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Grastens Builds the Loctite Zexel GT-R (TA-04)

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Need some relief from exams? Let's build a:

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Tangentially-related preamble:

Somewhat ironically, video games inspired me to go outside. I was a fan of the Gran Turismo series and became quite accomplished at the first four games before the series moved onto the PS3. I have yet to play any further installments, but perhaps that is fitting - Gran Turismo 3 in particular represents the last of those games that still featured JGTC cars as the top-flight racers, and GT2 had unrestricted versions pushing 700hp and four-wheel drive for the GT-Rs. A little unrealistic, yes, but fantasy allowed these wild touring cars to bring the pain to prototype racers. Even the original Gran Turismo made it possible to take on the mighty mid-90s GTs in a modified front-wheel drive Celica:

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SERIES CHAMPION

So these games captured my imagination. Gran Turismo 2 introduced the Toyota GT-One prototype to countless gamers, looking like an alien ship among the other cars. It became my dream to take one outside, which was realized the day I got into the hobby with a Tamiya Toyota GT-One:

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I probably covered the equivalent of two Le Mans 24 Hours races with that car - like the real thing, when I think about it - before getting into off-road bashing. Many of my other cars since then have been two-wheel drive, and almost exclusively off-road, leaving their performances on tarmac to be desired. I left my console to gather dust for a while...

... until I began my fourth year at university. Confined indoors with much more work, I turned to my console again for some quick races and introduced myself again to classic JGTC racers, touring cars, and other racers. The same spark that fired up my imagination had returned, but this time with four-wheel drive in mind.

This had to do with the excellent colour combination of the Loctite Zexel GT-R, which became a weapon of choice in the top-tier races of Gran Turismo 4. I always liked GT-Rs, but loved all of those cars growing up. Tamiya had many GT-Rs, but it was the 1999 - 2000 body style I found most attractive and so I ended up going for the red/orange-and white Loctite Zexel racer on the TA-04.

Much searching and passes on eBay (I had to scrape together funds for it when the few listings for full kits were on) led me to a German model shop which shipped to Canada. Blink, and I was out just under 200 euros :P It was handed off to Canada Post in a convoluted process, and I was being teased by the ease with which I could track it... I ended up missing its actual delivery by two whole days, but a friend of mine was generous enough to pick it up from the post office where it was being held at a small customs ransom.

Thus liberated, the second stage of both my Gran Turismo obsession and touring cars began with a nicely-aged boxed example of one of Japan's premier touring cars. The real Loctite Zexel GT-R was driven by a tandem of two-time champions who were looking for a three-peat but fell short after the final round. This bright-coloured racer was still always challenging, though!

Will it get built? Well, that is why we are here, right? Let us begin!

The build begins:

Once out of the box:

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This presentation reminds me a bit of the 'postal box' style artwork that appeared on some re-releases, notably the R91CP and the GT-One re-releases. The box art for the radio-controlled Loctite Zexel GT-R is identical to the static kit box's and placed on one specific to the TA-04 - witness the Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge kit:

Tamiya-Ferrari-360-Modena-Challenge-TA04


Disgorging the contents:

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The kit being from its time period issues a mechanical speed control where most today have an electronic type. It was the same deal with my GT-One, but I was saved from fitting it because rookie mistakes led to ghastly mis-assembly. To this day, that MSC remains unfinished - this one probably will as well in favour of an MTroniks Sport-Tuned 20 ESC. A staple in my cars, upgrades to a higher-calibre motor will see it swapped out later.

This kit will be built with ball bearings but otherwise stock. I have a spare shell and decals, but only one rear wing. I also have a right-hand-drive touring car interior; on one shell I may install this and a light kit (or should it be interior on one and lights on another?) using R34 Z-Tune light brackets (later). I could change the shell depending on day or night running, but we will see.

Future prospects (providing my wallet cooperates) may see a Pennzoil Zexel GT-R shell being prepared from kit decals and decals from 58239 (the 1999 Pennzoil GT-R). That would be the car that succeeded the Loctite Zexel GT-R for the 2001 season.

