ABC Hobby Lexus LS460 VIP Style

[mikep415]

Some have seen this on other forums or FB but thought i'd post the build here.

I decided to put a few builds on hold and start a VIP project that has been long over due! Its an ABC HOBBY Lexus LS460/600h. Color is a custom mix that looks like a black cherry kind of color. Everything is painted on rather than the cheesy looking decals that come with them. Lots of work still needs to be done as well as selecting my wheel of choice(currently on OD/Mikuni WORk Gnosis).

here goes:

body is trimmed(still not sanded)

IMO the rear of this body looks tooo plain and it needed something to enhance the look.

the look i somewhat want

What i came up with..

cut and mock up. Still need to sand some areas and fix the fitment a bit



all masked up and ready for paint. after 4 days of constantly thinking about a color, looking at several LS460 pics, Looking up many VIP rides, i finally came up with a color. it's a 4 color mix to get the right shades i want. End results for the color were nice. I could have probably got the color similar with using spray cans but it wouldn't have came out as nice.


painted...

some progress on the front grille

used styrene sheet and strips for the grille(strips not pictured)



Front Grille painted. Debating on doing another one a different way but this will do for now.

Chrome added. Still need to paint the black trim then i'll show the color =)


01/22/2013

still to do(whenever i get a chance):
-finish tails
-fix fitment on diffuser
-leave eshaust or change to dual tips on each side
-sunroof
-rear view mirror w/fusa
-curtains
-600h style headlights
-and some





Almost there


more to come..

01/28/2013

made a little rear view mirror. literally less than 10min lol. I'll probably make a better one later.



Picked up 2 wheel racks from OneTenDriftNet


01/31/2013

been sick the past week so not much progress was made. How it currently sits today







Still to do..
-body lines
-Sunroof track
-dash
-jp Fusa
-mirrors on side mirrors
-tray table
-curtains
-600h headlights
-little detail here n there
-fix diffuser fitment

[ridinvintage]

So sick mike, what kind of dtm were you thinking of, an old school upturned exhaust would be B.A. maybe something like this on either side

[mikep415]

So sick mike, what kind of dtm were you thinking of, an old school upturned exhaust would be B.A. maybe something like this on either side

I was thinking of just sticking with the current exhaust from the diffuser but dual tips on both sides as looking sweet in my head! lol

[mxblaster292]

wow this is a sick project! cant wait to see it done! question. what paint did you use for the tail lights? would be much appreciated.

[Lurkn]

I have to say it again, your work is incredible. Such an attention to detail! Can't wait to see this done.

[mikep415]

thanks guys! still some work to finish. As for paint on the tails, i used tamiya clear red in the jar.

[mikep415]

Got lazy last night and made a quick sunroof track to hold it in tilt position until i figure a better way to make a functional track that can tilt, open/close.




and another post of this pic. I kinda like the edit on it lol

[ridinvintage]

Sick...

[Carnage]

Very very nice!

[grapejuice]

Looking good, love the color!

[GenkiRF]

The colour came out amazing!! Great job as always

[RE-Xtreme]

looks great. would be nice with some of those machined front LED mounts.

[gerakatom]

cant wait to see how the curtains look

[sliding_josh]

Looks Dope Mike, you know the wheels look like Scale 19/20s, they fill out the wheels wells so nicely!

[JyuRoku]

how do you make the tail lights look so good???

[mikep415]

Sick...

Very very nice!

Looking good, love the color!

The colour came out amazing!! Great job as always

thanks guys! Update coming soon.

looks great. would be nice with some of those machined front LED mounts.

thanks Russ! you mean the active hobby LED holders? i will be ording those soon once they stock up on silver ones. they bring more life to the headlights IMO.

cant wait to see how the curtains look

lol those will probably be made tonight.

Looks Dope Mike, you know the wheels look like Scale 19/20s, they fill out the wheels wells so nicely!

thanks bro! yeah thats another reason why i switched from the Mikuni Factory Gnosis to the OD gnosis. Plus fitment is on point with no rubbing ar all when turning and at this height.

how do you make the tail lights look so good???

It honestly didn't turn out as clean and as good as i wanted them to be. i made them a tad bit darker than i wanted and had some BS happen with a bug flying into them when drying causing it to leave marks and pulled paint once i took the bug off lol. But all i really did was mask it up, airbrushed a little bit of smoke(had to make it dark due to the bug leaving a mark) then pulled the masking off, and airbrushed some clear red on them. eventually i'll make another but even cleaner looking lol

[mikep415]

made some curtains last night really quick to see how they look. Not bad. Gonna remake them later to make them look a bit better.




Not sure if i should do the curtains in a different color or keep them as is? thoughts?

[ridinvintage]

I think that color looks good, maybe a tan would work as well.

[gerakatom]

i think a lighter color so they stand out a bit and are more noticeable. they usually seem to be an off white type of color. they look sweet as is though. can i ask what you used? i did curtains in a hiace body once and they look good, but they coulda been better.

[FunkRenegade]

Black curtains look fine with black interior. Scale model builders build true to scale engine and undercariages that will usually be never be seen. Using out of scale tubes for roll cages or bright colors just to make certain parts more visible only make them look corny. Defeats the purpose of "scale" builds.

i think a lighter color so they stand out a bit and are more noticeable. they usually seem to be an off white type of color. they look sweet as is though. can i ask what you used? i did curtains in a hiace body once and they look good, but they coulda been better.

[gerakatom]

Black curtains look fine with black interior. Scale model builders build true to scale engine and undercariages that will usually be never be seen. Using out of scale tubes for roll cages or bright colors just to make certain parts more visible only make them look corny. Defeats the purpose of "scale" builds.

i think a lighter color so they stand out a bit and are more noticeable. they usually seem to be an off white type of color. they look sweet as is though. can i ask what you used? i did curtains in a hiace body once and they look good, but they coulda been better.

Sorry I dont believe I was asking for your opinion. If you've see some of the model car building I've done (most taking first place in every category entered from Vancouver BC Canada to San Diego) Im sure you would'nt be feeling the need to try and make me seem like Im out of my element when making a suggestion when asked in a public forum.

[GreyFox]

Epic Build. A lot of Inspiration for me!

[mikep415]

thanks for some of the feedback, guys! i think i'll stick with black but remake them to look better. I'll eventually pull them off later since i prefer this style celsior w/o curtains.

[mikep415]

Epic Build. A lot of Inspiration for me!

Thanks man! your Levin Hatch is seriously inspiring me to go all out! lol

[k0di]

Amazing. like your work. The curtains are bawws.