Beemax Nissan 240 RS Safari Rally

[Anteater]

You're right that it's not prototypical for driver and nav seats to be fixed in the same positions. New build stage cars tend to have the nav seats on the floor, because the second crew member is more of a co-driver working off notes than a navigator who would benefit from better visibility through the windscreen. Older builds and historics built to true period spec will tend to have the nav seat mounted a bit higher and further forward than moderns do, but still placed back and down compared to the driver. A car that does events where the nav has to read code boards or interact with numerous marshals should have the seat mounted accordingly. Rallying, unlike racing, is a broad church.   

[Windy37]

Dashboard and door cards added this weekend . Like my previous model , Opel Manta , this Nissan kit comes with a left or right hand drive dashboard and wipers . This particular car was RHD  . The door cards fit first , with the dashboard sitting on top . As I find with Aoshima / Beemax kits everything fits precisely and easily ……. accept the seats and the interior mirror which , like most kits , is awkward to get to stay stuck ; this is no exception and at the moment is hanging by a thread ! 
Door handles and window winding handles I have highlighted in silver Sharpie pen . 

 

The black plate between the front suspension turrets is a blanking panel to hide the chassis when looking through the bonnet vents . A nice idea . 

Next stop will be body shell work  . Thanks for looking 

  Gary . 

[keefr22]

Looking good Gary, she's coming along nicely.

 

Keith

[Windy37]

9 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Looking good Gary, she's coming along nicely.

 

Keith

Thanks Keith 

  Gary

[bigbadbadge]

Agreed Keith, looks fab, great job.

Chris

[Windy37]

With the interior and chassis done it’s time to prepare the body shell . I cleaned the overspray and bleed through up with a combination of cocktail sticks and white paint . It now looks tidier . The interior of the body is Matt black and now looks like this 

 

Then I moved onto lights , using my daughters water based markers to provide the colour. They are really effective , but need a few coats .

 
 

The headlight lenses fit onto chrome backing units , which then fit onto the grille . The 240 RS is an odd looking car from the front  because the front grille never looks finished off , being left open with no plastic or metal surround and the headlights seemingly just placed on the front like a bad kit car . My kit is no exception leaving me feeling like the radiator should have some kind of protection . The over paint on the window surrounds will disappear when the glass goes in , as it will have black edging . 

The rear lights are a repeat of the front and the number plate surround is painted semi gloss black , a delicate operation that needed a bit of masking . 

Thanks for looking   

  Gary . 

[Windy37]

Started decaling today . This is a Marlboro sponsored car , but as normal the provided decal sheet has no Marlboro lettering . I searched high and low for a decal sheet with Marlboro lettering which I know exists . Sadly there seems to be none left available . So I tried a different approach and purchased these 

 

These are 1:24 scale and hopefully there will be sizes that fit my needs . They were from Spotmodels and cost about €5 . 
Here’s how I’m getting on 

 

Ok , I know the bonnet Marlboro is too small , but I tried the one on the side and it overhung the red chevron and looked wrong , so I quickly moved it too the side where it’s a perfect fit , taking into account the car number also on the door . 
  Quite unlike the clean , tidy look of Marlboro backed racing cars , this car has a scattergun approach to branding as will become apparent as more decals are added …..

  More tomorrow hopefully   

  Gary . 

[bigbadbadge]

This is really coming together now, paint looks good.  Years ago back in the 80s there was a Mk.2 Escort in the New Romney area with Zackspeed Arches and done in the Marlborough paint scheme, it looked flippin awesome. 

Great work on your model.

Chris

[keefr22]

12 hours ago, Windy37 said:

but as normal the provided decal sheet has no Marlboro lettering

 

I noticed in Italeri's re-issue of Lauda's  BMW M1 Procar that they've started providing the Marlboro decals again! So if Italeri can do it I see no reason others can't - other than to make more money issuing them in 'detail up' sets....!!

 

Whatever, your Nissan is looking very good indeed!

 

Keith

[Windy37]

1 hour ago, keefr22 said:

 

I noticed in Italeri's re-issue of Lauda's  BMW M1 Procar that they've started providing the Marlboro decals again! So if Italeri can do it I see no reason others can't - other than to make more money issuing them in 'detail up' sets....!!

 

Whatever, your Nissan is looking very good indeed!

 

Keith

Maybe the thinking is now that cigarettes are no longer advertised , nobody will know what Marlboro is so it's ok to include the name in a kit 🤣🤣.

  I have to say in all my years of following motorsport going back to the early 80s , never once was I influenced to even try a cigarette so all the big budget ciggy marketing never worked for me !

  Gary .  

[Windy37]

13 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

This is really coming together now, paint looks good.  Years ago back in the 80s there was a Mk.2 Escort in the New Romney area with Zackspeed Arches and done in the Marlborough paint scheme, it looked flippin awesome. 

Great work on your model.

Chris

Done well , the Marlboro colour scheme is so simple and tidy . Thanks for the comments 

 Gary . 

