Heller 1/24 Renault R8 Gordini

[Andy J]

4 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

S0d the colour: we can get too hamstrung on pursuing the exact shades sometimes. Point is it looks good and most people won't notice. I generally paint Ferrari models in whatever 'red' I have around (don't tell anyone I said that). 'Rosso Corsa' as used on Ferrari race cars has changed many times over the years and I like the fact that my models differ in shade.

 

Years ago I went to great length to get 'Giallo Fly' for a 348tb model, only to find that it was a perfect match for some generic Humbrol 'yellow' I'd had for years!

Very true indeed. At one point I used to buy zero colour matched paint for every build. Now zero paint is a very good product but when you combine the cost of the paint plus the postage it ain't cheap. But the biggest downside to me is the fact that you end up with a jar that's 75% full of paint once you've used it. I have 40 plus jars of zero paint gathering dust because I'll probably never use the same colour again. The Renault will stay the shade of blue I've chosen because I'm happy with it and I still think it will look fine when finished 🙂👍

[Alan R]

Hi Andy,

I think this is the right approach. If you are happy, who should get upset.

This is a hobby, and we do it for fun and relaxation after all.

I'm never picky about the exact shade, either. As long as I get a good finish, with the right level of shine, I'm happy.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[Andy J]

So today's progress and one thing that I've learnt is that this kit is certainly not engineered like a Tamiya kit. However although the chassis looks a bit rough atm the two main assemblies do fit together nicely which is a big relief. I think once everything is in place this build will look ok infact I've developed a bit of a soft spot for this kit I'm quite happy with it so far 🙂. Here's a pic of today's progress 

 

 

Like I say nothing special atm but with the interior in place and the two halves fixed together i think it's gonna look ok. Thanks for looking back soon 🙂👍

[keefr22]

I finally finished the 350Z this afternoon and have been trying to get a pic to show the actual colour - I've underexposed, overexposed, used flash, tried using bounce flash, tracing paper as a shade, in the sun, out of the sun. I changed the ISO, white balance blah, blah, blah...... not one shot shows the colour 'as it is'....

 

Who said the camera never lies....??!! 🤣   (and I'm sure digital is worse than film)

 

Keith

 

 

[Andy J]

8 hours ago, Alan R said:

Hi Andy,

I think this is the right approach. If you are happy, who should get upset.

This is a hobby, and we do it for fun and relaxation after all.

I'm never picky about the exact shade, either. As long as I get a good finish, with the right level of shine, I'm happy.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

I agree Alan 👍. I build my kit's as they come OOB if you like and though I respect the many talented modellers on here who add loads of extra details it simply isn't for me. I buy a number of kit's but I buy them to build not to hoard hence why I crack on and get them finished so I can move on to the next one 🙂👍

[keefr22]

12 hours ago, Andy J said:

build my kit's as they come OOB

 

A damn fine job you make of them too! And they look so much better than sat unbuilt in a box gathering dust like most of mine....!! 

 

K

[Chimpion]

On 5/21/2021 at 6:37 PM, Andy J said:

Good idea Keith if I can't use the rubber parts then I'll make my own but I'll give them a try first 😉 👍

I used the rubber parts and brush painted them with enamel semi-gloss black. They look OK to me. I also used almost an identical shade of blue to the one you chose.

One trap I fell into was to cut the individual white stripe decals out, only to realize on the last one the reason they had so much carrier film attached was that they're made up in pairs. That would have made lining them up much easier, although I'm not sure whethet the wide strip of carrier film might have been visible at the end.

[Andy J]

6 minutes ago, Chimpion said:

I used the rubber parts and brush painted them with enamel semi-gloss black. They look OK to me. I also used almost an identical shade of blue to the one you chose.

One trap I fell into was to cut the individual white stripe decals out, only to realize on the last one the reason they had so much carrier film attached was that they're made up in pairs. That would have made lining them up much easier, although I'm not sure whethet the wide strip of carrier film might have been visible at the end.

Thanks for the comment 👍. As for the decals I have the same concerns over the carrier film especially with not using a clear coat 🤔. Anyway I guess we'll find out when the time comes 🙂👍

[Andy J]

So not much time today but progress has been made although there's been a bit of bad language flying around, these Heller kits are....well.....err....interesting shall we say 🙄. 

 

 

Not the greatest kit in the world but worth finishing i think. Thanks for looking back soon 🙂👍

 

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

This looks lovely,  great work,  wheels look great too. Found myself looking at these on Ebsy earlier, I am resisting so far, but no sure for how long

Chris

[Andy J]

9 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

This looks lovely,  great work,  wheels look great too. Found myself looking at these on Ebsy earlier, I am resisting so far, but no sure for how long

Chris

Thanks Chris I must admit I've dropped the suspension a little and tucked the wheels in a bit because I think it looks better this way. I'm sure I've seen this kit on eBay for £9.75 delivered which is a decent deal tbf 🙂👍

[keefr22]

38 minutes ago, Andy J said:

I must admit I've dropped the suspension a little and tucked the wheels in a bit because I think it looks better this way.

 

I thought the ride height looked better than the original car's did!!

 

Looking rather spiffy that Andy...!!

 

Keith

 

 

 

[Andy J]

7 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

 

I thought the ride height looked better than the original car's did!!

 

Looking rather spiffy that Andy...!!

