This is  is a very nice and easy to build model kit. The kit consists of 35 injection molded parts on 3 sprues (Body, Clear Parts, All other Parts).  The casting ,detail and fit quality, is of the same high standards one has come to expected from Tamiya. Only some minimal mold line and flash clean-up was required. There are some ejector pin marks, but they are not in critical or visible locations, and are easily cleaned-up. The plastic is strong and easy to work with without having to worry too much about breaking parts when cutting and altering them. 

 The body and fender castings have very finely molded edges where the sprues attach, and care should be taken when removing them, to make the first cuts away from the parts, using sprue snips or a Xuron cutter, and then come back and carefully trim the remainder with a sharp Xacto and a file/sanding stick.

To augment and enhance the kit, I added parts from the Hauler photo etch set for the kit (#HLX48038), pictured below. This is a wonderful little set, crisp and generally accurately  fits the model. The Kit contains pieces for all the vent flaps, windshield frame, radiator grille, wipers, interior details, latches, etc. It also includes (not shown) replacement acetate front and rear windows, and dashboard gauges. The etched parts are small and delicate and can be fidgety if one hasn't worked with PE,  but really enhance the Tamiya kit. Care needs to be taken when cutting them from the sheet and when sanding them, so as not to bend them, or lose them somewhere.

In preparation for painting the the model kit was built to a point of a few sub-assemblies, that consisted of the body, chassis, seats, roof rack. The sub assemblies allowed for better access and control, for painting and weathering. as well as adding additional detail to the interior. As I had still not decided in the wheels, front truck and drive system at this point, those parts would be built and painted at a later time. Some small detail parts, windows, and such were left off to be painted separately, thus eliminating the need for masking.

The images below show the body and chassis sub assembly as they appeared ready for the painting painting.

The kit comes with all the doors lids and vents modeled/cast in a closed position. The vents and doors were cut out using a small Dremel cutting bit. The vents were replaced by parts from the P.E. set, and the doors and trunk lid were carefully cut from a second kit; since removal of the doors from the destroys them, it was necessary to cut the body away from the doors in the second kit, then sanding them to fit. There is no P.E. part for the air intake vent lid below the front window, so one was made from .010 styrene.

The trunk lid was modeled ajar in the same way as the doors, the lid however was sanded to a thinner dimension, the spare wheel mounting holes were filled, new hinges from styrene rod added, and a hole was drilled to represent a missing trunk latch. The rear left tail light was drilled out to represent a "missing" part, as were the two holes to the right of the trunk where the antenna mount used to be. 

The interior view shows the new styrene fire-wall, and the added photo-etch detail parts. this view also shows how the front fenders were ground thinner to better represent sheet metal, using a Dremel round headed cutting bit. The dents were then created by using the backs of various tools and pressing them onto the thinned areas from the outside, till the desired "dent" was created.

The original idea I had was to build the car as a 36" gauge speeder, so chassis at the rear needed to be modified to accept the new wheelbase/track-gauge. This required the rear portion to be cut away, and the remaining cast in place detail to be milled away. Then a new rear end built from styrene, and 2 Grandt Line SR&RL pedestals. On the top the bulky seat mounts were milled away, and new pressed floor panel detailing added. Some filler pieces were also added at the front for better fit, and a new styrene and brass strip exhaust pipe was added to the underside. 

All parts were painted using a Paasche 'VL' double-action, internal mix airbrush, with a #1 tip. Brush painting was only employed for filters, weathering and some minor areas of touch-up. The exception was the Primer coat of Mr. Hobby "Mr. Surfacer 2000, which was applied from a spray can.

The painting & weathering  process was broken down into the following steps:

Primer Coat

Pre Shading

Color Coat & Panel Shading

Filters

Washes

Interior Detail Painting & Weathering

Rust

Chipping

Dust & Dirt

Oil Stains

Final Pick-up & Touch-up

Finishing and painting any model is really a matter of choice, information from reference materials, your artistic impression, and modeling "style/look". Herein I am merely explaining my own "personal" approach, and may not be to your taste, or 100% prototypically accurate. 

