ralphee 293 Posted January 20, 2014 Looks awesome! Did you wet apply the decals? Its a tech I'm looking to try now TBH. As for the smoke paint, you can rub it in some, i use oakey pads, super fine grit to key the lexan, works very well and your first coats go on way better. Anyway, she looks great! lee 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quandry 378 Posted January 20, 2014 Looks awesome! Did you wet apply the decals? Its a tech I'm looking to try now TBH. As for the smoke paint, you can rub it in some, i use oakey pads, super fine grit to key the lexan, works very well and your first coats go on way better. Anyway, she looks great! lee Yes, I just used some luke warm water on a tea plate, then I wet the shell by hand and apply an also wet decal. The Tamiya stickers can still be very tacky, so much so that I have to hold the shell upside down to put them on as the decals just fly right on there (in the wrong place of course). The water gives you a second chance because you can normally slide an exacto knife in on a corner to start lifting the decal. You normally can have two or three tries before it starts getting a little hairy. The big side stickers on the ABS were very tricky as they have many curves in different directions. I cut the bubbles to get them to line up, probably what I should have done was heat a little with a hair drier but I forgot about that trick until just now - doh! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ddaenen1 278 Posted January 20, 2014 Yes, I just used some luke warm water on a tea plate, then I wet the shell by hand and apply an also wet decal. Next time, try to add some dish washing soap to the water and just apply it to the body with a sponge. I do not make the decals wet, just the surface. Because of the dish washing soap, you can position the decals easily on the surface and once position, rub the solution from underneath with a soft cloth and finish off by warming them up with a hairdryer for the final touch. Works like a charm. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chriss76 91 Posted January 21, 2014 Looks fantastic you've done a great job. Tamiya really hit the nail on the head with the ABS as it really sums up the 80s for me. Chris 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quandry 378 Posted January 21, 2014 Thanks for the compliments, comments, and suggestions guys. Last night I stole a couple of hours to make a start on Paranoid Perry (PP). The funny thing is that when I was a child I hated this part and wanted to do the quickest slap together job to get the car running. Now I get a real kick out of it! PP's casting could actually be ideal for a Stig figure btw... After screwing his helmet together I used a sharp knife to carefully trim down the seam and then mounted it up on the 'second set of hands' (Thanks Wood5tock for the idea!) Tamiya instruct us to trim the leading edge of the cockpit by 5mm. I thought I would give it a try with the Stanley knife, and then clean up later with the Dremel, but it worked out ok so then it was time to crack out the paints! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quandry 378 Posted January 21, 2014 First I started with Light grey for the backrest, then moved on to Gun metal for the helmet and Flat blue for his racing suit. Then some semi gloss black around the cockpit and base, and finally some flat white for his gloves. I'm still not sure on this - he might look a bit like Buggs Bunny after the second coat - we will see. Overall the Tamiya paints are a joy to work with, such vibrant colours and the gloss on the helmet goes on so smoothly - even with a brush. I hope to started on the second coat tonight with decals and fitting tomorrow night.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamiya Era 778 Posted January 21, 2014 Awesome Man!!!...keep it up 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grastens 2795 Posted January 21, 2014 A very promising start! Hard for our man Perry to conjure thoughts of a certain wascawwy wabbit, though 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wood5tock 864 Posted January 21, 2014 This project gets better and better mate, top work 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quandry 378 Posted January 22, 2014 Thanks all. Last night I helped my daughter get her Lunchbox driving (yay!) and then settled in to a 'quick touchup' on PP. After a couple of hours and me wondering where the time goes I had managed to: * recoat all the main colours * handbrush a black gloss visor (it gets stickered later though) * paint the underside of the piece in matt black -I saw that on another thread here and looked quite pro * paint on his harnesses in matt black * paint the harness buckles. I chose gun metal for this to match the helmet. * paint the buttons on the steering controls red * paint the centre console highlights in Orange * retouch up PP's gloves I wonder are PP's gloves just too white...? I am tempted to make up a mix of white and light grey. I asked my wife what colour she thought would go with the blue racing suit. She told me to grow up and went back to reading the tabloids on the Internet The centre console parts that get painted Orange were an absolute killer, I used my smallest finest brush and a few coats. Had to redo them three times to get the results you see above which ultimately I am not happy with but I think I've hit the limits of my abilities! I even tried using a magnifying glass but it's extremely hard to get those lines straight. I was thinking about trying again with a masking job but the clock had hit 12 and it was time for me to hit the sack. When I get home tonight it's time to tackle the stickers! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IBIFTKH 1369 Posted January 22, 2014 Very nice work and great photos, can't wait to see the end result 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamiya Era 778 Posted January 22, 2014 Very nice smooth work on pery.. would love to see more close photos of the cockpit .. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamiya Era 778 Posted January 22, 2014 Shame this will be a runner..looooooool...must keep it SQ and source another for bashing Cheeeeeeers 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quandry 378 Posted January 23, 2014 Well as planned I got to put some finishing touches to the cockpit last night, these decals are really small!! There is a carbon look sticker set for the front of the cockpit, and many side control panels that I chose to individually cut out and fit. That made them so fiddly to work with that my clumsy and fat fingers could not cope. I resorted to applying them with the exacto blade instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quandry 378 Posted January 23, 2014 I was then moving on to the moment I was dreading, applying the 'helmet decal'. I cut it out very precisely on the lines, then applied it (with water) to the helmet, I started at the front and carefully worked the decal in to place. It did take me a couple of goes to get it and at the end I had a few air bubbles to contend with. I found that by heating the decal with a hairdrier and working the bubble out with my thumb I was able to get it to about a 95% good job. It was hard, but in the end I survived and got a passable outcome Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quandry 378 Posted January 23, 2014 It only takes one screw to install PP's cockpit in to the Avante. I was sure to use a tiny bit of locktite on the thread though as I had visions of him rattling around in there after a few jumps and bumps. And so folks, that brings me to the end of the build thread, as an when updates or events happen with the ABS I will post them up here. It's been epic fun doing the build and posting up the journal here, hopefully it may help or inspire others in the future. Quandry's Avante Black Special Build 2013/2014 - Always Trust Tamiya! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamiya Era 778 Posted January 23, 2014 2 Words: Lovely Awesome!!!!!!!!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grastens 2795 Posted January 23, 2014 It has almost inspired me to go get another Black Special Think I will only be adding the DF-02 'Aero' type if Avante Fever strikes again... Fantastic work on both the build and the documentation! I cannot wait to see it running! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wood5tock 864 Posted January 24, 2014 That is lovely mate, awesome work right there. Did the cockpit not make your eye balls ache a bit though :lol: 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quandry 378 Posted October 24, 2014 Just an update on the Avante, I dug it out last weekend for some bashing after many months packed away. The last time I was running it I had a lot of trouble with the ball diffs slipping even though I had set them according to the manual. So I decided to tighten up the diffs to super tight and back off a quarter of a turn, and also add some blue locktite. The result is that the diffs are not that smooth feeling, however they are certainly not slipping now! Yes there is a risk that something is overtightened, and if that's the case I will replace the part with new and learn my lesson - but for now my Avante is really performing hard and does absolutely incredible 4wd donuts 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
