Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA 1300 Junior build (Tamiya + Scaleproduction transkit)

[e30lover]

Hey all, last summer, I bought one of my bucket list kits off of Ebay (paid almost $200 for it) and also bought the Scale Production’s GTA Junior transkit which included wider wheels, bucket seat, side exit muffler, and resin fenders. Actually I just finished the build but wanted to spend next little while to organize my pictures  and share my process in this thread. 

When I mocked up the fenders on the body, I realized they looked different to the real car, so at this point I decided to make a smooth fender look instead of rivetted look of the real GTAJ. Retrospectively I would’ve gotten a better result if I used epoxy putty to modify these to match the real car.



I started smoothing out the fenders with 3M glaze putty and Tamiya light curing putty - but even after getting perfect smooth surface thin line would appear between the resin fenders and body after applying primer. I tried my usual method of filling micro gaps with tamiya cement but I couldn’t get to the perfect surface.

Eventually I ended up sanding away too much material so I reconstructed fenders with putty, and grafted the surface with mixture of white putty and Tamiya cement which seemed to do the trick.

At this point I’ve had 20+ hours in just getting the body ready for base coat.. which I could’ve avoided if I corrected the fenders with epoxy putty before completely gluing them to body first. 

With body looking already looking too thick (I usually aim to lay thin paint as thick paint ruins the look of the scale model), I continued with my usual process - 2 base coats, 3 layers of Mr color’s super clear (and smooth out the decal with rest of paint surface), and dry for 1.5 month. 

After the paint was completely cured, I cleaned up the surface with 3000 grit and 5000 grit and proceeded with 3-stage Tamiya polishing compounds. As I was polishing with the finishing compound, my finger slipped and I dropped the body on the work bench. It was 2 inch fall but still was enough to crack the rear quarter panel.

If this was $50 kit I would’ve just tossed the body and order a new one, but I couldn’t really do that for a kit that’s been discontinued for 30+ years.

I masked off the body, glued the crack with cement, smooth out the surface with white putty, and added base color and clear coat. (this added another 4 weeks of curing time) With red I knew I would not be able to perfectly match the color but it looked passable.

 

This is after masking and painting windows trims and adding panel line wash. I don't like how thick the paint is but it is what it is.. next will be engine, underbody and interior! 

Edited March 2, 2023 by e30lover
typo

[SpikeSchumacher]

Very nice! Looking forward to the final reveal ?

[jaymcminn]

Lots of effort to get there, but the body is beautiful. I can't believe these kits are going for that kind of money now, glad I got mine when I did!

[beeRS]

Those arches were a lot of work, but worth it in the end. This old Tamiya kit is a gem. I wonder if they’ll ever re-release it? Looking forward to seeing the next stage. 

[Spottedlaurel]

This one has certainly tested your patience and skills! The end result looks to be well worthwhile however, look forward to seeing more.

[Bainford]

The paint is looking very nice. Bummer about the 2" drop (4 feet, in scale), but you recovered nicely.

I've been casually keeping an eye out for one of these kits for a few years now. I had no idea they were getting that dear. I do hope they reissue this kit sometime soon.

[espo]

Beautiful looking paint finish. I like the flared fenders.

[iamsuperdan]

Excellent work so far!

 

[cobraman]

Your paint is terrific !

[Old Nasty]

One of my current projects is the Gunze Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm with the correct AutoDelta body.  I can see how those fender bulges would be problematic.  They sure enhance a beautiful little sedan though.  Gives it a mean look.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Looks great, but the cracking on the flare is the reason I always use an ultra-fine fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin reinforcement on any flares, top-chops, etc.

Handling accidents happen, and weak joints can easily crack during the color-sanding / polishing process too.

For me, the insurance against damaging fine custom bodywork is easily worth the extra hassle.   

[e30lover]

On 3/1/2023 at 7:36 PM, SpikeSchumacher said:

Very nice! Looking forward to the final reveal ?

Thank you!

On 3/2/2023 at 12:46 AM, jaymcminn said:

Lots of effort to get there, but the body is beautiful. I can't believe these kits are going for that kind of money now, glad I got mine when I did!

Thank you! Some of those Tamiya kits are fetching crazy dollars these days! 

On 3/2/2023 at 12:59 AM, beeRS said:

Those arches were a lot of work, but worth it in the end. This old Tamiya kit is a gem. I wonder if they’ll ever re-release it? Looking forward to seeing the next stage. 

Indeed! I think they could re-release this in the future as they still produce 1/10 RC Alfa Romeo models - which means it can re-negotiate the licensing with Alfa Romeo.

On 3/2/2023 at 1:03 AM, Spottedlaurel said:

This one has certainly tested your patience and skills! The end result looks to be well worthwhile however, look forward to seeing more.

Thank you!

On 3/2/2023 at 8:50 AM, Bainford said:

The paint is looking very nice. Bummer about the 2" drop (4 feet, in scale), but you recovered nicely.

I've been casually keeping an eye out for one of these kits for a few years now. I had no idea they were getting that dear. I do hope they reissue this kit sometime soon.

In real world 4 ft would be significant drop for sure! 

