I started this build by preparing the bodyparts, and putting them in primer. Next I sprayed the front and the airscoop in Tamiya TS-26 Pure White. After masking the white areas, I sprayed the body in Tamiya TS-49 Bright Red. The masking tape was removed.
Finally the body was polished with Tamiya Compound. When removing the masking tape, the white paint detached from the body. So I had to do a spot repair at the front, but this turned out quite well.
Close-up of the cockpit. The seat was given a realistic look with Tenco's 'scale fabric'. Lots of details still need to be painted , this is just an idea of how it will look.
I also spray painted a lot of engine and cockpit parts. They were put on a toothpick for easy access. I also detail painted some of the parts manually.
When I have to paint parts which have a left and a right hand side, I put then on two different styrofoam blocks to separate them. Here a lot of engine and suspension parts are putting to dry.
Time to put these parts together to create a model 😉 First I installed a nut in the cockpit, which will be hidden under the seat. This will allow me to attach the model to a base plate once finished.
The cockpit hub's exterior was covered with carbon fibre decals because these areas will be visible even with the bodywork attached. I chose to leave the interior black since it will be hardly noticeable once the model is closed.
The dash board was painted manually, except for the grey area. In this close-up the manual dots and stripes are clearly not very readable, but once in the cockpit it will do the job, believe me.
Next I fixed the bulkhead to the cockpit hub, after which the harness was attached to it. Finally the seat itself was glued to the floor and the dashboard was installed to top it off.
Top view of the cockpit hub. The real car has more wiring inside, but ince the doors will be closed this amount of detailing is enough to simulate a busy interior.
First dry fit of the cockpit and engine on the foor pan. The body was dry fitted on top of them. Notice the carbin fibre cockpit exterior. The window frames received the same treatment.
Next I fixed all the decals in place, using a Renaissance transkit. It's a bit odd that Tamiya includes decals for the #1 and #3 car, but not for #2 car. Maybe a question of licence?
Now the decals are given time to dry, after which I will polish the bodyparts once again to get rid of the decal softener marks. Later on I will protect them by 1 or 2 clear coats.
This is very important because a lot of the CF monocoque will remain visible, even after installing the body parts. Here you see the result of the different CF patterns.