All the pre-assemblies parts were carefully washed with warm soapy water and a soft brush and allowed to dry thoroughly prior to the primer coat.

The first step was to spray the model with a light coat of primer, so as to unify the color/finish of all the materials, and to provide a good substrate for to which the paint will be able to adhere.  For this step, Mr. Hobby "Surfacer 1200" from a spray can, was utilized.

Note that in some areas you can still see the disparate material color under the primer, however, based on the intended final model finish scheme, these will not be apparent.

After the primer coat was dry the model was ready for "pre-shading".  Since the final paint color was going to be a lighter tone, I used more of a grey tone rather than a black, which might show through the color coat too strongly. 

The pre-shade color was a mixture of  60% Tamiya XF-63 "German Grey" and 40% X-20A Thinner. 

On the body the shading where the fenders meet the body will help to create a sense of shape and depth, while the shading along the break and panel lines will help to darken/accentuate them, as well as create some shape and shading on the adjacent panels. The shading along the edge of the roof line will help accentuate the "roll" of the roof (the change of the plane).

In the interior the shading was done in the corners so as to further recede them (add depth), and on the firewall under the dash to emphasize shadow. The inside of the fenders and engine compartment was sprayed as a base color in these areas. 

On the chassis the floorboard area that will be underneath the dash was shaded to emphasize shadow, while the grooves between the floor ridges was darkened to assist in later weathering and darkening of these areas where dirt would naturally collect. On the rear wheel wells the outside edges where they meet the body, and in the corners of the cargo area where shaded for added depth. The running gear, engine compartment, and underside of the wheel wells was sprayed as a base color in this area.

Color Coat

The color coat was applied in 3 layers, the first consisting of Tamiya, Light Blue (XF-23)  lightened approx 15% with Flat White (XF-2), and then thinned to a ratio of 60% paint to 40% thinner; each of the following layers was then subsequently lightened by adding approx. 10% white (XF-2 ), and working inward toward the panel centers (panel shading), to add some shape, and depth, and to give the effect of fading.

Here one can see the lighter layered tones of the color, on the roof, hood, and fender areas.

Here the entire front door was painted a lighter shade in an attempt to mimic the effect of how certain parts of cars, and painted surfaces often fade unevenly. The trunk and rear fender panels also received a lightening (panel shading).

Once the color coat was dry for a day, the filters were applied. The the filters were made up of Windsor Newton artists oils, mixed to a ratio of approx. 5% paint to 95% Grumbacher "Pre Tested Odorless Thinner". The filters were evenly applied with a a 1/4" wide soft flat brush, that was only "damp" with the color. The first filter color was "Prussian Blue", to accentuate and give some depth to the blue base color. After about 2 hours of drying time a second filter color was applied, Burnt Sienna; this was used to age the blue base color, to try and give the feel of "yellowing/dulling" that often happens with old paint.

The washes consisted of various mixtures of Windsor Newton artists oils, "Black" and "Burnt Sienna", thinned with Odorless thinner, and applied in multiple thin layers. The ratio of Black to Raw Umber depended on the area being washed, and the effect that was trying to be achieved. Door lines and panel lines for instance, received a mix with more black to both darken the line, and to represent collected "grime", whereas the areas along fender edges were done with almost pure Raw Umber, to represent collected rust, as well as areas that had started to rust through the paint, or discolor from subsurface rusting. These Washes were done using an 0/18 brush.

The roof and hood surfaces were washed in preparation for the next step, and to represent general streaking of rust and grime off these surfaces, making sure the brush direction followed the direction that water would flow.  This effect was also carried onto/accentuated on some of the vertical surfaces. A small soft flat brush was used for this

(These photos were taken outside and it is interesting to see how the change in light brought out the underlying blue color and filter tone in some areas.)

The slight tooth from the flat base color worked to my advantage at the door, fender, and body edges, as it helped gather and "texture" the "rust" colored washes in these areas. 

Here one can very well see the effect of the base color lightening towards the roof center, and on the front door.

On the interior washes were flowed into the corners and grooves where dirt, rust and grime would accumulate. The flat surfaces were washed, and then dabbed with a soft cloth to remove areas of the wash in a blotchy manner.

