No Flippin' time-but it is finished.

[PeteJ]

I was going to add this to the list for build 6, but there wasn't time. How, you may ask, does this qualify as a #6 car? Well, it is streaching things a bit but I built it in 6 days! I got a call from Tamiya USA the other day and they are sponsoring an R/C race in conjuntion with the Long Beach Gran Prix(Yea, I know it is an Indy car race). They wanted to display some of their reciently released plastic products but did not have a completed F2001. They asked if I would build them a display model. No real detail just a box stock model, basically curb side with all the panels buttoned up. Oh, and by the way you only have 6 days to build it. So from start to fininsh it took 6 days to build. Not a great model, but a good one. Because I didn't have much time I didn't have time to meet all the requirements of the competition, so I know it doesn't quilify. No progress shots as I am lucky to have had a couple of minutes to get some finished shots. This is the fastest I have ever built a model since I was 10.

[rollover]

6 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I finish one in 6 months I think it's lightning fast.
Great loooking car for any build time.

[BigDuke6]

Looks sweet!

I think you had eddie irvine's pit crew for the front left though =(

[De21]

6 days ehhh... I could never do that! This one turned out really nice, great job. I hope you got some free tickets for Long Beach

[lumpulus]

It takes me 6 days to open the box! Great work Pete!

[Lazbun]

After the first 6 days, I might still be reading the instruction and smelling the plastic.
Anyway nice build Pete.

[tifosi-dude]

Looks like a good one man! Would they have allowed you to fill the seam in the sidepods or does it have to be completely accurate to the kit?

Regardless, a clean and impressive build, given the quick turn around time

[PeteJ]

Looks like a good one man! Would they have allowed you to fill the seam in the sidepods or does it have to be completely accurate to the kit?

Regardless, a clean and impressive build, given the quick turn around time

That was a time decision. Given another week, I would have filled a lot of seams. For a Tamiya, the parts were not exactly great for fit. Perhaps it was my rush to get it done, but there are a lot of poor seam fits. I think the bottom platform was a bit warped. Oh well, next time.

[PeteJ]

Actually, I have been thinking about my previous post and thought it would be a good thing to give you a time table on how things went. Perhaps this will give you an idea about why some seams went unfilled.

Day 1 - Recieved the kits(plural) from Tamiya- I requested 2 because I knew from experience that on a new kit I have not built, I would make mistakes. It is almost always quicker to start with a new part then to try and correct a mistake. In this build I didn't have any slack time for mistakes. Checked the kits to see if all parts were there and start planning the build. I never follow the instructions orders. Any time I need to paint parts, it is easier to paint them all a once. Since the body was most important, I sorted the body parts and started gluing them togeather. This followed a session of sanding to get rid of mold lines and pin marks.

Day 2- More assembly and sanding. By the end of the day, I had to have the basic stuff in primer. Also layed out the suspension, engine and cockpit parts and worked on those while waiting for glue to set on body panels. By the end of the day all the body panels were primed and in the food dehydrator. I use the dehydrator to speed up glue and paint set times. Without it, I would get glue line ghosting.

Day 3 - First thing, color sand the primer to find high and low spots. Fill the low spots with two part body putty(Eurosoft glazing compound). Reprime and in the dehydrator. Late in the day time to color sand again. Everything was good enough and it was time for a final prime and an overnight dehydrator session. Work on the other body parts in the mean time. Made a plug from plexiglas to mount the tires in my lathe so I could safely and quickly sand the mold line out of the center. Took about 30 minutes to cut a plug, but because the tire logos are pre-printed it was the only way I could think of to do it safely and quickly. Once the plug was cut, sanding took about less than 15 minutes total. Much better than sitting there doing it by hand.

Day 4 - First thing every thing got red! Mist coat of color - 1 hour in the dehydrator - another coat etc, etc. I do all the parts in sequence because red is a very finicky color to work with. Miss a coat and you can see the differance. By noon the body was red. 2 hours later, a light sand to take the high spots off the red and a coat of clear. Fiddle with the other stuff and let the clear cure in the heat. I had several issues with the seam that runs down the center of the nose ghosting but by the time The clear had time to set, it was gone. At about 6pm I started laying down decals. The fade decals that run around the chassis plate were the worst. I am glad I had a second set. Getting them into the dehydrator was critcal. They had to dry before I could clear over them. I love the new Cartagraph decal that Tamiya is using. Very thin and easy to work with. Far better than the old ones they use to make.

Day 5- First thing get the clear on. Same routine as the red. Oops! screwed up the end plates on the rear wing. Here is where the second kit comes in(besides decals). I was able to force paint a new part and get is done by noon. Once the clear has time to set, it was time to polish it out. A lot of the parts of the car are red or white on one side and semigloss black on the other. I painted those parts black before I polished the clear. That way I could polish any overspray off. Thank heavens for good airbrushes. By the end of the day, everything was painted. The day ended at 3am.

Day 6 - Final assembly and touch up were the order of the day. Up at 8 am. Lots of touch up on mating serfaces and in seams. In the process dabbed a little red on one of the front tires. Tried cleaning it off and ruined a tire. Back to the other kit and steal a tire. Carefully remove the old one and change the new one. Great having the lathe plug to make sanding the new tire about a 2 minute job. Finsh assembly and take a few minutes to admire the work. Shower and hit the road. I had to have the model to Tamiya before they closed at 5 and it is a 1 hour dirve. Got there at 4pm and collapsed in the parking lot. Well, not really as I still had the drive home in rush hour traffic in LA.

I have seen a number of threads on the board about how wonderful it would be to have a job building models. It is fun, but really isn't all that it would seem to be. Often times there are time constraints that put a ton of pressure on you. That reduces the fun, but gives a real sence of accomplishment when done. Hope you all liked this bit of insite.