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Tamiya Honda Prelude XX


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OK. Enough time has passed for me to have another go at this build.

 

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Slowly going round and re-touching some of the chrome.

 

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There were a few gaps in the chrome rubbing strip, I followed the advice to use a sharp blade to try and get a clean edge.

 

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Parts for the pop-up head lamps.

 

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Something not in the instructions but quite noticeable are the centre caps for the wheels that have a bright "H" inside a black surround.  The centre caps are painted satin black and then the recessed H was touched in using Molotow chrome applied with a sharpened cocktail stick.

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A bit more work on this Prelude.

 

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I don't want to get too close with the cameara but I think I've managed to tidy up the window surrounds.  It looks better to the Mk1 eyeball than the unforgiving gaze of the digital camera.

 

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I've given the inside of the roof a quick covering of Tamiya Sky grey, not intending to go all the way to the edge but enough to suggest a headlining when you look through the windows.

 

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A little work on the engine, painting the power steering pump.

 

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Yes, it's a bit wonky but better than nothing.

 

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Drive belt is a cut down strip of Tamiya masking tape, painted matt black (I should really get some NATO or Rubber Black as they are slightly more satisfying colours).

 

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I'd washed the clear parts in soapy water before painting the parts that needed it.  The glazing unit was left with spots from the soap, so I cleaned it using my preferred method for 1:1 car windows; a solution of vinegar and water.

 

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The instructions advise to paint the edge of the sun roof matt black, but I think the beading around the edge should be black, so it was masked and sprayed as that seemed easier than trying to brush paint. 

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Lots of work on the Prelude today.

 

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Putting the engine bay together.  It's a bit of a tight squeeze.

 

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Interior doesn't look too bad.

 

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I'm glad I picked out the interior door handles in chrome; it's not in the instructions but was on all the photos of real cars.

 

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The reshaped seat bolsters look pretty tidy too.

 

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Moving on to the tyres, there was a pretty horrendous mould ridge on each one.

 

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Much better after some attention with the sanding stick.

 

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Suspension and brakes are in place too.  Assembling the suspension, particularly at the front, was more tricky than on the Fujimi Prelude but the components are much more realistic.

 

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Putting the pop-up headlamps together.

 

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You have to cut the headlamp covers away from the bonnet and then sandwich the cover and lamp body around some spigots moulded into the body and glue them together.  There isn't much to hold everything together or much of a mating surface for the glue.  I've used Gorilla superglue and I hope it holds.  I could live without pop-up lamps that actually work and did think about just gluing them in the down position.

 

I also trial fitted the front bumper, I'm still not sure how it seems to fit so well in Tamiya's photos of the assembled model, I'm not sure everything is going to line up correctly.  No photo, maybe tomorrow?

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It seems a shame to have to go to the trouble of making those headlamp units only to display it in the down position. Fingers crossed that you have that mechanism working, but I have to say that you have a pretty good fit there - retracting headlamps seem to be a pain in my (admittedly limited) experience.

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3 minutes ago, Spiny said:

It seems a shame to have to go to the trouble of making those headlamp units only to display it in the down position. Fingers crossed that you have that mechanism working, but I have to say that you have a pretty good fit there - retracting headlamps seem to be a pain in my (admittedly limited) experience.

I remember them being trouble on the Tamiya Ferrari Testarossa, with the lamps connected by a flimsy plastic shaft so that they should pop up together.  The ones on the Tamiya Lamborghini could be posed open or closed but had no hinge as such.  I think they eventually fell out and got lost.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right, time to push this forward as it's starting to feel like an albatross around my neck.

 

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Adding a bit more detail to the interior, representing the seat belts that attach to the B-pillar.  It should be two pieces of fabric but this should give roughly the right impression once assembled.

 

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Front bumper glued in place.  I've also had to re-glue one of the head lamps (again).  Tamiya must have got the work experience boy to design the front end of this kit.

 

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Chrome trim added to the side marker lights.

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It's coming together.

 

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Bumpers on, upper and lower body united with the interior in between.  Of course it put up a fight, the glass didn't want to attach to the body, the interior seemed reluctant to stick to the floor and it took a couple of goes to get the underside correctly seated in the body.