For now, though, I will be happy to assemble a new chassis for the first time in almost a year! As you read this, I may be building right now...

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Excellent stuff, I too had a Gran Turismo obsession growing up. For me it was all about the Calsonic GT-R or the Castrol Supra. The latter inspired my first Tamiya Purchase - Castrol Tom's Supra 2000 on the TL01 chassis. I hope one day to replace it with a new-built example, since my original is long gone.

Look forward to the build...

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Loved the PS GT games.

Love the Nissan R34GTR.

Love the TA04.

Looking forward to this one ;)

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Great introduction to the build! My Gran Turismo obsession continues to this day having bought the 6th installment only a few days back after many years enjoying number 5!

Looking forward to the end result!

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I loved GT3, had so many happy sessions with the crappy blue Gran Turismo steering wheel and that game. The newer games, for whatever reason never seemed as much fun :-(

Good story though, let's see this build!

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I've spent many hundreds of hours playing Gran Turismo but I never made it beyond the PS2. My favourite was the Nismo 400R - if I won one of those I could never bring myself to sell it.

(goes to Ebay to look for a Tamiya R33-GTR and Nismo decals...)

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Thank you all for the nice comments so far! It looks like I am far from the only one inspired by Gran Turismo :)

So, let us continue with the:

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And so we have Part A, comprising Steps 1 - 6:

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The corresponding parts bag contains the following pieces:

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Whoa, the differential halves do not come off a parts tree? Makes sense, I guess, to minimize binding from excess plastic:

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So we assemble the gears for the differential. I have never put together one in metal before - tolerances feel great, but is the manual really prescribing ceramic grease? I sure hope so...

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It all comes together neatly. I used ball diff grease to lubricate the self-tapping screws going into the plastic halves, which has worked best for me in these builds.

We end up with two differentials. I remember UltimateRC's Jang writing about the thoughtfulness of symmetrical gearboxes, or having identical assemblies front and rear for the gearboxes. The effect is certainly visible here with twin diffs:

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This means more steps!

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For now I will use stock mounting points, putting the ball connectors on the recommended positions:

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I have never seen a step screw being used as a pure structural fastener; previously I had only seen them holding pieces while one pivots around the step. Here, it is used to hold the two gearbox halves together.

Nonetheless, it all bolts up very nicely - and again, great tolerances!

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The next step:

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Seems easy enough - just remember that one parts tree has one front and one rear assembly, and each kit is supposed to contain two!

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Now to install the rear differential and short belt:

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My only previous experience with belts was on a well-worn TA-05 that I ran once and then sold on - at the time, I had no room for a touring car, and less patience for one I did not build myself. They arrive on the TA-04 packaged together:

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They certainly feel durable, and more plastic to the touch than I expected. The TA-05 I had briefly seemed to have a different material in its belts - perhaps it was a TA-05V2? It seemed to be more fibrous...

The manual at this step calls for 3 x 10mm and 3 x 12mm screws to be used. I agonized for all of two seconds over trying to figure out which was which until I saw them:

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Here, it seems obvious! And with that, the rear gearbox was assembled with drive cups:

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Last steps in the bag!

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Out come the plastic bearings, in come rubber-sealed ball bearings! It was a pleasant surprise to learn that the kit is already equipped with ball bearings for the gearbox; I only needed ones for the outdrives and steering bellcranks. I bought a whole set anyways - those that go unused will find their way onto other projects if not swapped in during a rebuild.

The first two (eventually four) 1150 ball bearings make their way into the rear knuckles:

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Steps call for two; I used four since four will be in there anyways and I did not see how the extra two would interfere with assembly at this stage. It helps the outdrives sit better in the knuckles.

Oh, and suddenly I remember why I hate non-adjustable turnbuckles so much!

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Already they are damaged, and who knows if I did measure them out correctly? I still have visions of severe rear camber out on the track... The mat ruler says 9.5mm (the correct figure), but I am still wary.

