Fujimi 1/24 Goodsmile Racing SLS AMG GT3

[barryf1fan]

Whilst waiting for the PE set to arrive for the Jagermeister Alfa... I decided to make a start on the GSR Merc.
Had ordered a set of the Ultimate primers and hadn't had a chance to use them yet, so figured I would work on the body and get it shot with primer.

Followed Paul's instructions with application, although I was getting some spitting from the airbrush and thinned it a little - it is a bit humid here. Once I thinned it a little it went down really nice.

Think this turned out great (almost like someone did it that knows what the hell they're doing ); smooth and ready for the white paint. Also, the Fujimi kit (esp. this one) didn't really have very deep panel/door lines - so I scribed them. Looks much better now, gettin' pretty good at doing that and think it makes a big difference overall.





I also shot all the black parts white, but the body is the cool part.
I laid down the black & white primers per Paul's YT video, with the white, I did 3-4 light coats and then a couple of heavier coats for coverage. The black I did a couple of slightly heavier coats than just a light coat, and then one "wetter" coat. I think it looks great! Will probably switch over to these primers from now on, and glad I got the set, and added a pink.

Can't wait to get this one done and on the shelf next to the GSR BMW.

Thanks for looking in!

[Kevthemodeller]

Off to a great start there Barry I'll be following along

[BigWall]

Very nice! That car has some great body lines!

[barryf1fan]

Bit of a boring update, and apologize for that... have a good portion of the interior done up, need to detail the dash and steering wheel.
Also need to do the seat. Don't have any pics of the progress (will get some soon, just forgot to snap a few last night as it was late).

A couple of things though about the kit and also a little info about the Ultimate Primer.

First, the kit. While this isn't a Tamiya kit (obviously) the fit has been okay on this one. Funny, because the BMW (from 2012) I just did is several years older but the fit on it seems to be a bit better than this one, which is from 2015. I got the brakes all done up; axles, rotors, calipers and shocks. The shocks are, well, shocking. The Merc kit here has a terrible mold for the shocks, while the BMW kit had really nice looking shocks, and again, apologize that I didn't snap pics of them. The only saving grace is that you can't even see the shocks once the chassis and wheels/tires are installed.

Speaking of the chassis... On these Fujimi kits, you add the fender "wells" to the chassis, they aren't molded in like on a Tamiya or Hasegawa kit.
Well, the BMW kit was no prob - the fender wells went on without a fuss. Four fender wheels, attach them to the flat chassis piece and done. Easy peasy. This Mercedes car has four fender "wells", but then require 4 more pieces that need attached to complete the fender well. Problem came about whilst attaching these 8 pieces to create four fender wells - turns out the chassis was slightly warped!! And I didn't catch it until after I started trying to attach the four larger wells on the chassis.

It's my fault that I didn't test-fit all 8 parts prior to installing with glue, but having just done the BMW I had a false sense of confidence (lesson learned - if it doesn't say Tamiya, it isn't gonna fit like a Tamiya). This situation isn't going to ruin the model, not at all, as you can't see the fender wells once the body goes on. One of those things that I will know it's there and how it looks. Think I'm just a little disappointed with myself that I am still making mistakes like this...

Second, on a slightly different note... I did figure out that I just needed to up the pressure on my compressor to about 35 psi to get the primer to spray beautifully.
I had tried 25 to about 30 psi and was getting some spitting out the AB. So I figured I would thin it a bit, which worked fine. However, I had read that the Ultimate (Badger) primer doesn't need to be thinned, so Saturday I tried it straight from the bottle and just moved the pressure up until I got a good even flow.
Worked fantastic - and shot the white and black both, and was perfect.

So, if you're having a bit of an issue with the Ultimate primer, just play with the pressure a bit and don't be afraid to up the pressure a bit more. Btw, I have the Iwata HP-CS with the 0.35 needle. Sprayed excellent, and was nice and smooth - love it !!

Sorry for the War & Peace post, but was really dejected at the chassis assembly as it looked like a 4 year old did it. At least it will not be seen!!
Hope to post up some actual progress pics soon.

Have a great day, and if you read this, thank you [and sorry for wasting 3 minutes of your life].

[BigWall]

Well, as any 4 year old knows, if it can't be seen it doesn't exist!

[Mpfiend]

Looking forward to seeing the progress on this one Barry,
and remember, Test fit, test fit, test fit then glue.

Keep up the good work and don't be disheartened.

[barryf1fan]

Well, as any 4 year old knows, if it can't be seen it doesn't exist!

Exactly!!

Looking forward to seeing the progress on this one Barry,
and remember, Test fit, test fit, test fit then glue.

Keep up the good work and don't be disheartened.

Yeah, I hear'ya... and the bad thing is I wasn't even in a hurry (like trying to finish up something before bed, etc.), I was just in my room piddling as the wife was watching a chick flick.

[barryf1fan]

Got the wheels/tires done and clear coated (first time trying this...they're still wet in the pic ). Also finished up the interior and painted the body.
Body sprayed with Ultimate Black primer, and then shot it with decanted Tamiya TS-26 Pure White.







[Cleaned up the Tamiya Panel liner after the pic... ]





Will be able to start the decal fest in the next few days. This livery looks to have about half the number of decals as the BMW, but we'll see.

Thanks for looking in.

[Mpfiend]

Nice progress Barry, this is really coming along.

[barryf1fan]

Thanks Keith, and yeah, it's moving along nicely... I'm trying to get as far along as I can with it so I can work on the Alfa 155 when the PE shows up.

Got the rest of the body "pieces" on, like all the intakes and skirts and screens, etc. Lookin' pretty mean sittin' there!





I got the rear wing built up and put the two large decals on. i will say this kit has been night/day different to the GSR BMW Z4 I just did. This kit has had fitment issues throughout, and it's weird as they are both Fujimi kits and seem to be very similar in most respects, but then they aren't.
For instance, the decals on the BMW were like laying wallpaper down, they were extraordinarily thick (I finally broke down and got the Ultimate decal solutions to see if that would help), and were very tough. I tore the first decal I put on the Mercedes in two places just sliding it off the transfer paper... these decals are like a cobweb. Anyway, I can see why people have gotten the Tamiya SLS AMG Mercedes and the aftermarket decals for this model, as this kit doesn't seem to be the same quality as the BMW Z4 Fujimi kits - I wouldn't hesitate to do another one of those in a second.

Anyway, have a great weekend all, and hopefully there will be some more color on that body next time I post.

[BigWall]

Nice, nice, nice!

[Gary30]

Damn son!! Looking mighty fine, she’s going to really pop once those decals start going down

[barryf1fan]

Made some progress over the Christmas break. Need to finish the glass, paint the front headlight lenses and clear, but getting close on this one.







Hope everyone had a great Christmas and/or holiday !!

[The PE set for the Alfa finally arrived from Hiroboy on Dec 24th ]

[BigWall]

Super cool man!

[LWWales]

I love the decals on these and you've done an excellent job mate!

[barryf1fan]

Pushed this one over the finish line last night... was kinda at a point where I wanted it done.



Gonna make a reveal thread, and then start on the DTM Jager Alfa.