project: Honda RA272 #9

In the final 2 installments of the RA272 project, all that remains is decal work and wheels.  I chose to leave the rear body panel clear to allow unobstructed viewing of the motor.  The clear pieces attach to the body securely with a small screw supplied by Tamiya.  A little care is needed not to over tighten the screw as the body may crack.

 

The wheels are prepped no differently than any other component in the kit.  Some light sanding and priming is required.  I wanted to do a 2 tone paint with bronze spokes and a polished silver lip.  Tamiya molded this wheel set with an edge that makes it fairly simple to apply a 2 tone finish.

The first step was to apply the bronze on to the spokes.  There is no need to paint the entire wheel (unless you want perfection), as the rubber tires will cover the center portion.  Pay particular attention to the paint finished on the back side of the wheel.  Though the molds for wheels typically have less detail on the back side, on an open wheel race car such as the RA272, it is still highly visible.  As you can see, the paint work on the spokes is slightly messy, but the chrome silver paint for the lip will take care of that.  For edge work where you want to avoid paint bleed, I use the flat side of my brushes vs. the tip to ensure clean application of the paint.