This does mean I can complete this step and therefore Part A, though!

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It looks fine, and moves well - I forgot one urethane sponge but installed it afterwards without problems. The rear knuckles sit flat so far and there is no binding in the suspension. The screws take a toll on my wrist but I am enjoying watching this come together!

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A few observations - this was my spares count after Part A:

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One extra c-clip is in there. I forgot what properly-attached ones looked like until I snapped my third one on and redid the first one to find it could go in deeper! I would have had pins everywhere if not for that!

And look at this waste!

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It reminds me that I am studying topics in class that talk about environmental sustainability, yet there is not much of a way for this hobby to get into that theme. Given that the hobby began emulating gas-burning vehicles to start, this makes sense. Yes, electric cars tend to pollute less than earlier gas or nitro-powered vehicles, but the packaging and plastics of the actual thing are all rather unfriendly to start. I wonder if there are ways for the manufacture of RC cars to become more environmentally-sustainable...

I also realize that the TA-04 does not seem to be a common subject for touring cars. Tamiya Era had his TA-04 TRF build a while back, but we still rarely see these chassis. They are dated by now, but I thought there would be more discussion about them as there is about even the TB-01 for its rally adaptability. This was partial motivation for me to write about my TA-04.

The gear differentials built stock are very loose, with power transfer to one wheel on the slightest change of surfaces between a pair - at least, this is what I am observing with the differentials right now on the gearboxes. Even my F103 required a tighter ball differential when running... Will varying the grease viscosity work (something thicker than ceramic grease) for a limited-slip effect? Or will this be less critical for a four-wheel drive touring car? From what I can tell, these are not sealed.

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Got some time between classes at home? Why not build a:

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After the previous post, I attached the spur gear to the rear gearbox:

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The spur gear comes in its own bag! For some reason this stood out to me, even when the GT-One and Buggy Champ had seperately-packaged spur gears. The Avante has it grouped with the other gearbox innards, and the old Audi Quattro has not so much a spur gear as an idler gear for its primary gearbox.

This step linked the two gearboxes together by their belts:

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Please tell me I am not the only one to get some satisfaction from rotating the gear and watching the belts turn at this stage of a build!

Steering system posts are then attached to the chassis, as is the front bumper mount:

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All fit very well:

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Now, today began with the attachment of the gearboxes to the chassis tub. As some of you know, this is significant in that the various sub-assemblies you have been putting together/cursing at finally starts to look like... something!

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Now attached to the chassis, the belts can rotate at their designed tension:

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This concludes Part B, leaving some spares:

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Not too many!

Here comes the steering linkage to start the next stage:

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Bring on Parts Bag C!

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This is the longest stage of the build - the dampers are part of it, too...

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Parts Bag C has the following contents:

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I have not read much about the TA-04's steering bellcrank system. What I do know is that I still hate non-adjustable turnbuckles!

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These were more pleasant to work with than the previous sets, perhaps because I have had experience now! Greasing the ends of the rods sure helped, as did more patience. The bellcranks feel solid when put together:

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Ball bearings made their way into the system, and being the rubber-sealed type they may be lower-maintenance than the metal-shielded types I had always used. The stock pieces are the four bronze bearings in the top centre compartment in this picture:

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And once attached to the chassis, there is little play and a lot of smooth action!

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Despite this, the system feels more resistant than what I was expecting. Will I be able to run a standard-grade servo in this chassis? I do not necessarily need the responsiveness that a high-end Savox (for example) can provide, having used one in my brief TA-05(V2, I found out) experience, but it would be nice if I had a servo that could push the bellcranks with authority.

Tamiya has thoughtfully included a transponder stay for the TA-04:

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I have no need for it at the moment, but maybe one day I will... I do need an upper deck, though:

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Lots of screws required! (four of them are battery stay mounting posts I neglected earlier! :P )

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I was not fond of this part of the build, with so many self-tapping screws and the plastic-plastic attachment leaving lots of opportunities to over-tighten and break the tub or deck. I took extra care with this step; the Phillips-head screwdriver I used proved advantageous over a JST(?)-head against over-tightening by allowing the screwdriver to slip over the screw head slots past a certain tension. Too hard, though, and a screw head can strip as it did in past projects.

