Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

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ModelTime
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Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by ModelTime »

Hello fellow car modelers, you are all a truly inspiring and talented group and I'm "all in" with my first WIP for you all. This is probably going to be a long one and I'm going to put aside 4 or 5 other little projects to make a dent in the "shelf of doom". I looked at everything I have and while I could have picked 10 other kits for this subject, this Tamiya Renault twin turbo from the 1980 season has been tied to me like a boat anchor for 34 years! (longer than both my marriages). I've always been intimidated for one reason or another to start it, but this car intrigued me from the moment it hit the track. The RE20 was big, bold, very cool, very French and still is for a lot of reasons you all are aware of, so I will spare you. This box of plastic is truly a milestone in car models, but for decades just taking up my space. I need to work through the 1/12 pile so I'm starting where I was in high school. I have limited time to work on this cool stuff and there are many other cool kits out there I would rather work on, but the intimidation factor is gone and I'm having a go at this classic once and for all. I was an Arnoux fan at the time he raced, so that's the version I'm doing. I liked the blue numbers more than the red anyway.

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A look at the inside of the box, all the parts still in the plastic bags....
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Everything spread out. I did open the tire blister pack back in the day and started taking the mold seam off the middle of two tires, but that's all I did. Then I dragged this box along in life like Steve Martin in The Jerk did with his toilet seat....
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Everything is out of the bags... no turning back now.
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Engine eye candy...
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These pieces out of the box look pretty good.
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Lots of silver grey parts with radiators, brakes, rotors, shocks and stuff:
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Black parts...
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Test fit the carbon / aluminum monocoque with the undertray, basically an upside down airplane wing. Wish we still had cars like this....I guess they figured they are too dangerous?
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Body parts made it 34 years without much warp. Fit is another story...
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1982 chrome plating stinks for Tamiya standards. Lots of missed spots and dust painted in. I'll be re-doing all of it with 2016 painting technology.
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The monocoque is a two piece nicely cast and comes in the box like this
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The two tires I sanded probably in 1983 or so....Reagan era.
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Thank the lord for people like Indycals who allow us to resurrect old kits with new decals....here is my new set vs old
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I ordered this PE set from Germany.
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OK, lets get down to business. My modeling style is to research the car as much as I can to get familiar with finishes, decal placement, patina, colors. I am neither inspired or motivated to build out of the box without big photos to keep me on track and interested. I like real replicas of actual cars. I also like to mock up my subject as much as I can without final paint or glue so I can understand how it all goes together and plan for finishes and details before I get into problems. It also keeps me interested to see where I'm going. I think the build goes faster and comes out better this way for me. I'm a broad stroke kind of guy before I loose my eyesight on paint and details. One thing is for sure.... the Renault was a huge car!
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The body parts actually fit together pretty well with a little clean up.
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The gorgeously designed rear wing of the Renault was not done any justice by the fit of the parts. Lots of putty and sanding coming.....oh, joy.
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More nasty seams....oh well, that's why we are so good at what we do, we suck it up, fill and sand!
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Things fit pretty well inside the body panels.
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Biggest fit problem was back here, but some hand held laundry steaming and sanding will fix it.
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How it should be, you can see why sanding this wheel well needs to be done.
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Another view of the other wheel well. All in all pretty good engineering in these panels by Tamiya.
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The first pieces I started sanding, filling and gluing per instructions is the steering gear box. Lots of ejector marks to fill.
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It's "puttytime", queue the MC Hammer music....
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Trust me, this will be a beautiful piece when sanded, primed and painted, hopefully this year.
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That's it for the first night. Spent about 2-3 hours so far. Wish me luck!
Last edited by ModelTime on Fri Feb 19, 2016 11:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
"To finish first you must first finish" -Rick Mears
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daveyman
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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by daveyman »

This truly is a shelf of doom kit for you. Been taunting you for a long while. It is a very nice looking car and I look forward to seeing your work.

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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by gavrob »

Nice start. I enjoyed building this one when I was kid, but it wasn't very good and is long gone now. A few years ago I bought another of these, hoping to do it justice this time around. Looking forward to watching your progress. I've always had a soft spot for the big yellow Renault!

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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by WestCoastRacer »

I have just bought this model.thanks for sharing the build project. what type of putty do you use...looks like I am going to need some!
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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by vanhookvintage »

All right! Another GB 2016 project to keep me motivated with my "shelf of doom" (Hasegawa Jag XJR 9 LM - half the scale of your kit), which taunted me for a only a couple of years.

