LEXUS IS 350 (Fujimi 1/24) Work in progress #1

Hi all,

I've started my rehabilitation. I choose Fujimi's LEXUS IS350 (1/24), because....
1, I've heard lots of good reputation; great on styling, good parts fitting, etc
2, Engineless easy kit= I can try several thing on painting of body
3, I like this car, but not too much= I can stop doing too much (I feel sorry about this to owners of IS 350 or IS 250)
4, Overall, I thought this is the best for now for my rehabilitation (I got ill doing too much on the last one; 288GTO full open).

Package:

It says "Inch-up" series #18, but ironically you can see the wheels seem to be "Inch-downed"(I sort of like that balance, though.

What's included in the box

 ...Every part has fine and sharp molds, I felt like I was looking at Tamiya's kit.

Dry fitting. Front and rear bumpers, side skirts... everything showed perfect fits!! I really doubt like "Is this really Fujimi's job???". Some say the tires and wheels are small, but I like this balance. I like the height, too. Amazing thing was, there needed no adjustments!!!

Front grills also shows perfect fits. Window part as well.... Oh, I am really confused, am I really working on Fujimi's kit...??! Anyway, this is perfect for my rehab.

First sanding with #800. Some dents were found, but still not so deep so that easily I could sand off.

This time I'll try something new (or, back to my basic). To examine the painting and polishing scheme, I airbrushed GSI Creos (Gunze Sangyo) Super Clear (lacquer based paint), thinned with Retarder Mild (Super Clear 1: Retarder Mild 2).  After drying for 3 days, I sanded with #1500, #2000, #3000, #4000 sanding papers, then polished with Tamiya's Course Compound, Fine Compound, Finishing Compound. I am so happy with this smooth gross. Since I was using only GSI Creos's paints and was only happy with results (such as 246GTS, 427 Cobra), now I decided to use them again.

 Then the body color was airbrushed. GSI Creos's Metal Black 70%+ GSI Creos's Super Italian Red 30% = Dark Brown Metallic. I couldn't take good pictures though, this color seems better to my eyes than this picture! I'll wait for 3 days, then I'll apply some clear coat (with Super Clear).

 During waiting for the body paint dries, just quickly proceed to chassis. Since I would never see the chassis from the bottom after completing this Lexsus, I airbrushed silver on certain places...

Then airbrushed flat black around the silver, even without masking. It's enough, even I thought I didn't need to paint the chassis (I couldn't be that too lazy). I believe I would do the same thing on these kind of easy kits.

Quickly move to wheels and tires. Still, it shows perfect fits, I don't even need to cut the back rims out...! The plating were taken off by soaking in the breach (I used White King, thinned with the same amount of water).  Then I found these wheels had nice colors themselves!! I don't even paint the wheels (maybe).

That's all for today, I reckon I'll finish this work very soon (I would take only about 10 hours to finish, I believe!!). I am sure I am having fun....:)

Have a nice day!