The chassis feels warped with it in place, although sturdy:

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I remember reading that the trick of a TA-04 is to adjust the upper deck screws to compensate for chassis tub distortions over its lifetime, either from mileage or collisions. I forget if it was mentioned in the interest of keeping the chassis straight or for preventing the belts from skipping...

Now, the dampers!

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Non-scratch pliers would have been nice as despite the care I took, my needle-nose type still scratched a shock shaft while I was attaching the lower eye to the damper shaft. I cursed and then attached the rest by hand. Who knows if the missed thread on each shaft will prove critical once running?

This is as far as I got before classes pulled me away:

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I do hope to return to the dampers, though! I am not keen on building them, but the end result is neat.

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You should also most definitely make the shocks all the same length. It can affect the handling badly. You should also aim for equivalent rebound left to right.

When racing you do this to the nearest 0.1mm!!

Tip is to use plastic side cutters and clamp as close to the thread (or in the thread) as you can if you don't have a set of shock pliers.

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Looking good. Thanks for taking the time to do a build thread.

I'd revisit the steering because there should be no binding in it. There will be some drag from the sealed bearing but not enough to make you worry about whether a standard servo will be able to be used, so maybe something is amiss.

Dorvack.

Then again, I can hardly remember what a standard servo's output is. The whole assembly moves smoothly, with no binding, but there is a noticeable amount of drag from the presence of rubber-sealed ball bearings. I guess I have no concerns here, then!

You should also most definitely make the shocks all the same length. It can affect the handling badly. You should also aim for equivalent rebound left to right.

When racing you do this to the nearest 0.1mm!!

Tip is to use plastic side cutters and clamp as close to the thread (or in the thread) as you can if you don't have a set of shock pliers.

I always aim for identical rebound left to right. Damper building is a pain, but it is one of the steps I am willing to spend the most time on to get it right. You can imagine my building of a Buggy Champ went well, then! :P

But top tip with the plastic side cutters - I never thought of that, yet how useful that is! I will definitely try that once I get building again! Thanks :)

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What do I do when my professor never shows? I go home and build a:

120p0f9.jpg

I used Cplus' tip to hold a shock shaft with side cutters while screwing in the ball connector attachments - it worked very well! One did not go in all the way, so I threaded it with a fine-pitch screw:

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Using the side cutters like never before:

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All of them are at the same length now. Filling them up with oil is an iterative process for me, requiring many tries and much patience. At some point I ran low on the kit-supplied oil and switched to what I had: a set of Team Losi silicone damper oils I bought some years ago. They were still fresh, but none were as hard as the kit-supplied oil; the closest I had was rated at 42.5 and this was still less viscous than Tamiya's #900 fluid.

As such, I sought identical rebounds for the Tamiya-oiled dampers and then the Losi-oiled types. The softer Losi-filled ones went on the rear while the Tamiya ones went on the front, following conventional car tuning wisdom (I think). All four of them were covered in oil after the fact, necessitating a quick wipe with a degreaser:

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Now we add the springs and attach the dampers to the front and rear of the chassis:

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The trickiest part of the chassis build (for me) will be over soon! The dampers are assembled:

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Attachment to the chassis is simple with ball connectors:

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Onto the next step - installing the motor:

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This silver can will provide motivation for the time being:

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The motor is mounted to the chassis with two hex-head screws, the only ones in this kit. I appreciate the notch in the chassis at this section to give clearance to hexagonal keys!

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The pinion gear (sorry, the aluminum one!) is meshed with the spur gear. I used header card paper from the kit:

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Even then, I still went by feel based on how I set up my F103.

The first of the decals show up: warning labels. I feel like installing these!

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I mean, I am the only one handling my cars, and I know where the rotating parts are on those, but it still looks very official:

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Now to sort out some electronics. What to do...

