Windy37 Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 The Tamiya Subaru Impreza must be the most popular rally car to build, certainly on BM there's at least one every couple of months. Well I'm going to add to that list with my next project. I'm going to build my Impreza in the 1998 colours of Belgacom , a car driven by Gregoire de Mevius on various WRC events that year as part of the Prodrive run All Stars Subaru team . I will be building the car from the 1998 RAC Rally , therefore it will be a gravel spec car for which I will be using a Renaissance transkit And the decals were kindly provided by @ceeb555 . Thanks Chris . Back in the late 90's I built nearly 10 of these kits , 2 for myself , the rest for friends as presents . It will be interesting to see how my skills have changed since those days ! I started preparing the car a few months back . The real car is basically white , so nearly everything had to be sprayed white . Even with primer , the blue took some hiding. After nearly 7 coats it's something like . Then it was time to mask ready to spray some blue back onto the car .... The real car is a lovely light blue . I chose Tamiya Sky Blue spray , maybe slightly darker , but touching up with pots will be easier to match up. And the big reveal The blue on the side doors actually curves round , but because the car number decal covers the curve , I got lucky and masked a straight edge , after some measurements were taken to make sure the decals fit in the right place . I think we all could paint the parts of the Impreza with our eyes shut . But it seems strange painting them over white ! The Renaissance parts have come up especially well . Shock absorbers not too coily either - a pet hate of mine on model kits . Basic layout . Chocolate bar eaten before using its foil packaging to make a heat shield. You'll all be pleased to hear the Renaissance parts fitted straight in place . This is the first Tamiya kit I have built in years and they go together just so well . A joy to build . I have added to the radiator . The kit doesn't have the correct detail here , as previously flagged up by @galaxyg. The small black "cooler " is actually a square Escort Mk1 clear lense from Belkits ! Back to the bodyshell. The real car has a purple rear bumper , which I masked then hand painted ( I know 😉) purple. The orange stripes are decals and took ages to get right. I cut them into sections to get them around the curves of the bumper. I will fill in the gaps later . The purple decals across the bonnet were equally stressful. They started to splinter ( look on the bonnet... ) and I am going to use artistc licence to extend them to the back edge of the bonnet as they look tidier in my eyes . And this is how the bonnet looks with touching up done . I mixed the purple to try to get the correct match and cut the decal away from the vents to tidy this area up vastly . Whereas the previous build , the Nissan left me a bit under whelmed , this with the spraying and awkward decals , is already bringing me back my mojo . I love a challenge !😂 Thanks for looking Gary. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 I wouldn't worry about hand painting the rear bumper, it's perfectly viable as a process and once you've cleared the brushlines will virtually disappear (not that I can see any in the photos). Looks like you've made a good start. Incidentally, if you have a similar situation in future of trying to cover a strong coloured plastic for a light colour car, you can help by doing a grey primer, then a silver layer before the white primer which should mean fewer layers needed. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted September 8 Author Share Posted September 8 Thanks @Spiny. Good advice with the primer . I used grey , then white primer . Then gloss white . Gary . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potsie Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 Great start, and always good to see an Impreza in a scheme other than works WR-Blue. I agree this Tamiya kit is just a treat to build. Looking forward to your progress. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 Nice start I'll follow along if I may? Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted September 9 Author Share Posted September 9 1 hour ago, Hamden said: Nice start I'll follow along if I may? Roger Thanks , you may ! Gary 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 Nice choice. Something different, I completely forgot this sponsorship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 Nice choice Gary, I do like Scoobies in non works colours (I've built 4 Tamiya Scoobies, none have been blue!) I agree with @Spiny about the brush painted rear bumper, looks good to me too, and if the process works for you what does it matter how the paint was applied? (I once brush painted a 1:1 scale Vauxhall Viva (my second car) - from white to red, should have used a roller really....!! ) Great start, looking forward to more! Keith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted September 11 Author Share Posted September 11 20 hours ago, keefr22 said: Nice choice Gary, I do like Scoobies in non works colours (I've built 4 Tamiya Scoobies, none have been blue!) I agree with @Spiny about the brush painted rear bumper, looks good to me too, and if the process works for you what does it matter how the paint was applied? (I once brush painted a 1:1 scale Vauxhall Viva (my second car) - from white to red, should have used a roller really....!! ) Great start, looking forward to more! Keith Thanks Keith. I remember inspecting your Irish Tarmac Impreza ( can't remember the driver ) at Telford and wanted to do this build as an Irish car but couldn't source the decals . The things we used to do . Black bitumen paint on sills and wheelarches anyone ??!!