[keefr22]

2 hours ago, Windy37 said:

 

  I have to say in all my years of following motorsport going back to the early 80s , never once was I influenced to even try a cigarette so all the big budget ciggy marketing never worked for me !

  Gary .  

 

Likewise. I go back to the early 70's and the only influence motorsport tobacco advertising had on me was to instill a liking for the colour schemes....!! 

 

Keith

[Windy37]

More decal work , a side and the rear done . See what I mean about the scattergun approach to sticker placement . Don’t know what Rod Dennis would think ….. Decals going on easily , only problem was the inset rear number plate , but all well in the end . 
  The provided decal sheet 

 

 

More soon 

 Gary .

[Steve Noble]

Looking really nice that!! Applying the decals is always my favourite part, it brings the car to life 👍

[Windy37]

Just now, Steve Noble said:

Looking really nice that!! Applying the decals is always my favourite part, it brings the car to life 👍

Decaling has never really phased me , Steve . Now spraying…. That’s another matter !

  Gary .

[Redstaff]

Looking good Gary 😁

Really like the paint job, brings the car to life 

 

Ian 😁

[bigbadbadge]

Looking good with the decals in place, that certainly was a lot to stick on!!!

Great job

Chris

[Windy37]

To complete the full Marlboro branding on the Nissan , I decided to cut the provided dayglow Marlboro chevron blanks into the proper shape . A delicate job this , cutting the decal , some of which are tiny . 

 

Here’s the  applied chevron , along with appropriate sized wording from my decal sheet  . Didn’t realise when I did the left side , but the large Marlboro lettering on my decal sheet comes with tall or short l and b letters . By chance the short l and b fit perfectly under the door handles . A good purchase that Marlboro collection decal sheet . The decals are super shiny when dry , the Castrol on the wing looks like it’s been lacquered, but it hasn’t . 

 

The longer chevrons on the doors and roof were actually harder to cut than the smaller ones . 

 

 

The final few decals go on the front bumper , after the spotlights are fitted  . I have started this after working out the confusing instructions for building up the spots . More in the next update on this . 
Thanks for looking   

 Gary . 

[galaxyg]

On 8/2/2021 at 7:53 PM, Windy37 said:

Don’t know what Rod Dennis would think ….. 

 

Not a lot I'm sure  Knowing what a perfectionist Ron "smiler" Dennis is.   Nor would Nissans's Brand Manager be impressed with that (dis)placement of  the two N's on the bonnet front. However there's something quite charming about the pre-perfectionist era of rally (or race) car liveries, when logos really were quite scattergun and money was less involved.

 

I'm enjoying this build, it's looking good.  I'm sure I'll have another rally car on the go at some point this year.

[Windy37]

5 minutes ago, galaxyg said:

 

Not a lot I'm sure  Knowing what a perfectionist Ron "smiler" Dennis is.   Nor would Nissans's Brand Manager be impressed with that (dis)placement of  the two N's on the bonnet front. However there's something quite charming about the pre-perfectionist era of rally (or race) car liveries, when logos really were quite scattergun and money was less involved.

 

I'm enjoying this build, it's looking good.  I'm sure I'll have another rally car on the go at some point this year.

Thanks . Bending the lettering around the rally plate does look odd . 
Theres plenty of good rally car kits out there , we are spoilt for choice . 
Gary . 

[Hamden]

 

Great update, this is really looking the part now

 

  Stay safe            Roger

[Windy37]

4 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

Great update, this is really looking the part now

 

  Stay safe            Roger

Thanks  Roger

[Toftdale]

Its looking great,  but I have to agree who ever came up/approved with the layout for Nissan on the bonnet wants shooting! 

[Vesa Jussila]

Decals looking good. Nice to see this progress.

 

[Windy37]

Not updated for a while , but the Nissan build has moved on . On the last post I mentioned the over complicated instructions regarding building up the spotlights . This is what I mean ….

 
Really all that was needed was a shading on the lense , to highlight the lenses from the covers . Took me ages to work out what went where ! All ended well though , this being the finished spotlight set up 

 

Next I tackled the windows . These are separate pieces and there is no paint mask in the kit so I fitted my steady arm and didn’t breath until I had painted the black surrounds . 

 

The windows then fit into deep recesses on the outside of the body , these all being painted semi gloss black . I used masking tape to pull the windows into place  , taking care not to tape over any decals as , even though I have lacquered the body , previous experience shows they will still lift when the tape is removed . 

 

Then it was time to Safari ise the car . The front nudge bar is not quite right as on the real car the bar goes under the bottom spot lights , but I’m leaving it alone and instead fitted some splash guards / bounce steps that a good detail photo I found on line showed .  I dotted them with black sharpie to replicate holes . The bottom towing eyes I also dotted .  By now I had fitted the interior to body , a very tight squeeze this and luckily only to be done once . 

 

At the back , the nudge bar has bounce steps and fitted straight on , no messing . The rubber boot lid fasteners are a nice touch . 

 

Underneath the front nudge bar is strengthened by bars running to the sump guard . 

Not far away now , thanks for looking  

 Gary .