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Continuing with the build, I spotted an idle project with electronic equipment:

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"Excuse me, Willy, but with your car in the shop, you won't be needing those... will you?"

"If you'd finish my car already, then maybe I would!"

Willy did not seem to like my decision to strip out the electronics from the Wheelie Rally to fit in the GT-R, but I may make it up to him later by letting him take the wheel... In the meantime, this was one of those days when I appreciated the ease of access on a WR-02.

Electronics out:

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To my surprise, a Traxxas 2056 servo was sitting in the car! It was a leftover from my Lancia Rally, which did not need such a powerful servo whereas I figured a car with large wheels did. With more torque than an entry-level servo, I was happy to fit it to the GT-R.

The receiver was one of two I had lying around, precisely for days like this ;)

Instructions call for checking the radio equipment, which I did:

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The servo saver is definitely not as nice as the Tamiya Hi-Torque Servo Savers I had fitted to my F103 and Avante, but it feels solid and so I hope it will be sufficient. The rest of the steering system has quality to it, which is reassuring for the saver's prospects.

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The servo is then mounted to the chassis after installing servo mount posts:

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The 'countersinking' of the TA-04's chassis tub is interesting - obviously there are performance benefits, but I am also guessing that using dedicated countersunk screws could have escalated costs as well as required stricter tolerances for matching holes. Perhaps that would have been too much for an entire chassis tub, whereas on small items like gearbox access hatches countersinking is possible on a mass-production scale like those on the Avante. My lack of experience with modern plastic chassis tubs has me doubting the validity of my speculation. I have seen that on FRP chassis, countersunk screws are the most common option.

Anyways, the servo mounted with ease, but attaching the ball connector to the servo saver proved fiddly:

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The rest of the electronic equipment follows:

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The result is a wiring job I can be proud of. This has to be my best work, with virtually zero probability of wires interfering with the belts or the steering system, and great clearance of the battery cable from either bodywork or running surface. The holes in the upper deck for a transponder mount were ideal for securing the cables down and away from moving parts:

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Everything is looking great so far! Even with limited assembly experience, patience is going a long way to make this both an enjoyable and a well-executed build.

Edit: I apologize if some random manga-style image appeared in this post; my image-hosting website said that link was to the photo I took of the wiring instructions! Strange... although now sorted.

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We are then brought to the wheels!

2d8qb7a.jpg

I briefly dabbled with touring cars with an eye on racing; as such I never used a tire wider than 24 mm. The Loctite Zexel GT-R is equipped with 26 mm-wide wheels and tires, which is a little noticeable compared to the race-regulated 24 mm types.

To me, this is also what makes a 90s - millenial JGTC racer: real TE-37-style wheels (Calsonic GT-R excepting, among others). The six-spoke wheels offered on later Super GT racers by Tamiya were just not detailed enough, even if they had the general shape, colour, and the right number of spokes. The key is the bending back of the spokes into the rim instead of radiating straight from the spoke to the edge of the wheel on presently-available types. Call me obsessive, but this was important.

These older six-spoke wheels were also very difficult to find. The recent Gazoo Racing TRD 86 has detailed TE-37s, but I have been unable to determine a part number for them, exact dimensions, or a place that sells them separately from the kits. If I was unable to find a TA-04, I would have acquired a TRD 86 kit and put a Loctite Zexel GT-R shell on top of the chassis, offsetting the wheels to whatever filled out the arches.

(Edit: I have since come to find HPI's 26 mm TE-37s acceptable)

This all inspired me to take great care preparing the wheels, although without glue I have merely assembled them for display. I am tempted to run them as is with the stock motor, but recall that grit can work a tire off its rim if it penetrates the wheel. Until I glue the tires and inserts, I will not apply the decals to the wheels or tires.

Those tires were removed from their own bag, and were covered in what might have been talcum powder:

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A wash with dish detergent and careful drying saw them ready to accept the kit's foam tire inserts, and then those lovely wheels:

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We are really moving now! Wheels and body mount posts are installed onto the chassis. Plastic wheel hexes are conserved by specific instructions pertaining to the nylon lock nuts for the wheels:

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And what is a Gran Turismo-inspired build without Gran Turismo music?

