Tamiya Aston Martin DBS... One from the Top Shelf!

[jaymcminn]

Bought this kit new and promptly forgot about it. Pulled it out a year ago and laid down paint. At that time I decided to order detail parts and carbon fiber decals, put it back on a shelf until the parts came and promptly forgot about it again. Well, now it's time to finish it.

I painted it in Tamiya Metallic Black last year and hit it with TS-13 clear before polishing it out. When I packed it up I wrapped the body in cotton flannel, which did a great job of protecting it from scratches in the box. I refreshed the body with another application of Meguiar's Ultimate Polish and applied BMF, which is where we stand right now. Gotta say, it looks pretty good...

I've decided on something a bit unconventional for the interior. Instead of red or burgundy or tan I'm going with this...

The color is called Wimbledon Green and it's an unusual choice to be sure. I think it'll pop like crazy against the metallic black. 

Stick around for more updates coming soon!

[Rich Chernosky]

Jason.......this is one of Tamiya's better kits.  Everything will fit nicely and it can be a great finished piece.  Your paint is ready to go and looks great.  The interior choice will also go great  and I think its a good fit. Look forward to the finished piece. I 'm sure you will do well. 

[Moparman18064]

Great looking paint

[mrm]

2 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Jason.......this is one of Tamiya's better kits.  Everything will fit nicely and it can be a great finished piece.  Your paint is ready to go and looks great.  The interior choice will also go great  and I think its a good fit. Look forward to the finished piece. I 'm sure you will do well. 

To be honest, I am yet to see a Tmiya kit that doesn't fit nicely and look great as finished piece. 

[mrm]

4 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

Bought this kit new and promptly forgot about it. Pulled it out a year ago and laid down paint. At that time I decided to order detail parts and carbon fiber decals, put it back on a shelf until the parts came and promptly forgot about it again. Well, now it's time to finish it.

I painted it in Tamiya Metallic Black last year and hit it with TS-13 clear before polishing it out. When I packed it up I wrapped the body in cotton flannel, which did a great job of protecting it from scratches in the box. I refreshed the body with another application of Meguiar's Ultimate Polish and applied BMF, which is where we stand right now. Gotta say, it looks pretty good...

I've decided on something a bit unconventional for the interior. Instead of red or burgundy or tan I'm going with this...

The color is called Wimbledon Green and it's an unusual choice to be sure. I think it'll pop like crazy against the metallic black. 

Stick around for more updates coming soon!

Paint looks fantastic and I am a big fan of the real car. 

Your choice of interior color is actually not that unusual at all. Especially on British cars with pedigree. And most of the time it is in black cars too. Prince Bernhard of Belgium was famous for ordering his Ferraris in that color combination, which became a signature spec, so to speak, for him. Jay Kay's Ferrari Enzo is in this spec also and a friend of mine had a Ferrari 456M which was British racing green on the outside, with this green for most of the interior with the dash and doors even darker, almost black, green. 

Aston Martin's color is green, so your choice for the interior will fit the model not only aesthetically, but in spirit too. 

Edited September 27, 2024 by mrm

[SpikeSchumacher]

Looks awesome!

[jaymcminn]

5 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Jason.......this is one of Tamiya's better kits.  Everything will fit nicely and it can be a great finished piece.  Your paint is ready to go and looks great.  The interior choice will also go great  and I think its a good fit. Look forward to the finished piece. I 'm sure you will do well. 

That was the plan... I just finished a challenging build that fought me hard most of the way. Something state-of-the-art and shiny is a nice change of pace. I am adding some of the Hobby Design PE set to kick it up a notch... can't make it too easy!

2 hours ago, mrm said:

Paint looks fantastic and I am a big fan of the real car. 

Your choice of interior color is actually not that unusual at all. Especially on British cars with pedigree. And most of the time it is in black cars too. Prince Bernhard of Belgium was famous for ordering his Ferraris in that color combination, which became a signature spec, so to speak, for him. Jay Kay's Ferrari Enzo is in this spec also and a friend of mine had a Ferrari 456M which was British racing green on the outside, with this green for most of the interior with the dash and doors even darker, almost black, green. 

Aston Martin's color is green, so your choice for the interior will fit the model not only aesthetically, but in spirit too. 

Interesting, I had no idea about Jay Kay's Enzo. Of course I had to look it up. It's funny because I've used the metallic black on one other car... the Tamiya Enzo!

[Matt Bacon]

That looks like a great start, Jay. Top choice of colour and great finish on the body. I love the interior colour choice… that black exterior needs zingy upholstery (mine’s bright orange, more or less…). My only suggestion, particularly if the kit’s been sitting around a while, is apply the metal “transfers” to clear decal film, and then slide them Into place like regular decals. I found on mine that they tended to come apart when I tried to peel the plastic carrier away from the part they were supposed to stick to!

best,

M.

[Zippi]

That stayed pretty nice in the box over time.  I'll be watching this one.

[David G.]

That should be an eye catching color combination.

