Fujimi Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2003

[JeroenS]

Hi all, a while ago I bought a pair of "Scoobies", as I've seen them called here, a 2003 WRX and a 2001 WRC. Originally, I wanted to post them together but as the WRC is back in the box (and moved to the back of the queue) after having its body painted I'm going ahead with the WRX. I'll make it a family portrait once the WRC is finished. 

 

So, the 2003 WRX is actually my first 1:24 scale car. You can create 2 versions of the 2003 WRX with the Fujimi kit, I chose to do the standard STi in metallic black (Tamiya's TS-40). The kit hasn't got that many parts but there's almost no excess plastic and the parts fit well. I think the body looks great. The kit lacks a bit of detail though, mainly the front light units and also in the interior, the tub is really basic and is just 1 piece. No details on the "doors" to speak of. I've added seat belts to have something to look at and to have go at making them using PE and belt material from Scale Production. I used Vallejo metal colours for the underside because I wanted to try them out. They're great to work with as it turns out so I'll definitely use them again. The interior is Tamiya flat black with a gloss clear which I thought worked out nice for the dash, some Vallejo metal again for the dash's details and Vallejo blue for the seats (the front seats are nicely molded by the way). The rims come painted with the kit, I thought they were fine so I kept them like this. There are 2 sets of rims in the kit so there's a choice, both painted gold like this. I didn't add a lot of decals, I wanted the "basic" street version look. The kit comes with DIY number plate decals which I thought is a nice touch.

 

Anyway here are some pics. Complete album here

 

This is the kit I've used, the one with the "V-limited" in it. 

 

 

The underside, as I said done with Vallejo metal, and a bit of pigments and washes. Didn't want to make it too dirty. 

 

 

 

The dash and the finished tub. 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally the completed model. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all it was a fun build. I used Novus polish as recommended by @cmatthewbacon in the Tips & Tricks section, and that is really really great stuff. I may go back to some areas where I was a bit too careful with the polish and the surface is not quite as smooth as for example on the roof.

 

Thanks for watching!

 

 

 

 

[Bill.B]

Nicely finished! 

It’s just my opinion, but I wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to polish the paint to a really high gloss as I think model cars look more scale like with a slightly dull gloss finish. The only constructive criticism I can make is to maybe fit some tyre valves on your next car? 

[JeroenS]

9 minutes ago, Bill.B said:

The only constructive criticism I can make is to maybe fit some tyre valves on your next car? 

That's a good idea, I'll have a go at that for sure!

[keefr22]

Nice work Jeroen. she looks really good! I agree with Bill about your gloss finish, I was actually thinking as I scrolled down your pictures how nicely understated the shine was, compared to the miles deep 2K gloss finishes that most car modellers go for these days! I never use 2K and try to get a shine like yours - of course it's all personal preference!

 

Cool Scooby! 

 

Keith

[JeroenS]

32 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

I agree with Bill about your gloss finish, I was actually thinking as I scrolled down your pictures how nicely understated the shine was, compared to the miles deep 2K gloss finishes that most car modellers go for these days! I never use 2K and try to get a shine like yours - of course it's all personal preference!

Thanks Keith, I agree with you on the finish, the shine is just the way I like it too. I will definitely keep using this Novus polish. It smoothes out the paint while not making it too shiny. So I will certainly not try to improve the shine, however there are a couple of spots where the paint is still a bit "grainy", and this is what the Novus takes good care of. On the other hand, sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone and your comments make me think I will do just that 🙂

[Spiny]

It might be a basic, simple model, but you've proved that you don't need to have a gazillion parts to a model to end up with a good result.

 

With regard to the paint, I think that it's a case of getting a level of shine that you're happy with. I've seen plenty of cars on the roads with much more shine on them than this one... and equally plenty with less - there is a full range out there from dull to sparkling that however you want to finish it there will be something out there with a similar type of finish. Personally I prefer the high gloss finish (it still bugs me a little bit that my real cars are generally shinier than the model ones), but what matters is how you want it to look.

[JeroenS]

8 hours ago, Spiny said:

Personally I prefer the high gloss finish (it still bugs me a little bit that my real cars are generally shinier than the model ones), but what matters is how you want it to look.

Thanks Spiny... my real cars only tend to shine about once a year on average 😉 

[keefr22]

3 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Thanks Spiny... my real cars only tend to shine about once a year on average 😉 

 

Glad it's not just mine then!

[celt]

Nice to see a Scooby in a colour other than blue and gold.Well tidy mun.