1/18 Maisto Ford GT90 rebuilt and improved

[Zondaracer]

Truly incredible, and I love the use of the mini-magnets. I started using them about a year ago on a couple of customs, and now I keep a stick of them on my workbench, looking for an application.

Love your attention to detail, extraordinary craftsmanship.

Congratulations!

Thank you. Yes these things are great. I bought 3mm neodymium N42 magnets from Ebay. Strongest magnets on the planet, dead cheap and amazing how strong they are. They easily jump 10cm of space. In bigger size really impressive to the level of dangerous. In our kitcarclub someone used coin size neodymium magnets to fit his dashboard (and that's on a real car)! The more I use them the more applications I see.

[Zondaracer]

Update 28 april 2016
This week I had some time to tackle the carbon decaling. I had purchased the plain carbon weave 1/20 sheet from Scale Motor Sport. There are just 5 parts that need decaling, engine cover, exhaust heat shield, 2 part pedestal and the interior rear view mirror.
Templates cutting:

Result:


Now they need to dry for a few days and then clear coat the parts. In general I am disappointed by this carbon sheet. While SMS was spot on with the twill weave sheets I used for the Pagani, this sheet is too coarse for 1/20 scale.I should have bought at least the 1/24 scale and then still it wouldn't be perfect. I have the feeling the print is in negative. It now has black lines and silver dots. When I look at pictures reverse would have been better, silver lines and black dots. I'll discuss this with SMS to see what they think of it. But I won't change it, 2 feet away from the car it looks fine to me.

Another time consuming subject is the decal sheet for all markings and instruments. The instruments on the model are not very detailed and the instruments that are visible are wrong. The Maisto speedo goes only to 180mph and the font is wrong. On the GT90 Ford used a non existing font, so I drew the instruments myself, scanned them and reworked the details and colors in Photoshop.

I printed the dials with and without background. With the background everything is invisible and without the background it became clear the lettering on the speedo and revcounter needs to be enlarged. Possibly I will also make the lettering lighter blue to make them visible against a black background.



These are just tests. In the end I'll print 4 sheets, white and clear and on the inkjet and color laser printer. Per application I'll see which decal suits best.
Something that went well is the rear license plate. On the GT90 it is a black plate that was signed by all workers. On the Maisto model it looks quite cheap, but this one looks fine to me.I used a good photo to capture the image:

[[KRAFTIG]]

Impressive. I can see your concerns with CF, thought it still looks better with what you started with. The decals are impressive, how much is a sheet?

[Zondaracer]

You mean the GT90 sheet? I am not planning selling anything, probably I can't as well because that would be infringement on the Ford brand and logo. Similar to the Pagani sheet I built. If anyone wants to have a go at upgrading a GT90 I can email the jpg file (via wetransfer) so the modder can print it himself using decal paper.

[Zondaracer]

Update 7 May 2016
I finished decaling. The desk jets prints with 1200 dpi were superior over the laser jet prints so used them where possible. Only problem I was having is sealing the desk jet prints with clear coat. The print was laser sharp so to say, but with the clear coat the ink would bleed. I tried 3 or 4 dust layers first but always got a bit of ink running away. But yesterday I went to an artist shop and got home with a spray can for clearcoating paintings. This stuff isn't arylic varnish but an acrylate resin. It smells a bit oily and takes ages to dry, but I was over the moon to discover my small test was succesful. This opens the way for more smaller decals.
I already had done the instruments. Test with white and clear backing showed the clear one with a silver background came out sparkling.
printed sheets on the inkjet:

testing clear versus white backing:

Instruments finished:



GT90 logo on doorsill. This one and the GT90 logo's on the seats were printed on white backing to get a bright yellow lettering. The blue background was printed as well, then the decal was painted around because of the white edge. A clear matt coat sealed the decal in making it very hard to see that it's a decal.

Seats with a bit of dry brushing to mimic the alcantara. Interior now for 90% finished. Center console and seatbelts for next week on the list.



The Ford logo on the steering wheel is just 3mm but readable thanks to the new spray can. I'll think I'll also try making decals for the shift pattern. Now it's just black dots but would look nicer with lettering.

[[KRAFTIG]]

Lovely!

[StratosWRC]

Following this with great interest

[Zondaracer]

Update 23 May 2016
Today I finished the dashboard. The centre console and doorcards received the array of buttons and knobs, and small detailing as markings and lcd panel added. all now glued together:


Now working on the seat belts. They are finished, just waiting for the release buckles. In the GT90 they are blue metallic with a red knob, so I need to buy clear blue to get that sorted.

I used a seat belt kit from Hiro. That gave me a bit of a headache since it just wouldn't fit. I redesigned the straps with the parts supplied, luckily a few spare items were useful. The supplied length of seat belt is minimal, I just managed, but really would have liked some extra length and parts for waist straps.

Last bit are the eye bolts to mount the seat belts on the rear bulkhead:

If all goes well I should be able to finish the cockpit this week (phew). Engine, frame and suspension will be a walk in the park compared to this.

[StratosWRC]

Great attention to detail. Looking nice so far

[[KRAFTIG]]

Amazing!

[Garfield4odie]

That's amazing

[Nicadraus]

Fantastic build!

[protzenegger]

As a huge fan of the GT90, I had been trawling the interwebs wondering if anyone's attempted to tackle Maisto's execution of the model and couldn't have found anything better than this thread.

You, sir, are a veritable master of your craft. That is some outstanding work and attention to detail. Though I own a model myself (because how could I not?), it's a shame the honor of building it went to Maisto and not UT.

Will be following this with great interest. You don't take commissions, do you?

[Zondaracer]

As a huge fan of the GT90, I had been trawling the interwebs wondering if anyone's attempted to tackle Maisto's execution of the model and couldn't have found anything better than this thread.

You, sir, are a veritable master of your craft. That is some outstanding work and attention to detail. Though I own a model myself (because how could I not?), it's a shame the honor of building it went to Maisto and not UT.

Will be following this with great interest. You don't take commissions, do you?

Thanks for the compliments. I hope to finish the build this year. Didn't do anything this summer because my precious in the garage needed lots of work, but last ride was this weekend and it's now going in winter storage. I am gearing up the build of the wonderful GT90, so hope to do an update in a month or so.
No I don't do commission builds, it's just a hobby and I want to keep it this way.

[Zondaracer]

Update 15 november 2016
Finished the interior today. I had to repaint the velour parts of the interior. I didn't like it and the matt varnish on the seats started to react with the rubber chemicals (I hate rubber seats). So these were repainted in the normal matt blue with a few drops of white. Also the tub was repainted because I scratched it when I drilled the holes for the seatbelts. For the rest assembly went fine. Apart from the carbon print I am pleased with it. The nice thing is that the GT90 has a large dome, so this interior will be very visible when the model is completed.





Next is the chassis, suspension and engine bay. The engine will require a bit of detailing and I am changing the spoiler brackets to the original closed struts.