I wanted the car to have the feeling of long exposure to harsh sun and rain. The horizontal surfaces were therefore to have the appearance of rusted through paint. The base coat for this effect was done in the same manner as the worn paint areas on the interior, however a finer grade of foam was used. The areas were done one at a time. The base color is Model Master "Rusty Brown" (FS30117). An oil base paint was specifically chosen for this rather than acrylics. The drying time of the oil paint is slower, which immediately following its application allows one to apply the weathering powders while the paint is still tacky, causing them to firmly adhere to the paint. While mixture of Bragdon's "Light Rust", "Dark Rust" and "Soot", were firmly stippled into the paint using a small round tipped brush.

(The rust color in the photos is slightly more orange than the actual color.)

A close-up view of the hood area. The smudge above the right vent flap was were I tried to clean up and errant dab of paint....hopefully this will be less noticeable in the end.

 The chips and scratches were painted with Vallejo acrylic paint (German Camo Black Brown), using a 0/15 brush. Once the "chips" were dry, "pin washes" of a very thinned mixture of Burnt Sienna and Bragdon's rust powders was applied on each chip. The whole process took about 4 hours.

T Dust/dirt was done by airbrushing a mixture of 50/50 mixture of Tamiya "Deck Tan" (XF-55) and "Buff" (XF-57)., this was then thinned to a ratio of 80% thinner to 20%paint, and applied in multiple layers at the lower edge of the side and ends, on horizontal surfaces, and in corners where dust would collect.

The floor areas in front of where the seats will be located, and in the rear cargo area were painted to represent worn and chipped paint. Since these areas are somewhat protected from the elements, and get regular/frequent wear, I chose not to use a base color that would represent them as to rusty, thus Vallejo #822 "German Camo Black Brown" and #862 "Black Grey" were "dab mixed" in various proportions (leaning more towards the brown), and applied with a small piece of foam from a cheap "foam brush" held in some tweezers. The foam piece Most of the paint mix was on the foam piece was dabbed off on the edge of the tray before dabbing on the model, this way one will obtain finer lines/texture, and the finished appearance can be built up to the desired effect.

The foam brushes can be found in various grades/coarseness. For the interior chipping the coarser one was used. Only a drop of each color in an artists tray is required. Depending on the amount of area you are doing, or the space you are working in, it may be necessary to rotate, bunch, or change out the foam piece during the process. 

The next step was adding dust/dirt to the interior. For this, a mixture of MIG "Europe Dust", and Bragdon's "Dust Bowl Grey" weathering powders were liberally applied and pushed into the corners and crevices. with some minor dusting on the fender wells. This was immediately followed by a "flooding" of the horizontal surfaces with the Odorless Thinner, and using the brush to gently/carefully push the powders into the corners. Once dry, a shaped rubber eraser and a finger tip were used to carefully remove the dust coating from some areas to give the appearance of recent wear/contact.

Old seats were often filled with horse hair and/or coco fiber filling. Wanting to try and simulate this, I found a pretty good scale substitute by using a Tampon cut into small pieces, then stained using Humbrol #72 and #140. Before gluing the seat filler in place, the seats were painted using Humbrol #160 for the base color, Tamiya XF-1 acrylic for the washes and shadows, and Vallejo #874 and #824 for the wear and highlight areas. The seat grab bars were painted the eventual body color, and wear and chips were painted using Model Master “Euro I Gray”, with a 0/10 brush.

In retrospect, I should have replaced the grab bars with better scaled brass wire.

Materials List:

Tamiya:

 Putty ( Basic Type)

XF-63

X-20A Thinner

Mr. Hobby:

"Mr. Surfacer 2000"  Spray Can

"Mr. Surfacer 500"  Jar

Vallejo/Model Color

#822 German Camo Black Brown

#862 Black Grey

Humbrol:

Enamel Thinner

Grumbacher:

Turpentine

Pre-Tested Odorless Thinner

Windsor-Newton:

#2 Burnt Sienna

#24 Ivory Black

MIG Productions:

Bragdon's Enterprises:

"Rust" Weathering Powders Set

 Water

90% Denatured Alcohol

Marc Reusser

Nov. 2006