Nissan Skyline Group A race cars × 3

[potsie]

I have completed the rear blue portion of the Fujimi HR31. As with the red front, I masked and sprayed the stripes as well. The decals I have, and the newer ones available, require blue decals over the rear spoiler which was never an option for me; far too many complex curves. Clearly the painted stripes front and rear are not as fine or detailed as the decals, but this was my least-worst option. It will be okay on the shelf.

Masked:


Painted:


Unmasked:


Decals next, though I suspect that will take me a while.*

[potsie]

A quick comparison of all three body shells painted and ready for decals.

[potsie]

After a couple of hours tonight I completed the decals on the DR30. As stated before, these decals came from Patto's Place which specialises in decals for slot cars. They do have a great range however, especially for Australian Touring cars. The decals did not respond particularly well to application of MicroScale Decal Film, but to be fair the decals are quite old now and I think I was being a touch liberal with the Decal Film, not waiting for it to dry properly before another coat. The red/yellow stripes are the worst affected (as is clear from the photos) but they still applied okay, and some MicroSol and MicroSet got them to mostly conform around some sharps body lines. The quality of the printing was good, with clear printing for the most part and very opaque white decals; essentially no bleed through of the TS-44 blue.

The decals do not exactly match any car I could find reference photos for, but it seemed like this vehicle had subtle changes in livery in almost every race. I have applied the decals provided and opted for the Bathurst 1000 race plates. Reviewing some reference photos now, I think the roof number is incorrectly placed; photos of a car currently running in 'historics' events has the roof number as I have done, whereas photos from period suggest it was 90° clockwise to be aligned with reading from right-hans side of the car.

I am now praying to the Modelling Gods (all hail the Modelling Gods!!) that the decals will not react with MrHobby Aqueous Clear. I shall leave the model a good week now for the decals to thoroughly dry before clear coating.

[potsie]

Another couple of hours and the Gibson Motorsport HR31 has been decalled. These were perhaps the worst decals I have ever attempted to use. Almost every decal with script lettering simply fell apart, despite having been treated with decal film. I think I only managed to apply 10 decals from the RooDecal sheet. The 'Nissan' logos are from a generic sheet bought off the internet many years ago. In the end I added the 'Bridgestone' decals from the Fujimi kit sheet. They are not correct for the vehicle, but otherwise the model was starkly devoid of sponsorship. I have not been this close to simply putting a model back in the box, and putting the box in the bin, for a long time.

I think in the end this model will resemble a geniune Ginson Motorsport HR31 GTS-R from the Australian Touring Car Championship only in that it will have four wheels, the body is mostly white with some red at the front and blue at the back, and there are some Nissan logos!

[potsie]

The Hasegawa HR31 has now been decalled. The white-on-blue Calsonic livery looks great and the decals were a pleasure to work with. Conformed to the body very well with Micro Set + Sol and a little radiant heat from a halogen lamp. There are a few options in the kit for different races - I think - as there are decals for a different driver combination and some small decals not on the box-art car, but are also not called out in the instructions. Good news is I have some leftover super-cool period 'Nismo' decals.

[potsie]

Finally, a few photos of the three bodies decalled and waiting for clear. I will leave these until the weekend for the decals to dry and - hopefully - some drier and warmer weather for the clear coat application.





Now need to paint the inside of the cabin 'glass' ×3 - Hasegawa HR31 is the only one with masks - and rear light clusters where necessary. Also need to do the little pieces I often forget to the end, such as wipers, wing mirrors, etc. And the window rubbers once the clear coat is dry of course!