WIP: Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI WRC, Tamiya 1/24

[CBartholomew4677]

Hello All,
Well, now that I have finally gotten settled in the new house, set up the model room and pulled the tools and supplies out of the boxes, it’s time for a new project.
This project is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. VI WRC, 1/24 scale from Tamiya.

I was a big fan of WRC back in the 90’s and early 00’s, the battles between Subaru, Mitsubishi and Peugeot with hopped-up versions of cars you could see on the road, albeit not on U.S., sadly. I haven’t built a WRC car in quite some time, so I figured it was time. I have a couple Subarus and a Peugeot in the cabinet, so time for a Mitsubishi Evo. Of all the Evo’s, I would argue the VI was the coolest and most extreme, so that’s an easy decision for my next project.

I think most of us know the Tamiya WRC kits pretty well. They were very well designed, fit together perfectly with nice detail, and plenty of opportunity for further added detail. Here’s what’s included in this kit.

I like the off-road tires and configuration, so I’m going to build it per the original kit race spec. (Rally New Zealand). Intending to add some additional detail [Ex.: seat belts w/ hardware, p.e. & machined fasteners, machined antennas, p.e. mesh, cf decals, etc.], but not go overboard. Going to have to make efforts to prevent project scope creep, where one little thing opens up a whole can of worms, and I end up replacing and/or adding entire new structures and systems (e.g. Nissan 300ZX TT).

Parts have been given a good scrub with dish soap and left to dry in the dehydrator for a couple days, so we’re ready to get moving. With that, consider this project kicked-off.
Onward and upward!!

Cheers,
Chris

[SteveNoble]

I build this kit many years ago as Rally of Finland. One point to note is the fitting of the front and rear bumpers and side sills/skirts. The whole strength of the body shell depends on the join between the bumpers and the shell. But there is very little material to work with to make a good join. I extended the join area on the inside using plastic card to enable me to make the join super strong..

[gerty]

Nice post Chris - Look forward to following along -

[CTurbert]

Looking forward to this! This was one of the first kits I built before I had any real modeling skills. It will be nice to see it built properly

[CBartholomew4677]

Hello All,
Progress on the Lancer Evo. VI WRC has been slow, as per my normal m.o., however there has been progress made, so let me share where things stand.

I am coming to the end of the “Planning and Preparation” phase of this project, which means all the parts have been removed from the sprues and cleaned up to remove mold lines and such, molded fasteners removed with holes drilled where machined parts will be utilized, carbon-fiber decal templates made. After all that, parts are mounted to toothpicks for painting and grouped by color. Upgrade detail parts have been defined. And here's how it stands.

In some cases, kit parts are being modified for some upgrade/replacement, such as the fire extinguisher.
The kit parts have the fire extinguisher molded into the co-driver foot-box, which makes it particularly difficult to apply cf decals, and it just looks mediocre, so I decided to improve it. First off, the entire bottom, including molded f.e. was cut away, and a new bottom cut from styrene sheet, glued in place with all gaps filled and cleaned. That being done, a new f.e. was made from styrene rod/bar to replace the one removed. P.E. tie straps will be applied once everything is painted and in place.

Some more modifications, I’ll get into at a later date.
Key thing for moving forward is getting the paint booth set up in the new house. Now that everything’s been prepped, that’s holding up the show . It’ll get figured out soon enough. Onward and upward!!

Cheers,
Chris

[vanhookvintage]

Looks like a fun kit. Looking forward to more.

Cheers,
Greg

[CBartholomew4677]

Hello All,
First let me apologize for largely haven fallen off the face of the earth this past year. Life was very busy, and had limited time for personal pleasures. I managed to scrape out a little time here and there to work on my project, the Mitsubishi Evo VI WRC, but at the expense of updating progress here. Not to mention the fact that said progress was slooooowww......slow, slow, slow, slow. Sorry about that . Regardless, there has been progress, so let me share a little bit.

I put a bit of work into the cockpit/interior, upgrading/replacing parts, replacing switches (some machined parts, some scratch-built), applying CF decal where appropriate, and generally making it look WRC-ish. Couldn’t find a clear pic of how the seat-belts mounted, so I attached them to the cage cross-member. Overall I’m pleased with how the interior turned out.

The chassis was also given some work and upgrades to look WRC-ish as well. Happy with how it turned out, although the rear suspension gave me some headache as a result of me revising it. Went together in the end.

With that, I am happy to report that it is now complete! WooHoo!!!!

Completed pics and details can be found here: https://www.f1m.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=30706

So, this project is now in the record books. On to the next!! Onwards and upwards!!

Cheers,
Chris