After I finished painting and cutting the body, my TA02 was almost complete. All I had to do was attach the wing, apply the decals, and install the antenna tube and I was ready to go.
For some reason – my own stupidity probably – I didn’t look at the instruction sheet that came with the Skyline body so I didn’t know that the side plates for the rear wing were located in the rear wheel wells. So, naturally, I cut them in half, while cutting out the wheel wells. I tried to look for an extra piece of lexan to fashion my own, but could not locate leftover pieces big enough.
So, I went looking on eBay for a new wing. Surprisingly enough, an eBay seller had an HPI touring car wing for sale. I purchased it and while I waited for it to arrive, began applying the decals.
Decal application can be tricky. The way HPI packs the decals on the sheet, the only way to cut them is with a hobby knife. You could probably use scissors, but good luck with that.
HPI bodies include a decal sheet that tells you exactly where everything goes. This is really handy if you want to create an exact replica of the HPI factory look. I wanted to do something different, so I applied the decals where I wanted them.I also didn’t want to use all the decals, just a few. I used two decals to cover the painting mistakes I made. They were better than nothing, but not great by any stretch.
I recommend that you use the window cleaner method for applying decals. Basically, you spray the entire body with window cleaner. Then, you apply the decals and position them. Smooth out the bubbles under the decal, and then just let it dry. This would give you more time to position the decals correctly.
I, of course, didn’t do that because I didn’t want to spend too much time on this. Instead, I just applied the decals quickly by hand. This method leaves a lot of bubbles, no matter how careful you are. So again, I recommend the window cleaner method. To get rid of some of the bubbles, I simply cut a small slot into them with the hobby knife. This allowed the trapped air to escape. You could also smooth them out with a credit card.
After I applied all the decals I wanted to, I cut the final hole (for the antenna) in the body. I should have done this earlier. I don’t know why I didn’t. I must have forgotten. After the hole was drilled and sanded, it was time to feed the antenna wire through the tube. This was one of the hardest parts of the rebuild.
I recommend taking a string, wetting it, and feeding it through the tube. Then, tie one end of the string to the antenna wire. Use the other end of the string to pull the wire through the tube. This is much easier than trying to feed the wire through itself, as it has the tendency to curl and get stuck.
Once everything was done, I put the body on and tested it. The clearance on the body was good and the wheels turned smoothly in the wheel wells. Everything went smoothly.
After looking at the car, I decided that instead of painting the wing silver, I would paint it green. It seems, based on the pictures of the car, that it would make more sense to paint it green, which meant another tip to the hobby store.
I visited the local hobby shop on my lunchbreak and purchased a can of flourescent green paint. I was hoping the wing would come today, which it did. I cut it out, and prepped it for paint.
Painting and drying it went pretty smooth and once it dried, I centered and mounted it. I decided to use servo tape instead of drilling it, and using the screws. I’m not sure the servo tape will hold it on, but I will find out. If it doesn’t, I can always drill it later.
Once it was mounted, the TA02 was finally complete. And, it only took three years.
Previous: Finishing Touches Pt. 2