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"Slipstream" is the title of the frenetic race menu music in Gran Turismo 3. I have associated it with a day at the races ever since.

Wheels and body posts are attached to the front:

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And the rear:

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Snap pins would follow shortly afterwards, as would the call for the urethane front bumper:

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I did not really understand how the bumper would protect the front end, but realize now that it helps the polycarbonate body to hold its shape in a frontal collision, minimizing deformation and therefore breakage. The one on my GT-One was rather pathetic, being a small plastic piece that did not extend across the body, but this lump will surely do its job!

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Next, the front belt tensioner and rear belt stay were assembled:

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It is at this step that the wisdom of replacing all metal bushings with ball bearings is questioned, as slop on these parts is not as critical as slop in the gearbox or outdrives. Nonetheless, the 730 ball bearings you see here were substituted in for the supplied metal bushings:

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The belt tensioner is assembled for the first time - I say 'first time' because the instructions call for a black hardened 2.5 mm clip where I had used a shiny flimsy 2 mm clip! That would eventually be addressed:

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Tensioner and stay are fixed to the chassis. The stay rolls well with a 730 ball bearing, but another incorrect piece was used with the black 3 x 15 mm screw holding the bearing in place instead of a silver 3 x 18 mm screw. That too would be addressed.

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Finally, battery mount clips and an antenna mount are added:

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Added:

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The antenna mount was included for completion; the aerial for the Spektrum SR200WP receiver is far too short to reach it. I suppose an older crystal receiver or even the CPR-P160F hop-up unit would need the mount.

This concludes Part C - the spares for this kit amount to:

k16jcn.jpg

And it looks like the chassis is finished! Full electronics have allowed me to drive it briefly - the servo responds well, and the entire system is quite smooth :)

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Now, onto Part D! Bring on the parts bag!

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... Whaaa? Wait; let us consult the instructions:

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Bodywork! Well, that will have to wait for a warmer day. The shell has been washed, though, and is presently sitting out to dry. In the meantime, the belt tensioner and stay parts have been corrected, leading to a completed chassis:

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I have really enjoyed the chassis phase of the build, and have come to appreciate the TA-04's construction and layout:

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There is room for it on my shelf of RC cars, and there it stays, awaiting adornment:

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That being said, I do like the way it looks now!

One final detail:

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The only cable that could move after that cable-tie job was the one for the ESC switch. Under very spirited driving (i.e.: massive jumps :P ) it could work its way into the belts, so I decided on one last non-kit-supplied cable tie to secure it down.

If you have been following this build, thank you! The advice has also been much appreciated; I will need some more of it to turn a clear polycarbonate shell into a likeness of this monster:

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On an unrelated note: hey look; somebody did an Arta Zexel GT-R!

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I think it looks stunning! There were some other great GT-R liveries that appeared between 1998 - 2003 before the model was replaced with an equally-menacing version of the 350Z. Maybe one day I can work on those; in the meantime, box-art will be good enough for me!

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Where was I? I was building a:

120p0f9.jpg

Spring is finally (tentatively) arriving in Canada! This means paint!

Previously, I had managed to cut the bodyshell. I did it by hand using curved scissors, and it turned out quite well. It was rough to the touch, but very little excess material remained after my work:

2hgfzm9.jpg

I took a Dremel to it anyways - quickly, I might add, for a neighbour was sunning herself right next door! I did not even notice her until she spoke up... It was a bit of a rush job, as was drilling the rear wing mounts.

Those rear mounts were drilled with a Dremel using a smaller drill bit before twisting a near-4 mm drill bit through the pilot hole by hand. I do not own a body reamer or have metric-size drill bits with me, so I improvised; the wing mounts proved a snug fit, but a fit nonetheless. I only messed up the rear right wing mount on the body, but hacked it out to allow the mount to be positioned symmetrically to the other one. It will be mostly-hidden on the shell, and will not be too noticeable at speed anyways.

