24145 Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R [COMPLETE]

[SnøMotion]

Welcome to my R33 Skyline build!

 

 

Given the short notice, I've picked something fairly straightforward, in that it has no engine, that I already had in stock, including ZoomOn window masks and a bottle of ProScale Midnight Purple paint. On studying the instructions, I noticed the floor pan is almost identical to the Tamiya R34 GT-R (of which I've built two). This got me thinking... I'd already modelled a lowering/camber/big brake kit for the R34, so most of it will probably fit this.

 

 

Turns out the front strut/hub assemblies look almost identical, but are in fact different in almost every dimension! 

 

Anyway, I was into it then, so I made the necessary modifications and not it should fit! Assuming there's room to lower it 1.5mm and add -3º of camber.

 

I also had a set of wheels and tyres, modelled in 19in, that I thought would really suit. But then I decided 18in would look better, so I adjusted those, too!

These are a Rays Volk Racing 21C with Toyo Proxes R888R tyres. I've made the rims 2in wider than stock with tyres of the original width, to give it plenty of stretch. Hopefully this will give me a really nice stance (similar to the R34 but with more camber). If the perspective on this render looks a bit off, it's because the tyre has a -3º taper toward the inside. This'll just help the car sit flat. The reason the R34 is photographed on a piece of foam is because I didn't taper the tyres and only the inside edge touches the ground! 

 

I also started having a play around with paint...

 

 

This is ProScale Nissan Midnight Purple, over a black base,  with a couple of light coats of SMS Pearl Rose Magenta tint coat over the top. Finished with lashings of ProScale 2K clear gloss. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! I'm thinking of using Rays bronze for the wheels and, although the wheel in the photo is painted in ProScale Rays Wheel Bronze, I think it was over a white base. I'll run a test with a black base and some fairly matte clear to see how it looks against the purple.

 

And that's is for now. I'm going to try and print the wheels, tyres, suspension and brakes over the weekend and make sure they fit!

 

Thanks for looking! 

 

Martin

 

[Col.]

Opening post and this thread is looking fascinating already!

[SnøMotion]

Thanks, @Col.! Let's hope I can keep it that way! 

 

Martin

[Mjwomack]

I'm pretty sure you know the 'rules', or more importantly the exemptions and loopholes! Design work and 3D printing is not part of the 25% criteria😉

[SnøMotion]

1 minute ago, Mjwomack said:

I'm pretty sure you know the 'rules', or more importantly the exemptions and loopholes! Design work and 3D printing is not part of the 25% criteria😉

Oh, yes! I'm not good at waiting 

[psdavidson]

did someone say "purple" 

[Keeff]

That colour is lurrrrrvly!!  🤩

Suits the car too .... 

 

Keith ☺️ 

[SnøMotion]

7 minutes ago, Keeff said:

That colour is lurrrrrvly!!  🤩

Suits the car too .... 

 

Keith ☺️ 

Yes, the original Midnight Purple was really dark, but later iterations (Midnight Purple II and Midnight Purple III) had some colour flop, and I think that’s a bit more interesting at this scale 

[Colin W]

16 hours ago, SnøMotion said:

 

 

This is ProScale Nissan Midnight Purple,

Now my wife wants me to paint her car....

[SnøMotion]

Well, I'm pretty happy with these! Let's just hope they fit! 

 

 

Suspension, brakes and wheel nuts/centre caps have just started printing 

 

Martin

[Col.]

You've every right to be happy with that work Martin

[SnøMotion]

2 hours ago, Col. said:

You've every right to be happy with that work Martin

Thanks, Col! Just finished cleaning my second print and realised I didn't check the dimensions of the rear discs from R34 to R33 and they're quite a bit different!

 

One more print in the morning and I should be ready! 

 

Martin

[AaCee26]

On 8/15/2025 at 11:40 PM, SnøMotion said:

Midnight Purple was really dark, but later iterations (Midnight Purple II and Midnight Purple III) had some colour flop, and I think that’s a bit more interesting at this scale 

Playing Deep Purple?

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee

[RossFMJ]

Well, going by the other GT-R you've shown (very restrained btw), this one should be spectacular.

as Aacee mentions, there should be plenty of smoke on the water from the tyres of this, they and the wheels look totally amazing

[SnøMotion]

8 hours ago, RossFMJ said:

Well, going by the other GT-R you've shown (very restrained btw), this one should be spectacular.

as Aacee mentions, there should be plenty of smoke on the water from the tyres of this, they and the wheels look totally amazing

Thanks, Ross! I'm really hoping I can do this colour justice! 

 

I've already decided to bin the bronze wheel idea and go with a dark silver, it looks so much better!

 

8 hours ago, RossFMJ said:

very restrained btw

Yep, no soft toys or scoops here! Although, I've just modelled the ubiquitous 4" exhaust and I had a brainwave at 3am Saturday about the caliper colour 

 

My print finished about half an hour ago, and it looks like everything is okay 

 

Martin

[SnøMotion]

All the bits printed well and, as long as I can get the body over the wheels, we should be good to go!

 

 

Here's a comparison for the original brakes (top) and the replacements (bottom). The fronts are just able to fit inside the factory wheels, still. So, this should be a reasonable big brake/lowering kit even using everything else straight from the box. 

 

 

Other than some additional paint tests and a bit of clean up on the body, this is probably it until 'go time' 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Martin

[Col.]

Nice print work Martin

[SnøMotion]

Thanks, @Col.!

 

Martin

[Rob Sutto]

Another excellent colour choice, Martin 

[SnøMotion]

5 hours ago, Rob Sutto said:

Another excellent colour choice, Martin 

Thanks, Rob!

[81-er]

I love the colour & the look of the wheels, Martin

 

James

[SnøMotion]

12 minutes ago, 81-er said:

I love the colour & the look of the wheels, Martin

 

James

Thanks, James! Hopefully I've got my 'calculations' correct for the wheel offset and width! 

Although, I've got a lot more stretch on these tyres than the R34 ones, so I should have given myself some additional wiggle room. 

 

Martin

[silverfox63]

On 8/16/2025 at 4:59 AM, SnøMotion said:

add -3º of camber.

As an ex-alignment technician, that is a f...... fair amount of neg camber (-.5 being the accepted setting for everyday, commuter work). At least being a model, you wont wear out the tyres at a phenominal rate, lol

Cheers,

Chris..

[SnøMotion]

Just now, silverfox63 said:

As an ex-alignment technician, that is a f...... fair amount of neg camber (-.5 being the accepted setting for everyday, commuter work). At least being a model, you wont wear out the tyres at a phenominal rate, lol

Cheers,

Chris..

Yeah, it's quite a lot for driving, but very little for stance!  Although, Mk1 BMW X5s looked like they had about -3º on the rear from the factory.

 

When I put coilovers on my Mk2 MR2, I went with a recommended -1.25º front and -2.5º rear, which made for fantastic road handling and no noticeable increase in tyre wear with 16" wheels. The rears went from 15x7 et35 to 16x8 et25 (same width tyre) and I did need to roll the arches to stop rubbing, as I probably lowered it a couple of inches, too. I find it crazy now, when I see social media types going for -8º all around on an MR2 on 18x9s! That would be horrendous to drive!

 

Martin

[silverfox63]

You're right about stance, it's just not practical on the road. Saw a Honda Civic EG one day, on its guts, heaps of neg camber. Drove over the tram lines in Box Hill South (Melbourne) very, VERY slowly, at an angle, it was an... interesting sight.