Toyota GT-One TS020 - Le Mans 24 Hrs 1999 - WIP

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. 

I also started to build the chassis and cockpit parts. Here an overview picture. 

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. 

Next I fixed the fire extinguisher and the battery (or computer unit ?), adding some basic wiring to both parts. 

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. 

Next the engine and the rear suspension were assembled. 

The engine is now ready to be installed to the floor pan before even more parts will be added to the whole. 

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. 

The bucket seat was finished with a racing harness and the rear bulkhead received some detailing. 

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. 

Here you can see the result. Notice the little dots simulating the various inscriptions on the dash board. I think they do the trick 😉 

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. 

Close-up of the cockpit again. Once the model will be closed I won't be able to take pics of these parts... 

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. 

The engine room is pretty busy already, yet it's only halfway completion... 

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. 

Here is the result after 2 clear coats, a week of drying, and a day of polishing with Tamiya Compounds. 

Some of the CF parts received 2 clear coats as well. 

At the rear of the car a lot of different CF decals were used to simulate the different kinds of construction. 

Here the rear CF part was dry fitted to the rear end of the car. 

I also used clear orange over some of the CF area's to simulate the different colors seen at the reference pics. 

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. 

Slowly the Toyota starts to look like a real car... 

And this is what it looks like with the rear cowling in place. I'll probably show it with the cowling removed, once finished 😉