Retro Scorcher

As for many people, the sand scorcher is the Tamiya model I wanted when I was a young lad and could never realistically dream of owning. Tamiya recently re-re-re'd the model so I just had to finally get my hands on the kit. The chassis build was a dream, with everything going together nicely. I added box art bumpers, some smart alloy wheels from RC Channel and an alloy floor pan to add a little shine. The problems started with the body however. I spent quite a while on preparation, flatting the body, adding wheel arch inners and filing the mould lines before priming and painting with Tamiya racing white. After another flatting, I added the box art french blue colour but my masking wasn't up to scratch and I just couldn't live with the jagged lines. My second attempt at paint, this time in TS56 brilliant orange was no better. The paint just wouldn't adhere to the body and broke away in flakes. Starting to loose enthusiasm I stripped the paint using Dettol antiseptic (a horrible job) and prepped the body for its third respray in a month. This time I keyed the body using a scotch brite pad and primed and painted it in Halfords VW Pastel White. The decals are all from MCI racing including the retro stripes, which are monster beetle but in custom colours. This has been my most challenging build to date but I'm now very pleased with the result.