Prior to that, I was able to test-fit the shell onto the chassis:

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The prescribed ride height was an issue, with the wheels at full compression rubbing against the wheel arches even while the chassis bottoms out. For now, this means I really need to get a smooth finish on the wheel arches, and may put the shell up a hole on each body mount to lessen the problem.

I jumbled the steps here based on the premise of preparing both body and wing simultaneously:

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That wing was cut fairly-quickly:

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A careful wash with dish detergent and warm water was done again, and both body and wing were laid onto a towel to dry:

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Window masks were supplied, which I found nice:

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This step requires patience to do properly. I ended up requiring additional masking on the front and rear windows, but the sides went on after a few tries. The ideas of sealed edges and few air bubbles apply here; however I would have found it easier to apply the masks without tracing out window outlines as the manual suggests. I was not very good at drawing said outlines, and may have done worse at the masks with the pen lines. I typically use the distortions in the plastic cut/panel lines when lining up decals or cutting shells.

It came as no surprise that the masking seals were taken from the earlier Pennzoil Nismo GT-R, and was a nice reminder of one of the most famous GT-Rs as I build its lesser-known successor.

Additional masking went on:

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The top of the shell was scuffed, and so I did not want to risk overspray getting through potentially-damaged film. The solution was to apply masking tape to the roof. I knew I had already damaged the film along the wheel arches while cutting them out; hence the tape strips there. I usually apply masking tape on top of body mount holes in case the film happens to lift there

But I made concessions to future modifications:

zxtpps.jpg

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I am unsure why I masked off the rear lights like I did - the JGTC R34s' taillights illuminated in a ring around the centre instead of the entire round lens, but I suppose I can add in red paint later to mimic that effect. The strips on the front lights were for the small openings on the front lights of the GT-R; if I ever install LEDs I can cut out the representation of this opening on the decals and have a clear window underneath through which the lights can show. Both sets of masks are a little rough, but some cleaning later on will help. The masked portions will be hidden by decals otherwise, which was the idea.

And with that, after smoothing down the masks, we can paint!

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The first coat is applied to body and wing. I am typing this just as it finishes curing; once posted I will be onto the second coat and beyond!

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Great thread. I recently acquired this exact kit, as I'm also a huge fan of older JTCC cars. Not sure when I'll be building mine but it's nice to get a preview. Good work bud!

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Thank you! I am sure you will enjoy building it just as I am right now :)

Paint was finished yesterday - here is an intermediate stage, with the wing finished and the shell given its coats of PS-1 White:

2hpsr5k.jpg

The white was backed with PS-12 Silver. I took off the tape masking at this point but realized that I still needed to spray the windows just short of removing the overspray film! Thank goodness - I put some more tape back on where I thought it was needed and got back to the windows. The paint dried quickly in the moderate temperatures, but I gave 30+ minutes to each coat to dry.

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Peeling off the overspray film revealed maybe the best paintwork I have ever done on a polycarbonate shell:

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The masking for the lights went well - time will tell if I masked them off in the correct locations:

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The window masks held up incredibly well, with only minor lifting of the paint where perhaps it was still too soft, but no bleeding! I am quite proud of this, and the little imperfections will surely be covered by decals:

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The taillights were rough, but that was completely expected without a circular object or template to trace:

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I attempted to decal the rear wing, but without a spray bottle I just put a thin layer of soapy water on top. The technique worked well for applying decals before it dried out; a few problems with alignment meant that a few air bubbles would remain underneath the Loctite decal, but none too big to distract at a glance. I hope to acquire a spray bottle in order to start the shell:

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Side plate decals went on cleanly, and the Pro/E connection was neat as I had worked with it briefly in my first year of university. The Nismo decal on the underside was a pain to align, but went on without any other problems:

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I just know that if I start decalling the shell before I finish exams, I will put that before the all-important schoolwork! I usually like to decal my cars all in one go (static models included, if I recall), but may do this one in installments. There are plenty to go on, as you may tell because the bodywork instructions do not call for masking the red/orange section at the front of the car!