David G.

[beeRS]

Great colour choice. It’ll pop with that interior for sure. Looking forward to seeing more.
 

I’m part way through building the same kit. Don’t make the same mistake as me and paint the brake discs silver. All DBS came with carbon brake discs. 

[NOBLNG]

Ooh, that does look nice!? 

[jaymcminn]

8 hours ago, beeRS said:

Great colour choice. It’ll pop with that interior for sure. Looking forward to seeing more.
 

I’m part way through building the same kit. Don’t make the same mistake as me and paint the brake discs silver. All DBS came with carbon brake discs. 

Thanks Sonny, the plan is to paint the Hobby Design bits in flat black and then dust them with gunmetal and aluminum. Calipers are going to be gold. 

[Mattilacken]

Nice! Paint looks great! I have a brake caliper from a DB9 in  a display here and i just love these cars! Will be following!

 

[dino246gt]

Looking good and as noted it is a fine kit!

Here's the bottom of my build, most of that detail is just detail painted on the one piece plate!

Cheers!

 

[BK9300]

Well done on the detail painting - a very steady hand!

[jaymcminn]

Mini update... I mixed a green I like for the interior from Tamiya acrylics. Here it is under indirect sunlight.

Maybe not an exact match but it looks nice with the black. More interior parts airbrushed...

As you can see, the color is very dependent on the light. Next will be spraying a coat of flat clear and masking the center of the dash and the door panels tops for the gloss "piano black" finish. 

More to come soon!

[dino246gt]

Such a lovely colour for your interior, very luxurious!

[Bennyg]

12 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

Mini update... I mixed a green I like for the interior from Tamiya acrylics. Here it is under indirect sunlight.

Maybe not an exact match but it looks nice with the black. More interior parts airbrushed...

As you can see, the color is very dependent on the light. Next will be spraying a coat of flat clear and masking the center of the dash and the door panels tops for the gloss "piano black" finish. 

More to come soon!

That looks way better than I thought it would. Very nice!

Ben

[David G.]

Excellent detail painting!

Great looking interior so far too.

David G.

[jaymcminn]

Interior is finished. Carpet is a mix of embossing powders, it looks a bit too "green" under bright light but it does contrast nicely with the "leather". The Hobby Design detail set offered up speaker grilles and the gauge face cover. Pedals are kit PE pieces. I decided to represent the optional "piano black" trim for the door caps and center console. The interior of this kit is Tamiya quality at its best. It's a shame they never did a Volante (convertible) version!

Work on the body is continuing, next update will be of that process. Wheels will be the kit wheels with a few coats of Smoke to tone down the shine a bit.

On to the pics!

 

Edited October 4, 2024 by jaymcminn

[David G.]

Dang! That is one sweet looking interior! ? 

Great use of colors and excellent detail.

David G.

[NOBLNG]

Sharp looking interior!?

[jaymcminn]

Life has gotten a bit busy in between post-Milton cleanup (minor landscaping stuff, fortunately Naples didn't get a direct hit), work stuff and a road trip to St. Augustine for a Vampire Weekend concert. I did get a fair amount of work done on the body. The glass has been installed, as well as Scale Motorsport carbon fiber decals under the bonnet and on the rear diffuser. The decals are amazing and respond really well to Micro Set and Sol and a blow dryer. I made rough templates for the diffuser decals from Tamiya tape. I haven't done CF since I built my LaFerrari several years ago and it's easy to forget how fiddly it is, but I rather enjoyed it. Of course the CF effect on the diffuser is almost invisible since it's almost exactly the same color as the body!

The kit PE grilles fit nicely with a few challenges largely due to my decision to install the front end before painting. I painted the grilles in Tamiya Light Gunmetal for contrast against the metallic black. PE logos are from the Hobby Design detail set. I haven't installed the DBS badge on the boot lid yet as it's in a vulnerable place. It'll be installed as the last detail. 

Installing the rear diffuser was a bit of a surprise... the fit wasn't great. I had to take a bit off of the body sides where they meet the diffuser to keep it from popping out. Even then there aren't any robust locating points. Surprising from Tamiya.

I airbrushed the wheels with Tamiya Smoke with a top coat of semi-gloss clear for a "shadow chrome" effect. Center caps are PE pieces from Hobby Design. The valve stems are teeny tiny USCP 3d printed pieces. The carpet monster ate about five of them. Good thing they give you a lot!

On to the pics!

A note about the wheels... The center caps are actually polished and the lug nuts have been painted with Molotow chrome. The camera has trouble depicting this for some reason. The bottom left wheel in the pic of all four is probably closest to how they look IRL.

Next up is a big airbrushing session for underside and engine compartment parts. More updates soon!

Edited October 17, 2024 by jaymcminn

[Steve H]

 Beautiful looking build Jason. That interior will really be a nice contrast with the metallic black body. Nice job detailing the interior. I like the subtle contrast of the carbon fibre rear diffuser, adds a sneaky little detail. Wheels look good too.??