Subaru Impreza WRX '99
Primed this time. Also a couple of minor mould lines removed from the bumpers. I'm sure I didn't bother with either when I made this same model 20+ years ago.
Painted straight from the can of Tamiya TS-50. Nice glossy finish and it dries incredibly quickly. This helps to keep the surface dust-free.
There are already some very detailed build galleries, so I'll just remind myself what lurks under the (yet to be fitted) underbody panels. I shamelessly stole the idea of using kitchen foil as an exhaust heatshield from Ricardo Reis's excellent build. I did add texture using the knurling on the handle of my modelling knife but, by the time I got it to sit flat, I had sacrificed most of it.
A couple of shots of the interior too. Ricardo Reis also used an aftermarket seatbelt set. This looked incredibly complex but did look good. I cheaped out and used the supplied decals, but I did extend the shoulder straps back to the roll cage using red-painted strips of Tamiya masking tape.
I used the supplied Tamiya decals for the carbon fibre on the rear of the seats. The decals are thick and stiff but I remember that they did conform quite nicely on my 'old' build and that was without the use of any decal softener. Using Microset and Microsol certainly helped this time.
The supplied masks are great and more straightforward to position than I had anticipated. The rear screen was the first mask I fitted and it is not exactly centred, but I was loathe to risk deforming and/or tearing it by having another go. The textured portions of the window transparency help position the masks and hold the paint. I used Vallejo black primer.
The big thick decals seem to cause even 'serious' modellers some grief, so I thought I'd take some shots of the car before I put any on.
All the transparencies are loose to check that the masking worked and that the chrome painted light reflectors look OK.
The TS-50 paint is really resiliant. I managed to splatter the floorplan with a few drops of aluminium acrylic paint but found I could remove them without a trace using a wet cotton bud and a toothpick. I got rid of some minimal excess chrome silver around the headlights the same way.
I put on the large side decals first and repeatedly applied Microset to them as I got on with the others. I thought I'd got away with it but they had other ideas and split overnight. The drivers side was the worst with splits to the main 'swoosh', largest star and door handle.
Rather than try and match the paiint I decided to try and patch the splits with leftover decals. There was not much in the way of leftovers in this colour and I ended up trying to overlap two halves of 'subaru france sa' to fill in the split in the swoosh. Smaller swooshes intended for the auxilliary lights were cut up to tidy the door handles and the star got a section of a slightly larger :'subaru' decal. It definitely looks better from a normal viewing distance now.
I still need to seal the decals and give it a final polish but, as usual, impatience got the better of me and I wanted to see how it looked.
Final painted details were picked out before a clear coat goes on.
Transparencies, spoiler and roof intake are not yet fitted to make polishing easier once the clear coats have been applied and allowed to dry.
Calling this done! Final finish is not as shiny as the blue out of the can, but at least the decals are protected.
All parts now secured.
Mesh in place for radiator and bonnet vents.
No weathering will be applied so that the finish matches my existing Peugeot 206.
Oops! No heat shield on bumper over tailpipe - so perhaps not 100% finished after all. ?
Kommentare
18 12 May 2023, 21:12
David SmithMy Mrs. didn't agree, she found gold too flashy, so we had the same wheels but in gunmetal. The car was a darker blue and that combination also looked good. 😉
12 May 2023, 22:17
Michael KohlFor whatever reason I always had a soft spot for the Impreza. Yours is a well done rendition.
24 May 2023, 01:08
Album info
I honestly think that this is the first time I've built the same kit twice! I've made a couple of models of the same subject by different manufacturers but never a direct repeat. There is a reason: the first one I built was displayed proudly on the rear parcel shelf of my own Impreza until a particularly warm summer day in the sun turned it into a Sierra lookalike. That was well over 20 years ago and I've been meaning to replace it for a while...
(Result: 7th)