 

Keith

 

 

 

Spiffy now there's a new word ....almost as good as rallyish 🙂👍

[bigbadbadge]

Imagine one slammed on airbags now that would look awesome might have to look at those kits on ebay now !!!

Actually I had better wait, I recently got the wonderful Special Hobby 32nd Westland Whirlwind so I can't get another kit just yet, otherwise SWMBO will be waiting for my bashing the rolling pin in one hand in a menacing manner!!!

Chris

[Andy J]

34 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Imagine one slammed on airbags now that would look awesome might have to look at those kits on ebay now !!!

Actually I had better wait, I recently got the wonderful Special Hobby 32nd Westland Whirlwind so I can't get another kit just yet, otherwise SWMBO will be waiting for my bashing the rolling pin in one hand in a menacing manner!!!

Chris

Meh ....I get that every day.....she's trying to knock sense into me....she's failed miserably 🤣👍

[Six97s]

On 25/05/2021 at 21:59, Andy J said:

Perfect mate I now have a get out of jail card 👍 

 

After it's had some chocolate chipping and weathering, nobody will know.

[Andy J]

39 minutes ago, Six97s said:

 

After it's had some chocolate chipping and weathering, nobody will know.

Chocolate chipping 😂👍. Actually i will be weathering this one but like the Bluebird only some subtle touches nothing OTT 🙂👍

 

[Andy J]

Ok so I know the following is a little off topic but I'm a bit confused so bare with me. I mentioned the other day that I was going to buy the correct paint colour for my Alpine A110 from Zero Paints which I ordered and it arrived this morning. Thing is the jar of paint is smaller than I've had before yet still marked up as 60ml 🤔. The jar is also plastic rather than glass with a chromed lid. Here's a pic of an old jar i brought a while ago next to today's arrival. 

 

 

As I haven't purchased paint from Zero for a while is this now the standard packaging for the paint. Don't get me wrong I have the paint i wanted I'm just curious to see if anyone else has received the same kind of plastic jars 🤔👍

 

 

[keefr22]

Nope, new one on me Andy, last stuff I had was in the glass jar. If he's changed packaging I don't understand why he doesn't also offer everything in 30ml pots too.

 

I rememember when I first bought Zero paint not long after they'd started they came in plastic bottles, but I thought he said he changed to glass as the paint was less likely to dry up.... But I still have some of the earlier bottles and the paint although thicker than new looks like it'll still be OK with a bit of thinnig.

 

Hardly environmentally friendly either, going back from recyclable glass with a metal lid to plastic....!! 🤣

 

K

 

 

[Andy J]

3 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

Nope, new one on me Andy, last stuff I had was in the glass jar. If he's changed packaging I don't understand why he doesn't also offer everything in 30ml pots too.

 

I rememember when I first bought Zero paint not long after they'd started they came in plastic bottles, but I thought he said he changed to glass as the paint was less likely to dry up.... But I still have some of the earlier bottles and the paint although thicker than new looks like it'll still be OK with a bit of thinnig.

 

Hardly environmentally friendly either, going back from recyclable glass with a metal lid to plastic....!! 🤣

 

K

 

 

But surely if you're putting 60ml of paint into a smaller jar then there's either less paint or less thinner? Or the total amount isn't 60ml as stated even though the price is the same. Sort of trying to pour a pint into a half pint glass? I'm still confused mate 😕 

[keefr22]

8 minutes ago, Andy J said:

But surely if you're putting 60ml of paint into a smaller jar then there's either less paint or less thinner? Or the total amount isn't 60ml as stated even though the price is the same. Sort of trying to pour a pint into a half pint glass? I'm still confused mate 😕 

 

Ah, sorry Andy I get what you mean now. And no, now I look at the picture properly I don't see how it works either - I thought that maybe there was more airspace at the top of the old glass jar but the orange one looks pretty full. And the blue pot doesn't look any bigger in diameter.....

 

Guess the only (messy) way to find out if they both have the same amount of paint is to empty both the paints out into other jars, clean out the zero ones and see how much water they take....

 

K

[Andy J]

6 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

 

Ah, sorry Andy I get what you mean now. And no, now I look at the picture properly I don't see how it works either - I thought that maybe there was more airspace at the top of the old glass jar but the orange one looks pretty full. And the blue pot doesn't look any bigger in diameter.....

 

Guess the only (messy) way to find out if they both have the same amount of paint is to empty both the paints out into other jars, clean out the zero ones and see how much water they take....

 

K

It's certainly strange Keith but I suppose as long as the paint works and applies correctly then that will be good enough for me 🙂. Maybe someone else will be able to enlighten us 🙂

[Andy J]

So not much time today but I've made some progress with the build. Again not my best work but some of these parts are shocking so it's a case of doing my best with what I've got. Here's a few pic's of today's progress 

 

 

So a bit of fettling and weathering should hide most of the sins more to come tomorrow. Thanks for looking back soon 🙂👍

[Windy37]

Looks ok to me , Andy . Let’s face it , most people viewing the car will not notice the imperfections . In my experience , most viewers just like the work I’ve done . 
Gary . 

[keefr22]

I agree with Gary, looks fine from here too Andy! And don't forget cars from this era didn't have the perfect fitting panels and millimetre perfect panel gaps tosay's caes have, so a bit of wonkiness is pretty realistic!!

 

K