Once this is completed, I am probably not going to go for a clearcoat as past experience has seen that stage compromise the finish of the shell. I will not be rallying this racer anyways, meaning it should stay clear of excessive dust... More importantly, though, I will go for a drive and report on initial impressions! I look forward to it :)

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Looking good so far!

I know what you mean about wanting to get all the decals done in one go. I am the same with mine. Once you get in the "groove" as it were, it is hard to stop, especially once the headlights, window frames, etc are in place and the shell starts to look more realistic.

A really complex decal scheme like this is worth taking time over though. When it is all done and looking stunning, you'll be pleased you did!

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Looking good so far!

I know what you mean about wanting to get all the decals done in one go. I am the same with mine. Once you get in the "groove" as it were, it is hard to stop, especially once the headlights, window frames, etc are in place and the shell starts to look more realistic.

A really complex decal scheme like this is worth taking time over though. When it is all done and looking stunning, you'll be pleased you did!

Thank you! I figured I was far from alone in that sense since decal application takes a very different mindset than most people live with every day. Hence, once in that mindset, one may as well get the whole job done. Personally, I am itching to get started!

And my enthusiasm is partly due to my new purchases:

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Now I can glue tires and apply decals. Rather conveniently, the wheels and tires use decals:

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5 decals per wheel, and 4 wheels, and 12 of them are positively tiny... I ended up cutting them out with scissors once singling them out from the decal sheet with an X-Acto knife:

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Whatever you do in this step, don't sneeze!

The decals for the spokes were tricky at times to align, and getting the same quality finish for such minuscule decals four times over is a bit taxing for me, but it progressed very well:

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If small decals are difficult to extract and align, they are easy to place - no window cleaner required! I love how a good application will almost make them appear painted onto the wheels...

I have never applied decals to wheels before; however the real new territory for me was the application of tire decals:

2n1hkp1.jpg

I know they stick well to hard, smooth surfaces like polycarbonate or modelling plastic, but what about rubberlike tires? The sidewalls are made stiffer with tire foams, though I still have my reservations about their resilience. At least the wheels will look good on the car's first run!

The manual had its own way of applying them relative to the wheel decals, but a cursory glance around Google convinced me that there was no set placement for tire decals. The raised numerals on the Tamiya tires prevented me from getting a relatively-flat surface to apply the decals as recommended. I imagine that on the real car, the focus was on making sure the tires performed under race conditions than how the sidewall markings lined up with the spokes:

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:ph34r:

... I sure hope my GT-R does not look like that after its first run!

The limitations of 1990s printing technology was made clearer when I noticed pixellation of the edges of the tire decals. This does not really bother me, both because I am unsure how long they will stay on the tires and because the fuzziness on the decal edges is, quite honestly, invisible from a distance. I remember over in another thread somebody saying that reproduction Taisan Porsche 911 decals are better than the originals due to the improvement of printing quality since the 1990s, which was the only reason I thought about it. Maybe slight pixellation is visible on tire decals even today...

Am I correct in guessing that a hair dryer over the decals will go a long way to help them stick to the tires? The Potenza decals fit nicely onto the tire between the edges of the sidewalls, but the Bridgestone decals do not.

Alignment was tricky because I neglected to use the six-spoke pattern to my advantage (aligning specific letters to the spokes to get a consistent spacing), and some decals were applied several times over, but in the end I persevered:

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Hardy or not, tire decals are quite nice, and just like tire lettering can really enhance a car's appearance. With my fascination of wheels, the finished products make it more of a JGTC car to me:

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Even with the shell at this unfinished stage, it still looks like a right GT-R!

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Now, I had to work hard not to sneeze during cleanup, either!

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It looks like bodyshell decals are next! I can hardly wait :)

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That's really starting to look good, very nice work. Really enjoyed reading the chassis build up too.

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The wheels and tyres are stunning

Good job so far, really loving the way this thing looks

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