plenums, etc.

Most of you are familiar with resin and the cleanup required. You probably know that I am really persnickity when it comes to cleanup - I am a perfectionist (can't help it, its just the way I am wired), so the preparation stage is where I spend a lot of time. Working with white metal is a real bitch - it is tedious, dangerous, and nasty, nasty, nasty.

Anyway, without further ado, lets get to it!

After sanding the body shell with 600 grit sandpaper, I laid down two coats of gray primer to see where the flaws were and bring them to the fore.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Sanding-7copy.jpg

Here I am using a sanding pad to get to those hard to reach areas, revealing a few low spots that need some attention:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Sanding-11copy.jpg

I then sanded the flaws and used Mr. Dissolved Putty to fill any small pinholes, like this one just in front of the starboard side deflector:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Surfacer-8copy.jpg

One of the challenges with working with resin is the amount of paint that builds up while building the model - several coats of primer, then a few guide coats, a few layers of white primer in preparation for color, the color itself, and then - in the case of cars - several layers of clear coat. All this paint tends to build up in the panel lines, resulting in a not-very-realistic scale finish once the model is complete. In addition, when it comes time to shade the model, there are no crevices to flow the wash into.

The solution? Scribe out the panel lines! In the past I have used the back of a #11 Xacto blade (hard to control) or the Squadron scirbing tool (which makes the panel line wider at the top the deeper you scribe). A buddy of mine came up with these nifty photoetched scribers, and lemme tell you, they are awesome!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Scribers-12copy.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Scribing-5copy.jpg

[FilmMkr]

Similarly, you have to consider build-up in all of the holes where parts are to be mounted after the model is painted. Here I drill out the mirror mounting holes slightly oversized to compensate for the paint build-up to come:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Drilling-39copy.jpg

Okay, we've got the panel lines scribed and the holes drilled. Lets clean up some white metal. :mad:

As I mentioned, this stuff is nas-ty! It leaves a very fine dust, and you do NOT want to inhale that stuff! It also builds up this horrid black metal residue on your hands, so I always, ALWAYS, wear a dust mask and disposable gloves. Here I am cleaning up one of the barge boards:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Endplate-15copy.jpg

The front wing support is also white metal. Once I fit it to the nose, there was quite a gap, so I filled it with Evercoat Eurosoft two-part polyester putty, let it cure, and shaped the join.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Nose-80copy.jpg

White metal intake plenums:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Intakes-36copy.jpg

White metal tends to have a lot of pits and little goobers in the surface that are really difficult to get rid of completely. After reducing the surface for what seemed like hours, I coated the wing with Mr. Surfacer 500 to fill the remaining pits and any scratches:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Wing-44copy.jpg

[FilmMkr]

Multimedia kits like this are notorious for poor fit. Studio 27 is less likely to produce a shoddy kit, but you still have to test fit everything before painting so that you can correct any problem areas.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Mockup-35copy.jpg

Oops! Looks like this front suspension mounting boss doesn't quite meet the metal piece! What to do?

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Suspension-48copy.jpg

Why, break out the Evercoat, of course! After building up the boss, I shaped the putty with a file, then reduced it and shaped it further with sandpaper:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Suspension-52copy.jpg

Lookin' good there Filmmeister! Lets hit the shell with some white primer and see that we've got, shall we?

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Body-72copy.jpg

Dangit! Looks like we've got some more work to do before color, so we'd better get busy!

[bluedestiny]

Good progress, this going to be really good.

[Joa]

Very nice, Filmy =)
I'm sure many of these techniques / tips are applicable on other types of kits...
And yeah, never hurts to be the perfectionist :cool:

[FilmMkr]

Welcome to the group, bluedestiny! Gonna make the Houston show again this spring?

You're right, Joa - one can always learn new techniques for modeling, regardless of the subject matter!


And yeah, never hurts to be the perfectionist
LOL - I hear 'ya, brother! :lol:

[bluedestiny]

Welcome to the group, bluedestiny! Gonna make the Houston show again this spring?
Thanks for the warm welcome.
Yeah, i'm looking forward to the Houston show in spring. I really like the people there.

[Neptune103]

Thanks for the welcome, Film :) .

Your Rossi Valencia bike looks great! I remember watching that race on T.V. when the Repsol Honda team brought out the new paint job for Rossi.

I'm sure your Renault F1 car will turn out great. Looking forward to it! Have fun :D .

[FilmMkr]

The wheels and tires in Studio 27 kits are awesome! The turned aluminum pieces are glorious - unfortunately, however, in this model they will be painted a metallic black color. Here I have cleaned up the white metal wheel centers and primed them with self-etching primer:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Wheels47copy.jpg

Modern Formula 1 cars have a wooden plank attached to the bottom of monocoque. That's because the regulations stipulate a certain ride height to prevent the use of aerodynamic "ground effects" to suck the car down on the track like the old Lotuses, Williams, Ferraris, and Renaults of the late 70's and early 80's.

In order to replicate this plank, I first painted the monocoque with Humbrol 85 satin black (the absolute BEST semi-gloss black on the planet!) and the existing molded-in plank with a custom "wood color" mix that I made from Humbrol enamels. Next I will cover the entire bottom of the monocoque with Scale Motorsports new high definiton composite fiber decals, and add a strip of real wood veneer to the plank area before weathering the whole shootin' match.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Plank-26.jpg

After finishing the bodywork and priming everything with Tamiya Fine White Primer, I painted the body parts with Tamiya TS-23 Light Blue and TS-51 Telefonica Blue, decanted and sprayed through my Iwata Eclipse. I let the paint gas out for two weeks while I was traveling, and now I'm ready for color sanding.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/FilmMkr/Renault%20R24/Color-16-copy.jpg

[redrage]

Great work Film Maker.

I'll be watching the paint work with great intrest.

Will you be clear coating the Tamiya acrylic before color sanding? and... In the photo the colors already look pretty smooth: did you shoot them as a "wet" coat? I've had the devil of a time getting a nice, "glass-smooth" finish with Tamiya acrylic because I think that it's drying before it can level out. I've been shooting at 3:1 per Tamiya's reccomendations and I've tried varying the pressure between 25# - 45# with my eclipse.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,
RR

PS: Love the rims. It's almost a crime to paint them black :blink:

[WhizoD]

i could probably wait till the next post to find out but.... what exactly is color sanding/ its purpose?.... my assumptions is that your just sanding it down :blink: