I know I have countless model cars started, but there’s another one in the body shop: the Mazda RX-7 in 1:24 scale. Half scale?!! Yes, you read that right. Don’t worry…it will all make sense later on.
I have three models hoping to morph into one exotic model.
If I’m not able to make all the changes I want, then the white C-West kit will be the closest to the end result I need. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t have an engine for display, which is much of the fun in building car models.
I’ll start by trying to alter the body of the black Tamiya model to hold the skirts of the C-West model so there will be an engine. Plus the C-West model’s hood has mold lines that might be difficult to sand away. Fingers crossed.
Otherwise, the cross kit parts seem to fit well, so if I am successful in adding the front skirt to the black body, then I’ll be ready to dive in.
Before work could start in earnest, I wanted to try a few things. First, I attempted to alter the body of the black Tamiya model to hold the skirts of the C-West model so there would be an engine with the fancier sports car exterior. Cutting the front from the black body wasn’t so bad since I used the below pliers to clip away the excess.
But, the white front skirt is significantly wider than the black body, more than can be filled or sanded. The headlight covers are also slightly different shapes. Unfortunately, there are too many gaps to make this feasible.
I then checked to see if the whole white body would fit over the chassis/interior/engine of the black kit. Then I could potentially cut the hood from the white body. That was even less likely because the white hood is thick and not properly detailed underneath. The black hood would likely not fit as a replacement since the black body is narrower than the white body, as noted above. It was worth a look before giving up on the engine, though. As expected, it didn’t pan out.
This is the white body on the Tamiya assembly in back…
and in front. The pieces are molded to slightly different shapes and there are a lot of gaps.
This is the fit of the white body on its own back…
and front (the dash piece is tipped toward the front seat since it’s not glued yet, but you can see the curve matches so it will fit without gaps)
I’m still planning a hella beautiful ride, though…so not to worry. :] I will forge ahead with the white C-West kit without an engine.