Good luck, and I'll be following. :D :D :D

Cheers,
Greg
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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

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OK, second evening chilling with Big Yellow. Thanks for the comments! I'm no world class modeler, but I've been around the block over 40 years of doing this since I was 8 or so. So, I want to share my experience with the youngins to help raise your game a little. Here is what I use on putty/tools, pretty basic:
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Here is my work space for now. I'm really into craft foam, toothpicks, alligator clips. I've learned to get organized a bit and keep multiple jobs going so I don't loose interest. If I get stuck on one, I jump to another, go back and forth.
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My other shelf of doom, before I knew the term! I've been experimenting with all the different kinds of craft acrylics out there since the rise of Hobby Lobby and Michael's. I also use an airbrush for most of my work. Cans for the quick stuff under the hood or chassis, out of view things.
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My Tameo FW16 with driver figure almost done with paint and decals. A couple of Porsches (I'm a Porsche fanatic). Waiting for a replacement set from Spot for the yellow wheel stripes I messed up with too much solvaset! Yes, mistakes happen. Move on to something else and come back, like a test.
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How I store my tools on by bench while I'm working. Keeps the dirt contained and I can pick them up and move them anywhere all at once!
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Back to modeling....I mocked all this up without glue as much as I could so I could test fit of roll hoops, radiators, seat, tub panels.
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Anything I can glue two halves or make as big as possible without painting is what I'm doing now. Suspension, brakes, engine block, shocks. You get the idea. Lots of sanding mold seams off 'ol bessy. We are spoiled now with injection molding technology.
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Engine underside.
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With front body panels test fit, no glue or paint yet.
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With engine laid in place
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That's it for 2nd session! Thanks for watching!
"To finish first you must first finish" -Rick Mears
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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by vekkuli »

Nice Start, keep 'Em comin' :D .
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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by RE60B »

great old school with modern hands! :D
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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by ModelTime »

Hello all, this week some small progress. Slogging through the instruction book and just taking parts off trees, cleaning and sanding. I've been gluing as many small sub assemblies as I can prior to paint. This job really requires organization of the parts! I use this method to get ready for cleaning prior to paint. Taking the chrome off the wheels and wings was a snap.
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More putty applied and I picked up these doll house saw horses to keep the bodywork off the work surface in case I spill something and it helps extend the work space. More putty on the rear wing!
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I also got on Ebay this RC car chassis bed that spins around and has a nifty tray. This will come in handy when the job starts getting heavy and when I start doing other MM projects with metal.....
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Now for a little building. I'm not happy with the side panels on the body out of the box and the raised detail.
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Here are some pics of the car I'm doing. Take a look at the white side panels. They are flush with the yellow body all around. Look at the side panel fasteners too. They are quite prominent.
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Another side shot at speed:
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Here are the side panels before alterations, the fasteners will get lost in paint:
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See, the side panels typically stick out on these Tamiya Renaults and I think it looks toy like.
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Here are the offending ridges behind the side panels that act as shims for the side skirts. You don't need a shim up where the side panel meets the body. The side panels are too thick and need to be filed down on the back side and I cut these ridges too.
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Scraping away with a sharp blade seems better than power tools or sanding....
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Then I highlighted the molded fasteners with a Sharpie so I can see where to put the drill and secured it in place on a block...
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I am happy with the flush results and fastener holes that will allow better painting and PE detail opportunities...
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Both sides done....
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More putty on the brake scoops....not sure this was necessary, but oh, well.
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There are a lot of pieces to slog through, this is just a sample of what I've cleaned. All in all I'm happy with my progress after a week. Its a fantastic kit even with the fit issues and is very accurate in my opinion for a 1980's offering. Its really big. I just got a 1/12 MFH 98T Lotus Renault and the engines are very similar, but the 98T is so much more compact.
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Until next time.....CHEERS!
"To finish first you must first finish" -Rick Mears
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Re: Renault RE20 1_12 Shelf of Doom WIP

Post by fooesboy »

Great to see this one being done, I have it on my shelf of doom too!
I managed to get about 1/2 way through and have put it a side while I contemplate a couple of difficult bits..... now this was about 12 years or more.. :oops:

If I remember right, the exhaust has some ugly gaps that I couldn't get sorted out with my skills at the time and I had striped the chrome off the parts but had not gotten up the courage to try and paint them. Such a good looking car, I should try and get back to it sometime....

Chris
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