 

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I'm not sure how you'd get the bumper to line up without major surgery and I wouldn't dare try and get the headlamps to pop up but the engine bay doesn't look too bad.  I'm pleased with it as a first attempt at detailing an engine bay at least.  Oh and you can't tell that the indicator lens is moulded into the bumper; I'm pleased with how that turned out.

 

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Seatbelt doesn't look too bad either.

 

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Wheels ready to go on.

 

Next steps; fit wheels, exhaust, tail lamps, mirrors, wipers and decals.  Nothing to it, really!

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It's starting to look almost finished.

 

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Wheels and exhaust are on.

 

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Windscreen wipers needed more paint where they were removed from the sprue.

 

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Right way up with sidelights added.

 

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Mirrors and wipers added.

 

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Rear lights are the one main piece that's missing, I've touched up the paint on the lights and there are a couple of decals to apply.

 

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I bought this detail kit for the Honda Civic Fiero mainly because it comes with plenty of Honda emblems.  I'll use one of the #14 ones for the boot lid as the moulded on one on the kit isn't very well defined.

 

Other than that, there are some decals for the boot lid and chrome trim for the side rubbing strips.  The instructions suggest this should be painted but I couldn't see it moulded, there's just a recess that's perfect to take some straight nickel silver wire.  It might be ready for inspection by the weekend.

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Tail lamps and decals today.

 

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Trying to get the decals to sit straight and level is a challenge.  Every time I go to blot away the water I end up moving the decal.

 

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Number plates sprayed gloss white, and left to dry over night to receive the licence plate decals in the morning.

 

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Guess which idiot missed the bit in the instructions about painting the back of the tail lamps gloss black?

 

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Doesn't look too bad.

 

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Having the lights in place helps to bring everything together.

 

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And more decals.

 

I'm looking forward to getting this finished.

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23 hours ago, johnlambert said:

Trying to get the decals to sit straight and level is a challenge.  Every time I go to blot away the water I end up moving the decal.

This used to get me quite a bit too, particularly where there was a droplet of water and the decal was trying to sit on top. Eventually I worked out that touching the side of the droplet with a cloth (such as a duster) would wick the water away without the decal moving much, and if it does move it should still be easy enough to push back into position once the droplet has gone. If there is no droplet and the decal is sitting quite flat, I usually just let the water dry before touching it as the decal should settle down as the water evaporates.

 

Good job on the car by the way.

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I think today was my last day working on the Honda.

 

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First job was adding a photo-etched "H" badge to the boot in place of Tamiya's moulded item.  The moulded badge is still there because I didn't think of sanding it off before painting.  To be fair, that was fifteen years ago when I wasn't even aware that someone might do fine, etched metal Honda badges.  The H got a coat of chrome paint before it was glued to the body.

 

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Number plates with the decals on.  It's a pity the carrier film over hangs the edge of the plate.

 

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Plates cut away and the film trimmed with a sharp blade.

 

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A bit of black paint to the rescue.

 

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Rear plate in place.

 

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Before putting the front plate on I remembered that something was missing from the sides...

 

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I cut pieces of straight nickel silver wire that fitted neatly into the recesses in the side rubbing strip.  Much easier than trying to get a tidy line of paint.

 

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Door piece done.

 

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If only all chrome trim were this easy.

 

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Other side done.

 

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Front number plate on.

 

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I'll do some proper, pretty photos tomorrow; but here's a quick "walkaround".

 

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This build has been a battle at times but the finished result isn't too bad.

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Very nice model.

This was a lovely car, I drove an Acura Prelude from Memphis to Boston back in the day, “Driveaway” relocation for a finance company.  It was fully loaded, but manual so had hung around for a while in Tn.  “Driveaway” said they were always pleased to use Brits for relocation as they were trained to a consistent standard (as opposed to different per state), and never phased by things like manuals or left-hand drive.  My first introduction to Japanese cars, took me a few years till I actually owned one myself...

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14 hours ago, johnlambert said:

First job was adding a photo-etched "H" badge to the boot in place of Tamiya's moulded item

Hi John,

Where did you get the photo-etched emblem?

 

Cheers,

Alan.

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1 minute ago, johnlambert said:

It came from Hiroby as part of the Honda Civic Ferio detail set.

Hi John,

 

Thanks for the info.

Lots of emblems on there!
I might just get this for my dual NSX build (When I eventually get around to it ... :))

 

Cheers,

Alan.

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