Bouchay's Kamei Mk1 RC Replica

Ok then peeps, thought I'd start a thread on my latest project. After reading Jellybelly's rc build thread ages  ago  I got the bug and it ate and ate away at me for months. So in December my father-in-law asked me what I wanted for a chrimbo present. Now I usually get the junk that gets used once on Christmas Day and then put in the attic never to be seen again. But afterward couple if days I found this on eBay:



A Mardave V12 racer with a Lexan Golf mk1 shell. TIDY!

So Christmas Day was mostly spent chasin the cats around the house. Anyway the bug had well and truly bitten, Boxing Day saw this ABS shell ordered as I thought it was a better shape.

The intension was to build a replica of the famous Kamei mk1 racer. So step 1 was to sand down an ugly ridge that was down the middle of the shell. A bloke at my local model shop told me to send it back as he thought it wasn't a good vacuum forming.




It went the entire length of the shell cf_emoticons__BangHead:

Then roughly cut the shell to shape



I bought a cheap version of a Dremel to do this and started with a small cutting disc then used a small sanding drum to smooth out and shape it.

Next i wanted to modify the shell as I didn't like the way the headlights bulged out.

I used the large flat sections that I cut from the wheel arches and held them behind the holes, drew around the inside to get right shape to fill the holes.



Then super glued a flat square section behind the hole, and then super glued the circle to the square piece. Filed down the high spots.

With the body modified I decided to change the body mounts as I didn't like those mounts that poke through the ABS shell and have those small metal clips. I opted for a hook on the back:



And a metal post and hook at the front:



The advantage of these is that you only see the screw head on the out side I the shell.

Now on to the paint job.

First was some white plastic primer, then some white acrylic down the tops of the doors and bonnet. Then I had to mask off the white.





With the white masked a layer of yellow acrylic.



Then mask the yellow and give it a coat of orange.





Then mask the orange



And give it a coat of red

Nice work mate, coming along nicely. Haven't got the patience or skill for something as fiddly as this. I tip my cap to you.

nice work bob

whats your plans with the windows

However, DISASTER STRIKES.

The paint reacts with the frog tape I was using




So then I had to fix all the naff paint cf_emoticons__BangHead:


So that's where I'm pretty much at at the moment. I've designed a complete set of graphics from loads of pics off the Internet, but the most info on the graphics was in a 1/24 scale model that I bought off chorlte. Here's a little teaser of what the windows will look like:



You can see some of the prototypes in the background.

Let me know what you think so far!

Some nice little touches mate. Love the little stickers  

Love this, I have a BMW E30 replica touring RC car.  Its fast as you like but I bought it doneout of the box.  Strong work.

Looking good Bob - It has a series 1 bonnet as well     

like it buddy

Thanks for the comments guys, some more progress tonight with the decals. Had some help from Nurseman cutting out and he rescued some of my mistakes when my fat digits screwed up a couple of small decals. So big thanks to him even though he is a whimp when it comes to Ade's chilli pickled onions!

Any way here's some pics.





Right first major headache. The decals arnt as opaque as I'd hoped. On the windscreen you can see through the white to the coloured stripes underneath. I think I'll sort this by printing another and sticking it over the top.




Although I'm chuffed with the grille effect.

Finally looking better but then headache no. 2 & 3. 2 being that one side of the shell is slightly different to the other, on the windows they fit the passenger side a treat but not quite on the drivers side. 3 is that the shell is not straight/level so fitting some decals highlight this.


O



Next step is the white Kamei decals, fingers crossed they come out better!

Nice one. I like the little MK1 OC stickers  

nice work, i think you should bring it along to the agm :-)

bob anychance i could get a set of decals please

Thats absolutely brilliant! Nice work

Coming along nicely. Some nice little touches going into this.

Jelly, I've got the whole set including the Kamei ones on the computer. All hand drawn by my self, only issue is getting the white ones printed. But i'll give you a shout when I do and post you a set  

This is awesome. I want one now. 
Good work. I like how you sorted the headlights. they look loads better now.

Looks good