😂😂 Gary 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toftdale Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Great progress as always. However I'm particularly impressed with your colour matching skills, definitely an art I've yet to master - Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted September 11 Author Share Posted September 11 36 minutes ago, Toftdale said: Great progress as always. However I'm particularly impressed with your colour matching skills, definitely an art I've yet to master - Andy For once , Andy , the camera is doing me a favour ! It actually looks more dark blue than purple but I have a plan to disguise it a bit ! Gary . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 2 hours ago, Windy37 said: I remember inspecting your Irish Tarmac Impreza ( can't remember the driver ) at Telford and wanted to do this build as an Irish car but couldn't source the decals . Andrew Nesbitt. I'd love to do more Irish tarmac cars too, but like you say decals are pretty scarce. The ones I used were a test set from an Irish modeller on another forum (can't even remember which one now!) but unfortunately lost touch with him so don't know if he ever did any more. Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted September 21 Author Share Posted September 21 More decal work on the Impreza today. Getting the big Belgacom decal to conform to the curvy rear arches was tedious. I did cut it in half to make things easier though. The standard Impreza problem of decal vs . door handle was also an issue . But a bit of warmth from Mrs Windy's hairdryer helped secure things down . Incidentally the Motek decal was the company local to me who supplied two way radio and early mobile phones to the RAC Rally officials that year. I know this because Mrs Windy worked on that account while she worked there . Thanks for looking Gary. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 That all looks very neat Gary! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceeb555 Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Nice decalling Gary. Brings it to life with the sponsor logos on. Good info regarding Motek, an interesting fact 👍 Looking forward to next instalment Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted September 22 Author Share Posted September 22 8 minutes ago, ceeb555 said: Nice decalling Gary. Brings it to life with the sponsor logos on. Good info regarding Motek, an interesting fact 👍 Looking forward to next instalment Chris Thanks , Keith, Chris . The decals are very delicate; certainly can't use anything other than cool water otherwise they split . The number 16 did this really badly, but some gentle persuasion got it to line up correctly. Motek we're based in Sandtoft on the old WW2 airbase which is now partly an industrial estate. Gary. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted September 22 Author Share Posted September 22 The bodyshell now has all the decals applied. I must say it's nice to see an Impreza in a different colour scheme to blue and yellow ! Hopefully once it's all dry I will get it gloss coated before the weather becomes too cool . Thanks for looking Gary. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatW Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 That's looking very good indeed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potsie Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 This is coming along very nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxyg Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 Coming along well, nice to see the Tamiya Impreza in another livery beyond Subaru blue. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 I agree, looks nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceeb555 Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 Looks good Gary. Hope the weather holds for you to get the body clearcoated, will pull the scheme together nicely. Perhaps the end of the week after all this rain !! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted September 23 Author Share Posted September 23 2 hours ago, ceeb555 said: Looks good Gary. Hope the weather holds for you to get the body clearcoated, will pull the scheme together nicely. Perhaps the end of the week after all this rain !! Chris I should be OK Chris. It's not too cold just yet . Trackrod Rally on Saturday though. Priorities !! Gary . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 Nice work Gary! I was watching a video on the Belgian Motorsport channel other day and there was an Escort Cossie out in Belgacom livery and that looked really good too - they had some nice schemes! Enjoy the Trackrod, hope you don't get too wet!! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceeb555 Posted September 24 Share Posted September 24 Oh no, going to miss the Trackrod Rally again as I’m away. Hope you post pictures on the forum, really interested to see the cars Yes 🤞the temperature holds long enough for you to get the clear on. Have a good day Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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