project: NSX-R #4

Just a quick test fit of the engine cover and photo-etched mesh guard. 2 small drops of super glue are enough to hold the mesh to the plastic.

After making sure, all the pieces fit together well, the body paint and detail is applied.

Careful masking is required around door and window seals.  To clean up the edges after spraying the 2 tone finish on the body, I hand applied some Tamiya acrylic black paint.  It is a perfect color match to to the lacquer black plant, so no issues with mixing the two.

project: Honda NSX-R #2

With most of the major components primed and painted, the final assembly of the motor was fairly quick.  I used the real thing as reference for how I was going to paint the intake manifold and air box. The accuracy of Tamiya's 1/24 scale motor was dead on.

The frame of the car was sprayed with TS-17 gloss aluminum.  The spray lacquer was very easy to work, applying very smoothly and evenly and requiring only 10 passes.  Note the masking done on surfaces of the frame that will be glued to other components.

project: Honda NSX-R #1

Tamiya's NSX-R kit replicates the NA1 model from 1992.  The NSX-R kit is based on Tamiya's own NSX model released in the early 90's.  The key differences between the 2 kits is the inclusion of R spec wheels, seats, shift knob, decals, and engine cover.  This particular kit is a reissue which includes photo-etched parts to replicate the mesh engine cover as well as the front and side vents.  If you are going to buy this particular model, get the new version that includes the photo-etched parts, it costs about the same.

The first step in the process is the engine build.  The engine block comes in 2 parts that simply need to be glued together.  With a little edge cleaning followed by Ambroid pro-weld between the 2 surfaces, the block is assembled.

I used a few small pieces of Tamiya 6mm masking tape on the surfaces of the block that other parts will be glued to.  I did this to ensure that the surfaces were clean for optimal gluing after priming and painting.  This was the protocol for the next few hours as the frame of the car was built up. 

Frame, engine block, valve covers, drive belt, exhaust, and lower rear suspension prepped and primed with Tamiya grey surface primer.

Once the primed parts dried, they were ready for paint.  I started with the valve covers deciding to replicate the look of what is in my NA2.  To do this I needed flat red for the valve covers, semi gloss black for the side covers, and gunmetal for the spark plug covers.  The instructions don't call out painting the oil cap, but it is easy enough to paint that section semi gloss black for a more realistic look.