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Tamiya Subaru BRZ Street-Custom

Paints:

Kapci 2K primer
ZP Subaru 02C WR Blue
Kapci 2K clear

Extras:

Hobby Design HD02-0201 photo-etch set
Hobby Design HD03-0291 18inch Rays G25 rims
Fujimi Bridgestone Potenza RE711 18inch tires
Tamiya Skyline R34 brakes from the Nismo Dress-Up Parts Set
Crazy Modeler EP0063 photo-etched disc brakes and HD04-0005 Brembo decals
Hobby Design HD03-0287 Turbocharger
Resin Tamiya Evo VI intercooler with a custom-made Mishimoto logo
Scratch-built hoses and pipes for intercooler and turbo exhaust sections
ZoomOn Recaro SR3 resin front seats
New b-pillars added to the interior tub for the front seat belts mounting points
Interior floor and rear shelf covered with charcoal grey flocking
T2M-2011-B2 black fabric used for front and rear seat belts
Additional pipes, hood strut, wires and decals added to engine bay
Body lowered 3 mm on wheels by attaching disc brakes at a higher position

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Tamiya Box. Kit no: 24336

All the pieces provided inside the box

This is the Hobby Design (HD02-0201) photo-etch set I'm going to use

And these are the rims I decided to use for the BRZ: The Hobby Design 18" Rays G25

These are nicely molded, have both Tamiya and Aoshima fitment parts and include a set of metal air valves

Finally, these are the tires I shall be using: A set of Fujimi Bridgestone Potenza RE711

First thing I did was to clean the rims from all excess pieces and applied a light coat of primer to check for defects

Then I inserted the rim inside the tire and this revealed that the rims were much wider than the tires

So I first marked out this extra width and then using a rotary tool I cut out the extra part of each rim

Then I assembled the wheels together and attached them to the partially assembled body. This revealed that all four wheels had a considerable amount of negative offset. Here's a look at how they looked

And this is what I have done to the front set-up. The left set shows the original rim back, disc brake and shaft. The right set shows the modified ones that allow the wheels to sit more inside the wheel arch

The rear set-up received the same sanding treatment! Again, the left set is standard, right is modified!

Finally, I tested the wheels again onto the BRZ and this time they fit perfectly in-line with the arches!

Next, I started working on the engine. First thing I did was to temporarily assemble all engine pieces to see the original set-up and plan where I was going to fit the Hobby Design turbocharger seen above

Then I chopped up the intake piping to separate the original air box and radiator hose. I also began making the intercooler piping (intercooler is a resin Evo VI unit) and found the right place for the turbo

And this is the final turbo/intercooler set-up after all hoses were built from different thickness of wire. I also thought of adding an air filter, but changed my mind as I want to keep the turbine details visible

Finally, these are all the parts that were modified, added and scratch-built for the turbo set-up!

All the chassis and engine pieces were then airbrushed in Kapci 2K primer

This was followed by airbrushing the first colours to each piece. Colour chosen is Subaru 02C WR Blue

The undercarriage, front wheel arches and radiator were then masked and airbrushed in semi-gloss black

At this moment, I realized the original brakes were too small considering the turbo conversion! So a look at my spare parts box revealed that I had this set of Tamiya Nismo brakes for the R34 waiting to be used. Here they are compared with the originals

Considering the comparison, they are definitely a big brake conversion!! First thing I did was to fill the pin holes at the rear of each disc with super glue and then sanded them smoothly, ready for primer

Then, more masking and airbrushing was done. The exhaust also received its first detailed fading

Brakes were airbrushed in a more golden colour and intercooler received a custom-made Mishimoto logo

And these are the finished brakes, with Crazy Modeler photo-etch and Hobby Design Brembo decals

Here's the weathered chassis together with all of its parts, fully painted and ready for final assembly

The engine and all of it's pieces were also fully painted, weathered and ready for assembly (in the picture above, I forgot to add all the jubilee clips of the intercooler piping! These were added later before the final assembly)

And here's the all finished and fully assembled undercarriage

With the undercarriage completed, I then fully assembled the engine together with the turbo conversion

It was then time to start working on the interior! I chose to leave it stock, except for the front seats where the original ones will be replaced with a pair of resin Recaro SR3 by ZoomOn. The standard rail was also modified due to the different seats

Then every part of the interior, engine bay and rims was smoothed and airbrushed with 2K primer

Most of the parts were then airbrushed in semi-gloss black while the rims were sprayed in flat black

Both front and rear seats were then masked and the middle section airbrushed in Tamiya light grey

Interior floor and parcel shelf were then covered with charcoal grey flocking. Front and rear seat belts were also added

All photo-etch parts were attached in place and finally all interior pieces were ready for assembly

Finally, all the interior parts were assembled. Here's the all finished interior

I then worked on the wheels where these were sprayed in flat black with shiny STI logos in the centre

Lug nuts were painted in titanium silver and HD valves attached. Here are the all finished wheels

The firewall was also finished. Of course, more details will be added once this is attached in place

Then it was time to start working on the body. I was really disappointed with the underside of the hood as it contains no details at all. It has several sink marks which can be easily fixed, but the fact there are no details is disappointing.

Referring to the original BRZ hood, I added several details made out of styrene to make it more realistic

Then I turned my attention to the engine bay where I attached the HD photo-etch parts, that make the bay more realistic

All the body parts were then smoothed from all mold marks and airbrushed in 2K grey primer

Several other body pieces were also airbrushed in 2K grey primer

The body parts were then airbrushed in the 02C blue, followed by several mist coats of 2K clear. Once dry, the clear was lightly sanded with a 2500-grit paper. This was done to get the surface ready for several carbon decals

Once all the carbon fibre decals were applied, all body parts were again airbrushed with 2K clear, as can be seen above

The body was then polished using a rotary tool and automotive polishing compound. Here's the achieved shine

The side-skirts were slightly modified since I smoothed out the fins that once were beneath the STI logos. As for the colours, Tamiya states that you shall paint these skirts and the rear spats in semi-gloss black. I decided to go a different way! The upper part was airbrushed in blue while the bottom part was covered in carbon fiber decal. Then, they were airbrushed in 2K clear!

The body was then masked for the window trims while the hood underside and mirrors were masked for the satin black colour

Several other parts were also airbrushed in satin black while the plate holders were airbrushed in white and strut brace in silver

Next, the rear windows were airbrushed in several layers of Tamiya smoke to simulate the tinted windows which are commom on Japanese cars. The tail lamps were airbrushed in clear red to look like the after-market covers available for the BRZ

The firewall and windows were then assembled to the body to get it ready for the assembly of the chassis

Once the chassis was attached to the body, all the remaining engine bay pieces were assembled in place. Additional details were also added, like extra hoses, battery connectors and cables together with Prodrive and HKS decals

Final addition was a new hood strut since the Tamiya one is too thick in diameter and in my opinion, out of scale too

Finally, all the remaining pieces were assembled to the body and the Subaru BRZ was called finished!

For the complete set of finished pictures, head over to the Gallery section, or click here to be directed!

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Gallery: Completed BRZ

Review: HobbyDesign Rays G25

Tutorial: Lowering Tamiya kits

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