The F1M Forums

Hello All,
Despite my lack of posts lately, I have been working on a new project. After completing the Purple Cow RB5, I turned my attention to my other favorite, WRC. I've always been a fan of the Tamiya 1/24 WRC kits, but it's been while since I built one. Being a big Subaru fan, driving my WRX daily, I couldn't resist to build another Subaru Impreza WRC, specifically the 2001 version, in which Richard Burns won the WRC championship. I will add cf decals (S27 this time), wiring/plumbing, nuts/bolts, tie-wraps and a SMS p.e. detail set.

Rather than start at the beginning, I figured we jump in the middle of the build, so here I am.
The chassis is complete, save for the skid-plates, which will be assembled after the body is assembled. Brake disk faces are from SMS set. The exhaust and engine have been given a bit of heat-staining. The cockpit is all but finished. The seat-belts need to have their final attachment after the helmets are finished and put in their respective holders. Dash and console had all the molded-in buttons and switches removed and replaced with Hobby design parts. Body has been painted and in process of polishing, then on to the decals.
So, that's where I am. Comments, questions recommendations are always welcome.
Cheers,
Chris

Looks great! One of my favorite street and WRC cars and I am (or was, sadly) a big Richard Burns fan.

Chris,
Good to see a "Scoobe" being built and I,m with you on the dash I do the same to all my models.I've never built a rally car but you've got me thinking now!, of to a show next weekend so guess what's on the shopping list!
Atb,Alexp.

That look great, look forward to seeing the body.

Very nice !

Cheers,

-elh-

Hello All,
I've made a little big of progress on the Subaru Imprezza WRC.
The Interior and chassis are now completely finished. The seat-belts have been attached to their mounting points on the roll cage, the door panels cf decalled and attached and the dash installed. I added braided hose and fittings to connect the rear shocks to their separate reservoirs, as per the actual vehicle. I also added the helmets for Burns and Reid, a very cool feature Tamiya added to their later kits. Body has been painted,clear-coated and polished. I used Tamiya TS-50 Mica Blue, TS-13 Clear and polishing compounds. These WRC kits are tough to polish with all their nooks and crannies, had to use a few cotton buds to get the tight places. There's a lot of opportunity to polish through the paint into the primer along the edges, requiring some slight touch-ups . Window seals were masked then painted SGB. Next up are the body decals, wheels and tires, then get it all together.

Unfortunately my real-life Subaru WRX got into a tangle with a plastic deck chair that jumped into the middle of the road today. Being hit at 70mph, the chair disintegrated, taking quite a few pieces of the front of my beloved Subaru with it .

Cheers,
Chris

Hello All,
Still making progress on the Subaru, slowly as usual .
I got the body all painted, polished and decals applied. I had a lot of trouble getting the yellow stripes over the rear fenders, had to do quite of repair where they wouldn't lay down in some of the transitions, but looks OK in the end.

The cooling module (radiator, intercooler) was given the p.e. treatment, and the STi logo was spray-painted with a p.e. template from Acu-Stion. Head-light modules were covered with cf decal from GSR (Good Smile). They are pretty thick, and take a lot of solutioin and heat to lay down, but the pattern and colors are very cool and perfect for the head-lights. Wheels and tires are complete. Wheels come pre-painted in gold. The finish is pretty good, so I kept them as delivered, and painted the lug nuts, applied decals and gave them a light wash. Tires were given a light scrubbing on a rotary tool to give a more realistic look. Been working on getting all the fasteners in place also. Skid-plates have MFH flange-rivets, but are a little bright, so they'll be toned down with a subtle wash. That's where we stand. Next is to get it all together and start getting all the little details installed. Getting close to the end now .
Cheers,
Chris

Lovin' it! Great build! Nice and clean!
Erick --

Great stuff Chris, I really must build a rally car some day, I said that about sports cars a few years back and look where that,s led!!!
Atb,Alexp.

Hello All,
Well, the Subaru is finished . I'm pretty happy with the final outcome. Not without it's pitfalls, but they were pretty mild compared with some other kits I've built recently. Here it is, and you can see the complete pictures here: http://www.f1m.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=15466

Cheers,
Chris