On 3/2/2023 at 10:08 AM, espo said:

Beautiful looking paint finish. I like the flared fenders.

Thanks. Flared fenders always work I guess! 

On 3/2/2023 at 10:39 AM, iamsuperdan said:

Excellent work so far!

 

Thanks a lot!

On 3/2/2023 at 10:51 AM, cobraman said:

Your paint is terrific !

Thank you!

19 hours ago, Old Nasty said:

One of my current projects is the Gunze Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm with the correct AutoDelta body.  I can see how those fender bulges would be problematic.  They sure enhance a beautiful little sedan though.  Gives it a mean look.

Gtam kits got correct fender but the wheels & tires seemed off scale - that being said it wouldn't hurt to grab a wheel set from Scale Production! 

19 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Looks great, but the cracking on the flare is the reason I always use an ultra-fine fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin reinforcement on any flares, top-chops, etc.

Handling accidents happen, and weak joints can easily crack during the color-sanding / polishing process too.

For me, the insurance against damaging fine custom bodywork is easily worth the extra hassle.   

100%. I would've avoided a lot of hassle if I used epoxy type from the beginning - the resin fenders were essentially hollow which didn't have much surface to safely glue to the body. 

[e30lover]

I usually start with the rest of the model after I lay the final clear coat on the body which takes about 4~6 weeks for it to fully cure and ready for polish.

 

As always, 90s Tamiya kit looks impressive. IMO this is right amount level of detail that’s easy to build without having to mask everything or dealing with fiddly parts. 

 

First step is to clean/sand all the parts and organize them based on the colour.

 

I added some light washing on the engine and painted door card trims with silver sharpie.

 

 

The only modification I made was the stock air filter to open type. I cut a thin trip out of masking tape and painted it with red marker, then wrapped it around the air filter. I painted the valve cover and header with Alclad (over gloss black) - I couldn’t quite get to polished stainless steel feel but it’s pretty decent. I guess I need to practice it more.

 

These are all the pieces that make up the chassis.

 

Assembling was super easy. I added coolant reservoir from my parts bin though.
 

 

With the interior, I decided to go with more track-focused look by ditching the carpeted look. To simulate wood grain, I airbrushed brown, dry-brushed darker brown with enamel, then laid clear coat (I also drilled holes on the steering wheel spoke). For dashboard, I brushed non-thinned clear on top of clusters and made toggle switch from flattened aluminum wires. 

 

I also made 5 point harness with spare PE seatbelts from Hobbydesign and cut seatbelt material from old Hasegawa kit. The Scaleproduction’s transkit provides a printed template for roll cage so I fabbed one up using styrene rods.  A nice thing about this kit is that you attach front & rear windows outside and they have the moulding as part of the clear parts not on the body. This allowed me to mask paint in flat black, then paint the outer rim with silver sharpie.


 

That pretty much covers - I’ll post the finished project soon!

[SpikeSchumacher]

That is some really outstanding work Chang! ??

[Ace-Garageguy]

Very, very nice. I love these little cars in reality, and was so inspired by your build that I sought out one of these kits for myself.

Always liked the big snake eating the little guy logo too.   

Edited March 4, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy

[beeRS]

I love that Tamiya made the glass that way. One of the hardest things I find in model building is trying to replicate a window edge that has a black seal and chrome trim. Your did a great job with it ??. 

[Funkychiken]

You make it look so easy, looks beautiful inside and out

[dino246gt]

Wow! Awesome work, that looks so clean, gorgeous!

 

[Bennyg]

Very nice! That body work is ace!

Ben

[1959scudetto]

Super nice work on this classic Alfa (I'm glad I got 3 of them for normal prices when they were released)

Edited March 5, 2023 by 1959scudetto

[Pierre Rivard]

Superb work Chang. Body mods, paint and detailing all look so rich. You paid dearly for the kit but all your work it really looks expensive!

Message to Helmut: we'rre not happy with you...you bled the market dry man! ?

[Justin Porter]

Having built this kit myself I know it truly is one of the best of that run of classics by Tamiya and DEFINITELY in need of a reissue. Very happy seeing you not only building the Giulia but even going the extra mile to suffer through that transkit.

[Bainford]

The Alfa is coming along nicely. I love the vibe of this build.

[Old Nasty]

On 3/3/2023 at 2:21 PM, e30lover said:

On 3/2/2023 at 6:45 PM, Old Nasty said:

One of my current projects is the Gunze Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm with the correct AutoDelta body.  I can see how those fender bulges would be problematic.  They sure enhance a beautiful little sedan though.  Gives it a mean look.

Gtam kits got correct fender but the wheels & tires seemed off scale - that being said it wouldn't hurt to grab a wheel set from Scale Production! 

I found a set of Fugimi 14" Panasport wheels that work perfectly with the kit tires & look period correct.  I've heard this complaint before about the wheel/tires being too big.  I disagree.  Thats the whole point for the body modifications to accomodate larger racing tires.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Mercy, mercy, mercy! You've shown how patience and perseverance can pay off. Gorgeous. Waiting with all the others, to see it when done.